Review: Through the Ages – A New Story of Civilization

Introduction & Overview

Here is your chance to make history! You will start with a small tribe with the goal of building a great civilization. Expand your farms and mines to gain resources, progress technologically, advance your forms of government, and erect impressive wonders that will endure through the centuries. Choose wisely the leaders who will leave a legacy that allows your people to achieve greatness. A strong economy, technological advancements, a happy population, and a powerful military will be what your civilization needs to progress properly in every aspect. You may excel in one, but you should try not to neglect the rest. Adjust your strategy to the opportunities that come your way. Your rivals will seek to outmaneuver you through various tricks. But do not neglect the most important thing, as the civilization with the most cultural influence will be proclaimed the winner.

This is how we are presented with Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization, by the great Vlaada Chvátil. This is a revision of one of his greatest works, Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization (the use of the word “New” is key). This new version was published in 2015 by Czech Games Edition (CGE), to great public and critical acclaim. The illustrations are handled by Jakub Politzer (Adrenaline) and Milan Vavroň (Space Alert, Prophecy, or Shipyard).

The game is published in our country by Devir, which is important since the game is quite language-dependent (all cards have text). It allows games for 2 to 4 players, with a suggested minimum age of 14 years and an approximate duration of 1 hour per player. The recommended retail price is €60. For this review, a copy of the Spanish edition by Devir was used, which the publisher kindly provided as a review copy.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Go to Personal Opinion

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom), measuring 37.5×27.5×7.5 cm (the size of a large rectangular box like Shogun or Tigris & Euphrates), we find the following components:

• 329 Cards (50×73 mm.):
  • 20 Age A Civil Cards
  • 10 Age A Military Cards
  • 53 Age I Civil Cards
  • 45 Age I Military Cards
  • 53 Age II Civil Cards
  • 50 Age II Military Cards
  • 53 Age III Civil Cards
  • 45 Age III Military Cards
• 4 Player Boards (thin cardboard)
• Culture Track Board (cardboard)
• Science Track Board (cardboard)
• Military Track Board (cardboard)
• Current Decks Tile (cardboard)
• Card Row Board (cardboard)
• 28 Markers (7 of each color: blue, red, yellow, and green).
• 255 Cubes (plastic):
  • 36 White Cubes for Civil Actions
  • 28 Red Cubes for Military Actions
  • 109 Yellow Cubes for Population
  • 82 Blue Cubes for Resources
• 4 Reference Sheets (cardstock)
• Reference Material
• Rulebook
• The Code of Laws (Reference)

How to Play

Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization is a civilization game in which each player manages their own empire through several historical eras, from Antiquity to the Modern Era. Games are played in clockwise turns over several rounds and begin with an optional political phase to prepare events, play aggressions, declare wars, or offer pacts. Subsequently, in the action phase, players use their civil and military actions to acquire cards from a central row, increase their population, develop technologies, or build and upgrade farms, mines, urban buildings, and military units, as well as the stages of their wonders. At the end of their turn, an automatic sequence is executed to discard excess military cards, check if an uprising breaks out due to discontent, produce science, culture, food, and resources, and replenish spent actions. During the replenishment of the central card row, the end of an era can be triggered, leading to the loss of outdated cards and yellow tokens. The game ends at the conclusion of Age III, at which point the remaining future events and end-of-game bonuses are resolved. The player who accumulates the highest amount of culture points will be the winner.

Key Concepts

Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization is a fairly extensive game conceptually speaking. That is why the manual uses a three-stage explanation for progressive learning. However, we will discuss all aspects involved in a full game, which is how the game truly makes sense.

Let’s start with the key aspects of each civilization. Throughout the game, players will research technologies that will allow them to build various types of buildings and units that will modify certain parameters.

Let’s start with Culture. This parameter reflects the prosperity of a civilization. This is why this parameter determines the winner at the end of the game. It is represented by a lyre symbol (a musical instrument). To keep track of these points, we have a double track with spaces numbered in groups of 5. The upper track (from 0 to 150) represents the amount of culture points accumulated by players. The lower track (from 0 to 40) represents the culture rating, where players will track the culture points they generate at the end of their turn.

Science works in an analogous way. It is a reflection of our civilization’s efforts to progress technologically. These science points will be used to discover new technologies. Once again, we find a board with a double track of numbered spaces. The upper one (from 0 to 25) represents the total science points accumulated by players. The lower one (from 0 to 25) represents the science rating, where players will track the science points they will accumulate on the upper track at the end of their turn.

Slightly different is the board that reflects the Military Strength of each civilization. We find a track that runs along 3 of the 4 sides of the board with spaces numbered from 0 to 50. On the remaining side, there are three spaces to place the decks for future events, current events, and past events. Additionally, a space is provided in the center of the board to place tactics cards.

Let’s move on to discuss the Player Board. Printed on it are certain basic cards that we won’t go into deeply right now, as they will be discussed later:

• In the upper area of the board, we find 5 of the 6 basic cards illustrated: Warriors (Infantry), Agriculture (Farm), Bronze (Mine), Philosophy (Lab), and Religion (Temple).
• Just below, we find a small diagram showing the steps to perform at the end of a player’s turn.
• To the right of this diagram, we find the sixth card illustrated on the board, Despotism (Government).
• Below the end-of-turn diagram, we find the resource bank. Initially, it consists of 3 sections with 5, 5, and 6 spaces for blue cubes. Players will take cubes from right to left and from top to bottom as they need them. Likewise, when returning them, they will be placed from bottom to top and from left to right. The last space of each of these sections shows a negative value representing corruption, which will strike the state if too many resources are in circulation.
• To the right of these banks, there is an area for yellow tokens, representing idle workers. These workers can be moved to different spaces to represent military units, resource production buildings, or urban buildings.
• Finally, in the lower area, we find the population bank along with the happiness track. We encounter a series of sections that show the following elements:
  • Each section has 2 or 4 spaces to hold cubes.
  • The last space of each section shows a negative value representing our civilization’s consumption of food.
  • Each section shows on its upper margin 1 or 2 values of the happiness track inside a circle.
  • Lastly, each section shows a numerical value on the lower margin corresponding to the cost of increasing population, that is, moving the rightmost cube from these banks to the idle workers space.

