Age of Monarchs (2013)

Age of Monarchs is a multiplayer card-driven grand strategy game simulating the three centuries of the Modern Age, from Columbus' discovery of America in 1492 to the fall of the Bastille in 1789. Players represent the highest rungs of European monarchy, assuming the leadership of a major European Power, and struggling to achieve global supremacy over the world in the Age of Absolutism. Being an absolute monarch, each player must manage every kind of question: economic, political, diplomacy, trade, world wide exploration, colonization, religion and warfare.

Age of Monarchs is designed to offer an accurate and detailed historical context, supported by more than 160 strategy cards that simulate the most outstanding historical events and force players to face constantly the toughest challenges that occurred during the three centuries covered by the game timeline.

The game offers a wide set of short scenarios and a Grand Campaign 1492-1789, spanning 20 turns, that put the most powerful European nations into a never-ending struggle for world domination.

The complete list of Scenarios:

• 1492-1559 Age of Exploration
• 1560-1618 Wars of Religion
• 1619-1667 Thirty Years War
• 1668-1730 Age of Absolutism
• 1698-1789 Wars of Supremacy

In Age of Monarchs players take the role of the absolute monarch of a Major Power. Monarchs are represented by Strategy Cards that reproduce historical characters (plus some generic ones), each with special abilities that affect game rules. The game manages also the aging of monarchs, and their replacement by new monarchs, crowned after their predecessor is dead, thus allowing players to handle a line of succession in the monarchy of their Powers.

Strategy Cards are the core of the game. They provide Command Points that allow players to perform all Game Actions, but they also introduce the most outstanding historical events of the Modern Age, such as the Protestant Reformation, the Wars of Religion, the birth of Holland (United Provinces), the Eighty Years war with Spain, the rise and decline of the Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires, the Thirty Years War, the rush of the Russian Empire to Siberia, the Great Northern Wars, the growth of the Ottoman Empire, the wars with Christianity, the Wars of Succession, the birth of the USA, and many more.

Game Actions allow players to perform activities in all spheres. To summarize a few:

Warfare: the game has a light military system. Players can rapidly move or redeploy forces, engage land battles, resolve sieges and naval combats. Supply mechanics are very simple. Leaders play a fundamental role in game-play, either as Generals, Admirals or Conquistadors.
Diplomacy: many Minor Nations are present in the game. All players can influence these Minors to get Alliances and Vassals, benefiting from their military support during conflicts.
Exploration, Colonization and Trade: the game recreates the race of the Powers to build Colonial Empires all over the world. New colonies bring income from the exploitation of exotic resources and gold. The game allows players to affect the prices of exotic goods in order to speculate on price fluctuations as well. Gold can have a strong impact on the European economy due to Inflation!
Economy: players must pay attention to the budget of their Powers. At the end of each turn, players perform some short and rapid calculations to determine the budget balance of their Monarchies, based on revenues (taxes, colonial incomes, trade) and costs (maintenance of forces). The game has also the concept of Prosperity, measuring the richness of each Power, strongly affected by the length and outcome of wars.

Game overview:

• Complexity: 6 / 10
• Game length: 5+ hours
• Number of players: 3-6
• Time scale: about 10 years per turn
• Solitaire suitability: low