When 7 Wonders the card game originally released it did so to great acclaim and positive reviews. It was the talk of the town and it seemed like it was being played everywhere, all the time. When I finally got around to trying it, it sort of landed flat with me. It had some interesting mechanics and all together not a bad game but it just didn’t stir a whole lot of interest in me or my group. Hence when the opportunity to try 7 Wonders Duel I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of it. Today we take a quick peek at this alternative two player version of 7 Wonders and see if its anymore interesting then the original.
Overview
In 7 Wonders players will be trying to build 4 Wonders by drafting cards from a structured card pyramid as part of a general effort to score the most points and/or win the game with an immediate victory by completing one of two objectives. It’s effectively a game about gathering resources then applying those resources to building things that either directly score or lead to scoring points. It’s the same premise as the original, but designed specifically for two players with some altered mechanics to make the core concept of 7 wonders work better as a two player game.
There are three different ways to win the game. The first is scoring the most points at the end of the game which is how most games will finish. The second and third is a science or military victory in both cases its effectively just about building sufficient amount of science or military cards to overwhelm your opponent. More difficult, but very possible alternatives.
It’s a colorful game and looks great on the table, but this is an abstract game, the art is there just to be pretty.
The game shares many of the mechanics and concept from the original game so 7 Wonder players will take to the iconography and mechanics very quickly and of course being a two player game it’s much, much faster. There are however sufficient changes to the mechanics, most notably the way card drafting works that really make the game significantly different enough that liking its big brother doesn’t necessarily mean you will like this one and of course vice versus as was the case with me.
Components
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: Good components made to last, nice clear art eases and streamlines play, good use of Iconography.
Cons: No complaints, they got it right in 7 Wonders and simply copied the same success to 7 Wonders Duels.
In essence the component quality is almost identical to that of 7 wonders, which is to say it’s built to last, shares the same art and maintains that bright eye candy feel. That said there is nothing particularly spectacular about the components, it’s clear that the design is largely geared towards clear functionality rather than anything else. Which is a good thing, since the game is so abstract it’s far more important to be able to identify and grasp the iconography and colorization of the cards then to be able to identify its thematic meaning.
Game publishing has gotten to the point where putting out good components is the norm, there are no more valid excuses. 7 Wonders Duel components are sturdy and attractive and that is to be expected.
I always look at component grades and ask myself, what could have been done better and the truth is outside of perhaps more focus on aesthetically appeal, this is effectively a card game with tokens and what is here is well thought out, organized, easy to identify and despite fairly heavy iconography actually very simple to deduce and adapt to. Easily a passing grade, but it’s not going to blow you away.
Theme
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: The theme is mostly irrelevant to the success of the game, but Civilization building aesthetically works well.
Cons: This is an abstract game, the theme is very thin.
It’s an abstract card game about Civilization building but the extent of its abstraction really renders it mostly irrelevant and really as you play the game you are never going to have any sense of a theme. The art is there just to be pretty but the game really could have been about anything. The fact that it is about Civilization building however actually works quite well at least in terms of the aesthetic appeal.
Given its intended theme and beautiful art you almost wish the theme was more present, but ultimately this is an abstract strategic card game and you won’t care about the theme 30 seconds into the game.
In the end though you are not going to focus on the theme when playing this game, it really is all about the mechanics and play here.
Gameplay
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: Simple to grasp, plenty of tactical decisions, doesn’t over stay its welcome.
Cons: While it has no major flaws that I was able to note the game itself wasn’t good enough for my personal shelf.
This is really where all of the 7 Wonder Duel thunder is. The game is very simple in terms of mechanics and the choices are never terribly hard but as a light card game it has some smarts and gamers and casual gamers alike are going to find plenty to contemplate.
The removal of the round robin card drafting in place of the pyramid drafting mechanic I think is golden, it’s actually the core reason I didn’t really care for the original 7 Wonders. I actually wish the original used this mechanic because it’s really a significant improvement. Memorization games are really not my thing and in the original game it was so vital to be able to keep track of what is in each deck that is passed around, in a 3 or 4 player game this became increasingly difficult to the point where you really almost ignore it and just pick the card you want dissipating any strategic intention of the card draft. In Duels with the pyramid drafting you are making decisions on information you have and that makes this a much smarter game.
The Pyramid drafting is such a huge improvement over the original 7 Wonders round robin drafting to the point where you wish they would make a 7 Wonder Duel multiplayer version.
