 |
 Box cover | |
| Players | 3–5 |
|---|---|
| Setup time | 20 minutes |
| Playing time | 120–180 minutes |
| Random chance | Low |
| Age range | 12 + |
| Skills required | Strategic thought, Trading, Diplomacy |
Mare Nostrum is a board game for 3 to 5 players, designed by Serge Laget and published in 2003 by Eurogames. It was also the name of a 1983 board game in the Fronte Mare series.
Players assume the roles of one of five Mediterranean empires - Rome, Greece, Babylon, Egypt or Carthage. Units are placed on a game board representing the Mediterranean and the surrounding area, divided into provinces which contain one or more resources.
Players take turns in rounds of three phases:
The first player to do any of the following wins the game:
Mare Nostrum is intended by the designer to be a more playable version of Civilization. The goal of the game is to bring glory to your civilization by acquiring great heroes and by building architectural wonders in your kingdom. Prominently featured in the game are historic personalities such as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Hammurabi, as well as the Seven Wonders of the World.
The game incorporates many features found in other games, for example:
The game itself supports three to five players, but it is best played with all five.
The game has been criticised as being too inflexible in the player's roles; for example, Rome must play aggressively while Egypt must trade. Further, players are forced (to a certain extent) into certain actions early in the game; if Egypt is allowed to acquire too many resource cards they will quickly build the Pyramids; if Rome is not then held in check they will achieve military victory. However, once the game has been played a few times these strategies become less effective and the game opens out again.
Mare Nostrum: Mythology Expansion adds mythological and religious elements to the game. These include:
Sid Meier's Civilization is a 1991 turn-based strategy 4X video game developed and published by MicroProse. The game was originally developed for MS-DOS running on a PC, and has undergone numerous revisions for various platforms. The player is tasked with leading an entire human civilization over the course of several millennia by controlling various areas such as urban development, exploration, government, trade, research, and military. The player can control individual units and advance the exploration, conquest and settlement of the game's world. The player can also make such decisions as setting forms of government, tax rates and research priorities. The player's civilization is in competition with other computer-controlled civilizations, with which the player can enter diplomatic relationships that can either end in alliances or lead to war.
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