The Ancient World (Second Edition)
The Ancient World (Second Edition) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Players compete to grow the largest and most influential city-state by managing citizens, wealth, and military, and by defeating titans. Players take turns sending citizens to take special actions or using military cards to attack titans. Players can purchase empire cards, which give more citizens, money, and abilities. After six rounds, the player with the most influential city-state wins.
Objective
The goal of the game is to collect sets of tribe banners. Each empire card has one or more tribe banners. Tribe banners can also be gained by defeating titans. After six rounds, players gain victory points for sets of tribe banners and other special abilities, and the player with the most victory points wins.
Setup
2-4 Players, 90 Minutes (component list on page 19)
-
Separate the cards by type (labeled on the back of each card): Titan, Military, District, Empire (A, B, and C), and Starting.
-
Place the coin, knowledge, ambrosia, and citizen tokens on the side of the board.
-
Place the round marker on the start space.
-
Shuffle the district cards and place them in a deck face down on the board. Turn the top card of the deck face up.
-
Shuffle the three decks of titan cards (1, 2, and 3 stars) and place them face down on the board with the top card of each deck face up.
-
Place 1 ambrosia token each on the Learn, Rebuild, and Expand actions. Cover the Explore and Grow action spaces with these two tokens so they are hidden.
-
Shuffle the military deck and place it face down on the helmet symbol. Draw cards equal to the number of players and place them face up in a row to the right of the deck.
-
Shuffle the empire A deck and place it face down on the building symbol on the board. Draw cards and place them face up in a row to the right with: 4 cards for 2 players, 5 cards for 3 players, and 6 cards for 4 players. Shuffle the empire B deck and place it to the side until round 4. Place the empire C deck in a face-up pile on the board; players can look through this pile at any time.
-
Give each player a player board (this contains their capital city) and their starting titan (the titan art matches the art on the player board). Place the "Fishing Dock" and "Wheat Fields" starting empire cards to the right of the player board and the "City Guard" and "Militia" starting military cards to the left. Give each player 6 coins and their matching citizen tokens with numbers 1, 2, and 3. Place a cube on the left-most space of the capacity track (space 4) and the left-most space of the income track (space 5).
Note: Use the side of the player board that does not have the city-state name or special abilities if this is your first game. You can learn more about this on page 17.
-
Give the 1st-player token to the player who has most recently won a game. In turn order, player 2 collects 1 extra coin and players 3 and 4 collect 2 extra coins. If you prefer, use a random method to decide first player.
-
Place unused citizen tokens, player boards, cubes, and starting cards (military, empire, and titan) in the box.
Districts and defeated titan cards are placed in the top row to the right of the player board. Empire cards are placed in the bottom row to the right of the player board. Stored empire cards are placed face down near the bottom left corner of the player board. The capital city gives each player 1 food, 5 coins per round, a 2-army limit, and 4 capacity.
Game Round
The Ancient World is played over the course of six rounds. Each round has 3 phases (prepare, player actions, end of round), executed in order as follows:
Prepare
1. First, advance the round marker on the round track. If this were the first round, you would move it to the circle with a letter "A". If this were the second round, you would move it to the circle to the right (with the ship symbol), and so on.
Some rounds add a new action or new effect to the game (listed in the round track). Follow the directions depending on the round:
Round 1: Use the empire A deck. Round 2: Reveal the Explore action and place one ambrosia on the action space. Round 3: Reveal the Grow action and place one ambrosia on the action space. Round 4: Switch to the empire B deck.
2. Refresh Card Decks: (Skip this section on the first round) Remove any remaining empire cards in the card row and place them in a discard pile to the side of the board. Draw new cards from the current empire deck (A deck for rounds 1-3; B deck for rounds 4-6) and place them face up on the board in the empire card track. Draw 4 cards for a 2-player game, 5 cards for a 3-player game, and 6 cards for a 4-player game.
Remove any remaining military cards in the card row and place them at the bottom of the military deck. Draw new cards from the military deck equal to the number of players and place them face up in the military card track.
If the empire deck is ever depleted, shuffle the appropriate discard pile to refresh the draw deck.
3. Draw Titans: (Skip this section on the first round) If any player does not have a titan card on their player board, they must draw a new one and place it face up on their player board.
A titan card on a player's board is called a "threatening titan", and represents a titan directly threatening their city-state.
Players draw in turn order. Players draw from one of the titan decks depending on the round.
