Through the Centuries: A New Story Review of Civilization Board Games
Through the Centuries: A New Story Review of Civilization Board Games
Tired of the boring old war and invasion? Through the centuries: the new story of civilization is a completely different game of civilization.
- The classic civilization game is even better now
- This version includes not only exceptional new art but also subtle ...
- 2-4 players
A brief overview over the centuries
Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization is an updated edition of the original Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization from 2015. It is a far-reaching strategy game in which players advance their civilization from antiquity to modern times to become the most influential.
Civilizations are based on culture, technology, diplomacy, the military and production, all of which will need to be managed effectively to reach the top.
Throughout the ages, it’s huge, but the game focuses primarily on mapping and managing resources. Whoever has the most cultural points in the end wins.
Variations and extensions
Through the centuries: new leaders and miracles
The only extension for the 2015 edition, New Leaders & Wonders, is a must for all regular regulars. As the name suggests, he collects many more leading cards, such as Cleopatra and Nelson Mandela. You'll also get 16 new wonders and many other cards to add some extra flavor to the game.
- This is your chance to make history! Over time, they ...
Through the digital age
The Czech Games Edition (CGE) team has also created a digital edition of Through the Ages for its New Leaders & Wonders Expand extension, which includes separate DLC (downloadable content).
This is probably one of the best editions of the social board game I’ve seen and one of the most suitable digital remake games. While playing, it takes away a lot of “maintenance” and allows you to focus on strategy instead of worrying about the sleeves breaking the cubes of an entire civilization across the table.
I always like to check digital editions of games because it’s usually easier to learn the rules and it’s a much cheaper way to test gaming.
Unpacking through the eyelids
What does it take to start and build a new civilization? Basically just a few cards and dice. Here's what you'll get in the Through the Ages box: A New Story of Civilization:
- 329 cards
- 254 cubes (36 white, 28 red, 109 yellow, 81 blue)
- 5 game boards
- 4 game boards
- 28 pieces of players
- Stickers 56
- 4 Short reference sheets
- 1 Rules
- 1 Manual
Through the ages, it’s a powerful game with lots of rules to learn. So I was very relieved to see the manual included in the box exclusively for first-time players. It conveniently takes you through every bend so everyone can learn all the different mechanics, all the way through. I found this very helpful and I think it is a great addition. And each player also gets a reference sheet.
In addition, Through The Ages mostly takes place with cards and dice placed on individual players ’boards or in common areas. These boards are really well set up and help control all of your civilization statistics and resources. However, there are many, so you will need a large play area in which you can put everything.
The artwork on the boards and cards was almost what one would expect. A few military leaders on the front box; rather dull pictures of farms and things on maps; lots of browns and greens. Although there is no real individuality, he definitely likes it.
In general, components are just what you need for a game that is likely to take you a few hours. Solid, not too shocking and with works of art that won’t hurt your head.
How to play through the centuries
Setup
There are four eras in the game: A, I, II, III and IV. The first three eras have one civilian and one military deck assigned to them, which should be mixed now.
Players choose a color and take the appropriate components. On the player board you will see six initial technologies: warriors, agriculture, bronze, philosophy, religion and despotism. To begin with, set assessment markets at zero for your indicators of science, culture, power and happiness.
You also receive a bunch of blue tokens representing your resources and yellow tokens representing your pool worker / population.
Finally, prepare a Card Card by splitting 13 cards from the “Age A” civilian deck face up. These are the cards that players will gain to shape their civilizations, such as technological advances, political leaders, or buildings.
Game overview
The game begins in ancient times, with the help of cards from the Age A deck to unlock actions. The cards fill up with each move, and when you run out of them, you start using the Age I deck - it represents advances to the next age and all the cool new technology and science that comes with it. Eventually they will be followed by age II etc.
Players will continue to try to get tickets, in addition to carrying out many other campaigns to increase their population, unlock technology, develop their means of production, develop culturally and much more. You will also gain military IDs that will allow players to declare war and perform other military maneuvers to injure opponents and gain loot.
When the Age III deck is emptied, the game is over.
Turn around
The turns consist of four phases that must be completed before moving on to the next player.
- Beginning of a sequence of turns
Before you do anything, make sure the line of cards is fully stocked. Then, if a war card is currently in play, resolve the war. You can skip this step in the first step.
- Politics phase
In turn, you can perform one of the following political (external) actions:
- Play the event card
- Play aggression - attack another player immediately with a military card
- Declare war - as above, but this is resolved in the next step.
- Offer a pact - use a pact card and offer terms to a competitor.
- Repeal of the pact
- Action phase
With the available civilian and military actions, you can perform any number of actions if you pay for them and have a card, including:
- Take a card from the line of cards.
- Increase your population.
- Build or upgrade your buildings.
- Develop technology.
- Build a phase of wonder.
- Build or upgrade military units.
There are also various other cards / actions you can play, such as declaring a revolution, playing tactical cards, or a lead card.
- Sequence of conclusions
The bulk of this plant is your production phase, in which you accumulate science and culture points. You also collect or lose resources according to different levels of indicators.