The resource management, combat and science portion of the game works similar though not exactly as it did in 7 Wonders and these mechanics are really just straightforward and intuitive. The military and science victories are difficult to achieve because they are fairly easy to block, but often simply by threatening someone with one or the other victory forces their hand which can disrupt their plans and open up opportunities for you. This is a really clever system and it works well to create tension and tactical choices. In essence you often take cards you don’t need or absolutely have to take to block or slow down an opponent. It can sometimes get a bit mathy but usually decisions are driven by your strategy and/or by trying to block your opponent’s strategy. Same principle as 7 Wonders except you aren’t punished for having the memory of a gold fish, you make decisions based on what’s in front of you.
The game is also quick, I think we finished our first play in under 20 minutes, though I suspect as you become more skilled at the game your speed will actually reduce as you start to understand and ultimately analyze the information you’re presented with. Speed is important for card games, slow card games usually don’t work particularly well for me, especially abstract ones, so Duels really falls into that sweet spot of tactical choices and speed.
I have to admit, I’m at a loss to point out any major faults with the game, it really just comes down to how much I like it rather than a comparison of the good vs. the bad elements. I don’t think Duels is a game going into my collection but I certainly don’t mind playing it. The fact that it’s not going into my collection however is not the result of any portions of gameplay being bad, just that while interesting and fun, doesn’t really reach for the stars and I like to keep my collection tight. The only thing going in there are things that absolutely blow me away and Duels really didn’t ever hit that high. For fans of 7 Wonders though, I think this is going to be well worth the cheap retail price to get into.
Replay ability And Longevity
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: Great dynamic game with plenty of strategies to explore.
Cons: It’s a simple card game, it got boring after just a few replays.
This is the mecha for Euro and abstract games especially, they really have to have solid replay ability and I actually think Duels does quite well here. Each game is going to be quite unique given the mixtures of Wonders, Cards and science tokens. Each game has to be approached with a “let’s see what we got” kind of approach, there is no puzzle to solve here, or at least not as far as the game is concerned as a whole goes. You certainly solve plenty of puzzles for each specific game, but that puzzle is very different every time.
The first time we played it I immediately wanted to play again and then again, so the game starts out with that addictive Euro game nature, though its simplicity and speed make this a far better candidate for a phone app or online version rather than a game night type game. When we were done however, I feel fairly certain if I never play it again I won’t feel it’s absence which is not to say it doesn’t have replay ability, but definitely lacks longevity. It just didn’t have anything particularly special about it that you would want to pull it out with any frequency. It’s a pretty decent 2 player filler for those nights when friends show up late. In the end however we got bored really fast with it, I was tempted to give it 3 stars and I would have if I had any desire to play it again, but the magic is just not there.
Conclusion
7 Wonders Duel is 7 Wonders for 2 players, they have captured the same concept and made clever alterations to the existing 7 Wonders game for two players. I think you can say mission accomplished here because I’m pretty sure that is exactly what they were going for with this design. It’s a simple card game and while that really isn’t my thing, I do think most 7 Wonders fans are going to appreciate it. I did enjoy it a great deal more than 7 Wonders and more than I thought I would, in fact I will go out on a limb here and say that if you didn’t like 7 Wonders mechanically but liked it conceptually, Duels is a far better implementation and you might really enjoy this version of 7 Wonders. I think that’s largely due to the change in the drafting mechanic going from memorization style to the pyramid, decision, style mechanic.
It’s always hard to review simple card games because there isn’t much to say about them other than “yes I like it” or “No I don’t”, in the case of 7 Wonders Duel, it’s definitely a “Yes”, but no so much that I would clear shelf space for it.
When I first heard about this game I was not terribly thrilled, it appeared to be yet another of the “farming” line of Euro games that lean on the worker placement mechanic to create yet another way to move wooden cubes around for victory points. Suffice to say we already have the Agricola, Terra Mystica and Caverna’s of the world and I really didn’t the see the point in another one. Still through word of mouth I’m constantly asked about this game and it just seemed silly not to review it given that the game already has a variety of implementations online not to mention has remained in heavy print since release.
Now sometimes these worker placement games do pleasantly surprise me, Pillars of the Earth for example remains one of my favorite with some sturdy gameplay, as well as Lords of Waterdeep which packs a surprisingly large amount of theme in a cube pusher and take that mechanic. How does Stone Age hold up? Let’s find out.
