Overview

Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Board Game (Fantasy Flight Games edition) lets players guide a civilization from a single city to a sprawling empire. Players explore the map, build cities, research technologies, develop culture, raise armies, and compete for dominance. There are four distinct victory conditions, ensuring multiple strategic paths. The first player to achieve any victory condition wins.

Components

• Modular map tiles (unexplored and home tiles)
• Civilization sheets (Rome, Egypt, China, etc.)
• Technology cards (arranged in a tech pyramid)
• Culture cards (events and great persons)
• Unit figures (infantry, cavalry, artillery, aircraft)
• City markers, buildings, wonders
• Market board and trade resources
• Combat cards and unit cards
• Dial trackers (trade, culture, coins)

Setup

1. Each player chooses a civilization and takes their sheet.
2. Lay out starting home map tiles per player count.
3. Place unexplored map tiles around the edges.
4. Each player places their capital city on their home tile.
5. Place starting units (scout, army figure) per civilization.
6. Set up the market board with trade resources.
7. Shuffle technology, culture, and combat card decks.
8. Determine starting player (varies by civilization).

Turn Structure

Each round, players take turns in order. On your turn, perform these phases:

Phase 1: Start of Turn

Activate start-of-turn abilities.

Phase 2: Trade

Collect trade points from cities and adjust the trade dial.

Phase 3: City Management

For each city, choose one action: build a building, build a unit, build a wonder, or devote to the arts (gain culture).

Phase 4: Movement

Move your figures (scouts and armies) on the map. Scouts explore tiles; armies can attack.

Phase 5: Research

Spend trade to research one technology from the tech pyramid. Technologies unlock abilities, buildings, units, and government types.

Actions

City Management

• Build Building: Place a building tile in your city (granary, library, market, etc.). Buildings provide ongoing bonuses.
• Build Unit: Place a military unit figure in your city’s outskirts.
• Build Wonder: Begin constructing a world wonder (takes resources; provides powerful bonuses).
• Devote to Arts: Gain culture tokens and advance on the culture track.

Movement and Combat

• Each figure may move up to its movement allowance.
• Scouts explore face-down map tiles.
• Armies entering an enemy-occupied space initiate combat.
• Combat is resolved with combat cards and unit cards, comparing battle values.

Research

• Spend accumulated trade to learn a new technology.
• Technologies form a pyramid; you need prerequisite techs to advance.
• Four technology levels unlock progressively powerful abilities.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Four ways to win (first to achieve any one):

Victory	Condition
Technology	Research a Level 5 technology (Space Flight)
Economic	Accumulate 15 coins through trade and commerce
Cultural	Advance to the end of the culture track
Military	Capture an enemy capital city

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Each civilization has a unique starting ability and starting technology.
• Government types can be changed through technology; each provides different bonuses.
• Barbarian villages appear on explored tiles and may attack players.
• Great Persons (from culture cards) provide powerful one-time or ongoing abilities.
• A city can support a limited number of buildings and units based on its size.
• Wonders can only be built once globally; first to complete it claims it.
• Resources on the map provide trade goods needed for certain buildings and wonders.

Player Reference

Victory Path	Key Focus
Technology	Research pyramid (need Level 5)
Economic	15 coins from trade
Cultural	Culture track completion
Military	Capture enemy capital

Phase Order
1. Start of Turn
2. Trade
3. City Management
4. Movement
5. Research