Round 2: One-star titans Rounds 3-4: Two-star titans Rounds 5-6: Three-star titans
Players draw from the bottom of the appropriate titan deck (not the face up titan at the top of the deck).
In the rare case that a titan deck is depleted, players draw from the next-highest available deck. Example: On round 4, the two-star titan deck only has one face-up titan card. Player 1 draws this titan. Player 2 draws a three-star titan.
Player Actions
Starting with the first player (the player with the first-player token) and continuing in clockwise order, each player may take one action per turn until all players have passed. The available actions are:
a. Place Citizen
A player may place one of their citizen tokens on an action space on the board. The player places the citizen just above the parchment in a row so that nothing is covered. When a player places a citizen token on an action, they perform the action immediately.
If a player places a citizen on an action space that has another citizen with a higher skill number (even one that they previously placed), they must pay 1 coin to the supply. If the player cannot pay the coin, then they cannot place a citizen there.
Ambrosia: As soon as the player places their citizen on the action space, they may collect any ambrosia tokens there. They may use these and any other ambrosia they have in the current action.
A player may place a citizen on an action space, choose not to perform the action, and still claim the ambrosia.
Empire Cards: Alternatively, a player may place a citizen token on an empire card they own that has an action. Unlike actions on the board, empire card actions may only be used once per round, and only by the player that owns the card unless stated otherwise.
Citizen actions are described in detail in the "Citizen Actions" section below.
b. Attack a Titan
A player may choose to attack one titan card. They may attack the top card in the 1, 2, or 3-star piles, or any threatening titan card on any player board (even other players' boards). They may only attack one titan per turn.
To attack, the player must pay coins to one or more military cards they own. Players may pay coins to multiple military cards in the same attack action. However, they may only use military cards which have not yet been used in the round. When a player uses a military card, they place their payment in coins on the name area of the card. This indicates that the military card has been used this round and may not be used again until the next round.
At the end of each round, any coins on the name area of the card slide down to the picture area of the card. This is important because the cost to use a military card is equal to one more coin than is already on the card. For example, to use a military card with no coins on the card costs 1 coin. To use a military card with 3 coins on it costs 4 coins.
Once a player pays a military card, they have temporary access to all attack symbols and abilities on the card as well as legacy abilities on retired military cards below it. (Legacy abilities are described in the "Recruit" section on page 11.) This temporary access lasts for one attack action, not the entire round.
To defeat the titan, the player must have an attack value equal to or higher than the titan defense value (listed on the titan card). There are two types of attack value: swords and arrows. If the titan card shows swords and arrows, the player may count all their swords and arrows in the attack. If the titan card shows only swords, the player may only count their swords.
Attack value is gained from military cards used in this attack action as well as from empire cards, defeated titans, and district cards the player owns. For example: if a player pays an army with an attack value of 4 swords and arrows, they pay 1 coin and have an attack value of 5 (for swords and arrows) or 2 (for swords only). If they also have an empire card with a sword symbol, they add it in for free and their total attack value is 6 (for swords and arrows) or 3 (for swords only).
When a player defeats a titan, they take the card and put it to the right of their player board in the row of districts and titans. They turn the next card in the titan deck face up (if they attacked a titan on a deck).
If the player attacked a titan on a player board, that space remains empty until a new titan is drawn in the prepare phase at the beginning of the next round. If the player attacked a titan on another player's board, they gain any ambrosia on the card up to the number of tribe banners on the titan. Example: Miriam attacks the titan on Tom's board. The titan has five ambrosia but only two banners, so Miriam takes two ambrosia and discards the other three. Players do not collect ambrosia when defeating titans on their own player boards.
As a last step, the player must roll the damage dice, which represent damage dealt by the titan to the player's city-state. The player must roll one die per banner on the titan card. The effects are described below:
Titan Symbol: 1 empire card is damaged per titan symbol. The player chooses 1 empire card they own to flip face down. This card does not grant its abilities until it is repaired. If the player has no empire card that they can damage, nothing happens.
Coin Symbol: An immediate effect takes place as detailed at the bottom of the defeated titan card. These effects are described on page 15.
Blank: No effect.
A player may attack multiple titans in the round (not in the same turn), as long as they have at least one unused military card (a military card with no coins on the name area). A player may not attack without paying at least one military card. For example, a player may not attack a titan simply by combining swords and arrows from their empire cards.
