Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East

If you liked Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea, you are going to love Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East!

Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) is brought to you by the same team that created Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea —designers Christopher Vorder Bruegge and Mark McLaughlin with developer Fred Schachter. ACME is not a sequel nor an expansion but a stand alone game using the same multiplayer and solitaire systems as its predecessor with many new and exciting features to intrigue its players, including:

• Deities. Instead of building The Wonders of the World, here you get to establish the Deities of the Biblical era (including “you-know-who,” the one who demanded, “Let my people go!”)!

• An all-new deck of 110 cards, many of which allow you to inflict disasters and defeats of, well, BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS upon your opponents! One civilization can even capture the Deity of another and take its statue back to its capital to demonstrate its military and theological superiority.

• Rugged Mountain Areas (with blocks to signify strongholds)

• Fertile River Valleys (where even cities or a single disk/camp could grow population)

• Vast Deserts (where stacking is severely limited and growth prohibited) 

• And, of course, the rolling plains and churning seas found in Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea

ACME is a game of the chaos-inducing wrath of gods & men—a chaos each player does their utmost to manage, survive, and guide their civilization through to triumphant victory. Spanning the ancient world from the Hellespont to the Indus, from the Caspian to the Red Sea, and from the early Bronze Age to the Hellenic Age, Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East allows you to command not just 10 but 16, SIXTEEN CIVILIZATIONS!

Here are the civilizations you can command (in alphabetical order):

Each civilization has its own unique characteristics, from taking captives (new!) rather than loot from a captured city to supremacy in siege warfare—and much, much more in between.

Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East is an exciting, easy-to-learn, easy-to-play-but-challenging-to-master abstract game in which players guide these renowned and legendary civilizations of the Biblical era that rose and fell—and were buried, only to rise again.

A Game for 1-6 Players

ACME is not just one game but many games. 1-6 players will take the role of one, two, or even three civilizations as they compete across up to four Epochs on land and sea, seeking to survive a host of potential natural disasters while making their indelible mark on history. Each civilization will fight to become the dominant power of its age through conquest and the building of cities, along with establishing the supremacy of its powerful Deity.

Extensive Solitaire Rules allow any scenario, including the basic game, to be played by a single player against one or more Non-Player Civilizations (NPCs). The NPC may be peaceful or hostile and may change its attitude depending on the actions of the player. Historical War Game Scenarios offer particularly aggressive Solitaire system-controlled opponents for those who want to fight to expand or defend their civilization.

A War Game Only If And When You Want It To Be

If you want a War Game, you got it. If you want a friendly game, this is it too! As in Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea, Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East can be all about war, but it doesn't have to be. It can be a friendly game of exploration, city building, trade, and faith. Players (solitaire, a group of up to six, or even a mix of live players with a system-driven civilization of two or more) can make of ACME what they wish or imagine. Competition can be martial or cultural, warlike or friendly, or a combination of both—how the game unfolds depends entirely on how the players want it to play. The duration of the game is also up to the players: from a multi-hour odyssey of all four Epochs to a pre-arranged shorter contest of an hour or two or to an agreed Sudden Death Victory Point threshold.

For Those Who Want A War Game, There Is Plenty Of War To Be Gamed

Historical War Game Scenarios are just that—fun and entertaining scenarios that recreate wars from the dawn of civilization to the conquests of Alexander the Great (and more!). Take on the role of Agamemnon as he sacks Troy, Solomon as he builds the Temple, or Ramses as he leads his chariots on the plains of Kadesh. Become the great law-giver, Hammurabi, the inspiring Persian empire-builder, Cyrus, or the legendary hero, Rostam (and more!). There are even double-sized (twice the usual number of disks) civilization options for those who want to conquer the world of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East and become—as Assyrian kings  Akkad and Sumer claimed—the king of the four corners of the world.

Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East is suitable for players of all ages, offers great family fun, and is easily and quickly teachable. It can serve as a kind of gateway to the more complex games our wonderful hobby has to offer.  

Number of Players: 1-6

Inside the Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East box, gamers will find:

• a 34” x 22” mounted game board
• 416 round wooden playing disks (Disks) with 52 each of 8 colors. Two extra disks of each color are provided as replacement for any lost. During play, each color is game limited to 50 disks in supply
• 7 small, square (¾ inch square) wooden blocks with 7 stickers for "Deities."
• 6 larger (1 inch square) wooden blocks (matching the six disk colors for the active civilization's Home Areas)
• 5 large white cylinders or pawns with a star imprinted on one of its sides to designate the Epoch, Turn, and location of an upcoming Competition and/or Areas which require special Competition-related consideration
• 15 cubes: 12 grey to represent Mountain Strongholds and for special cards, 1 yellow to indicate a mountain area with a Gold Mine, 1 green for a desert area’s Oasis, and 1 blue to represent a sea area’s Fishing Grounds
• 6 Player Aid Sheets (with the End of Epoch Event Table on the reverse)
• 1 Solitaire Player Aid Sheet (two-sided)
• 1 Civilizations' Special Abilities Summary card with Deity Attribute Summary (two-sided)
• 16 Civilization Display Cards
• 110 Playing Cards*
• Rulebook*
• Playbook: Solitaire Rules, Suggested Set-Ups for games for 1 to 6 players, Historical Scenarios, Examples of Play, and Optional Rules

Game Design: Christopher Vorder Bruegge and Mark McLaughlin 
Development: Fred Schachter