Fantasy Flight Games 'CIV01' FFGCIV01 Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn

Product Information

Playing the game for the first time with three people took about two hours and we didn’t even know two hours passed because we were so engaged with the experience. Many will roll their eyes when they think of Civilization, either in despair at the way Sid Meier’s computer version has become the ‘de facto go-to’ whenever anyone mentions the game, or because they have memories of a game designed by Francis Tresham back in 1980 that was guaranteed to swallow at least 7-8 hrs of your life, and like as not 10+ hrs if you played it with the full complement of 7 players.

The default way to play for this reviewer will be for players to build the map from scratch thereby adding even more fuel to the conflict in the game.

In contrast to other civ-games, A New Dawn is not plagued by analysis paralysis, nor do its players face a lot of downtime. Everything is done very professionally with this company and always lets you know every step of the process.

Without warning, FFG announced an expansion for this game a few months ago and did their usual sales pitch talking about the extra content. e-Raptor Insert compatible with Sid Meier’s Civilization: A New Dawn™ is a perfect accessory designed to organize and improve gameplay of the board game. City state cards relating to the ones that are in play are put nearby and finally three victory cards are laid out and the game can begin.

At it’s heart, the game revolves around the rather cool but nonetheless simple Focus Bar mechanic, which is a 5-space bar that sits in front of you and has five distinct terrain types numbered 1 to 5 along the top (Grassland, Hills, Forest, Desert, and Mountain). However, the need to meet the demands of a taste-specific audience while also attracting a larger audience is still at the core of some types of game design, especially when dealing with an existing piece of intellectual property (IP). Combine that with the abilities you gain throughout, there are plenty of opportunities to feel clever and powerful.