Overview
Stone Age is kind of your standard worker placement fair with a few twists that separate it to make it its own thing. Each player starts the game out with 5 workers which can be used in a variety of worker placement spots to earn resources most of which you use to score points and others like food you need for survival of your little Stone Age village. The trick is that the resources aren’t guaranteed, you roll 1d6 die for each worker placed on a resource spot and depending on the type of resource (some are harder to get then others) the amount you get is based on a 6d roll. You can supplement rolls with tools which is another type of resource you can gather through the worker placement mechanic. For the most part however the game boils down to trying to figure out how to get the resources you need to score points, nothing particularly revolutionary or inspired.
You can try Stone Age for free at boardgamearena.com . There is also an Iphone app available.
What resources you need varies from round to round as two separate types of cards are available for purchase. One type requires different combinations of resources to score points directly and the other type has you collecting the card for the end game scoring, on these cards you score for collecting certain elements in the game like there might be a card for your village size, your agriculture level etc. They get multiplied the more of these cards you collect so there is strategy to what you kind of go for long term.
All and all the game is simple to understand and not terribly difficult to master as are most of these worker placement games. There is a luck element to the dice rolling but it isn’t terribly overwhelming, usually the player who manages his village the best will ultimately come out on top.
I think defining Stone Age as an entry level worker placement game is a pretty accurate description, because that is exactly what it is.
Component Quality
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: Colorful and bright play area make it aesthetically pleasing, sturdy components made to last.
Cons: Iconography takes a bit of time to learn, hidden point scoring at the end of the game based on that Iconography make it difficult to know how well you’re doing during the course of the game.
The component quality is quite solid and the design of the components is very intuitive and colorful. There is a sort of stylistic cartoony nature to the bright colored game that is pleasing to the eye. The game Is streamlined from a component perspective with no fiddliness at all giving it a really strong fluid core. I did find that towards the end game there is a fair amount on the table so while this is certainly an entry level game it might not exactly look like one if you see it in late stages. It looks great on the table however and honestly this is what I wish all Euro games would look like. When you consider most cube pushers favor mechanics and gameplay over theme and components, adding nice art, good quality components that last and clean organization with lots of thought put into the handling of the game is not too much to ask for. Stone Age does a fantastic job of presentation in this regard.
There is no denying its visual appeal, its bright, colorful. Its easy to get gaming goggles.
I think the biggest complaint about the components casual gamers might have is the iconography, it takes a few games to come to grips with it all and while there is a fixed standard where you eventually can figure out what something does based on the understanding what other similar symbols do, there is a bit of a learning curve here, but it’s quite reasonable. It’s not nearly as complicated as one might initially feel it is but it’s going to take some explaining to get it all straight. Since the iconography is vital to understanding scoring in the game though it will be difficult for players to understand whether they are winning or losing until they have a good grip on it. Even then, because players gather so many cards, often it’s difficult to know how your actually doing until the final scoring, more on that later as this falls under mechanics but the fact that it’s all translated in the art I think it’s kind of a combination issue with components and mechanics.
A passing grade to be sure, the leather dice rolling cup is a nice thematic touch.
Theme
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: Nice feeling of growth during the course of the game.
Cons: Theme is interchangeable and largely irrelevant to the game.
I don’t expect much in the way of theme in most Euro worker placement games so I was pleasantly surprised that there are some nice touches here. You genuinely have a feeling of growth and building in terms of improvements to your little stone age village. Though as far as theme goes this game could have easily been re-themed to represent just about anything, so there isn’t exactly a feeling of time and place here. It’s a game about Stone Age farming, but really its theme is its art, mechanically you are effectively collecting cubes to use them to score points and there isn’t much on the table or in the course of play that elevates the theme beyond that.
This is a strategy game, one designed around mechanics and resource management so the fact that it has a theme that’s recognizable is more than sufficient for the expectations.
I think for what it is and what it attempts to be, its fine. I don’t expect to get excited about farming in the Stone Age so the fact that the theme is lite really doesn’t deter from the game.
Gameplay
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: Great streamlined mechanics keeps everyone engaged, easy to grasp with plenty of tough decisions for everyone to make. Plays well with any amount of players.
Cons: There is a puzzle to solve here, once you solve it, playing against people who haven’t results in wildly diverging end games.
