Cradle of Civilization

Cradle of Civilization is a remake of Avalon Hill’s classic History of the World, with a different map, different civilisations, and a few rules adjustments. It has that nostalgic, grand feeling of a game where empires arrive, spread across the map, and vanish before you have quite grown attached to them. It is not startling. Put it before the right table, though, and it makes a lovely racket.

The game runs across six ages. In each one, you take a tribe, spread over the map, and collect points; in broad terms, it is Small World with dice and a little more old-school blood in its veins. Combat involves a lot of rolling, but it is simple rolling with very few modifiers, so you always know exactly when luck has kicked you in the shin.

The tribes are not equal, nor do they have the same potential, and that is where the meat is. The last player in each round can turn civilisation selection into a remarkably personal matter for everyone else: do you take what helps you, or leave your friend to swallow the next age? The rulebook did not give me much trouble; what the game really needs is a group willing to accept that defence will not always save them. That is when things get good.

I would prefer terrain to matter more, and for defence to offer a little greater protection, but those are small notes beside the mood of the group. Do not choose it for fewer than five players, however many three-player-and-up scenarios the box provides. The separate one-versus-one wargame covering Alexander the Great’s campaign is a welcome extra, although I have not played it enough to judge it. With five or more players in the mood, Cradle of Civilization is a pleasantly savage trip through six ages.