Titan cards grant abilities, tribe banners, and capacity when defeated. In story terms, this represents that when a city-state defeats a titan, more tribes flock to the capital, and new lands open up for development.
Titan Damage: When a player rolls the damage dice, they must damage one empire card for each titan symbol rolled.
If a player damages a card with a food, the player does not need to place a citizen in the starving box immediately. The only time players check for starvation is at the end of the round.
If the player damages an empire card that gives an extra army, the player must immediately discard any military cards in any armies that exceed the limit (including retired military cards).
Attacking a Titan Example: Tim wants to attack the "Stone Being" titan. The titan has a defense value of 8, and Tim can use swords and arrows against it. Tim decides to use his "Merkian Troops", which have 3 arrows and 1 sword, and also have a legacy ability of 1 sword. The "Merkian Troops" card currently has 1 coin on the picture area because Tim used it last round, so he must pay 2 coins to use it now. He places the 2 new coins on the card so they are covering the name area. (Now there are 3 coins in total on the card.) This gives Tim 5 temporary attack value. Tim also happens to have 3 sword abilities on various empire cards. (He does not need to pay anything to use these symbols on the empire cards.) This gives Tim a total of 8 attack value, and he defeats the titan. Tim claims the titan card and places it next to his player board. Then Tim rolls 2 damage dice (one for each banner on the titan). He rolls one blank and one coin, and loses one coin, as specified at the bottom of the titan card. As a last step, Tim turns the next titan card in the deck face up.
Citizens on Damaged Empire Cards: If a citizen is on an empire card action and that card gets damaged, keep the citizen on the damaged empire card until the end of the round.
c. Build Stored
A player may build one empire card that they have stored at the bottom left corner of their player board. The player does not need to use a citizen to do this, but it does take an action. Building empire cards is described on page 10.
d. Pass
If a player cannot or does not wish to attack a titan, build a stored empire card, or place a citizen token, they must pass. Once a player passes, they cannot take any more actions that round. Simply skip players that have passed until all players have passed.
End of Round
When all players have passed, the round ends.
Game End? If six rounds have passed, the game ends and players do not collect coins, knowledge, or ambrosia. Do not refill the board, but players must confront any threatening titans remaining on their player boards AND they must also feed their citizens.
1. Confront Titan: First, each player must confront their threatening titan (the titan card on their player board), if they still have one. Players cannot attack titans at this time, but each player must now roll a damage die for each banner on their threatening titan and apply the effects.
Alternatively, a player may placate the titan by feeding it ambrosia in order to avoid rolling the damage dice. The ambrosia cost is equal to one more than is already on the card. If there is no ambrosia on the titan card, the cost is equal to the number of banners of the titan. A player must pay the full amount of ambrosia required to avoid rolling the damage dice. (They cannot pay one ambrosia to a three-banner titan and only roll two damage dice.) Threatening titans remain on player boards even after damage dice have been rolled or players have fed ambrosia to the titans. Ambrosia used to feed a titan remains on the titan card until it is defeated.
Example: Miriam decides to placate her threatening titan by feeding it ambrosia. There are already three ambrosia tokens on the card. Miriam places four more ambrosia tokens, bringing the total to seven. She does not have to roll the damage dice this round.
2. Collect Income: Each player collects coins, knowledge, and ambrosia for each coin, knowledge, and ambrosia symbol with a green arrow that they own on their player board and cards. Note: Keep track of your coin income on the track at the bottom of your player board to make this step easier.
Also, players slide any coins that are on the name section of their military cards down to the picture section of the card (thus allowing the cards to be used again on the next round).
3. Reset the Board: First, place new ambrosia on the board depending on the number of players:
| Players | Ambrosia |
|---|---|
| 2 | Place 1 on each action with no citizens |
| 3 | Place 1 on each action with 1 citizen or fewer |
| 4 | Place 1 on each action with 2 citizens or fewer |
Note: Do not place ambrosia on covered action spaces.
After placing ambrosia, players reclaim all used and any new citizen tokens and place them on their respective player boards.
The player with the first-player token flips it so that the side with the hand symbol is face down.
4. Feed Citizens: Finally, players check to see if they can feed all of their citizens. If a player does not have a food symbol for each citizen token that they own (remember to include the food in their capital city), they must place any unfed citizen tokens to the left of the player board, in the "starving/new" area. The player may choose any of their citizens to place in the starving area. Citizen tokens in the "starving" area cannot be used in the next round. At the start of the game, each player has one food from their capital city and one food each from their two starting empire cards—enough to feed their three starting citizens.
