The core mechanic are the Action Cards: the Permanent Action Cards may be chosen as needed, but tend to have weaker effects compared to the Random Action Cards. Players in turn may play up to three of their hand cards, resolving any effects, before discarding cards or resources (each player may keep at most five units of any resource, eight with possession of a special building, at the end of the turn), if necessary.
Afterwards, each player draws Action Cards from either their civilization's Permanent Action Deck (which is unique to each player, though each civilization has identical cards) or Random Action Deck (which is shared between players with the same civilization) until they reach a hand limit determined by their Age (with later ages increasing the hand limit). On each turn, players must allot three victory points to one of four special victory point cards: the "Largest Army", the "Most Buildings", and the Wonder, which are only claimed at the end of the game, or "Won the Last Battle", claimed during a player's turn. Unlike the video games, however, players play for victory points, which may be earned by winning battles, by trading resources for them, having the largest army at the end of the game, having the most buildings built at the end of the game, or by building the wonder.Īt the start of the game, each player is given an individual board, which is divided into two areas: the Production Area and the City Area, as well as a limited supply of resources, units, and production tiles, which are placed in the Production Area. Up to two players may play any given civilization (with additional parts, up to three players may play any civilization), and players are situated so that players playing the same civilization do not sit adjacent to each other.Īs with the video game, players must gather resources, build units, and attack other players. Fully voice acted in various languages.Like the video game it is based on, players control one of three civilizations: the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Norse. All 8 campaigns from the original game and all expansions have been revamped.New “Politicians” and “ Revolutions” for the original European civilizations.Making well-rounded army compositions, retreating from lost battles, hit-and-run tactics on the highest levels. Improved AI which can read the battlefield better.
Improved game balance ( check the full 75 page long changelog here!).New maps, inspired and built in cooperation with the competitive community.One community: cross-play between Microsoft Store & Steam version.Spectator mode (unlimited spectators, late-joining and dashboards).New server-based multiplayer infrastructure.