Through the ages

Through the ages
Game data
author	Vlaada Chvátil
publishing company	CzechBoardGames , FRED Distribution , Eagle Games , Pegasus Games
Publishing year	2006
Art	Board game (global strategy)
Teammates	2 to 4
Duration	120+ minutes
Age	from 12 years
Awards
International Gamers Award 2007: Winner [1] German Games Award 2009: 8th place

In the Changing Times - A History of Civilization (English original title: Through the Ages - A Story of Civilization ) is a strategy game by Vlaada Chvátil . The game was first released in 2006 in English and Czech by Czech Board Games and was sold out for a long time; In 2008 the German edition was published by Pegasus Spiele and in other languages.

description

The aim is to be the best of up to four players to steer the fate of a civilization through four ages from antiquity to modern times . Depending on the level of difficulty, the player must also take care of issues such as satisfaction, production, research and military strength. Most of this is done by playing cards in hand, of which there are two types: military cards and civil cards. The current form of government and various other factors such as leaders or wonders of the world determine which and how many civil and military actions a player has in his game phase. Ultimately, culture points are accumulated over time; the player with the most culture points at the end of the game wins. Overall, the game is very similar to a board game implementation of Civilization ; so also the leader card "game designer", which is available in the Age III, the silhouette of Sid Meier is.

Game board

There is a large game board and a small civilization board for each player. The game board is used to display the current game status and has draw bars for scientific and cultural progress per round as well as the current status of the scientific and cultural points. The current military strength is also displayed. It also serves as a card depository for cards that the players do not put on their civilization boards. The actual actions take place on the civilization boards that each player has in front of him. Cards are placed here and filled with pieces from the supply. The civilization board shows the current situation of the situation at any point in time: science, religion, agriculture, extraction of raw materials, military and form of government are printed on the board with the respective starting technologies, which as a result of technological progress are replaced by better ones in the course of the game by covering with the corresponding card become. The population tokens that occupy these cards produce the goods shown on the corresponding cards, but also cost more and more maintenance from a certain population. The goods produced are also stored on the card and can e.g. B. spent on acquiring new technologies or growing the population.

cards

There are two types of cards: civil cards and military cards. The civil cards contain:

Leaders who can only have one per age

Technologies for production facilities, urban developments, military units, states and forms of government,

Action cards that bring raw materials or discount actions,

Miracles, of which only one is allowed to be under construction.

At the beginning of a player phase, civil cards are revealed or drawn on the game board. A certain number of civil actions must be used to take these cards into hand. Civil actions are also required to play.

Among the military cards are:

Tactic cards that increase military strength,

Support cards that help defend or acquire colonies,

Colonies,

Events affecting several or all players

Aggression and wars,

Bonus cards that give (all players) culture points for certain achievements.

You receive military cards according to the number of military actions you have left at the end of the player phase. Most of the military cards can be played in a "future events" deck at the beginning of the turn, and instead can be played with a card from the "current events" deck. Various factors such as B. the form of government, miracle or leader determine how many civil and military actions the player has to buy cards.

Style of play

There are three different game modes: beginner, advanced and expert game.

The beginner's game only covers ancient times and Age I (Middle Ages) and is used to teach new players the basic mechanics of the game. Many game elements such as satisfaction, corruption and the interaction between the players are not yet integrated. The possibilities of receiving culture points are determined from the start. Even so, a beginner's game can take several hours for newbies.

The advanced game supplements the game with Age II (modern times) and adds numerous interaction elements such as aggression and sabotage. In the advanced game, decisions made in previous ages become noticeable for the first time. For example, units that were built in previous ages become obsolete. It is aimed at players who have mastered the mechanisms of the beginner game to such an extent that they can execute them quickly and at experienced players who want to play a less complex game due to lack of time. Nevertheless, a game takes several hours. In the advanced game, certain cards are turned up at the beginning that show what culture points are for at the end.

Finally, the expert game unfolds the full complexity of the game and adds the cards of Age III (Modern Age). The most important feature is the appearance of miracles that bring unique culture points. Later in the game, the players lay out event cards themselves, which can bring culture points for all players. Little by little, these cards are revealed and scored. Finally, all remaining future events are scored. Even experienced players with a quick style of play are busy here for several hours.

Playing

The game ends when the civil deck of the last age of the respective game mode has been played through. The final evaluation of the culture points takes place. The player with the most culture points wins the game.

Awards

The game received the International Gamers Award 2007 in the multiplayer category and reached 8th place at the German Games Prize 2009 with 718 points.

Web links

• Through the Ages in the game database BoardGameGeek (English)
• In the changing times in the Luding games database
• Pc game

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Through the Ages in the game database BoardGameGeek (English)
2. ↑ Winner of the German Games Prize ( Memento of the original from December 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the homepage of Friedhelm Merz Verlag  
3. ↑ Map comparison 2nd and 3rd edition
4. ↑ Recipients announced for 2007 IGA - GS category ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)