I think this is really where the game shines and I have to admit while my expectations for this game where that it would be a sort of “more of the same”, it actually had some surprising amount of strategy and mechanical elements to keep the game interesting. There is some real mastery here and good players will pounce newbies without mercy. It takes many games to gain this mastery and when you pit room full of experienced players the competition gets very cut throat and the game becomes very thinky. There are no automatic or obvious decisions, strategies vary and change in the course of the game depending on what becomes available. Turn order in particular will affect many of your options and as it rotates the game becomes as much about when you do things as what you do.
There is this “limited” feeling of wanting to do lots of things but only being able to do a small amount of things, so it’s all about stretching your resources and efforts and really building a long term strategy of slowly chipping ahead on points. While there is pretty limited interaction between players the turns are fast and there is a lot of interest in what others do, in fact more often than not your strategy will be a reactive one based on the actions of other players. This effectively nullifies the fact that there is little interaction between the players directly, very nicely done in my opinion.
Iconography is important to understand as its used at the end of the game for scoring. Its confusing at first but becomes intuitive quite fast.
I especially liked how you can have a long term strategy but opportunities present themselves occasionally that you just can’t pass up that might actually shift your strategy in later parts of the game. There are times for example when you really want to take a particular point scoring card but you have an opportunity to increase your population or take a card that will prevent a player from scoring points, or sometimes even just something that coincidently will score you a lot of points. There are lots of tough decisions and often one or two mistakes in the course of the game can ultimately result in a victory or a loss, in particular when playing at a table with experienced players. Every action, every moment in the game is important. There is a constant re-assement, you’re always reviewing the board and trying to push what you have to become more valuable.
Unfortunately towards late game it becomes really difficult to know whether you’re winning or not as most of the points are scored during the end game calculation which is too complex to do in your head. You might for example be up 50 points at the end of the game on the scoreboard but your opponent ends up winning by 100 points thanks to a combination of development cards he purchased in the course of the game. This gets a little easier to see with experience but ultimately slows the game down and makes it very mathy when you’re constantly trying to figure out where you and your opponents are at and what moves that you can make that will either hurt your opponent and/or help you. As you develop more advanced strategies the game unlike most actually gets slower as everyone at the table is constantly doing this math in their head as its key to the game. It’s not an uncommon problem in Euro games to have end game scoring and I don’t fault it too much but it does often result in rather un-climatic end game where someone might have been way ahead all along but you just didn’t realize it until the final scoring phase.
That said though the mechanics are simple to understand, difficult to master, fun to execute and relatively easy to teach. It’s also a pretty fast game with a fixed ending so there is very little “stretching” the end game. Stone Age has all the elements of a great Euro and while many games of its ilk functions in a pretty similar manner, Stone Age is very intuitive which might explain its popularity. It’s a great alternative to the boring Catan or played out Ticket To Ride to act as an introduction to board gaming type game.
Replay ability and Longevity
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: The game can be revitalized in a group of experienced players as the complexity and dynamics come out with experience.
Cons: Once you solve the puzzle, the game becomes repetitive and not terribly entertaining. As an introduction game, mastery of the mechanics has too much influence on results.
Replay-ability is huge for Euro games and unfortunately Stone Age isn’t exactly what I would call an infinitely re-playable game. It does have the speed to act as a light albeit slightly longer filler which helps, in particular since the game plays very well with any amount of players, but its not enough to give this one high marks. It has a pretty short shelf life among experienced players in particular looking for a challenge or pulling out a game for casual gamers as an introduction. There is a puzzle to solve here and once you figure it out it’s not difficult to outscore less experienced opponents by 100+ points which isn’t a particularly great introduction to board gaming for new players. Its hailed as a great introductory game, but I beg to differ, their is some mastery here and new players are going to get smoked.
Pillars of the Earth is amazing for many reasons but my favorite is that there is no puzzle to solve here, even first time players can be a real challenge to beat, one area where Stone Age really fails.
Mastery of a game however is not a fault of a game per say, get a group of experienced players together and they will likely discover new challenges in a game that really is geared more for casual gamers. As such it can sort of come around and I can see that while I wouldn’t want to play it all the time, dusting it off now and again might allow it to live in someone’s collection for a long time.