For example, the more workers you have in mines or on farms, the more resources you will gain. While a high level of corruption will drain your supplies. Even more worrying is that the unfortunate population could lead to rebellion.
You also pick up more military IDs at this stage. Unlike civilian cards, which are in the line of cards, they are secret.
War / aggression
When attacking a player, you need to have a higher level of power to win than them. If so, you are the winners and reap the benefits listed on the card.
In case of aggression, the attack happens immediately on your side and the opponent can build his power with defensive cards and repel you. If your attack fails, nothing happens.
On the other hand, a war attack has greater risks, but it can also have greater benefits. This happens at the beginning of the next turn, giving both players a chance to strengthen their strength. Once the war begins, the defender can no longer use defensive cards.
This time, the severity of the prizes depends on how big your win is. However, unlike aggression, if your attack fails, the defender receives rewards.
End of the game
Players continue in order, growing their civilizations, discovering new technologies, fighting with each other and creating spectacular wonders. When the lines of cards run out, the game ends.
Players add up their cultural points, including bonus points for their science, strength and population size, and so on. Whoever has the most cultural points is named Master of Ages!
Your first game in centuries
There are a few other cards to keep in mind:
Leader cards
These represent a kind of political leader and give you a special ability. Leonardo Da Vinci , for example, awards you additional scientific points. They are obtained from a line of cards and are activated as an action. You can only play one at a time.
Tactical maps
Tactical maps allow you to organize your units into armies. Armies have tactical power values that you can add to your total power values.
When played, it is placed in a common space and can then be copied by other civilizations.
Event tickets
If you play a card for an event in the policy phase, it is added to the deck of "future events". The card at the top of the 'current events' deck is then switched and resolved.
Events can range from a great harvest to a wave of crime. They will often affect multiple players. Often the weakest players will be hardest hit.
It could also be the discovery of new territory. In this case, the players are vying for a civilization that is colonizing it. This is an expensive affair, but it can give the colonizer big bonuses.
Advantages disadvantages
Advantages:
- One of the most extensive games of civilization.
- Fantastic thematic mechanics.
- Excellent repeatability.
Weaknesses:
- Lots of moving parts to keep on top.
- Difficult to present to newborns .
- There is no map to move or attack.
Through the Ages, it’s one of the most extensive civilizational games out there. How skillfully he inserts the theme into the mechanics is an incredibly rewarding experience for anyone who can endure the four hours or some time they will inevitably need.
I especially like the many realistic considerations that are often included in other civilizational games. For example, if you develop a new secret military tactic, it remains exclusive only to you until you start playing it. I mean, what if he stops other people from stealing your idea once he's on the battlefield?
Similarly, all events were thoroughly thought out. Like a wave of crime that affects only the weakest players - it may seem cruel, but the sad reality is that weaker societies tend to be less prone to crime.
It is incredibly extensive through the centuries.
But, no map?
A noticeable difference in other games for building civilization is that there is no map for colonization. Instead, military campaigns and colonization take place on the players ’board or are represented in different gaming areas. That means the game feels incredibly high. You are not carrying out tactical military maneuvers - everything has been assigned to the people on the ground - instead, it is your job to ensure that all aspects of your civilization create the resources and technology to take it away.
This more remote approach to military strategy is what has enabled such integrity over the centuries. As if he decided to take up military tactics as well, it would simply be too much.
Challenging game
Where over the centuries it turns out that the challenge is a new player. A handy guide is available for your first game, but you won’t want to play it every time someone new joins the table. As a result, with so many different moving parts, they are unlikely to feel extremely competitive in their opening game, which could make their experience worse for the first time.
But I’m sure they’ll find it worth playing again!
TL; DR
Throughout the centuries, it has been a comprehensive strategy game for building civilization, in which players compete for the most lasting impact on the world. The gameplay focuses primarily on tactical map preparation and skillful resource management as you balance the needs of your culture, technology, diplomacy, military and production.
Seemingly hundreds of things need to be monitored at the same time, this is not for those with the discouraged. But if your deep strategy civilization games are good, you’ll find better than that.
Conclusion: a verdict?
At first glance, it may feel through the ages similar to other games for building civilization ( Sid Meier ’s Civilization , for one). And of course there are similarities. But for me, time through the ages is far ahead of us. After all, BoardGameGeek can't be in 5th place for no reason…
Over the centuries, it has taken a "broader picture" approach, focusing on resource management, diplomacy, science and culture, rather than complex military campaigns. He rightly acknowledges that territorial expansion is only part of what makes civilization great (in the great sense of the word). And as such, there is no map to cross, which gives the game a different feel for others in the genre.
A diplomat, not a general
So if you find it more general - moving tanks around the map instead of dealing with top-down corruption in the agricultural department - you won’t fully mark this field through the ages.
But if you’re a fan of a powerful, all-encompassing civilization game, then look no further than Through the Eyelids. That's the boss. With so many buttons and levers to play with, it’s closest to becoming God in the form of board games.
- The classic civilization game is even better now
- This version includes not only exceptional new art but also subtle ...
- 2-4 players
Have you tried it over the centuries: a new story for civilization? We want to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment below and let us know your experience!
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