#megaciv

[illuminatinggames]

There is an interesting flavor difference between the eastern and western cultures in Megs Civilization. The game generally is much tighter now, with little excess space and only enough territory for each player to maintain maybe 6 cities comfortably. Since you really need to keep 8 cities up to play, that means you have to use your Civ card purchase to do more with less. But against that, the eastern civs are even tighter than the western ones. Plus the mobility isn’t as great, since it lacks the Mediterranean Sea which functions almost as a super-highway. I think the Eastern map is fun to mix things up from time to time, but the Mediterranean is just much more interesting, geographically speaking. And for better or for worse, it’s the area and the historical civilizations the game was designed for. If you wanted to design a game around Persian or Indian cultures, it would just be a different game. Mega Civilization has tried to make things more non-specific by including huge numbers of new civilization advances, but most of them are just kind of preposterous from a historical perspective (these are obviously just imported from the computer game aesthetic). So anyway, as I say, it’s fine for variety and you need them to play a 10+ player game, but in general I’d stick with the Western map. #megacivilization #megaciv #boardgamegeek #tabletopgames https://www.instagram.com/p/B5zir51BTof/?igshid=1eitexo8pkv8f

[apttogame]

Getting ready to start our 9 player game of Mega Civilization! . #epic #wargame #megaciv #boardgames #apttogame #yeg #edmonton (at Apt to Game) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpKUB41DhVu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qjcbk1wx999r

[illuminatinggames]

MegaCiv has made so many huge improvements to Advanced Civ, it’s really Z whole new game. Advanced Civ was really a dog’s breakfast of a game, an obvious design-by-committee that just had so many problems. Mega Civilization straightened out a ton of these issues. But man, the late game (the last 2-3 turns, probably almost 4hr of play time) of spreadsheeting and number crunching is still really grind-y. At this point you don’t really need most of the abilities on the civilization advanced you’re buying, so you’re just counting up discounts and buying efficiently. It’s less tedious than the similar phase of Advanced Civ, but wow, that’s not saying a lot. Too bad they couldn’t figure out something less computer game-y. The reason I love the original Francis Tresham Civilization is because it’s a board game. Everything after Sid Maier’s Civilization has become so enthralled by computer game tropes that they’ve become increasingly distant from their actual board game medium that they’re nominally supposed to actually be. One of the reasons I find Boos: Origins so intriguing is that it’s clearly an actual board game design and not just another board game trying to channel a computer game. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #megaciv #megacivilization #francistresham #civilization https://www.instagram.com/p/B5zgZFVBvUT/?igshid=10d9x2ojpqam7

[illuminatinggames]

MegaCiv. I’m going to just put a few random thoughts about the game in the next couple photos. We played about 12 hours today and didn’t quite finish - we were two turns short, which probably means 2.5hr of playtime to go. I *have* finished a game of this in 12hr with 16 players, but it was when I had sent out a broad solicit to local game groups so we were playing with quite a few random people. In that group I was much more aggressive about cracking the whip on keeping the game moving and never letting things get bogged down. This time we drew only from the close gaming friends of ourselves and the other couple who hosted, so it was a much friendlier, relaxed environment. Which was great, but it did mean I didn’t police pace-of-play anything like as aggressively as I did then. Having played the 14+ player game 3 times now, I think if you really want to get this thing done, you really do need to have someone who can, for 12 hours, be relentless about keeping the pace up. This needn’t be aggressive or annoying, you just can’t let people get stuck and have to make sure that what needs to be happening is actually happening. And also help deconflict the movement phase for maximum parallelism. Also, you need to be tight about how much time you allocate for food and other breaks. This thing is a beast and most of the joy may be in playing. The last 2-3 turns do become kind of hilarious exercises in accounting, so they’re not the most compelling part of the game (by a long shot). But for me, it is better if you can finish. And 12 hours is already crazy. You can’t really let it go any longer than that. If you don’t mind not playing the last turn or two, it’s hard to object too much and I don’t think it costs the game too much in enjoyment or satisfaction - the best parts by a long shot are the late early game and the mid game. But if you do want to finish, you need to be relentless. #bgg ##biardgamegeek #boardgames #megaciv #megacivilization #tabletopgames #boardgameday https://www.instagram.com/p/B5zfKmEA1qn/?igshid=1796ey421k9ny

[illuminatinggames]

Hellas expands into Greece. I’ve only played MegaCiv maybe 3 times, but I’ve always played the Eastern powers because I think they’re harder and as a more experienced Civ player I’d play take one of them. But this time I wanted to play West for a change. #megaciv #megacivilization https://www.instagram.com/p/B5yeY_LhQ2o/?igshid=1j5e2iuq9kuci

[illuminatinggames]

Two turns left in MegaCiv! Entering the grinding phase of churning out the last few advanced. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #megaciv #megacivilization

[illuminatinggames]

New article up on my blog - how to get through the early game of MegaCiv. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #megacivilization #megaciv #civilization

[illuminatinggames]

Dravidia expands in MegaCiv! #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #megacivilization #megaciv