I think the trouble with Stone Age and this is definitely a personal view is that I already have other, much better worker placement games that most definitely scratch the same itch and have far more dynamics. Stone Age has nothing on Pillars of the Earth for example and even if you want something with a bit of dice chucking, Kingsburg I think is a better choice. For more mathy and complex versions of Stone Age you have games like Russian Railroads or Terra Mystica that take that same sort of worker placement cube pushing point scorer but take it to that next level. I suppose what I’m saying is that when I reach for a game off my shelf that fits the bill that Stone Age would, I’m likely to pick something else and it’s probably related to the fantastic re-playability of those mentioned games. Stone Age doesn’t have that addictive nature where you’re eager to try out different strategies because while there are several routes, there are a few that are definitively better and you are likely to find yourself in a rut during multiple replays.
Conclusion
Stone Age is a fine addition to a Euro Gamers collection and I think it has a colorful and easy to learn presentation that casual gamers will appreciate. For more advanced gamers looking for a challenge Stone Age will start interesting until you unravel the puzzle, at which point it becomes a bit repetitive. You will find yourself making the same standard strategies that work. There is a bit of a rhythm here, after several replays the games start to merge together and nothing terribly memorable happens from then on.
I think Stone Age has some clever versions of existing mechanics, it certainly is worthy of a few play throughs but it’s not one that will find a permanent home in my personal collection. I found Stone Age to be a bit too dependent on mechanics many games that came before it have done a much better job off. I like those mechanics, so seeing them in a new variant in Stone Age was interesting, but ultimately not sufficient to make the plunge.
Vlaada Chvátil is without question one of my favorite designers, not so much because he has produced what I consider the best games, but because every time he makes a game it’s truly a unique experience. His designs stand out. More than that though he does not have a style, but rather is able to break barriers with new ideas and innovations. Whether it’s the wacky Galaxy Trucker or Dungeon Lords, or more brainy games like Mage Knight, he finds ways to separate himself from the crowd of copy-cats and creates something truly original. No game however is more unique, broken more records and set more precedence than Through The Ages. Most consider this his true masterpiece, a sentiment I largely agree with.
Through the Ages is an established award winning classic and a fan favorite on BoardGameGeek.Com sitting pretty in the top 10 for the better part of a decade. Finally after years of refurbished versions of the original Vlaada has produced a new edition that promises not only upgraded components but more streamlined and balanced gameplay. While I have always been a fan of the original it never ranked high on my list of best games because I always felt it had this thick coat of Euro game complexity and length that made the game difficult to get to the table. It was a game that was difficult to explain and even harder to grasp. Over the course of a decade I played it perhaps ten times all together, it’s what I like to call the dust collector of my collection.
Distinctively Vlaada, Galaxy Trucker is truly a unique gem that rivals Through The Ages as one of Chvátil’s masterpieces.
With a new edition and hope for an improved version of this un-played but fantastic game I gladly dove in. Let’s see how it fares!
Overview
Through The Ages is a competitive civilization building game abstracted into card drafting and resource management mechanics. The word competitive hardly does it justice as despite the absence of a map and miniatures it is a brutally combative and competitive game, I’m talking about some seriously mean cut-throat shit here making it difficult to define it as a Euro game, yet that is exactly what it is.
It looks like a Euro game because it is one, but that is just one of Through The Ages many layers. This seemingly humble Euro gets mean fast!
Each player takes on the role of a world leader of a civilization from the ancient age all the way to the modern age. In typical euro game fashion the game is won by collecting the most culture points of any civilization by the end of the game. Uncharacteristically of Euro games however Through The Ages is as much a resource management and development game as it is a mean spirited war game. It takes that classic formula of Sid Meiers Civilization but in abstracted form, yet maintaining that if I can’t out build them, I can conqueror them approach that Sid Meier’s Civilization is so famous for. Oddly enough despite two previous games with the word Sid Meier in their title (eagle games version and Fantasy Flight Games version), Through The Ages thematically has more in common with the classic PC game than anything that has come before and after it.
Components
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: Aesthetically pleasing art, quality components and separated game boards make this a vast improvement over the old editions of Through The Ages.
Cons: A lot of book keeping and statistics to track result in a very fiddly and ultimately messy game space in particular towards the end of the game.
Through The Ages in previous editions left you very underwhelmed in terms of components, certainly they were functional but they were both aesthetically ugly ducklings and so small you felt like a giant trying to handle cheerios. The game was already a hard sell for being a complex Euro with a steep learning curve, but to have look of a prototype definitely didn’t help.
