How to Play the Age of Mythology Board Game

Direction for playing the game "Age of Mythology"

• 1

  Assign a color to each player. If you are playing with fewer than four players, each player should take a different culture (Greeks, Norse or Egyptian). Give each player the appropriate figurines, playing mat, battle deck, random action deck and permanent action deck.

• 2

  Give each player four of each resource and place the victory cards face-up in the middle of the table. Each player should take two each of his three weakest army units and place them on his play mat.

• 3

  Start the turn by placing a victory cube on one of the victory cards. Once each player has placed a cube, choose any permanent action cards you would like to have in your hand. For each card fewer than four that you have chosen, draw an action card from the random deck.

• 4

  Play an action card on your turn, and follow the instructions on the card. "Explore" lets you add a resource tile to your board, "Gather" lets you gain resources from your tiles, and "Trade" lets you swap resources with the bank in a one to one ratio. Build allows you to purchase buildings with resources (cost written on your play mat), and Recruit allows you to purchase army units with resources (cost written on your battle cards).

• 5

  "New Age" allows you to pay four of each resource to advance to the next Age. Each Age you advance allows you to draw an extra action card in step three, and allows you to recruit a more powerful hero for your army. Once you reach the final age (Myth), you may "Build the Wonder" to end the game.

• 6

  Attack another player by playing an "Attack" card. Select the number of units on the card and your opponent does the same. Then, secretly choose a starting unit, and your opponent does the same. Reveal the chosen units and look at the corner to see how many dice you should roll. Whoever rolls the most sixes kills the other unit.

• 7

  Continue the battle until a player retreats or runs out of units. Whichever player is victorious gets all victory cubes on the "Last Battle" card. If the attacker is victorious, she may steal a production tile, steal five resource cubes or destroy a building.

• 8

  End the turn once each player has played three action cards, and return to step three to start a new turn. Once all victory cubes have been placed on cards, the game ends. Award the victory cubes on each card (biggest army, most buildings, built a wonder) to the appropriate player, if any. Whichever player has the most victory cubes wins!