
2005
Mesopotamia: Cradle of Civilization
2–4 players · 45 min · 10+
At the center is the Ziggurat, where you must bring 4 sacrifice tokens to win. But to deliver them, you must have sufficient Mana reserved by praying in temples, which players build. You bring your sacrifices from 4 huts that you build, and you can breed at an empty hut to increase your people. To build huts, temples, and Mana, you use rocks and timber that you collect from quarries and forests.
Each turn, you can move 5 places, placing new tiles if you go off the map, seeding stones or timber if they are quarries or forests, and carrying resource to empty plains if you want to build. Building a hut or temple, breeding, or drawing an action card ends your turn, and you bank Mana if you have people on temples. So gradually, you build up your clan and have them do different things. Some stand at temples to pray, some explore and carry resource, others help build or breed. And when you deliver a sacrifice, you kill the messenger too, thus needing to breed more.
Expanded By
Mesopotamia: Expansion
Rules and strategy
Source knowledge for this edition still needs preparation or review.
Prepare rules knowledge
Source rules are needed before we can answer reliably.
Sign in to submit a rulebookAsk about Mesopotamia: Cradle of Civilization
Answers show their sources. When the evidence is missing or unclear, we’ll say so.
Find a copy
Some links may earn GamesBond a commission. Prices and availability are set by the retailer.