Through the Ages on iOS

The digital version of Through the Ages was released a long time ago. This is one of my favourite games, but I held off buying the digital version for a long time, worried that it might not get played much. I used to play the game a lot, but by the time the digital version was out, my plays had greatly reduced. I finally bought the digital version recently, just before a planned holiday. I was going to have a whole week off, and I was hopeful that I would be able to spend some time playing. Eventually I played this digital version exactly once throughout that holiday.

The problem is with me. I get stressed out over the game. Playing digital versions of a heavy strategy game makes me feel pressured, and I end up resisting the game. It's the same thing with Twilight Struggle. When a serious and strategic game is digitised, the experience is condensed into a shorter time and it becomes more intense. The physical chores are taken away by the computer, and you are hit by the full, thick and undiluted experience. The information is presented clearly and in full detail, and you feel obliged to do your part - to analyse the data down to every single possibility. You have no excuse not to, and this can be tiring. In contrast, I have no difficulty playing Ascension and Star Realms every day, because they are lighter and they have more luck.

Digital Through the Ages uses the rules from the latest reincarnation - Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization. There is one small rule change, just to make gameplay more convenient on the digital platform. However you can bypass that and stick to the standard rules if that's your preference.

I had heard that the digital version was very well done. After playing it, I found that it didn't wow me. It is not stunningly beautiful, but it is practical and well organised. The tutorial is well-written, with a touch of the Czech Games Edition humour. You can see in the screenshot above that the in-game teacher is the game designer himself, Vlaada Chvatil. This part about "making people" made me chuckle.

The three types of buildings here are farms, mines and libraries. The number of lighted doorways indicate how many of each building type you have. The building at the bottom right represents your form of government. During the tutorial you only have four civil actions (white circles), until it starts teaching you the military actions.

After I was done with the tutorial, I jumped into my first game, playing green. I played against three other AI's, all at medium level. I did not jump straight to the advanced AI's, and that was a wise decision. I couldn't even handle the medium AI's! The players are listed along the right edge. The numbers mean their military strength. If there's a second number, it means the colonisation strength. My hand of cards is at the bottom left. Completed wonders are in the background on the right.

This table shows you the most crucial information of all players, including alliances, number of civil and military actions, population happiness situation, wonders of the world, resource production and resource level. The rightmost column is culture, i.e. victory points. I (green) have 34VP, and I'm earning 2VP per turn. The leading AI has 58VP and is earning 11VP per turn! This is rather depressing.

I have played many games of Through the Ages, but they were mostly with my wife, and we played a peaceful variant. I never quite learned to manage the military aspect well. I was a little nervous starting this game, because I knew the AI's would not hesitate to attack. I didn't dare to fall too far behind in military strength. At this point both the blue and red AI's were at military strength 15. I was at 10, so it would be difficult for me if either of them decided to attack. The yellow AI was even weaker than me, at military strength 8.

I was attacked by the blue AI. I was robbed!

The complete 4-player game took 30 to 45 minutes, which was much faster than playing the physical copy. Now we were doing the final scoring, i.e. resolving the remaining event cards in the deck. I like this interface. You get to see all the leaders who have been with you throughout the history of your civilisation, and you also celebrate the wonders you have built. Overall I played rather poorly. I was a little sloppy, and I had missed out some tactical considerations.

I was relieved that I (green) didn't come last. That was a minor miracle.

I should try to persuade my wife to play. She likes this game. Playing the digital version will be much quicker than how we used to spend about 2 hours playing the physical game.