or Why spend your precious game time researching pottery when you can defend an empire?
There are no shortage of civilization building games out there. Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea, however, is MORE than just another Civilization BUILDING game – it is a Civilization SURVIVAL game – and one with an elegantly built-in, if subtle, TECH TREE.
The Civilization building part is easy. Much like other games you build a Civilization by creating cities and spreading camps and settlements across the map. These help you gain more disks that allow you to create even more cities and take over more territory. Now comes the hard part: holding on to the civilization you have created, and holding on to it in the face of opposing civilizations (any or all of which can be played either by other gamers or the Solitaire Rules for NPCs- Non-Player Civilizations). These civilizations will put you to the test by hurling cards at you that include everything from natural disasters to civil wars and massive invasions. They will also try to bring you down by more direct methods – war (or, as the game calls it, “Competition” – which represents a clash of civilizations through cultural, religious, commercial, political and, of course, military conflict.