Even in its stock sales pitch photo the old version is very underwhelming. You don’t see much art because there is almost not art.
With this new version component quality could not possibly get worse so naturally it has improved. Thankfully that improvement is dramatic in particular in the application of quality art and a sizing up of components that make it possible for a grown man to handle them without feeling clumsy.
The art style is reminiscent of old school Sid Meier game art, which I don’t think is a coincidence as this is exactly the theme Through The Ages is trying to capture. I in particular like the colorization of components, it makes every type of component easy to distinguish across the table.
World leaders are just one of the many unique ways you can make your civilization different from other.
The card stock quality is excellent ensuring this game will actually last through the ages and there is a solid broken up design for the gameboards that will make it easier to put on the table by splitting up the various boards into distinct areas. I don’t know that this change was necessary but depending on the size of your table and available space being able to organize the different pieces in Tetris style is going to be appreciated by those with tighter game space.
A vast improvement over the old version but still only gets a passing grade for today’s standards. Its functional, built to last and aesthetically pleasing but it’s not going to blow you away. Given that a six year old with a box of crayons could have done a better job than the last version of Through The Ages, the improvement in this new edition are much appreciated.
That said the game is still extremely fiddly, you are pushing cubes, counters and cards around constantly and the table gets quite messy towards the end of the game. Towards the 3rd age you will find yourself counting and recounting the tracked statistics to ensure you have them right which kind of renders all the book keeping useless.
Theme
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: Competitive civilization building theme is captured with perfection ensuring every faucet of a civilization is included and equally important. This is Sid Meiers Civilization in a board game.
Cons: Some might miss the absence of a map and moving units around on the board. Like the PC game version its based on, Through The Ages is a loooooong game.
Through the Ages has been in the top 10 on board gamegeek for a decade for one very solid reason, its theme. There is absolutely no denying that the competitive culture race and clash that made Sid Meier’s PC game so popular is captured splendidly in board game form in Through The Ages. The newly improved art helps to solidify the theme, but really even without it Through The Ages had a solid connection between mechanics and thematics.
I don’t think the new version has added anything that distinctly makes it more or less thematic than the old version, but having some quality visuals defiantly makes it feel like this version is more thematic. Art really does count towards theme but the truth is that Through The Age gameplay is really what makes the theme sing.
The new translucent cubes are larger as are the cards which coupled with the addition of new art give this game a feel the old version was really missing thematically.
There is this distinct feeling of advancement and growth, starting with what feels like far too little resources and eventually rising to a point where you have far more than you could ever use. More than that though you’re Civilization can really be focused and distinct. By the time the 2nd age starts each player will have created a completely unique engine, driven by bonuses and advantages as a result of combining different technologies, wonders, discovered territories and just general management. You could argue that some strategies are more or less effective than others but my experience has been that players will often focus their strategy on the theme they have chosen for their civilization rather than simply trying to game the game, which I think is a great sign of the game having strong theme.
In particular the card drafting mechanic really inexplicability have the feeling of the passage of time, a kind of pressure to keep up that gives it that distinctively civilization building feel. Best of all though is that there is no element of the Civilization theme ignored here and every element is as important as the next. You need military, science, technology, culture and resources (food and metal) to win and you need them all in equal qualities. If you focus on one more than the other you will have a distinct advantage in that area over other players who fail to keep up, but it will come at a sacrifice of something else. It’s simply impossible to be the best at everything and that really drives the theme home. Civilization building games are about choices and Through The Ages has choices in spades.
Through the Ages still does civilization building in a board game the best of any game I have played and from that stand point the theme is nearly perfect.
Nations is no civilization building game slouch, but comparatively if you are looking for a deep and rewarding experience and don’t mind the complexity and length Through The Ages, in particular the new edition is definitely the superior game. Nations on the other is far more approachable and is likely to make your table more often.
If there is any part of the game that would count against it is that in most civilization games you get to manage and control unique units on a big map, this is really a big part of the civilization building genre. This part of the theme is abstracted quite heavily in Through The Ages to a point where you might initially feel its absence. The game is so robust and engaging however that after a couple of plays you forget all about it.
