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From the Manufacturer:
"These fields no longer yield grain the way they used to," complains the farmer. "We should settle new lands before our food runs out. Why don't we start farming olives, like our neighbors?"
The cart-driver nods: "Ever since them city folks started worshiping San Giorgio I have to travel further and further to new building sites. I'm on my way now to the new inn they built. I'll change horses there and deliver this load," he gestures towards the pile of wood in the cart with his head "to the sea beyond. Gonna start some fisheries there. It is said we'll conquer those olive-farmers before long. But their land is even more polluted than ours."
The farmer nods his head in reply. As the cart starts moving again, he returns to the field to harvest the last bushels of grain, growing between the stumps of what used to be a lush forest -- three turns ago.
Antiquity is a strategy game for 2-4 players. It is set in an environment loosely modeled on Italy in the late Middle Ages. Players choose their own victory condition: they can focus on population growth, trade, conquest, or city building by choosing their patron saint.
Each strategy requires a completely different style of play. Or you can choose to adore Santa Maria, the most powerful saint of all -- but you'll be expected to build a civilization twice as impressive as any other player.
While your economy is constantly improving, with more and more advanced cities bringing new options each turn, the land around your cities is slowly being depleted, forcing you to travel further and further to gather your raw materials -- until finally, there is no more land left to farm. Let's hope one of you has won the game before that time!
- Offers deep strategy and requires careful planning.
- High replayability due to variable setup and choices.
- Satisfying resource management puzzle.
- Polyomino tile placement is engaging.
- Variable player powers (Saints) add strategic depth.
- The struggle and challenge are part of the fun.
- Can be overly fiddly with many components and rules.
- Punishing and easy to make mistakes that significantly impact the game.
- Player interaction is not always direct, requiring a certain mindset to appreciate.
- Can feel slow to get going.
- City building and survival
- Implied historical/ancient
- Indonesia
- Food Chain Magnate
- 18xx games
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players choose actions from a set of available options each turn.
- Area Control — Zone of control around cities dictates building placement and resource access.
- city building — Players construct cities and buildings on a modular board.
- Negative Consequences — Famine and pollution mechanics penalize players for poor planning.
- Resource management — Players must manage various resources like wood, stone, food, and luxury goods.
- set collection — Gathering specific sets of goods is required for certain victory conditions.
- tile placement — Polyomino-shaped tiles are used to build structures within cities.
- Variable player powers — Players choose a saint with unique abilities that influence gameplay.
- worker placement — Workers are assigned to buildings to perform actions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is my top 10 or is in my top five.
- I love this game, it honestly truly and from its core hates me but I do.
- The struggle is real in this game and it's for all the reasons that both of you said.
- The moral of the story civilizations will fall without... a brewery.
References (from this video)
- Polyomino-driven depth
- Slaughter-game pedigree for heavier play
- Very heavy and potentially inaccessible for some players
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Polyomino — Heavier polyomino-driven tableau/area control with tile placement.
- polyomino placement — Heavier polyomino-driven tableau/area control with tile placement.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- two players, not enough time
- steal someone's donkey
- bang for your buck
- eight maps in the base box
- you can draw from the deck. Each card has its own way of like yes, you can use it as an item, but it's also one of the endgame conditions
References (from this video)
- no randomness; outcomes are driven by player decisions
- interlocking systems create deep strategic space
- high complexity and heavy planning could overwhelm some players
- theme may feel abstract to some audiences
- city building and patron saint management
- Renaissance Italy
- historical-sim economy with a puzzle-like city grid
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- long-term consequence management — famine and pollution create cascading effects on city growth
- tetris-like city building — buildings tessellate on your board; space constraints matter
- worker placement — assign workers to build, explore, and advance plans
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Balancing what actions you get on either side of the action space is kind of the whole fun of this.
- This is one of those weekend night games where this low overhead is quick to play, but it still has an interesting hook that keeps me coming back.
- There is no randomness in the game. Once the board is set up, all outcomes are on you and your decision.