During the game, we will manage four types of colored cubes. Each represents different concepts. We will start by discussing two of them (yellow and blue), leaving the other two (white and red) for later.

The yellow cubes represent our civilization’s population. These cubes can be located on the happiness track (not yet considered population), in the idle workers space (ready to be used), or on military technology cards, production buildings, or urban buildings. A yellow cube on one of these cards represents one unit of what the card shows.

Regarding the population track mentioned earlier, we must talk about the concept of Happiness in the civilization. On one hand, we have the minimum happiness required for the population to be content. This is determined by the leftmost completely empty section. The happiness marker must have reached or surpassed this position. Otherwise, the civilization will be discontent. Even so, if the difference between the happiness rating and the happiness required is equal to or less than the number of idle workers, there will be no uprisings. Otherwise, the population will go on strike, producing nothing at the end of the turn.

The blue cubes represent the goods that players will generate and manage throughout the game. Each population cube in a production building will produce a good represented by one of these cubes. Its value in food or resources will depend on the building the population cube is on. As we spend resources, we will return them to the bank or move them down a card to represent the remaining value.

Let’s move on to discuss the different types of cards upon which the development of a game rests. First, a distinction must be made between the different decks. Primarily, there are two types of cards: civil cards (gold back) and military cards (dark back).

On the other hand, each type of card is divided into a series of decks representing the different Ages through which our civilization will pass: A (initial), I, II, and III. There is an Age IV that comes into play as soon as the last deck is exhausted, but there are no specific cards for it, as it is only active during the final turns.

Civil cards are obtained from a general card row that will progress as turns pass. The positions in this row determine the cost in action points for a given card. This is the purpose of the card row board. Additionally, it marks which cards will be removed at the end of the turn based on the number of players if they remain on said board.

Let’s analyze the different types of cards. We begin with Action Cards (yellow background). These are cards with a yellow background that represent a specific action applied as soon as they are played. After this, they are discarded and returned to the box. The only quirk of this type of card is that, unlike the rest, it cannot be played on the same turn it was acquired.

The next type of card represents Production Buildings (brown background). These are cards on a brown background that represent Farms and Mines in which we will accumulate food (wheat sack symbol) and resources (stone symbol) respectively. These cards show the following elements:

• In the upper left corner appears the cost in science points to play the card as a technology.
• In the center of the upper area appears the Age (level) to which the era belongs.
• In the upper right corner appears a symbol representing the type of building (wheat ear for farms, pickaxe and hammer for mines).
• In the center of the card appears an illustration representing the type of building.
• In the left area, slightly below the middle of the card, we find the construction cost of a new building of this type.
• Finally, in the lower area, we find the production rating of each of the buildings.

Each time we play a new technology of the farm or mine type, we will place it overlapping the last one played of the corresponding type, so that the construction costs and production ratings of all played cards are visible.

There are no building limits on these cards, and each will produce an amount of resources corresponding to the production rating indicated on the card.

We continue with Urban Buildings cards (grey background). These buildings can raise science, culture, happiness, and military strength ratings. Let’s look at their anatomy:

• In the upper left corner appears the cost in science points to play the card as a technology.
• In the center of the upper area appears the Age (level) to which the era belongs.
• In the upper right corner appears a symbol representing the type of urban building (Flask for Laboratories, Chalice for Temples, Book for Libraries, Mask for Theatres, and Laurel Wreath for Arenas).
• In the center of the card appears an illustration representing the type of building.
• In the left area, slightly below the middle of the card, we find the construction cost of a new building of this type.
• Finally, in the lower area, the modification of the different ratings in a symbolic way (lyre for culture points, lightbulb for science points, smiley face for happiness, and shield with sword for military strength).

A quirk of urban buildings is that they will have a limit per type (regardless of technological level), depending on the government system (we will see this later).

Like production buildings, each new urban building technology we play must be stacked on top of those of the same type, leaving the construction cost and the benefits provided visible.

As the last type of card that makes use of population cubes, we have Military Technology Cards (intense red background). The cubes on these cards will represent military units of the types indicated on them. Let’s look at their anatomy:

• In the upper left corner appears the cost in science points to play the card as a technology.
• In the center of the upper area appears the Age (level) to which the era belongs.
• In the upper right corner appears a symbol representing the type of military unit (Soldier with Shield and Sword for Infantry, Horse for Cavalry, Cannon for Artillery, and Airplane for Air Forces).
• In the center of the card appears an illustration representing the type of unit.
• In the left area, slightly below the middle of the card, we find the cost to build the unit.
• Finally, in the lower area, the modification of the strength provided by each unit (each yellow cube) on the card.

An important detail that affects these three types of cards (production buildings, urban buildings, and military units) is that cubes can upgrade to a higher technology card by paying only the difference in cost. What cannot be done is downgrading a cube to a lower level. We would have to destroy it and build it anew.

We continue with Special Technology cards (light blue background). These cards represent various advancements that provide improvements to the civilization without the need to build buildings, simply by playing the card. Let’s look at their anatomy:

• In the upper left corner appears the cost in science points to play the card as a technology.
• In the center of the upper area appears the Age (level) to which the era belongs.
• In the upper right corner appears a symbol representing the type of technology (Scales for Civil, Fist for Military, Compass for Exploration, and Column for Construction).
• In the center of the card appears an illustration representing the type of technology.
• Finally, in the lower area, the modification of the different ratings in a symbolic way that the card applies (military strength, science, exploration bonus, action cubes, etc.).

