7 Ages

About this board game

7 Ages is a world-history board game for 2–7 players, with games lasting approximately 480 minutes. From 4000 BC/E to 2000 AD/CE, players guide dynasties and empires through the major developments, conflicts, and turning points of history.

As a dynastic head, you seek glory through historical, scientific, religious, and cultural advances while increasing your civilizations’ health, wealth, and prestige. Historical leaders are included as figures who influence events and their societies through their words and deeds.

Players may control multiple civilizations at once, although the available counter set limits how many can be in play. The first civilization card played establishes the game’s starting time frame, affecting which additional civilizations and historical leaders can be used. This makes secret bids for the first move important from the beginning.

• Cards with multiple roles: Depending on context, a card can represent a civilization, an action, or a civilization advance.
• Valuable card numbers: Each card also has a numeric value used for bidding and trading.
• Secret action selection: Chits selected each turn limit the actions available to each player and their civilizations.
• Shared action constraints: When controlling several civilizations, only one may normally declare war or take production, while a wild chit can allow two civilizations to take the same action at a penalty.

Victory points and civilization levels are tracked on the board. Because games with more than two or three players can be lengthy, play usually ends at a predetermined time or turn. In 7 Ages, the player whose civilizations have earned the most combined victory points wins.