Mesopotamia: Cradle of Civilization cover
2005BGG rank #3,963

Mesopotamia: Cradle of Civilization

by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede · Phalanx Games B.V.

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Players2–4
Time45m
ComplexityMedium-Light
Age10+

About the game

What is Mesopotamia: Cradle of Civilization?

At the center is the Ziggurat, where you must bring 4 sacrifice tokens to win. But to deliver them, you must have sufficient Mana reserved by praying in temples, which players build. You bring your sacrifices from 4 huts that you build, and you can breed at an empty hut to increase your people. To build huts, temples, and Mana, you use rocks and timber that you collect from quarries and forests. Each turn, you can move 5 places, placing new tiles if you go off the map, seeding stones or timber if they are quarries or forests, and carrying resource to empty plains if you want to build. Building a hut or temple, breeding, or drawing an action card ends your turn, and you bank Mana if you have people on temples. So gradually, you build up your clan and have them do different things. Some stand at temples to pray, some explore and carry resource, others help build or breed. And when you deliver a sacrifice, you kill the messenger too, thus needing to breed more. Expanded By Mesopotamia: Expansion

How it plays

Mechanics

Action PointsModular BoardPick-up and DeliverPoint to Point Movement

On the shelf

Categories

AncientCivilization

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

  • How do setup and the first turn work in Mesopotamia: Cradle of Civilization?
  • When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
  • How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?