If a player plays one of these cards from a higher Age while having one of the same type from a previous Age in play, the new one replaces the old one (they do not accumulate).

We also have Leader cards (green background). These leaders will provide a certain advantage to the player while they are commanding their civilization:

• In the middle of the upper area, we find the Age (level) to which the leader belongs.
• Just below appears the leader’s name along with an illustration of their bust.
• In the center of the card, the effect that the leader applies while in play is specified.
• Finally, on the bottom banner, we can find certain modifiers that the leader applies (military strength, culture, happiness, action points, etc.).

We also have Wonders (purple background). These are unique structures that only one player can have and are built in phases. Let’s see their anatomy:

• In the middle of the upper area, we find the Age (level) to which the wonder belongs.
• Just below we have the title of the Wonder, along with an illustration representing it.
• Next, we find a series of numbers next to the resource symbol. Each of these figures represents a construction phase of the wonder and the corresponding cost in resources.
• Below we find the effect of the wonder (if any applies).
• Finally, in the lower area, we find the modifiers on ratings and action points that the wonder applies.

Let’s move on to Governments (orange background). These cards determine the regime under which our civilization acts. During the game, a player can only have a single form of government, and changing from one to another will have a cost. Let’s look at the anatomy of the card:

• In the upper left corner, we find a double cost in science points. The first, higher value, is the cost of a peaceful change, allowing the new form of government to be applied directly in the current turn. The second is the cost of a revolution, which will mean being unable to execute any more civil actions for the rest of the turn.
• In the center of the upper part, we find the Age (level) to which the card belongs.
• In the center of the card, we find an illustration representing characteristic buildings of countries where said regime was important.
• In the lower-left area, we find a certain number of white and red cubes that determine the number of civil and military action points a player will have thanks to the government system.
• In the lower area, we can find modifiers for the different ratings (military strength, science, culture, or happiness).
• Finally, in the lower-right corner, we find the maximum number of urban buildings for a given building type (regardless of the Age of the technology it is placed on).

This is a good time to explain the use of action cubes. On one hand, we have white cubes, which represent the civil action points a player will have available on their turn. With these points, they can execute actions of varying costs, all focused on the technological development and structures of their civilization. The number of civil action points a player possesses will also function as a hand limit for civil cards; that is, you can never have more civil cards in hand than total civil action points available (whether spent or not).

On the other hand, we have red cubes, which represent the military action points a player will have available on their turn. With these points, they can execute military actions, all related to units or tactics, in addition to being used to declare wars or aggressions. Analogously to the white cubes, military action points determine the hand limit for military cards, although in this case, you can temporarily have more military cards in hand. There will simply be a moment during the turn when the player must discard down if they exceed this limit.

With this, all the cards that form the civil decks have been introduced. Now it is the turn of the cards that form the military decks.

We begin with Tactics Cards (dark red background). These cards represent formations, specifying a quantity and type of units. For each set of matching military units, we can increase our strength value. Let’s look at the anatomy:

• In the center of the upper part appears the Age (level) to which the tactic belongs.
• Just below appears an illustration representative of the era in which it was important.
• Below we have the number and type of units required to apply the tactic via unit type symbols.
• Finally, in the lower area, we find the strength value that the tactic applies. Some tactics will show two values, one higher than the other. The higher one will apply if all units composing the group are not outdated (they belong to the current age or the one just prior), and the lower one will apply if any of the units in the group are outdated.

The next type of card is Events and Territories (dark green background). These are actually two types of cards, though their use is very similar:

• In the upper left corner, we find the political action symbol (government crown).
• In the center of the upper area, we find the Age to which the event belongs. This is important because every time a player plays an event, they will score culture points based on this Age.
• Next, we find an illustration representative of the event or territory, with the corresponding title just below.
• In the next box, we find the effect of the event or the immediate benefit of the territory.
• Finally, in the case of territories, on the bottom banner, we find a permanent benefit that modifies the civilization’s ratings (population cubes, resource cubes, military strength, happiness, etc.).

The use of these cards is somewhat peculiar since they are not played directly; instead, three decks will exist. One will be the current events deck, configured at the start of the game. Another will be the future events deck, which is where players will place the events they play. And another will be the past events deck, where applied events are placed. When a player inserts an event into the future deck, one from the current events deck is revealed. Only when the current events deck is exhausted does the future events deck become the new current events deck.

Additionally, if the revealed card is an event, its effect is simply resolved, whereas if it is a territory, players will participate in an auction of military strength points to see who takes it and its benefits (being forced to sacrifice military units). Some cards show a ship symbol, representing bonuses in colonizing territory. A player can never bid a higher amount than they can cover, whether by sacrificing units, discarding defense cards, or applying technology bonuses.

We also have Pacts (dark blue background). These cards represent agreements between two civilizations, with both obtaining certain benefits (not necessarily identical):

• In the upper left corner, we find the political action symbol (government crown).
• In the center of the upper area, we find the Age (level) to which the pact belongs.
• Next, an illustration representative of it, with the title just below.
• On both sides of the title, two letters, A and B, may appear in case the benefits of the pact are not the same for both parties. In this way, the pact can be oriented to indicate which player is party A and which player is party B.
• Finally, in the lower box, the effect that applies to the parties.

We also have Aggressions (beige background) and Wars (black background). These cards represent military conflicts between two players:

• In the upper left corner, next to the political action symbol (government crown), we find the number of military action points needed to play the aggression/war.
• In the center of the upper banner, we find the Age (level) to which the aggression/war belongs.
• Next, we find an illustration representative of the card along with its title.
• In the lower box, the effects caused by the aggression (in case of success) or the war are indicated.

