Through The Ages is a new twist on the classic computer game, Civilisation, where each player attempts to progress their nation from the ancient ages to the modern times and to create a civilization with the most influential culture. There is no map board and the entire game is played with cards and counters. The cards are divided into four ages:
- Ancient Age
- Age I (from the Fall of Rome to the Renaissance)
- Age II (up to about 1800)
- Age III (up to the present).
The game can be simplified by playing fewer Ages. For instance, the Ancient Age cards are just used for getting started.
Players perform actions that allow them to build structures, feed the population and research new technology. They can even attack other players. As the player's nation advances in government type, the player is rewarded with more actions that they can use. The successful player must learn about balance - balancing the different aspects of a civilisation is a challenging task, particularly when you have to worry about starvation, corruption, and unrest if you get the balance wrong. Choosing a Leader is important. Leaders are represented by figures from history and their special powers go a long way toward determining the type of civilization to build. Many of the Leaders come with distinctive, quirky, and delightful effects.
There is only one measure of success at the end - the amount of culture a player's nation produced during the entire game. There are many ways how to produce culture: through religion, literature or drama, by building wonders, utilizing cultural persons etc. A considerable amount of culture can be gained even by wars or aggressions. Culture is not necessarily something positive - just something that influences the image of the world (thus even Fast Food chains produce lots of cultural points).
Awards
International Gamers' Award 2007
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