2017 · Civilization
Gentes
Players lead an ancient people through six rounds of development, building monuments, founding cities, training citizens and managing money to score points. Actions are taken by placing shared action markers on a personal time track that also receives sand-timer markers; players balance taking costly actions now against losing future actions when their time track fills. Cards enter in three eras and require specific person types to play, so recruiting and positioning different citizen types is central. Cities and built monuments provide recurring benefits and additional action options, while collecting matching symbols on cards increases end-game points.
- Players
- 1–4 best 4
- Playing time
- 90 min
- Age
- 12+
- Complexity
- 3.2 / 5
About the game
- Design
- Publisher
Expansions
See them in Ludoya
Photos from Ludoya tables
All photos in Ludoya
Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 107
- Plays logged
- 142
- Players
- 1h 37m
- Average play
- 67
- In collections
- 6
- On wishlists
7.1/10
from 28 Ludoya reviews
Garfield7.0 #57 [c] Theme: :nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]No theme --> Gameplay: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Entertaining --> Interaction: :star::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Almost no interaction --> Artwork: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Nothing special --> Luck: :nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]I can't see it --> Strategy: :star::star::star::star::star: <!-- size 7]Yesss --> Components: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Nothing special, temples look like factories:/ --> Play duration: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Very good for such a game --> Easy to teach: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Could take some time --> Setup time: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Quite fast --> No downtime: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Can be played with almost no downtime --> [/c]
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
Can I voluntarily pass during the heyday if I don't want to take any action?
No — you may not voluntarily pass; as long as you have at least one free space on your time track you must take a main action, and if no action tiles are available you must take the Tax Collector or become the New Starting Player until your time track is full (p.6).
When I take an action tile, how do I place the action and time tiles — and can I change them later?
Place the chosen action tile on the leftmost empty space of your time track and then place the required time tiles (single- or double-hourglass) on subsequent free spaces; once placed you may not flip or exchange those time tiles (p.6).
If I build a city, do I activate my other cities in that region (and the new one)?
Yes — when you build a city you place a house on the matching site and then activate all of your cities in that region, including the newly built city, receiving each city's rewards (temple/oracle cubes, coins, or VPs) (p.8).
Can I take civilization cards from the discard pile, and how many can I take with the Scribe action?
Yes — with the Scribe action you must choose either to take from the face‑up display or from the discard pile (not both); depending on the cost you paid you may take 1–3 from the display or 1–2 from the discard pile as allowed by the action cost (p.9).
How many civilization cards can I hold and what happens at cleanup and at game end?
During the heyday you may hold any number of cards, but at the decline phase you must place a time tile (an hourglass) for each card beyond three (p.9, p.11); at game end you may play cards from your hand that you meet the requirements for at half their listed points (rounded up), and for any remaining hand cards whose requirements you cannot meet you lose half their VP value (rounded up) (p.11).
If I'm missing people to meet a card's requirements, can I use cubes from my temple/oracle and do those count as population?
You may satisfy missing person requirements by returning wooden cubes from your temple and/or oracle to the general stock (these are treated as 'virtual' persons to meet the card), but you do not record them on your population chart; for the 18‑people bonus the condition must be actually met at the end of the action on your population chart (p.9, p.10).
Free, on web, Android and iOS
Play Gentes with Ludoya
- Keep it in your collectionTrack your copy and its expansions, lend it to friends, or put it on your wishlist and get told when the price drops.Add it to your collection
- Log every playScores, winners, timers and photos, then your stats: win rate, favourite player count, best score.Log a play
- Settle rules questionsAsk anything about the rules and get an answer from the rulebook, with the page to check it on.Ask the rules assistant
- Find people to play it withClubs, game nights and events near you that bring this game to the table.See events
Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.