There are two substantial differences between an Aggression and a War. The first is executed immediately, while Wars are declared and resolved on the next turn of the proclaimer. The second difference is that, against aggressions, the defender can increase their military strength momentarily, whereas in wars the strength possessed by the sides at the moment of resolution is unchangeable.

The last type of card left for us to comment on are Defense Cards. These cards represent a strength bonus when defending against aggressions (upper half, with shield and swords symbol) or colonizing territories (lower half, with ship symbol).

Players will have a series of markers to indicate their respective values on the various tracks, as well as a flag token to mark the tactic currently applied to their armies.

Ages will succeed one another as the civil card decks run out. At this moment, there will be a minor transition in which players will lose population cubes from their bank (representing the difficulty of increasing population as progress advances). Certain cards will also become outdated (those belonging to an Age that is neither the new one entering nor the one just prior): any card in hand, uncompleted wonders, leaders, and pacts.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

1. We place the track boards (culture, science, military, current decks, and card row) on the table.
2. Each player chooses a color and receives a civilization board and the corresponding markers.
3. Each player places yellow cubes on all spaces of their population track, plus a series of cubes on basic technology cards (1 on warrior, 2 on farms, 2 on mines, and 1 on labs). They also place one cube in the idle workers space.
4. Each player fills their resource banks with blue cubes.
5. Each player receives 4 white cubes and 2 red cubes.
6. Players place their markers on the following spaces:
   • Culture Points Marker on the starting space of the culture points track.
   • Culture Rating Marker on the starting space of the culture rating track.
   • Science Points Marker on the starting space of the science points track.
   • Science Rating Marker on the value 1 space of the science rating track.
   • The happiness marker on the value 0 space of the happiness track on their personal board.
   • The military strength marker on the value 1 space of the military strength track.
   • The tactics flag in the center of the military board.
7. Each player receives a reference sheet.
8. Cards are separated by deck types and Ages (4 civil decks and 4 military decks).
9. From each deck, cards that do not apply to the number of players are removed (also pacts in 2-player games).
10. Each deck is shuffled separately.
11. The Age I, II, and III decks are set aside.
12. The Age A civil deck is placed on the current decks tile, and the card row board is filled by revealing cards from it.
13. The current events deck is prepared by drawing 2 cards plus as many as there are players in the game (in total, 4 for 2 players, 5 for 3, and 6 for 4), and it is placed in the corresponding space on the military strength board. The remaining military cards from deck A are returned to the box.
14. Finally, the starting player is chosen.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization consists of an indeterminate number of rounds in which each player will enjoy a turn, which they will resolve completely before it is the next player’s turn. Each of these turns is composed of 4 phases. However, the first round is slightly different from the remaining ones. Let’s see how a player’s turn is resolved.

Phase I: Start of Turn

This phase is purely maintenance. The following steps are performed:

1. Replenish Cards:
   • NOTE: In the players’ first turn, this phase does not apply.
   • Cards located in the starting positions marked for the corresponding number of players are discarded (the first for 4 players, the first 2 for 3 players, the first 3 for 2 players).
   • Cards that still remain on the board are shifted to the left without leaving gaps.
   • As many cards as gaps remain on the right are revealed until the board is full.
   • If during this phase the civil card deck runs out, the Age change is immediately applied:
     • Players remove the 2 rightmost yellow cubes from their population track.
     • Players discard cards from their hand (civil and military):
     • Those of Age A when entering Age II.
     • Those of Age I when entering Age III.
     • Those of Age II when entering Age IV.
   • On the second turn of the first player, the card row will be replenished with cards from civil deck A and, immediately, the Starting Age will end, removing card deck A and placing the Age I decks.
   • In the same way, the following cards in play are removed following the same pattern: uncompleted wonders and leaders. The rest of the cards remain in play, even if they are outdated.
   • After this, the military card deck is removed from the current decks tile, and the civil and military decks of the new Age are placed on it. If spaces were missing to refill the civil card row, cards from the new civil deck are revealed.
2. Resolve War: if the player declared a war on the previous turn, it is resolved at this moment. Players compare their strength levels, and the one with the higher value is proclaimed the winner, applying the effects indicated on the card. After this, the card is removed.
3. Share Tactic: if the player on turn put a tactic card into play in the previous round, at this moment they shift it to the military strength board, so it will be available to the rest of the players.

Phase II: Political Action

In this phase, the player on turn can, if they wish, carry out a political action. Any of these actions requires the use of a military card. If they do not want to execute any political action or cannot (lacking cards or the necessary points to play them), this phase is skipped. It is also not executed on the first turn, as players do not have military cards in their hand.

The political actions a player can carry out are:

