Mega-Civilization? 5-18 players? 10-12 hours? Srsly?

It's the hotness on the other site. here's the first paragraph from the description.

"Mega Civilization, a huge version of the legendary development game Civilization, is a game of skill for 5 to 18 players covering the historical development of ancient civilizations from just after the last Ice Age to the dawn of the new era at the end of the Iron Age — a time span of almost 8,000 years. Each player leads their own civilization as it tries to expand its culture over a map board that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to India."

Also, one of the posts lists 200 Euro + 60 Euro shipping to the States.

The designer says it's playable with a saner more Civ-like player count without using the full map. So you can get your 6-8 player Civ fix with this as well.

The price is a killer, but I love the concept.

I hadn't played CIV/ADV CIV in years. Several years ago at a con a group of friends asked me to join; remembering the 10-12 hour marathons of years past, I declined. They finished a 6 player game in about 7 hours . One thing that helped A LOT was some player aids that had all the card discounts and what not on them to help players figure out card buys/bonuses.

Its been awhile since I saw it, but back when this project was started, I read where with more than 7-8 players, you basically have 2 separate "orbits" of civs - one east of Babylon playing in the subcontinent area, and the normal CIV area. Plus, a lot of stuff can be done simulataneously , like two players moving who aren't adjacent.

Part of the high price is due to the thing being in a wooden box - the game components look to be very high quality and quite numerous - the map is huge. That, coupled with a likely low print run/high cost per unit, make this more a bespoke collectors edition type game rather than something destined to sell a ton of copies. They are pretty straightforward that they know its a niche customer and don't care that they won't sell a ton. They're making it because they are die hard fans of the game.

And to be fair, if you were to buy copies of CIV/ADV CIV out on the secondary market, they fetch close to the price this thing is at .

If you're a fan of the original, you probably don't need to be sold on the concept. But if you're never played, while the game has some brilliant concepts, its a bit dated in a lot of ways, and even with experienced players, the play time is a kille for many groups.

Someone in the Baltimore Group was trying to talk up a game of this.

Maybe a group of experienced Civ players could play an 18-player game in one long day. The first time that I played Civilization, it was a four- or five-player game that took all afternoon. The second time I played was a similar experience, maybe a bit faster. The third time I played was a four-player game that took nearly 12 hours. I don't know why it took so long, except that there was a lot of table talk, a meal break, and excessive negotiations. That was nearly 12 years ago, and I haven't played since.

Last time we played we got a 7-player game done in about 6-7 hours, with a break. It was a blast. But the trade negotiations started getting long and convoluted somewhere around hour 3 and I instituted a 5-minute timer. Six out of the seven players thought the timer would just be a good idea in general, right from the start.

Civilization: Shelf Toad Edition

Adv Civ is one of my favorite games but easily the shelf-toad of shelf-toads. It needs 6+ players willing to dedicate themselves to probably 12+ hours. It's easily worth it but hard as hell to organize these days.

The first time I went to WBC, I couldn't have been more excited since I could get a play in..... and then I learned that some people suck. They all play with the worst possible interpretation of the trading rules. In effect, they turn 12 hours of awesome into 12 hours of pure suck.

This is the game that taught me that I am more concerned with who I play than what I play. In my group, twiddlewinks (aka Micro-Mutants) is awesome. They can salvage almost anything (except Automobile).

Mega-Civ looks like an impossible dream. If I can't get 6-8 to play Adv Civ, then I don't even need to try to get 18 to play. Not to say I wouldn't buy at some price but it's shelf-toad if there ever would be one. At $50 then maybe. At $200 euros+shipping....nope.

Some guys made a version of FFG's A Game of Thrones boardgame that accomodated up to 18 players. I saved all the files for that, but never bothered to make it because I can't even seem to find a group of 6 players for it.

I don't think what Civilization needs is 12 more players and a longer playtime. I can't help but think that this is based on an infantile idea that everything is better the more stuff you throw into it and not any semblance of game design. I don't see any logic in making this bigger other than the fact they can.

Erik Twice wrote: I don't think what Civilization needs is 12 more players and a longer playtime. I can't help but think that this is based on an infantile idea that everything is better the more stuff you throw into it and not any semblance of game design. I don't see any logic in making this bigger other than the fact they can.

Or maybe it has been thought out and put together by people who like very deep games, to each their own. One of the european guys here (forgotten who) plays these mega games that involves dozens of people for a day or weekend.

wadenels wrote: Last time we played we got a 7-player game done in about 6-7 hours, with a break. It was a blast. But the trade negotiations started getting long and convoluted somewhere around hour 3 and I instituted a 5-minute timer. Six out of the seven players thought the timer would just be a good idea in general, right from the start.

I played Advanced Civ one time, with 7 players. It took 12 hours with a meal break, and we even had a timer for trade. Can't remember if it was 5 or 10 minutes, but I agree that it's a good rule. About half of us were new to the game. I read all the rules the night before and was super excited to play. I came late to a party at my own house because it ran so long, but people were actually pretty intrigued that something like this even existed. I think there's zero chance I could get any of them to do it though! It's the best game that I'll never own.

18 players? Whoa. That's a weekend. Maybe even a 3-day weekend, unless everyone is very familiar with the game, and maybe there's rules for each half of the world taking their turns simultaneously or something?

Why you wouldnt just play the PC version is beyond me.

SuperflyTNT wrote: Why you wouldnt just play the PC version is beyond me.

Because it isn't the same game, just the same name.

ThirstyMan wrote:

SuperflyTNT wrote: Why you wouldnt just play the PC version is beyond me.

Because it isn't the same game, just the same name.

IIRC There are two video game versions of Tresham's Civilization and one of Advanced Civilization which I'm told is quite good and given it's by the same studio that made the PC version of 1830 I'm inclined to think they are right. The problem is that it's a negotiation game and negotiating with a computer isnot as fun.