# Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization

Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization is a board game for 2–4 players. It plays in 120 minutes and is meant for ages 12 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 3. It is rated 7.8 out of 10 by 64 Ludoya reviewers.

- **Players:** 2–4 (best with 3)
- **Playing time:** 120 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 12+
- **Complexity:** 4.2 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2006
- **Categories:** Civilization, Economic
- **Mechanics:** Hand Management, Action Points, Auction / Bidding, Auction: Dutch, Tags, Income, Take That, Open Drafting
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.8 out of 10, from 64 reviews
- **Owned by:** 53 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 514
- **Unique players:** 141

**Designers:** Vlaada Chvátil

**Artists:** Paul Niemeyer, Richard Cortes

## Expansions

- [Cywilizacja: Poprzez wieki – Polski dodatek 1](https://www.ludoya.com/games/cywilizacja-poprzez-wieki-polski-dodatek-1)
- [Cywilizacja: Poprzez wieki – Polski dodatek 2](https://www.ludoya.com/games/cywilizacja-poprzez-wieki-polski-dodatek-2)
- [Through the Ages: Spanish Promo Card Set](https://www.ludoya.com/games/through-the-ages-spanish-promo-card-set)
- [BGO Extended 2.0 expansion (fan expansion for Through the Ages)](https://www.ludoya.com/games/bgo-extended-20-expansion-fan-expansion-for-through-the-ages)
- [Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization – Czech expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/through-the-ages-a-story-of-civilization-czech-expansion)

## Similar games

- [Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization](https://www.ludoya.com/games/through-the-ages-a-new-story-of-civilization)
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- [Epochs: Course of Cultures](https://www.ludoya.com/games/epochs-course-of-cultures)
- [Civolution](https://www.ludoya.com/games/civolution)
- [Terraforming Mars](https://www.ludoya.com/games/terraforming-mars)
- [Gaia Project](https://www.ludoya.com/games/gaia-project)
- [Pax Renaissance](https://www.ludoya.com/games/pax-renaissance)
- [Age of Innovation](https://www.ludoya.com/games/age-of-innovation)
- [Gentes](https://www.ludoya.com/games/gentes)

## Rules questions

### Can I play a card from my hand anytime or only on my turn?

You may only play cards when you take the appropriate action on your turn (for example taking/playing Civil, Technology or Military cards); you cannot play cards outside your turn. See rulebook pages 4–5.

### What happens if I can't feed my population during production?

During Production you must pay food for your population; if you cannot, you must immediately reduce population (disband workers/units) until you can pay, which can cause loss of workers and other penalties. See pages 6 and 9.

### When are Event cards drawn and how do they resolve?

Event cards are drawn and resolved as part of the round sequence (after the first round) and are handled according to the event text; some events are immediate and others are future events with a specific resolution procedure. See pages 8 and 12.

### How does combat resolution work — do military cards fight or only units?

Aggression (brown) cards trigger combat that is resolved by comparing military strength from your units (modified by Tactics/Armies and card effects); military cards and tactics change how strength is calculated and are applied during combat resolution. See pages 13 and 16.

### How can I change my government — do I have to cause a revolution to switch?

You can change government peacefully by paying the indicated cost when taking the change-government action, or you may trigger a Revolution if you cannot/will not pay; both peaceful change and Revolution procedures are described in the rules. See page 8.

### What do happiness and corruption do, and how do uprisings happen?

Happiness affects the risk of uprisings and certain population penalties, while corruption (advanced rule) reduces effective resource production until mitigated; the rulebook explains how happiness, uprisings and corruption interact with examples. See page 15.

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/through-the-ages-a-story-of-civilization)
- [Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/through-the-ages-a-story-of-civilization)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25613)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-24. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._