• Prepare an Event: the player places an event in the future events deck and scores as much culture as the card’s level. Next, the top card of the current events deck is revealed:
  • If it is an event, its effect is applied. In case of referring to a player’s strength, ties will be resolved in turn order. In 2-player games, if reference is made to the two weakest or strongest civilizations, only the weakest or strongest will be taken into account.
  • If it is a territory, its colonization is resolved. Starting with the active player and continuing clockwise, players can bid a certain strength level to take the territory or pass (dropping out of the auction). A player cannot bid more strength units than they can cover (sacrificing units, technology bonuses, and defense cards), and they must sacrifice at least one unit. The player who wins the territory will receive the immediate bonus and modify their ratings based on the permanent bonus.
• Play an Aggression: the player plays an aggression card against a player, spending the military action points indicated on it. The attacked player can increase their strength level momentarily by discarding military cards, at a rate of 1 point per card, though they cannot discard more cards than the total military action points the player currently has. They can also discard defense cards. If the defender equals or exceeds the attacker’s strength, the aggression has no effect. Otherwise, the effect of the aggression is applied. If both players had a pact with each other, it is canceled.
• Declare a War: the player declares a war against a rival, spending the military action points indicated on the card. The card is placed facing the affected player, but it will not be resolved until the next turn of the declaring player. If both players had a pact with each other, it is canceled. Important: in the last round, a war cannot be declared.
• Propose a Pact: if the player has pact cards in their hand, they can propose to a player to establish an alliance. If the latter accepts, the card is placed on the table. If the pact identifies the parties, the players must agree on which party is which and orient the card so that A and B point to the players assuming each role. In the event that the player rejects the pact, it is not lost and remains in the player’s hand. Even so, the political action will have been spent.
• Cancel a Pact: the player cancels a pact in which they are involved (whether proposed by them or not). This is removed from the game and its effect no longer applies.
• Resign: the player can withdraw. If a war had been declared, the rival is considered the winner and gains 7 culture points. The rest of the players (if 2 or 3 remain) continue playing, with the caveat that, as they draw cards, they must check if they belong to a game with the current number of players. Otherwise, they are immediately removed.

Phase III: Civil/Military Actions

This is the phase in which the outcome of the game is truly decided. In this part of the turn, the player will have a series of action points, both civil and military, to carry out a series of actions with a specific cost:

• Civil Actions (white cubes):
  • Take a Card from the Row that is not a wonder (1, 2, or 3 civil action points). Depending on the position of the card, the player will spend a number of civil action points to take it into their hand.
    • Recall that at no time can a player have more civil cards than total action points available to them at that moment (spent or not).
    • You also cannot take technology cards that you already have in play or in hand.
    • You also cannot take a second leader from the same age, even if the first has been discarded.
  • Begin Construction of a Wonder (1, 2, or 3 civil action points plus as many points as completed wonders the player has). Depending on the position of the card, the player will spend a number of civil action points to take the Wonder card from the row and begin its construction, placing it turned 90º in their own play area. Additionally, they will have to spend as many additional points as completed wonders they already had. This action cannot be executed if the player already has a wonder under construction.
  • Increase Population (1 civil action point): the player moves the rightmost yellow cube from their population track to the idle workers space, additionally paying the amount of food indicated in the section where the cube was located.
    • If no yellow cubes remain on the population track, this action cannot be performed.
  • Build a Building (1 civil action point): the player moves a population cube from the idle workers space to one of the technology cards, additionally paying the amount of resources indicated on it. Once built, if it is an urban building, the corresponding ratings must be updated.
    • It must be remembered that you cannot have more urban buildings of a certain type (laboratory, library, temple, arena, or theatre) than those indicated by the government system, regardless of the technological level of each.
  • Upgrade a Building (1 civil action point): the player upgrades the level of one of their buildings, moving it to a higher technology card, paying only the difference in resource cost between both levels. If an urban building has been updated, the corresponding ratings must be modified.
  • Destroy a Building (1 civil action point): the player moves a population cube situated on a production building or urban building card to the idle workers space. After this, they update their civilization’s ratings.
  • Play a Leader (1 civil action point): the player places a leader from their hand into their play area, which begins to apply its effect from that very moment. Some leaders modify the civilization’s ratings.
    • In the event that the player already had a leader from a previous era, the player recovers the civil action point used, but it is necessary to have the point available to be able to play it.
  • Build a Stage of a Wonder (1 civil action point): the player returns to the bank as many resources as indicated by the next level of the wonder to be built, placing a blue cube over the figure to indicate its execution. If it is the last level of the wonder, its construction finishes, the blue cubes are returned to the bank, it is placed vertically, and it begins to apply its effects.
  • Develop a Technology (1 action point): the player plays a technology card (military, production buildings, urban buildings, special technologies, or government form without revolution) by paying the cost in science points. If it is a government form or a special technology, the civilization’s ratings will need to be updated.
    • If the player already had a special technology of the same type as the one being played, the new one replaces the previous one, which is returned to the box. The same occurs with forms of government.
  • Declare a Revolution (all civil action points and must be the first and only civil action of the turn): a government card is played, paying only the science points of the lower value indicated on the card. The civilization’s ratings are updated, including action point cubes. Military actions will still be available.
  • Play an Action Card (1 civil action point): the player plays an action card from their hand obtained in previous turns. It applies its effect and is discarded.
• Military Actions (red cubes):
  • Build a Unit (1 military action point): the player pays the resource costs of the unit to be built and moves a population cube from the idle workers space to the corresponding technology card. After this, they update their ratings.
    If the unit built is of the Air Forces type, it can be associated with an army, doubling the strength of its tactic.
  • Upgrade a Unit (1 military action point): the player moves a cube placed on a military technology card to another of the same type but a higher level, paying only the difference in construction costs. After this, they update their ratings.
  • Disband a Unit (1 military action point): the player moves a population cube located on a military technology card to the idle workers space. After this, they update their ratings.
  • Play a Tactic (1 military action point): the player plays a tactic card from their hand into their play area and places their flag token on it. From this moment on, this is the tactic that applies to their armies, modifying the strength rating accordingly.
  • Copy a Tactic (2 military action points): the player places their flag token on one of the tactics on the military strength board. From this moment on, this is the tactic that applies to their armies, modifying the strength rating accordingly.

This phase ends once a player uses all their action points or decides they do not want to do anything else even if they have points left.

