War and intrigue in a barbarous world

Age of Gods is a wonderful boardgame created by Croc and taking place in a medieval-fantasy universe.

Each player takes on the role of one of the 12 Gods from the game and tries to increase his influence on earth, by using all the races living on it like puppets.

The choice of your God will determine some of your powers and even perhaps your style of play. But the concept on which the game is based is rather simple: the game contains 24 races, of different sizes and who they follow is a secret. During the game, you will be able to take control of a race in each size category, but you do not know in advance those you will end up watching over. The other subtle mechanic is the fact that by using an appropriate action card, you will be able to use any race (even those who do not follow you).

To win, you will have to wage war, forge alliances, use divine powers (divine wrath, extra fortresses for the God of protectors, easier breakthrough for the God of conquest, combat bonuses for the God of war, territories which cannot be invaded for the Goddess of love… just a few examples of powers these twelve Gods will grant you).

Many races, just as many powers!

The game lasts 9 turns and each turn is divided into four phases: destiny phase, fortification phase, combat phase and action phase. Throughout the game, during specific destiny phases, you will secretly receive race cards (from the 24 present) which will tell you which races you will need to grant your favor to in order to win. The races are classed in four sizes depending on the amount of territories they possess at the beginning of the game.

The most powerful ones, like the high elves, humans or chaos are of size 4, then come those of size 3 and 2 (centaurs, dark elves, lizard men and nomads to name but a few) and finally the minor races of size 1 such as giants, ogres, sorcerers or monks.

Each race has a special racial ability which can be used only if you reveal said race. Will you keep your races hidden in order for them to grow secretly more powerful? Or will you openly flaunt them in order to wield their full powers?

Action cards and numerous combinations!

In addition to the God persona and four races to watch over, you will get a number of action cards. Each card will allow you to make one of 3 possible actions: attack with a specific race during the action phase (this would allow you to attack twice during a game turn since you could attack with that race during the preceding "combat phase"); increase the technology level of the race on the action card to improve their efficiency in attack and defense; or use the race's power (which can vary from airborne attacks or bringing down the technology level of a race or even destroying fortresses - there are 24 different powers, one for each race).

Simple rules and tactical depths

Don't be mistaken though - even if the game is simple it's every man for himself, it also has a tactical level to it, as the possibility of actions taken is very wide. However, this does not detract from Age of Gods' playability, as the rules only take up four pages. We have spent a lot of effort on their presentation and thanks to numerous illustrated examples (with detailed descriptions), the rules are easy to learn and simple to understand.

The most interesting point of Age of Gods is that something is always happening! In addition, as you do not play a specific race, but a God which must favor a number of them, you will never get stuck and most importantly, you will be able to play every race on the board!

Memorable nights of chaos-filled fun in perspective!