The next round now begins, starting with phase 1.
Game End
After six rounds, the game is over. Players now count up victory points.
First, each player loses 2 victory points per starving citizen, and 1 victory point per damaged empire card.
Damaged empire cards are now all repaired in preparation for scoring in the next two sections.
Each player scores victory points for each color of tribe banner they have on empire cards and titans, up to a maximum of 6 banners per tribe. Any banners over 6 in any color do not score victory points.
| Banners | Victory Points |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 11 |
| 5 | 16 |
| 6+ | 22 |
Finally, each player gains bonus victory points from all special empire cards they have, as described by the scoring text on each card.
Example: Chris owns the empire card "Citadel", which gives extra victory points for red banners. Including the "Citadel", he owns 5 red tribe banners, which means that this card ability grants him 7 extra victory points.
The player with the most victory points has the most powerful city-state and is the winner!
If players are tied, the player with the most coins wins. If players are still tied, the player with the most combined empire, district, and defeated titan cards wins. If players are still tied, the player with the most knowledge tokens wins. If players are still tied, the player with the most ambrosia tokens wins.
Author's Note: Are you a fan of the first edition? If so, we recommend playing with a number of variants, detailed under Variants below.
Citizen Actions
Players may use their citizen tokens on the following actions.
a. Board Actions
Players may send citizen tokens to action spaces on the board. Each action described below has an immediate effect, and some have special rules. Remember, when a player places a citizen on an action space, if there is already a citizen with a higher value, the player must pay an extra coin.
Labor: The player collects two coins.
Build: The player may pay to build one of the empire cards in the empire card row or any one of the cards from the empire C deck on the board.
Reminder: players can look through the empire C deck at any time.
Additionally, the player must have enough capacity to hold the empire card. Capacity is granted by district cards and titan cards and a player's capital city (found on the player board). Each empire card takes 1 capacity (including the 2 starting empire cards). If the player does not have sufficient capacity, they may not gain a new empire card.
Note: Keep track of your current capacity on the capacity track at the bottom of your player board.
Important: Empire cards are the only cards that require and use capacity! Empire cards each take up 1 capacity, even if damaged.
The player pays the cost in coins and knowledge to the supply and places the empire card to the right of their player board (in the bottom row of cards). Empire cards give bonuses and abilities, described in the "Card Abilities" section below.
Important: Do not refill the empire card row until the next round.
Draft: The player gains 1 sword attack value for each of their citizen tokens on this action. This attack value is granted for the entire round and may be used in multiple titan attack actions.
Example: If a player has 2 citizens on Draft, they have 2 extra swords to use when attacking this round.
Expand: The player must pay 1 knowledge or 3 coins to the supply. The player then draws the top 3 cards of the district deck and may choose to keep one of them, placing it in the districts area beside their player board. District cards grant additional capacity and may grant other abilities. The player places the 2 unchosen cards at the bottom of the district deck and immediately turns the next district card on the deck face up. District cards do not require capacity.
Learn: The player may pay 3 coins to the supply to gain 1 knowledge.
Rebuild: The player may repair up to 2 damaged empire cards. They flip these cards face up. The player also takes the 1st-player token and flips it so the "hand" side is face up. This means the token may not be claimed again in the same round. The player also collects 1 coin. If a player already has the 1st-player token when taking this action, they should flip the token.
Recruit: The player may recruit one of the military cards in the military card row on the board. At the start of the game, all players have an army limit of 2 (given by each player's capital city), which means that no player may have more than 2 active military cards. Players can increase the army limit with district and empire cards (as well as some titan cards).
Most military cards are free, but some have a cost that must be paid in order to be claimed. The cost is located just under the name. After the player chooses a card and pays the cost (if any), they choose to place it in one of their army slots. If there are no open army slots, the player must retire an active military card that they already own.
Important: A player may only retire a military card that has not yet been used to attack in the round (meaning the card has no coins on the name area).
To retire a military card, the player removes all coins on the card, returning them to the supply, and flips it over so that the legacy abilities are showing. Legacy abilities represent skills that the old soldiers learned and taught to the new soldiers. If there are previous legacy abilities, these should also be showing. The player now places the new military card face up on top of the old cards, so that all the legacy abilities are showing from previous active military cards in the army.
