Mare Nostrum (board game)
Encyclopedia
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.
s - 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:
Commerce Phase
Political Phase
Military Phase
The first player to do any of the following wins the game:
. 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.
and religious
elements to the game. These include:
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
for 3 to 5 players, designed by Serge Laget and published in 2003 by Eurogames
Eurogames (game publisher)
Eurogames is a publisher of board games, founded in 1984 as Jeux Rexton to publish the man-to-man miniature combat game, Cry Havoc and its expansions. In 1988 Duccio Vitale expanded the company to begin publishing more board games, starting with six games purchased from the bankrupt Italian gaming...
. It was also the name of a 1983 board game in the Fronte Mare series.
Gameplay
Players assume the roles of one of five Mediterranean empireEmpire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
s - Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
or Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
.
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:
Commerce Phase
- Players receive cards for each resource they control. Once the players have taken their resources, the player who controls most caravans and markets (the Director of Commerce) chooses how many cards will be traded, and each player puts down that many resource cards from their hand. The Director of Commerce then chooses a card from an opponent's face-up cards and adds it to their hand. That player picks an opponent's card, and so on until all cards have been taken.
Political Phase
- The player who controls the most cities and temples (the Political Leader) chooses the order in which players may make purchases. Players may buy buildings which improve resource production, military units (see Military Phase, below), or buy Heroes or Wonders which confer special advantages and count towards winning the game.
Military Phase
- The player with the most military units on the board (the Military Leader) chooses the order in which players may make military moves. Players may move units around the board in order to control provinces or to attack other players' units. Travel by sea is accomplished using ships as bridges. Combat is resolved by rolling one six-sided dice per unit attacking, adding them together, and then dividing by five (rounding down). That many of the opponent's units are destroyed.
The first player to do any of the following wins the game:
- hold four Hero and/or Wonder cards
- build the Pyramids
Game interest
Mare Nostrum is intended by the designer to be a more playable version of CivilizationCivilization (board game)
Civilization is a board game designed by Francis Tresham, published in Britain in 1980 by Hartland Trefoil , and in the US in 1981 by Avalon Hill. The game typically takes eight or more hours to play and is for two to seven players...
. 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
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, Cleopatra, Hammurabi
Hammurabi
Hammurabi Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; (died c...
, as well as the Seven Wonders of the World.
The game incorporates many features found in other games, for example:
- Resource production, management and trading (The Settlers of CatanThe Settlers of CatanThe Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber and first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag as Die Siedler von Catan. Players assume the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop their settlement while trading and acquiring resources...
) - Military strategy (Risk)
- Diplomacy and sea travel bridging (Diplomacy)
- Player asymmetry (CitadelsCitadels (game)Citadels is a German-style card game, designed by Bruno Faidutti and originally published in French as Citadelles in 2000, and later in German as Ohne Furcht und Adel, which means "Without Fear or Nobility."...
)
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.
Expansions
Mare Nostrum: Mythology Expansion adds mythologicalMythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
and religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
elements to the game. These include:
- A sixth civilization (the legendary AtlantisAtlantisAtlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
), including an add on map board and pieces for a sixth player - GodsDeityA deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
such as IsisIsisIsis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
and BaalBaalBaʿal is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu...
who grant powerful favors - A High Priest role and phase in which offeringOfferingOffering may refer to:* Offering, a collection of donations during religious worship, see alms, tithe or charity* Offering, a religious sacrifice of plant, animal or human life* Offering , a part of devotional practice*Phan...
s can be made to the gods - Mythological creatures such as the griffinGriffinThe griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
, the centaurCentaurIn Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
, and the phoenixPhoenix (mythology)The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians.... - A variety of mythological heroes such as UlyssesOdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
, MedusaMedusaIn Greek mythology Medusa , " guardian, protectress") was a Gorgon, a chthonic monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. The author Hyginus, interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone...
, and HerculesHerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene... - A thirteenth resource (PotteryPotteryPottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
) - A thoroughly revised rulebook