How Civilized is Antike?

While I went into Antike Duellum with the goal of finding out what the heck a rondel really is, a secondary goal was to take a look at a member of a game family that has been cited as a contender for _the_ Civ Lite game. You know, a game that you the same thrill as playing Avalon Hill's Civilization but in just two hours.

There's a list of things you look for in a Civ Lite game. Stealing from  BGG used Lajos, that includes each player having their own civilization, an epic scale, technological development, warfare, economics and some level of complexity.

And I also know that playing the two-player adaptation of Antike isn't the same as playing the original multi-player game, won't give me the full potential Civ feel.

Honestly, by the listed criteria, Antike and Antike Duellum does very well. It at least partially covers every item on the list. And, to be honest, I have been finding it to be a very good game and one that I intend to keep on playing.

But... there are some elements that I felt it fell short of as far as the Civilization feel is concerned.

The biggest one is that there is no trading, as well as no calamities. That removes a high level of interaction with the other players, as well as a level of uncertainty. For me at least, that definitely takes away from the Civilization feel. In fact, those elements or a big part of why I liked the game Parthenon, which fails to be a Civ Lite game on several levels.

I also felt that it felt short of the epic scope as far as time is concerned. The map is big enough for an epic sense of geography but I didn't get the sense of the vast passage of time.

I know that it probably sounds like heresy but one of the best games I found to give me that civilization feel in two hours is still Settlers of the Stone Age. The map covering the entire globe and new people rising up as well as the gradual desertification of Africa really gives me the sense of epic time and space. Plus, there is lots of trading and the dice definitely add elements of disaster when you roll seven. On the downside, I don't count the bandit equivalents as warfare and I don't think it can accused of being complex.

I also know that I really haven't been looking into the world of new games in the last five years. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some very solid contenders that have come out in that time. That being said, the Antike family is still quite beloved and definitely puts in a good fight as a Civ Lite game.

Beginning civilization with Catan

One of the defining games of the hobby is Civilization, the old Avalon Hill game about building up a civilization over epochs. Not to be confused with the computer game series, which is also a defining game. And resulted in Avalon Hill suing Microsoft and losing.

However, one of the downsides of the game is that it takes 6 to 8 hours to play, and tends to fall more under the eight hours. That's the kind of game that you need to schedule and clear an entire day for. So, there has definitely been a push for all of that in a shorter playtime.

Some of the key benchmarks to a game really giving you that civilization building feel are an epic scope, developing technologies, warfare, and an economic system, one that usually involves trading. 

Often, it feels like a game that is trying to achieve this will either end up being a territory/wargame or an engine building game. There is nothing wrong with any of those things. A game can fail to be a Civ Lite game and still be a really great game.

To be honest, I've been kind of out of the loop on Civ Lite games for a while. I am willing to bet that some interesting ones have come out in the last few years that I have no idea about.

However, one game that I have had in my collection for quite a while that would be my Civ Lite game of choice if someone asked me to pull one out is Settlers of the Stone Age.

Yup, a Catan spinoff from 2002.

The two elements that really make it actually feel like a civilization building game for me are the scope and the fact that there are technology trees. 

The scope in particular is what really gets the game that epic feeling. The map is the entire world, which is pretty much as big as you're going to get outside of science fiction settings. However, what really gives a sense of time and space is that, as the time goes on, Africa gets turned into a desert by over cultivation. When something like that happens in the game, I feel like it really evokes the passage of time.

The tech trees are pretty darn simple. However, you need to advance in things like clothing and shelter in order to be able to keep on moving across the map. So they are an important part of the game and they thematically makes sense.

Of course, the fundamental engine behind the game is still Catan. There are some very significant differences, including the fact that you are moving your camps/settlements across the board instead of building a permanent infrastructure. But if you don't like it you're not going to like this game.

I don't view Settlers of the Stone Age as an alternative to Catan or a variant. It's not a game I would play if I were in the mood for a good time. It is a game that I would play if I want to have a sense of the earliest days of civilization as humanity spread across the world.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4394/settlers-stone-age

Advancing from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age

I just picked up a barely used copy of Roll Through the Ages: The Iron Age. It even had the Mediterranean expansion, which I don't think is standard. (Maybe it is. I could be wrong) I'm definitely going to try it out solo and maybe even get some multi-player in.

But it does make me want to revisit its older, smaller brother.

Although, to be fair, it's not like I've ever really left it. I've almost always had at least one game of it going on Yucata for years. When Nations the Dice Game got added, that just gave me two different dice games about civilization building to play online. :D

(I have to say that as much as I enjoy Roll Through the Ages, it doesn't truly feel like a legitimate civilization game to me. Like other civ – light games that I enjoy, like Nations the Dice Game or 7 Wonders, the scope doesn't seem broad enough to truly feel like I am developing a civilization over a swath of history. (Interestingly enough, Settlers of the Stone Age does work for me as a civ – light game, possibly because it covers the entire world.) I don't know if the Iron Age will feel more like I am actually developing a civilization over the ages.)

Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age's core mechanic is Yahtzee, which is not uncommon. On your turn, you roll the dice and you get two rerolls. The faces on the dice can give you workers to build stuff (including more cities to get more dice), food to feed cities, goods to buy advances and dreaded skulls that bring down disasters on your civilization.

While part of the reason why the original Roll Through the Ages has both stayed in my collection and been in study rotation on Yucata for me is that it is a light, Yahtzee-inspired dice game that is both easy to teach and something that I can play even when I am feeling brain-dead, it does have some touches that make it nifty and give it its own feel.

I like the disasters. In Civilization and Advanced Civilization, juggling and coping with calamities is one of the major features of the game. I like how the disasters in the original Roll Through the Ages don't just wipe out your turn but have some kind of effect. There's a flavor to them and different ways of coping with them.

More importantly, I like the advances. For me, one of the defining characteristics of a civilization game is the tech tree. And, while Roll Through the Ages lacks the grandeur and the breadth of a true civilization game for me, it does have a tech tree. If the game was just about checking off boxes to get points, it would not be nearly as interesting or have any flavor. Instead, the advances give you special powers that what you plan out in shape your game, at least as much as the dice will let you.

After just one game of the Iron Age version of the game, I can tell that the decision tree is a lot more complicated then the Bronze Age. As I've said, a big part of the Bronze Age has seen so much play for me is because it is simple. I am going to have to see if the more intricate design of the Iron Age is a good trade-off for that simplicity.

So, more plays.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/23986/roll-through-ages