Legacy abilities of a military card can also be seen on the front of the card, in the top right corner, but do not take effect until the military card has been retired.
Important: Do not refill the military card row until the next round.
An army consists of one active military card and any number of retired military cards beneath it.
Recruit example: Jane chooses to claim one of the available military cards on the board. It has a scroll icon under the name, so she pays a scroll token. She checks to see if she has any open army slots. She currently has two armies, the maximum for her two-army limit, so she must retire one of the active military cards. One of her active military cards has two retired military cards beneath it. The other has only one, but this card has already been used this round (it has coins on the name area of the card), so she cannot retire it and must retire the active military card in the first army. She flips it over and places her new military card on the stack of now three retired military cards.
Explore: (Available on round 2) The player may do one of the following:
- Draw 5 empire cards from the current empire deck and store 1 of them.
- Store 1 of the empire cards on the empire card row on the board.
- Store 1 empire card from the empire C deck.
When a player stores an empire card, they place it face down near the bottom left corner of their player board. They should make sure it is placed horizontally to remember that it is not yet built. Then they place any empire cards they drew but didn't store in the discard pile.
Stored cards do not grant any benefits to the player, but the player may buy them later using the "Build Stored" action (which does not take a citizen to use). There is no limit to the amount of stored cards a player may own.
Grow: (Available on round 3) The player gains an additional citizen token by paying 3 coins. The player takes a citizen token in their player color in the lowest skill number possible. For example, if the player had citizen tokens with a skill of 1, 2, and 3, they would gain the citizen token with a skill of 4. New citizen tokens are placed to the left of the player board in the "starving/new" area and may not be used until the next round.
Note: A player does not need an unused food to gain a new citizen, but they need to have 1 food per citizen at the end of each round in order to use all of their citizens in the next round.
b. Empire Card Actions
A player may place one of their citizen tokens on an action on one of their empire cards. The player may only place a citizen token on the action if the card does not already have a citizen token on it.
Players may not place citizen tokens on empire cards owned by other players.
Some empire card actions are described in the "Card Clarifications" section on page 16.
Ambrosia Abilities
At any time, players may spend ambrosia tokens they own to gain benefits, described below. There is no limit to the amount of ambrosia a player can spend to activate these abilities. When they spend it, they immediately return it to the supply.
Use a placed citizen again (costs 4 ambrosia): The player may place any one of their citizens that have already been placed on the board on a new action. They take this new action immediately. All normal action and placement rules apply. NOTE: This is not a free action. Players can only use this ambrosia ability during their turn and it counts as their normal action.
Repair an empire card (costs 2 ambrosia): The player may repair one of their damaged empire cards. This can be done at any time.
Feed a titan (cost varies): The player may pay ambrosia when confronting their threatening titan at the end of the round in order to avoid rolling the damage dice. The cost is one more ambrosia than is already on the card, or ambrosia equal to the number of banners if there is no ambrosia on the card. The player may not pay part of the ambrosia cost to roll fewer dice. They must pay the complete amount.
Add 1 to citizen skill (costs 1 ambrosia): The player may pay ambrosia to temporarily increase a citizen's skill number (when placing on the board). The skill increases only when placing the citizen and immediately returns to normal after the citizen has been placed and the action taken.
Feed a citizen (costs 2 ambrosia): The player may pay 2 ambrosia to gain 1 temporary food when checking for starvation. After this check, the food is immediately lost.
Gain 1 sword (costs 3 ambrosia): The player gains 1 temporary sword when attacking a titan. This sword only lasts for one attack.
Gain 1 coin (costs 2 ambrosia): The player immediately gains 1 coin.
Capital City
The Capital City on each player board contains some of the resources that each player starts with. The capital city cannot be damaged by a Titan.
Card Abilities
Empire/Titan/District Cards
Card Action: On their turn, the player may place a Citizen token on this card to gain what follows the equals sign.
Army Limit: The player may have one army for each of these symbols they own. An army consists of 1 active military card and any retired military cards below it.
Attack (arrow): This symbol gives the player 1 extra arrow for each attack.
Attack (sword): This symbol gives the player 1 extra sword for each attack.
Citizen: The player gains a citizen token when they gain this card (only once). It must be the lowest-number citizen available.
Food: Each round, each food symbol can be used to feed one citizen.
