From Christian Marcussen, the creator of Merchants and Marauders, comes Clash of Cultures, a civilization game in which each player leads a civilization from a single settlement to a mighty empire. Players must explore their surroundings, build large cities, research advances and conquer those who stand in the way. The game features a modular board for players to explore, 48 distinct advances, seven mighty wonders, and loads of miniatures and cards. The winner will create a culture that will be remembered and admired for millennia.
Advances
The game features about 48 distinct advances. The whole "tech-tree" is very flexible with no dead ends, yet still intuitive, sensible and "realistic." Additionally you have a great overview of what advances other cultures have - no need to ask - just look.
Modular Board
Players start with a civilization in its infancy. Move settlers to uncharted regions and reveal the terrain and its resources. Several mechanisms have been implemented to assure that an unlucky placement of region-tiles won't be a decider.
Playing Time
The game covers a time span similar to AH Civilization - that is to pre-gunpowder. This epic game is playable in about an hour per player! This is a pretty good playing time for a game that covers so much ground as this game will.
City management
Players expand their cities through the game. But not just to the generic larger city. Players instead choose a building type which represents the growth of the city. For instance you can expand a city with a port, fort, temple and academy - all with different benefits! Additionally cities can be "angry," "neutral" and "happy." Everything integrated in an intuitive and elegant fashion.
Multiple paths to victory
Earn points through:
- Founding cities and increasing their sizes
- Advances
- Objectives
- Wonders
- Events
- intriguing 4X/Euro blend
- strategic depth
- heavy and space-intensive
- could be intimidating to teach
- 4X empire-building with cultural development
- ancient civilizations on a world map with growth and conflict
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- tech development — advancement cards/techs shape future capabilities
- Tile-laying — players place terrain/settlement tiles to expand empire
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- If this was just a job if i was just doing this for money well first of all the channel would be a lot different
- it's been a real problem you know i mentioned that these playing with friends videos have been taking a lot longer to make
- these update vlogs are about me being transparent about stuff
- two cameras that work
- i'm tinkering around hitting a bunch of things with a hammer to see if things get better
References (from this video)
- Elegant, streamlined combat with dice and card-driven tension
- Rules are clear and well-presented, accessible yet deeply strategic
- Terrain and choke-point design create meaningful strategic choices
- Rich thematic integration with happiness and culture management
- Excellent component quality and clear iconography
- High replay value due to tech trees, events, and Wonders
- No elephant units in the base game (box can be misleading)
- Event deck can be punishing and chaotic at times
- Wonders are expensive and may be difficult to realize in shorter sessions
- Lacks a future-age or space-age progression for epic scope
- Some minor production quibbles (standees vs. plastic variants for Wonders)
- Civilization building through technology, culture, and conflict
- Ancient to classical era civilizations across a world map
- Euro-style with procedural events and card-driven tension
- Eclipse
- Through the Ages
- Sid Meier's Civilization
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Circumnavigation of the map — Navigation tech allows ships to exit the board and re-enter from another edge, enabling global travel and strategic positioning.
- City growth and placement — Cities expand by adding components; the number of pieces in a city grows with the number of cities owned, shaping future efficiency.
- Combat resolution with dice and pips — Roll dice for each unit; total pips divided by five determines hits, enabling fast, scalable combat resolution.
- Events and barbarians — Event cards trigger various civilizations-wide effects; barbarians provide sudden threats and add tension to the game flow.
- Movement with roads and terrain effects — Three actions per turn: move groups; roads, mountains, and forests constrain movement; circumnavigation via ships adds strategic depth.
- Resource management and happiness/culture — Happiness and culture tokens influence city growth and actions; events and techs modulate these meters over time.
- Tech advancement costs — Advancing technology generally costs two food or ideas; ideas are generated through various game mechanisms, including buildings and events.
- Technology tree advancement — Players advance technologies to unlock buildings and capabilities; advancement is structured by top-down prerequisites and category chains.
- Wonders and card-driven effects — Wonder cards provide win points and special bonuses; action cards add free bonuses and tactical leverage in combat.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the combat is awesome
- the rules are nice
- the ships are neat
- it's not going to make your brain hurt and take 10 hours
- this is a no-brainer go get this one
- I think this one is going to stay in the collection
References (from this video)
- Potentially safe due to scale and play frequency
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- 4X / civilization building — Long, heavy civilization game with exploration and development.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I will not be going through campaign games in this.
- I want to be more cutthroat than I ever have before.
- Quad Heroes is going. I hate it. I hate it so much.
- Monumental. If Monumental is still here in a year and hasn't been played, if next year's Purge, if I haven't played Monumental, it's going to go.
- Last Light can go. I'm not thinking off the shelf.