I played Through the Ages for the first time yesterday, using the Full version of the rules and with Ian and Steph at the Isleworth Gamers. At a leisurely pace, it took 4½ hours, including rules explanations and set up – so it’s really a weekend game.
I enjoyed it, although was a tough grind, as I had only read the simple version of the rules. By the middle of the game I was able to manage my board without too much help.
I can see why it’s so popular. There is plenty of variety, lots to think about and little luck. The theme is well handled. (Even the reference to Alex Randolph as a leader of civilisation wasn’t too jarring.)
My only complaint is that the core mechanic is quite unintuitive. More and more I’m missing the clean intuitiveness of early eurogame designs. I’ll clean my palate with a few weeks of lighter fare before I take on a stodgy main course like this again.
7/10 although I’m positive my rating will rise once I fully understand the system.
Unintuitive, yes – it certainly takes some getting used to. I still haven’t quite figured out how the happiness stuff works.
I’m not sure I would have the patience to sit through something like this for four and a half hours.
It looks like Agricola Heavy and I have scant patience for Agricola Classic
You could easily have played a game of Middle Earth Quest in that time – or War of the Ring – or Twilight Struggle
Life is too short
Ignore me, it’s my Gaming mid-life crisis
Agricola Heavy is about right. Which explains the 7/10 rating that will probably rise. I didn’t like Agricola that much on first playing, but it grew on me.
Middle Earth Quest is about the same length, but it’s a much lighter game. I think I prefer Through the Ages.
War of the Ring and Twilight Struggle are strictly two-player games, so aren’t really comparable. Longer games tend to benefit from fewer players – both are better than Through the Ages.
4,5 hours is a bit long for Through the Ages, I’d say it should play in three hours.
I have seen three 3-player games. The fastest was four hours. We were playing with the Full rules and we are inexperienced.
Agricola has not grown on me. Quite the reverse – it’s more like a field of rotting cabbage that smells worse every time I go back to it.
Perhaps I should give Through the Ages a go, though.
If you don’t like Agricola, I doubt you’ll like Through the Ages.