The Sands of Time

After a spell away from the table, I came to The Sands of Time wanting the familiar comfort of a civilisation game. Wood, culture, trade, monuments, research: that is a very effective list when you have spent the day answering emails and would like to be in charge of something more substantial for an evening.

At its centre is action selection. You choose what to do, then use those choices to shape your civilisation through development, trade, research and monuments. It is a recognisable framework, and a sensible one, with room for all the things this sort of game ought to contain.

The interaction seems to live chiefly in that shared race for advancement. Your choices commit you to a direction while everyone else pursues their own; the game does not appear interested in piling systems onto the table merely to show that it has them.

That restraint is also where the slight disappointment lies. The Sands of Time is good and interesting, but it leaves me feeling that one more ingredient was needed to bring the whole thing together. Beside the abundant sprawl of Feudum, it feels almost too restrained. It is a quietly good choice for an evening of civilisation-building, though not the one I will still be thinking about while packing the table away.