Phase IV: End of Turn

Once again, we encounter a maintenance phase consisting of the following steps:

1. Discard Military Cards: the player must discard military cards down to a maximum of the number of military action points they have in total at this moment.
2. Production: if the civilization does not revolt (the difference between the happiness rating and the happiness required is greater than the number of cubes in the idle workers space), the following steps are performed:
   • Science and Culture: science and culture points indicated on the corresponding tracks are accumulated.
   • Corruption: the player must lose as many resources as indicated by the visible negative value space in the bank (if no value is visible, no resources are lost). If they do not have enough resources, they must lose food to fulfill the corruption requirements.
   • Food Production: the player moves a resource cube to each farm technology card for each population cube present on them.
   • Consumption: the player must pay the food consumption requirements indicated in the leftmost negative value space of the population track. If enough food is not available, 4 culture points are lost for each unit of food not satisfied.
   • Resource Production: the player moves a resource cube to each mine technology card for each population cube present on them.
3. Draw Military Cards: the player draws as many cards from the military deck as military action points they did not use on this turn. If the military card deck runs out, the military card discard pile of the current Age is shuffled and the deck is formed again.
4. Replenish Actions: the player has all action points available again.

After this, the turn passes to the player on the left.

Game End

The final round is triggered the moment Age IV is entered, that is, when the civil card deck of Age III runs out.

• If this happens at the start of the turn of any player other than the starting player, the round is completed and the next one will be the final round.
• If this happens at the start of the turn of the starting player, this will be the final round.

Once all players have enjoyed their turn in this final round, all events from the current and future event decks are evaluated.

The player with the highest amount of victory points will be the winner. In case of a tie, victory is shared.

Variants

• Short Game:
  • Setup: only the first and second Ages are played, but applying the same rules. Additionally, during setup, all events from the Age III military deck are taken and 2 are dealt to each player, who will keep them hidden and without looking at them until the end of Age I. At this moment, 3 more events from Age III will be revealed, placing them visible in the center of the table. An Age III War over Culture card is also taken along with the 3 previous events. The rest of the Age III cards are left in the box.
  • Development: when a war is declared, a card from the hand must be used, but use can be made of the War over Culture card located in the center of the table. When resolving that war, the card in the center of the table will be discarded, although all players will have the opportunity to declare that same war until the first one is resolved.
  • Scoring: at the end of Age I, each player checks their 2 Age III event cards and will discard one and keep the other. In the final scoring, each player will score 6 culture points per completed Age II wonder. Then the 3 visible Age III events are resolved and, finally, the events held by the players are mixed and resolved one by one.
• Peaceful Game: aggression, war, and pact cards are removed from the military decks. Strength will still be important, but solely for events and colonization.

Personal Opinion

Today I have a difficult tocho-review for several reasons, although mainly because it is a reissue of a game we already put under the microscope and which, apparently, has not undergone significant enough changes to justify a new review. I say apparently because, if I stop for a second, I do find enough weighty reasons to come back and give you a whole spiel about what is probably the masterpiece of the great Vlaada Chvátil (alongside Mage Knight, or so his fans say).

And, although it may be surprising, the main reason has nothing to do directly with this new version, but with the current version of myself. I have always had impulses to redo old tocho-reviews and give them a facelift, as I consider my current style to be quite far from the one I had in my beginnings. And there are grand games that perhaps deserve an entry matching their caliber (especially in terms of photography). The closest I got was with the tocho-review of Caverna due to its similarity to Agricola, but deep down, they are different games.

So this reissue, which Devir has kindly provided, presents a perfect opportunity to, in part, do exactly this with one of my favorite games. If you are curious (and have a lot of free time), here is the link to the tocho-review of Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization. But today it’s time to analyze Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization.

For this New Civilization Spiel to have a point of originality, I will start by tearing into the defects of the Czech author’s work. Because yes, friends, Through the Ages, both in its original version and in the edition at hand, has certain characteristics that are not desirable at all, although it is also true that they are hard to solve. Those of us who love this game (my bias is showing) practically overlook these flaws, but for many others, they can turn the game into a true hell or, worse still, into nonsense.

The first of them, perhaps the most recurring in all reviews analyzing this title, is the issue of downtime, especially in games with more than two players. If you know the game—or if you don’t and you’ve swallowed the insufferable spiel of more than 7,000 words from before (I congratulate you)—you’ll know that each turn is not a simple thing to resolve. The number of options can be overwhelming, and decision-making can drag on longer than it should. One of the downsides of the action points mechanic. Between overthinking, backtracking, doubts, etc., a player can perfectly take around 5 minutes to resolve their turn. If this average is maintained by the rest of the players, the game will easily surpass 4 hours. Once the system is mastered, the usual thing is to add 1 hour per player to the game. On some occasions, this interval can be slightly reduced, but it is not standard.

The next big problem, parallel to the previous one, is the issue of upkeep and management. Practically half the time spent on a turn is lost in setting the stage for the player to perform their actions and, subsequently, produce. Both processes could be automated or carried out by a dealer we hire. Imagine we go to the casino and, in addition to making complicated decisions based on statistics and twisted algorithms when placing chips on the layout, we had to spin the wheel, throw the ball, collect the chips from the losers, and deliver the winnings to the winner. Well, that same thing happens on every turn. I have the courtesy to handle this maintenance for players facing this design for the first time, to avoid oversights and speed up the story. But that’s just it, I act as a player and a dealer. That shuffling of cards and cubes is truly tedious, and I would gladly pay extra if a trained monkey came in the box to take care of everything. Those who argue that this design feels designed for a video game rather than a board game are not wrong.

The last major drawback that many players find in Through the Ages is the obligation to maintain a balanced progression. No fundamental aspect of the civilization should be neglected: resource production (economy), scientific research, culture, happiness, or population. But if we had to highlight one aspect that, under no circumstances, can we neglect, it is our military potential. Not so much because it is imperative to develop a fearsome armed force, but to avoid falling behind and becoming a punching bag for the rest of the players to beat on relentlessly until we feel like throwing the game out the window. It is true that, after all, it is a faithful reflection of history; that is, the great civilizations that dominated the face of the earth were those whose weapon potential was superior. But I can understand that for a board game it can be frustrating to spend more than 2 hours moving cubes and managing cards only to see everything done up to that point ruined by an oversight.

