# Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game

Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game is a board game for 2–4 players. It plays in 120–240 minutes and is meant for ages 13 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 4. It is rated 6.8 out of 10 by 41 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $171.16 (United States).

- **Players:** 2–4 (best with 4)
- **Playing time:** 120–240 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 13+
- **Complexity:** 3.9 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2010
- **Categories:** Negotiation, City Building, Civilization, Exploration, Video Game Theme
- **Mechanics:** Grid Movement, Tech Trees / Tech Tracks, Open Drafting, Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, Deck, Bag, and Pool Building, Modular Board, Rock-Paper-Scissors, Trading, Square Grid
- **Ludoya rating:** 6.8 out of 10, from 41 reviews
- **Owned by:** 73 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 120
- **Unique players:** 94

**Designers:** Kevin Wilson

**Artists:** Henning Ludvigsen

**Publishers:** Fantasy Flight Games

## Expansions

- [Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game – Fame and Fortune](https://www.ludoya.com/games/sid-meiers-civilization-the-board-game-fame-and-fortune)
- [Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game – Wisdom and Warfare](https://www.ludoya.com/games/sid-meiers-civilization-the-board-game-wisdom-and-warfare)
- [Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game – die Griechen Promo Card](https://www.ludoya.com/games/sid-meiers-civilization-the-board-game-die-griechen-promo-card)

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## Rules questions

### How do I found a new city — where can I place it and what are the rules for sacrificing a scout?

You may build a city during your Start of Turn if you have a scout in the square and the square is non-water, fully revealed (eight adjacent squares), not adjacent to a hut/village or enemy figure, and at least three squares from any other city center; you sacrifice the scout and place the city marker (the city center never produces yields). (p.13)

### When do I collect trade, and is trade the same as production?

You collect trade during the Trade Phase by adding all trade symbols in your cities’ outskirts to your trade dial (trade is pooled and can be saved), while production is a per-city resource spent during City Management and cannot be saved; trade and production are distinct and convertible only by paying trade to rush production. (pp.12, 14–15)

### Can scouts explore huts or villages, and what happens when I discover them?

Scouts cannot enter hut or village squares; an army that enters a hut peacefully takes the hut for its owner, while entering a village triggers a barbarian defense (a battle vs. barbarians) with post-battle rewards if you win. (p.20)

### How many unit cards do I draw for a battle and how are wounds resolved?

Each side draws a battle hand equal to its battle hand size (base 3 plus +2 per additional friendly army in the square, bonuses from government or defending a city/capital), then players alternately play unit cards into fronts where units deal wounds equal to their strength (wounded units can still deal full damage), with trumps dealing damage first; surviving unit totals plus combat bonuses determine the winner. (pp.23–25)

### How does researching tech work — what does it cost and do I keep any trade after researching?

To research you must meet the trade threshold for the tech level (I=6, +5 per level thereafter) and have a legal spot in your tech pyramid; researching normally spends all your trade but you keep 1 trade per coin you possess (coins let you retain trade when researching). (pp.20–21, 26)

### What is a blockade and how do scouts affect a blockaded city's yields?

A square in a city's outskirts that contains any enemy figures is blockaded and produces no trade, production, culture, coins, or resources for that city; however, a scout in a square may ‘send’ that square to one of its owner’s cities for the turn, making the square count as that city’s outskirts and negating the blockade's effect for the sending player's city. (pp.14, 26–27)

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/sid-meiers-civilization-the-board-game)
- [Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/sid-meiers-civilization-the-board-game)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/77130)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._