Upgrade a Citizen: Immediately after you buy this card, you may trade one of your citizens for a citizen with higher skill. Return any one of your citizen tokens to the supply and take the next citizen in numerical order from the supply. Place the upgraded citizen token where the discarded citizen was located. Example: Lucinda has three citizens, numbered 1, 2, and 3. She takes her "1" citizen off the Explore action and places it in the supply. She then takes the "4" citizen from the supply and places it on the Explore action.
Capacity: You need one capacity for every empire card you own.
Coin Income: Gain one coin when you collect income.
Knowledge Income: Gain one knowledge token when you collect income.
Repair Income: Repair one damaged empire card when you collect income.
Ambrosia Income: Gain one ambrosia when you collect income.
Gain Knowledge: Gain one knowledge when you gain the card. (This is different than income, and only gives knowledge once.)
Gain Coin(s): Gain one (or more) coin(s) when you gain the card. (This is different than income, and only gives the coin once.)
Explore Bonus: When you explore or gain a district, draw additional cards to choose from equal to the number in the eye. If there is an explore symbol (ship) above the eye, then you can only use this bonus when exploring. You still keep only 1 card.
Many empire cards have multiple abilities. For example, a card that gives 1 Income and also has a card action: if a player places a citizen token there, they gain one knowledge.
Military Cards
Loot: When this army is used, the player gains 1 coin (after the titan is defeated and the dice are rolled).
Spy: When this army is used, the player gains 1 knowledge (after the titan is defeated and the dice are rolled).
Attack (arrow): The player gains 1 attack value when the army is used.
Attack (sword): The player gains 1 attack value when the army is used.
Repair: When this army is used, the player repairs one damaged empire card (after the titan is defeated and the dice are rolled). This means that if they attack a titan, using an army with this symbol, and the titan damages an empire card, they may use this ability to repair that card.
Titan Damage
When a player rolls a titan symbol on a damage die, that player must damage one of his empire cards by flipping it face down. This means that the card does not give any of its abilities until it is repaired. Do not count income, food, card actions, attack bonuses, etc. from a damaged card until it is repaired. Players do not need to discard any citizens gained from damaged cards.
When a player rolls a coin symbol on a damage die, check the effect at the bottom of the titan card and apply it.
Lose a coin: You must pay a coin to the supply (if you have it).
Put 1 coin on 1 army: Take one of your coins and place it on the picture section of one of your active military cards.
Lose X ambrosia: You must pay ambrosia to the supply (if you have it).
Lose 1 retired military: You must discard one of your retired military cards. If you have no retired military cards, this has no effect.
Discard all stored: If you have any stored empire cards, you must discard them.
Lose 1 district: You must discard one of your districts. If this decreases your capacity below the number of empire cards you currently have, you do not need to discard your empire cards. You cannot buy new empire cards until you gain unused capacity again.
If you have no district cards, this has no effect.
Example: Tom has six capacity and six empire cards. He loses a district and now has only three capacity. He does not discard any of his empire cards. But if he wants to build a seventh, he will need to increase his current capacity from three to seven or higher.
Card Clarifications
Aqueduct: When you gain a new citizen, gain 1 coin per food you own. (Do not count food on damaged empire cards.)
Archivists of Bol: Gain 1 coin at the end of each round. Also, when you buy this card, you may immediately return any 1 of your citizen tokens to the supply and take the next citizen in numerical order from the supply. Place the upgraded citizen token where the discarded citizen was located. Example: Lucinda has three citizens, numbered 1, 2, and 3. She takes her "1" citizen off the Explore action and places it in the supply. She then takes the "4" citizen from the supply and places it on the Explore action.
Barbarian Camp: When you roll damage dice, you may reroll 1 of the dice once per attack.
Bath House: When you place a citizen on this card, you gain 1 knowledge and for the rest of the round this card gives you 1 extra arrow for each attack.
Cave Town: Gain a new citizen (lowest available) when you buy this card (only once). The citizen goes straight to the "Starving/New" area. Also, at the end of the game, gain 2 extra victory points.
Citadel of Ivories: At the end of the game, gain 2 extra victory points per 3 unused coin tokens you have.
City Center: At the end of the game, gain 6 victory points if you have 5 citizens that are not starving.
Cripta Ship: When you place a citizen on this card, you take the Explore action and also gain 2 coins.
Desert Caravan: When you place a citizen on this card, you gain 1 coin per food you own. (Do not count food on damaged empire cards.)
