Civilization The Board Game, experiences?

Anyone played this? I'm considering getting it (depending on the price).

This guy has good things to say about it but what do you think?

Does it compare to Civ I or II?

Feel free to throw in links to old threads on this topic in you like.

Thanks,
Narz

It's a nice boardgame. I've played it only three times though - too many other choices.

No, it has *nothing* to do with the computer game.

See if you can find the manual online... that'll tell you much more than I can say here.

I thought i heard that it was based on Civ 3.

Well, the general idea is.

You've got cities, units, technology tree, wonders and stuff. But many things are changed - from the technology tree to the wonders' bonus. So you should treat it as a new game with similar theme as the computer game.

I can't find the rules online though.

Eh, its ok. Better than Monopoly. It doesn't match the genius of Civ on the computer, because it just can't get that much in-depth.

I would imagine that it would be funner to play multiplayer Civ 4 than the Civilization boardgame.

The Sid Meier Civ boardgame is horribly broken. There are many better boardgames on the markey.

Narz said:

Anyone played this? I'm considering getting it (depending on the price).

Click to expand...

I've played it three, or four, times. First of all, the standard rules are fairly wonky and can lead to very degenerate play (though this depends on what kind of gamers you're playing with). The people I play with are very aggressive, and, as a result, games tend to degenerate into an arms race.... and if you aren't at the top of the pack you're in for a long agonizing game. The other thing I don't like (about the rules as written) is that success or failure is hugely luck dependent. If your first handful of tiles are era appropriate resources, and you get some good roles, you're going to be neigh unstoppable. On the other hand, if your first handful of tiles are plague, mountains, useless resources, etc, you can easily be put into a hole that's largely impossible to climb out of. Third, and finally, you need a humongeous table to accomodate the full game... and you'll spend a lot of time keeping track of a lot of "fiddly" elements (like happiness, etc).

I know there are folks who enjoy the game as is, and there are folks who have tinkered extensively with the rules to come up with something a lot more playable. I suggest you check the boardgamegeek (link in my sig) to read reviews, session reports, etc. You'll get a pretty good idea if the game is for you or not.

-V