The other thematic issue which I will go into deeper later in the review is the length of the game. Civilization building games are typically quite long and Through The Ages is no exception here, in fact, it’s so long that anything beyond 3 players is too long as each player adds about one and a half hours to gameplay. This definitely works against the game since you kind of want to play it with more people, but realistically the more people you add, the longer the game gets and that can be quite painful towards the end of the game. This of course is actually thematically correct as far as capturing the Sid Meier Civilization theme, but ironically while it captures this part of the genre, for many this is the part of the genre people who love the game, don’t like. So it’s a strange relationship of both capturing the good and bad parts of the theme in this genre.
Gameplay
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: A deep strategic experience with countless potential approaches to the game that keeps you engaged despite its very long play time. Great mechanical balance.
Cons: Not for the casual gamer, things can get quite mean and once you fall behind it can be very difficult if not impossible to catch up.
Through The Ages has an incredibly robust and unique combination of card drafting and resource management mechanics. It’s a Euro through and through in this regard and one that is constructed with an uncanny balance and eye for that fiddly complexity and high level strategy Euro gamers love. It evokes a lot of thought and multiple plays reveal the many levels and depths the game can rise to revealing countless possible approaches to the game. If you play the game without the military aggression and war cards, this game would be a pure Euro game experience and a very good one.
The linear civilization advancement line of Through The Ages is a simple yet ingenious way to capture the feel of the passage of time.
At its core the game is about drafting technology cards that represent the various types of advances that can be constructed like buildings, wonders, leaders of the world, military units etc. The card line is constantly moving however and the closer to falling off the line the cards get the cheaper they are to pick up. Civil actions, one of the resources in the game are what drive your civilization. This limited supply replenishes every round but because it’s so limited every decision you make is a tough one. What technology you pick up will in turn determine what sorts of advantages you will be able to construct with your resources through the course of the game and in fact can very much define your advantages and disadvantages in later stages.
The sequence is fairly simple. You might pick up an Iron Mine technology, that will allow you to build Iron Mines which of course will give you more resources to build with later. Simple concept except that in order to build Iron Mines you need population, which in turn requires food to build, so you might need to build some farms first. You need science to put the Iron mine into play to begin with and ultimately you will need to keep your people happy enough so that as you deploy your population to work you can bare the costs of doing so you also need religious temples to keep your people happy. Everything is sort of interconnected this way and it’s all about ceasing opportunities and building a civilization that is self-sustaining one step at a time. Misstep and you might find that you have lots of resources to build with but not enough people to build them with for example. It’s challenging and fun to create your engine and it really captures the essence of civilization building games.
In typical Vladi fashion however the entire game is turned on its heels with the military and politic mechanics which create almost a mean spirited competition of the likes I haven’t seen since games like Diplomacy. It’s ruthlessly brutal where players can really stick it to each other, often kicking your face in the dirt when you’re already a bloody mess. It’s so mean in fact that there is a rule for resigning from the game when you have had enough.
The political phase is where most of the games nastiness comes from. From event cards that reward the strongest player and hurt the weakest, to direct aggression and war cards, there is plenty of opportunity to screw over your competition. But be careful, many event cards can back fire and end up causing more harm then good.
At its core however the entire military and political mechanic is built on a sort of delay and in lays its genius. Whatever wars and attacks are going to take place, they will do so several turns in the future as the event deck is built with a 4 event delay. Meaning that if you put down a nasty event that will help you because you are the strongest civilization, that card won’t actually come into play until later in the game. This gives everyone an opportunity to react to the current status of the game and effectively build up to potentially reap the benefits of cards someone else played.
Military power is as important if not more important than other developments however it produces very little on its own so building up a big one comes at the cost of other developments. It’s a real back and forth balance and so you have to decide whether you are going to let your military fall behind to build other more productive developments or if you are going to keep up so you don’t get smashed when those nasty event and war cards come.
Players are also able to make pacts and alliances with each other, again via event cards. These cards allow weaker players an opportunity to cut deals with stronger players that will encourage them to leave them alone. This works to the benefit of the stronger players in the short term but in the long run players who aren’t focused on military build powerful economies that can be really difficult to dismantle later even with an overwhelming military. The balance here is uncanny and the decisions are tough all leading me to one conclusion. This game is awesome!
There is this amazing risk vs. reward system with a constant stream of hard decisions that keeps you engaged whether it’s your turn or not. It’s as important to you what other players are doing as what you are doing so even though there can be some fairly sizable downtime in the game, the downtime is really an opportunity to re-asses, plan and of course think about your response to each other players actions.