Distant Outpost: When you place a citizen on the learn action, remove a coin from a military card you own. You may remove the coin from the name section or the picture section.
Dungeons: When you use the Labor action, also gain 3 extra coins.
Forest Hideout: At the end of the game, gain 4 extra victory points if you have only 3 citizens.
Frog God Statue: At the end of the game, gain 2 extra victory points per 3 unused ambrosia tokens you have.
Guild of Scholars: Gain 1 knowledge when you buy this card (only once). Also, when you buy this card, you may immediately return any 1 of your citizen tokens to the supply and take the next citizen in numerical order from the supply. Place the upgraded citizen token where the discarded citizen was located. Example: Lucinda has three citizens, numbered 1, 2, and 3. She takes her "1" citizen off the Explore action and places it in the supply. She then takes the "4" citizen from the supply and places it on the Explore action.
Hall of War: Gain 1 coin at the end of each round. This card also gives you 1 extra sword for each attack. At the end of the game, gain 6 extra victory points if you have at least the specified banners in the colors and quantities listed.
Hidden Library: At the end of the game, gain 2 extra victory points per unused knowledge token you have.
Highland Town: Gain a new citizen (lowest available) when you buy this card. Place the citizen in the "Starving/New" area by your player board. Also, gain 1 coin at the end of each round.
Holy Site: When you place a citizen on this card, remove all coins from 1 military card you own.
Metropolis: Gain a new citizen (lowest available) when you buy this card. Place the citizen in the "Starving/New" area by your player board. Also, gain 1 food.
Monument: Gain 1 coin at the end of each round. Also, at the end of the game, gain 2 extra victory points per three-banner titan you have defeated.
Moon Festival: At the end of the game, gain 4 extra victory points per set of 5 different tribe banners you own.
Nomad Camp: When drawing cards in the Explore action, you may draw 2 extra cards. Also, when you place a citizen on this card, you gain 2 extra swords for each attack.
Scribe Guild: When you perform the Labor action, you may also gain 1 knowledge if you pay 1 coin to the supply.
Tea House: When you roll damage dice, you may reroll 1 of the dice per attack. Also, gain a knowledge token when you buy this card.
Town Hall: When you place a citizen on this card, gain 1 knowledge and also gain 1 ambrosia.
Trade City: Gain 1 coin and 1 knowledge at the end of each round. Also, at the end of the game, gain 4 extra victory points if you have at least the specified banners in the colors and quantities listed.
Trade Route: At the end of the game, gain 4 extra victory points if you have at least 6 yellow banners.
Traveler Camp: Gain 1 food. Also, when drawing cards in the Explore action, you may draw 1 extra card. This card's banner can be used as any 1 color banner at the end of the game. (The player chooses which color.)
Treasury: Gain 2 coins at the end of each round. Also, at the end of the game, gain 6 extra victory points if you have at least 5 blue banners and 5 yellow banners.
Warship: This card gives you 1 extra sword for each attack. Also, when drawing cards in the Explore action, you may draw 2 extra cards.
Zori Dramatists: If you are the first to pass in a round, you may store an empire card. You must choose a card from the empire card row on the board.
City-State Abilities
After playing a game or two, you may want to play with city-state abilities.
The opposite side of each player board has a city-state name and a special ability. During setup, each player turns their player board to this side and has a special ability they can use throughout the game.
Unearthers of Umnok: You start with 1 knowledge token and also gain 1 ambrosia whenever you gain a knowledge token.
Merchants of Merlume: You start with 4 extra coins. You can use the growth action on the second round, even though it is normally unavailable. Do not remove the action cover token, but you can slide it to the side if you need to reference the action details. When using the growth action, you place your citizen on top of the action cover token.
Architects of Amnite: Pay 1 fewer coin for buildings that cost over 4 coins. Also, districts cost only 1 coin (instead of 3).
Guardians of Galidor: Start the game with one arrow and an army limit of 3.
District Cards
General Note on Timing: If a card gives a reward (such as a coin) if you perform a specified action, gain that reward AFTER you have completed the action.
Repair Empire Card Ability: Repair 1 empire card right before you collect income, right after you confront your threatening titan.
Variants
If you want the game to feel a little more like the first edition, we recommend that you play with at least the first two variants here.
Costly Placement: If you would like the citizen placement to feel tighter, use this rule: If a player places a citizen on an action space that already has a citizen with a higher skill number, the player must pay coins equal to the difference in skill (instead of the normal one coin). If the player cannot pay coins, then they cannot place their citizen there.