Fine. If you have made it this far and have not yet dismissed the best-ranked civilization game on BGG, then, dear friend, you are in luck. And you are because, in this case, the ranking does not lie. Through the Ages is a true masterpiece when it comes to abstracting a civilization game. Specifically, we are talking about abstracting what has probably been the most-played digital civilization game throughout the entire modern era we’ve lived through. I am talking about none other than Sid Meier’s Civilization. It is no coincidence that one of the leaders available in the deck is the designer from Ontario (Canada) himself.

Through the Ages is, for me and many others, the best implementation of the turn-based system that the computer game presents. And yet there is a board game implementation of the video game itself, using the license and under the same name. It is so for a reason that, a priori, could even be considered a flaw. And it is precisely what differentiates the board game based on the video game from the title at hand. I am referring to the almost complete elimination of the exploration factor. The game published back in the day by Edge Entertainment is ambitious in the sense that it tries to transfer the video game to the tabletop in almost all its aspects, including the spatial location of the players’ civilizations and units on a map.

However, Mr. Chvátil realized back then that what eurogamers like is moving cubes from one side to another. In this way, he reduced the territorial component to its minimum expression, which will only be represented by cards simulating conquerable territories that provide certain benefits (some one-off and others permanent). Thus, he placed the entire conceptual load on the development of the civilization.

This allows a player to dedicate body and soul to optimizing their progress. A slow but continuous progress, in which, turn by turn, we will take small steps toward achieving maximum splendor. This is the soul of Through the Ages. Time. That on each turn one doesn’t really have the feeling that barely anything has changed compared to the next. But, if we look back, we will see that every good decision has weighed heavily on the point where our people find themselves now. Enjoying this feeling will be what allows us to overlook the drawbacks mentioned earlier (downtime, micro-management, and mandatory balanced development).

When I say that the player puts their body and soul into the game, it is almost literal. Achieving victory can cost blood, sweat, and tears. We find ourselves with a design that is complex at a conceptual level and even more so in its development. It is a game in which many decisions made may appear to be inconsequential when, reality is, every action point counts. Not having taken that action card at that moment, not having held out a turn to have played a different technology card, not having been proactive when facing events. Tragedy lurks around the corner.

But perhaps the highest level of demand imposed on the player is knowing what the card decks offer, especially the civil ones, since all cards from these are going to appear in the row. Playing blindly, without knowing what future eras hold, is synonymous with defeat (and shows that one has barely played). To master this title, it is essential to digest it slowly, game by game, disappointment by disappointment, especially if we start playing with someone who already has experience in it. In this case, one will have the impression of being a small child whose father is teaching them to play chess for the first time. It is easy to grasp the movement of the pieces, but we will not have the capacity to see the board from a higher level to understand what is happening until it is too late. That overview will only be achieved with experience.

This is because, despite having a conceptual load well above average in the eurogame world, all of them have their reason for being and are intimately linked. Resources, food, population, happiness, buildings, the government system, military units, technologies, wonders, leaders. Everything can be channeled and combined optimally so that our civilization is at the forefront. Again, every action point counts. To give a chain example: to be able to build a wonder we will need several turns and accumulate enough resources; to accumulate resources, the interesting thing will be to have more and better mines, which will require more population and science points. The former requires food, so farms will also be a factor not to be neglected, and the latter requires laboratories, which are also costly in resources and also require population. And all this with the few action points that Despotism (the starting government system) provides us. If we want to improve this system, again, we will need science or lose a full turn to save ourselves a few science points… And so I could spend the rest of this review.

Another major simplification appears in the win condition. Unlike most civilization games, here only culture is taken into account when determining the winner of the game. There will be no possibility of winning by developing an aspect to a specific level, as did happen in good old Sid’s video game, being able to settle the matter via science or military, among others. This could also be considered a flaw when comparing it with other civilization games, although it seems more than correct to me. In the end, culture is a reflection of a civilization’s prosperity. Occasionally, a people may be in the lead for being the strongest or for being the one that researches the most. But in the end, this is a means to be the most prosperous.

It is necessary to generate certain automatisms that allow us to vie for victory and, along the way, lighten our decision-making time because we will have clear priorities on each turn. This is helped by how the game progresses. And the rolling card row is one of Vlaada’s strokes of genius in this design. Instead of providing a fixed tech tree that everyone can traverse, here we find opportunities that pass by like a sushi conveyor belt, picking those that seem most interesting in terms of point-to-development potential ratio.

This is where the massive tactical load of Through the Ages comes into play, complementing the powerful strategic load I have been discussing almost since the beginning of the review. Despite having a very clear objective, each turn presents itself as a bundle of options from which we must choose the most suitable for our situation and that of our competitors. There will be times when, as much as we desire a specific card, it will not really become available to us, either because it is too expensive when it is in the row or, when it is accessible in terms of action points, there is another that appears more interesting. The winner will be the one who, turn by turn, manages to score the highest number of correct choices taking into account the circumstances surrounding each turn, always keeping one eye on the future and another on the present, monitoring the interests of our rivals.

Replayability is another of the game’s great strengths. The impressive amount of cards and the chosen row system mean that we rarely experience the exact same game. Furthermore, once we master the system, we will spot certain synergies between buildings, technologies, wonders, and leaders that will delight the most combo-loving players out there. A game for the long haul, though it will be hard to get to the table.