On the flip side though the downtimes can be quite long and while assessment and observation are a part of the game, Through The Age’s fun factor really suffers as you wait for your turn. In particular if players are being indecisive, this is definitely a game that can cause some analysis paralysis. The wait times increase over time as Civilizations become more complicated to manage and events are being triggered almost every round. In a four player game you might end up waiting as much as 10 minutes for your turn to come up by the final rounds of the game which can be quite excruciating after 4+ hour game.
You can play a game of Nations with 5 players in the same time it would take to play a 2 player game of Through The Ages. 3 and 4 player games of Through The Ages can easily exceed 5+ hours in particular with new players.
The fact that the game is quite competitive and outright mean at times can result in players falling hopelessly behind. This is compounded by the fact that the game can stretch into the 5 hour mark with 4 players quite easily. It’s one thing to be getting your ass handed to you in a 20 minute card game, it’s another to be abused in a 5 hour game and in Through The Ages its often beneficial to attack the weakest opponent. Now experienced players are not going to have this problem, play the game a couple of times and you will know the consequences all too well of not keeping up militarily. This makes the game that much tougher on new players who are not only having to learn the ins and outs of the complex rules, but getting abused for failing to grasp concepts like military power quickly. This might explain why there is a “low aggression” option for the game and a shorter game variant where you only play to the second age. Both good for introducing new players and highly recommended.
Through the Ages has fantastic mechanics and gameplay that merges well with its theme, it’s truly a unique experience but it’s one that takes some effort to get into. It’s a demanding game with considerable rules complexity, tough and unforgiving systems and fairly mean spirited “take it” type mechanics. To me, its music to my ears, but objectively I can understand how this might not appeal to everyone.
Replay ability and Longevity
Verdict: Tilt:
Pros: Plenty of strategies to explore for repeated plays, it has already proven itself to have long term legs.
Cons: While the Euro puzzle is difficult to unravel, if you study the game you will eventually unravel its mysteries creating repetitive strategies that can dissipate the dynamics of the game hurting replay ability.
Through the Ages has sufficient strategic routes to keep you entertained endlessly and so its replay ability is very good which might explain its high ranking for so long on BoardGameGeek.com. There is however a sort of general sequence to the game, every card in Age I, II and III will eventually come up so there is definitely a sort of pre-planned strategy possible which can result in players unraveling the mechanical puzzle and creating repetitive strategies that work. This is the drawback of most Euro games. There is some randomness to the order in which cards come out and this definitely mixes things up, but patient players can definitely build long term strategies from round one and with minor adjustments be very successful at executing them in every game.
That said, the game is so long and so complex that its not going to be something you play at every session, it’s just too demanding. This game is longevity and really at the heart of replay ability isn’t so much that it’s something you want to play 5 times a week, but something you still want to play 10 years from now and Through The Ages definitely has that long shelf life appeal.
Replay ability is not the same thing as longevity. Through The Ages is a timeless classic for good reason, there is some serious legs for what is effectively a resource management and card drafting game.
I do believe Nations is a much more dynamic game because the reliability of what cards come up for purchase of developing your Civilization is not only randomized every game in what order they come up but what actual cards will be available. In Nations you will see 20% of the possible cards each age come up so effectively every game is going to be vastly different, this is not the case in Through The Ages. I don’t consider this a major drawback, but in terms of replay ability there is definitely a puzzle that can be solved here and I can see this game growing repetitive and tiresome if you play it too often. It’s got dynamic character and longevity, but it’s going to need to rest and collect dust periodically. It’s too heavy, complex and long to be played often.
Conclusion
Through the Ages is a fantastic game, but its deep, complex and long so it’s definitely a game with a very particular audience in mind. This is not a casual game and will likely only appeal to experienced gamers who can appreciate its depth and don’t mind overcoming a steep learning curve both in learning how to play and learning how to play well.
That said this is a true gem in the rough, most Civilization board game implementations really do kind suck. Through the Ages and its little brother Nations handle things in a more abstract way, but actually capture the civilization genre better thematically and mechanically then more literal interpretations like the Eagle and Fantasy Flight Games versions.
I recommend it with the disclosure that you really need to enjoy heavy games like this. If you are looking for a more casual civilization building game I recommend Nations instead which is far more approachable to the casual gamer.
In the end however this game appeals to my gamer sensibilities, its deep, complex and extremely competitive, all the things I want a great civilization building game to be.
(2.5 out 5 Stars)
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