Mega Civilization

Mega Civilization is an empire-building strategy board game for 5-18 players that covers the development of empires through history, from the Stone Age to the Late Iron Age. In this colossal game, players lead their historic empire as they gain victory points by expanding their population, building cities, trading and developing their knowledge and culture. Notwithstanding its large scope, the game's core mechanics are straightforward and easy to learn. A key element in the game is player interaction as they position themselves on the map board and search for valuable commodities during interactive trading sessions. Scope The game was designed to be the biggest board game in the world that can be played in a single day in one room. In its full scope, the map board measures over 2 meters (80 inch) in width. Despite its ambitions about size and duration, Mega Civilization can be scaled down to as few as 5 players. The game includes a Short Game scenario, which reduces playing time through an accelerated start position. Gameplay Each player starts their empire in the Stone Age with a single population token on the board. As the game progresses, population will expand, spread over the board, fight some border conflicts and build cities. Cities bring resources and wealth, expressed in trade cards. The more cities players manage to build on the board, the more trade cards they receive. Trade cards are mainly valuable commodities, but sometimes turn out to be disastrous calamities. Trade Trading is the heart of the game, a social experience where all players interact with each other to optimize the value of their sets of commodities. In addition to the desired commodities, calamities are secretly traded as well, adding an additional layer to the trading dynamics. Once the trading phase has ended, players that end up with a calamity in their hand will suffer its effects. Develop Civilization Advances When the smoke of trading and resolving calamities has settled, players can decide how to spend the wealth gathered through trading. The game includes 51 different advances that can be developed, each of which provides benefits in the game to its holder. For example, Metal Working provides an advantage when fighting conflicts, Architecture facilitates city construction and Enlightenment reduces the impact of (civil) calamities. The 51 Civilization advances are divided into the categories Arts, Crafts, Science, Civics and Religion, each of which has specific powers. Each advance acquired by a player provides discounts to other advances that can be purchased later in the game, thereby creating a path of strategic decisions. The ultimate advance in the game, Wonder of the World, is only in reach for players who manage both their trading and purchasing strategy very well. Winning the Game The players who have best developed their position on the board whilst avoiding making enemies and defended their empire against natural or civic calamities and stand the test of time, will eventually gather the most victory points and compete for wining the game. After up to 12 hours of playing, that is. Expansions The West/The East - The Special Buildings (2024) is an expansion set that provides additional flavor to the game through 18 miniatures of ancient buildings historically associated with each of the empires in the game. These buildings can be built on the map board and provide additional benefits in play and victory points to their controller. The Silk Road is a versatile expansion set for all Mega Empires games. It includes additional maps that create geographical connections between The Far East - North , The Far East - South , and The East . It also adds components for 2 more empires, along with rules and components for various alternative game setups. This even allows for the combination of all basic games for up to 30 players! The Silk Road also includes The Age of Grandeur Module , which is an upgrade to The Special Buildings expansion(s). It