To start closing the overview of the design itself, I would comment that, in my opinion, the game scales perfectly in terms of sensations, though not so much in terms of the game experience. At 2 players is how it flows best, with quick turns where it is easy to plan the next turn while the opponent develops theirs, although it turns into a cold war scenario where the game becomes about seeing which of the two is the big fish that will eat the small one. At the other extreme, at four players, the wait until our turn comes around again can become tremendously tedious, even more so if we can barely plan until the turn of the player preceding us. The community settles on 3 as the ideal number, having the advantages of both extremes, with the drawbacks mitigated. I agree with this assessment, and would only play it at 4 with 3 expert players who are not prone to analysis paralysis and enjoy the game leisurely without rushing.

As you can see, along with Agricola, it is one of the reasons why I love this hobby. But, except for nuances, I don’t think I’ve told you anything new that I didn’t already throw at you back in the day. Perhaps I have refined my writing style a bit, but beyond that… So let’s talk about the new features this new edition incorporates. They are not many, but they are relevant.

In the first place, many cards have been tweaked, especially leaders and wonders. In the original game, there were leaders who were systematically discarded by all players (Hammurabi comes to mind), and others over whom players elbowed each other (see Napoleon or Michelangelo). Now, apparently (I haven’t played enough games to state it categorically), all leaders show some appeal and there is none that seems particularly powerful compared to the rest. For example, Napoleon now can only offer a maximum of 8 strength (2 for each different type of unit). Bearing in mind that air forces do not appear until the third era and that it is not common to have all 3 types of units, it is no longer something as powerful as doubling the current tactic.

Speaking of tactics, this is the second and most important change. Now, luck will no longer determine who enjoys a tactic that fits their military units and who does not. When a player activates a tactic card, it will be for their exclusive use only during the turn they play it. From their next turn on, it will become public domain, and players will be able to copy it. Furthermore, this will predispose players not to play this type of card so quickly, thus raising the weight of decisions when discarding military cards. It will be advisable to hold the card in hand until we are going to strike a blow on the next turn, so they cannot take advantage of it.

Moving on. Since we mentioned blows (referring to aggressions and/or wars), the resolution of these has been simplified. The biggest change is that sacrificing units is no longer allowed, so each contender’s military strength remains practically unaltered before, during, and after combat. I say almost because, in the case of aggressions, the defender can temporarily raise their strength by using defense cards (as in the original game) or by discarding military cards (a new feature), at a rate of 1 point per discarded card, though you can never discard more cards than military action points. This allows players to have some room for response in early aggressions, giving rise to a more relaxed development. Personally, I like this solution. I am one of those who have suffered early-game beatdowns that practically left the game decided in the first few turns.

Finally, the timing for discarding military cards or applying corruption has been modified. It now turns out to be slightly less painful and leaves some room for maneuver for the players, which is to be appreciated.

As you can see, they are subtle changes but, in my opinion, they improve the game. Practically all of them are focused on making the military aspect less critical, especially in the initial stages of the game. Fortunately, this does not mean that a player can completely pass on this aspect and focus on others to achieve victory.

Another major change in the game is found in the production quality. The facelift has been radical. Not so much because the distribution of symbols has varied particularly, but all the ornamentation surrounding them has. In this case, we find an impeccable finish at all levels. In fact, the only thing maintained from one edition to another are the plastic cubes. Everything else is a plus: thick cardboard boards, with the layouts better organized and, above all, modular, so they can be deployed according to available space. The cards are of magnificent quality, with a weight, a linen texture, and an elastic snap worthy of mention. Furthermore, the size has been increased, although it has moved to a format that is not as standard as others. The only downside we can find is the thickness of the civilization boards, which is less than the rest of the boards. It feels like a sort of thick cardstock with a laminated treatment. I suppose the reason is to reduce the overlap height when stacking cards. The rulebook has also undergone a major redesign, now finding us with two booklets, one to explain the first game and another as a reference guide. If I already thought it was well-explained in the original edition, now I realize there was room for improvement. Furthermore, it seems that Devir’s edition has arrived free of errata (knock on wood).

But the most spectacular change, as I have said, is found at the graphic level. We go from a game that practically looked like an old prototype (not the ones we see nowadays that look like finished games) to a product in which all details are cared for: board backgrounds, card backs (both for cards and boards), different illustrations for each card. A simply spectacular job. I will only raise one objection. I don’t like Mad Mikkelsen (the Danish actor) portraying Napoleon on the cover.

The original game could be played online on Board Game Arena. These platforms are a blessing that also further highlight what was mentioned earlier regarding downtime and micro-management, being able to enjoy a 2-player game in just over 1 hour. Now we can also enjoy this new version on said portal, so if you have doubts, there are no excuses not to try it.

With all this, we reach the key question: Is this edition worth it? Even if you own the original? Well, there is a bit of everything here. Obviously, the game has not changed substantially, and the changes applied, card modifications aside, can be transferred to the old version. Of course, if you don’t own either and are thinking of acquiring a copy, it makes no sense to get the old one, since the edition fresh out of the oven in our country is superior in every aspect. There will also be cases of gamers who trade in their old copy to get the new one, but at this stage, it won’t be a one-for-one swap, since we will hardly manage to sell the old copy at the price of the new one.

And let’s wrap this up, as today’s spiel has been worthy of a Guinness World Record. Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization is an excellent design that anchors its development through an action points system and a rolling card row in constant motion. The milimetric resource management alongside the obligation to maintain a civil and military balance immerses us in an experience of dramatic tension, where every small decision counts and long-term planning coexists with constant tactical adaptation. It is true that the overwhelming downtime and tedious maintenance micro-management can penalize the rhythm of the game, additionally requiring a deep knowledge of the deck to avoid falling behind in the face of opponents’ implacable military punishment. However, its brilliant level of abstraction and the immense satisfaction of seeing your empire progress step by step more than compensate for its rough edges. A demanding title that requires body and soul from the player, consolidating itself as an essential masterpiece for those seeking a true and deep strategic challenge. For all this, I give it a…