Limited Building: Use this variant if you would like to tighten up the board a little more. Players may not use the new "Build Stored" action. Instead, when a player sends a citizen to the "Build" action on the board, they may perform the action as normal, and ALSO build any (or all) of the stored empire cards they own.
Demanding Titans: If you would like the Threatening Titans to feel more dangerous, play with this change: Every time you feed a titan, pay one more ambrosia than normal.
Threatening Titan Draft: When players must gain new Threatening Titans at the start of the round, draw 1 titan card per player that needs one and place them in a row, face up. Players now choose one card each in turn order.
Designer's Notes
It was an absolute pleasure to be able to revisit The Ancient World. Though only four years have passed since I designed it, I feel as though it's been over a decade. Since it was published, I've gone from part to full-time at Red Raven Games and designed Above and Below, Islebound, Near and Far, Empires of the Void II, and a host of other products. I use different techniques when digitally painting, and I even write rules differently.
The Ancient World was originally a card game and would technically still work as one. My goal was to create something rich and filling, but also quick-moving and easy to get to the table. I've played many two-player sessions at under forty minutes, and that's one of my favorite parts of the design.
I've tried to avoid some of the clichéd resource conversion, recipe completion, and victory point engines that you find in many other worker-placement games. This isn't a game where you throw together a bunch of gears and turn a crank for twelve rounds, watching various cubes chase one another up a victory point track. In this game I want you to barely make it, desperate to get the one extra coin you need to make your few precious turns worth while.
When we sat down with the first edition again after years of not playing it, the first thing I wanted was for the titans to be a bit more aggressive. Yes, thematically they attack tribes and destroy the land, but mechanically they just kind of sat at the top of the board. It took a few tries to figure out how to make the titans attack the players without breaking the basic mechanisms.
I like worker-placement games that have action spaces with constantly fluctuating values. The Ancient World's first edition has this to some extent: every round you draw a new selection of buildings and military cards. But I felt as if this could be taken further, which is where the new resource, ambrosia, came in. At first I didn't call it that. I think we called it wine, or gemstones, or something like that. But when I realized that one of the things you could do with it was offer it to placate titan anger, I knew ambrosia was the perfect fit.
I like the first edition of The Ancient World, but the second edition is quickly becoming one of my favorite designs that I've worked on. The card abilities are more useful and interesting this time around. The titans have presence, and the art is improved and more immersive.
I've enjoyed returning to this mythical land, and I hope you will too.
Components
Note: Because of the successful crowd-funding campaign for this game, we were able to include upgraded versions of some components. This means that there are cardboard AND wooden tokens for the knowledge and citizen tokens. You can choose to use either version of these components.
- 1 1st Player Token
- 68 Coin Tokens
- 22 Knowledge Tokens (Cardboard)
- 16 Knowledge Tokens (Wooden)
- 2 Action-Cover Tokens
- 1 Board
- 1 Round Marker
- 8 Starting Military Cards
- 4 Starting Titan Cards
- 15 District Cards
- 40 Empire A Cards
- 33 Empire B Cards
- 12 Empire C Cards
- 25 Military Cards
- 35 Titan Cards
- 8 Wooden Player Cubes (2 in each color)
- 4 Player Boards
- 20 Citizen Tokens (2 sets: wood & cardboard)
- 3 Custom Dice
- 8 Starting Empire Cards
- 40 Ambrosia Pieces
- Score Pad
- Sticker Sheet (not pictured)
Credits
Game Design: Ryan Laukat Illustration: Ryan Laukat Development: Malorie Laukat Playtesters: Malorie Laukat, Andrew Brooks, Brandon Laukat, Brenna Asplund, Jonathan Gano, Bryan Doughty, Alex Davis, Jakob Nelson, Tevis Laukat, Ben & Amy Garbe, Brian Bezeredi, Peter Schott, Drew Sonnenberg, Jill Sonnenberg, Aaron Kristopeit, Kenny Rodrigue, Emily Lai, Erik Isch, Jennifer Isch, Jessica Wright and SB.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the development of this game and to all the Kickstarter backers that made this possible! Thank you to Gabriel Gendron and Dustin Schwartz for their work on the first edition.
Thanks to Alex Davis for development help on the 2nd edition.
Copyright 2019 Red Raven Games