Tag Archives: Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East

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The 16+ Civs in Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East

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Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East offers gamers the opportunity to play – and play against – 16 nations, peoples, kingdoms, and empires which rose, fought, prospered, and perished over the course of 4,000 years. As many as six – or as few as two – of these civilizations may be present in a single game. Historical set-ups help guide players to put themselves in a particular time and area of the map, while Sandbox game set-ups allow players to create their own “what if” matchups where civilizations which were not contemporaneous can be set against each other in a struggle for domination – and survival.

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Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East Design Background and Differences from Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea Part 1: General Background

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Introduction by Fred Schachter: I’m having a Game Developer’s blast working with Designers Chris Vorder Bruegge and Mark McLaughlin on Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (ACIS)’s successor, Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME… yeah, we’re aware of the Coyote/Road Runner cartoon alliteration, seems worth a guffaw or two, eh?).

The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, to provide background regarding the historical environment players will experience playing ACME (and why the game contains certain design elements) as well as explain, at least on an overview basis, the differences between ACIS and ACME.

To best appreciate this article, some knowledge of ACIS is helpful. GMT has a wealth of information regarding ACIS on the game page.

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The New Hampshire Guys Visit Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (Well, at Least via the Game)

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Introduction: Designer Mark McLaughlin and I, unlike years past, no longer reside in the same area of the USA (a great disappointment to us both). I’ve lived about the country during my business career and now retired to a home in Charlotte, NC. Consequently, we try to get-together in-person at least annually and I recently journeyed to Mark’s place in New Hampshire to review gaming matters and Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) in particular.

Mark and I played several ACME games during this visit: one-on-one, then the two of us versus NPC (which uses the game’s Solitaire System to control an AI civilization – the NPC almost defeated us both until we combined against it), and the topic of this article, an exciting and entertaining 4 player contest.