There are quite a few board games on the market that feature construction as one of the main components. However, sometimes a work appears among them that can attract attention with its processing and gameplay. And it is precisely such works that include “Monuments of the Ages,” which we will consider in the following paragraphs.
- Number of players: 15
- Game time: 70 minutes
- Price: 945 CZK (Tlama Games)
- Age: 14+
Monuments of centuries represent empty space in front of you that needs to be built up.
Construction is a fun pastime that many of us enjoy. However, in most board games, settlement building is not entirely straightforward, as it often involves a ton of tokens and an almost endless number of actions. However, this description does not apply to Monuments of the Ages, in which each round proceeds more or less the same way.
At the beginning, you have seven coins at your disposal, which you can work with until they are completely gone, which may or may not actually end your turn, because there is still the opportunity to borrow and thereby burden yourself with future. But when you play debt-free, you always have a certain number of options before you. The main option is to buy tickets. They are available in two versions. You are given one long cube or three smaller ones, which are easier to work with.
Roads here need to be connected to towers or other paths, which in practice means you can’t just start building them on a vacant lot. Guardians are another option in the build. However, most of your time here will be spent implementing buildings. They can be found here in various forms that at first glance evoke memories of Tetris. On the playing field, a building must be built next to the road.
Another option for its construction is to attach the building to an existing structure. However, the condition is that it be the same color as the already constructed building. This way you will build blocks representing residential areas, breeding areas or libraries. However, it is always necessary to close the block using paths, or by placing its last piece in the Monuments of the Ages at the edge of the map. Immediately after laying out the pieces, the game will reward you with a certain amount of raw materials associated with that structure. Then they gradually form the city’s population.
What can actually be built as legendary buildings in Monuments of the Ages? The building offer includes Egyptian pyramids, the Colosseum, impressive statues from the Easter Islands and a number of other structures whose implementation we still admire today. The construction of monuments itself is always associated with the fact that it is necessary to find a suitable place for them and, above all, meet the requirements for them. Here they ask for a water connection, sometimes a road connection or a connection to buildings of a certain format.
If you manage to fulfill the conditions, you will perform a miracle and thereby receive victory points. The end of the game is then tied to the counting of the rings received for population growth. Winning points can also be obtained from the least represented raw materials. The winner is the one with the most. Additional cards can be a kind of expansion of the gameplay, setting new goals for the player, forcing him to think more about how to build what. When you place them in the game, they increase the difficulty of Monuments of the Ages slightly.
Accessibility is the strong point of Monuments of the Ages.
A common problem when developing strategies is their excessive complexity. Sure, some players like it, but if you want as many people as possible to play the game, you need to make it “considerably” simple. In the case of “Monuments of the Ages,” the authors of this board managed to create an accessible work in which, with the help of seven kopecks, you can always implement some kind of design.
During the rounds, an interesting-looking city will appear under your hands, consisting of diverse areas and here and there, by some miracle, going down in history with its size. The idea is interesting and works, so I would recommend it to anyone who likes to build but doesn’t want to think too much about the huge Monuments of the Ages rules. For me, this is a great game with very beautifully designed components that make it feel like you’re implementing something truly great.
For providing a copy of “Monuments of the Ages” We thank the Czech distributor Tlama Games.
Source :Indian TV
