Ancient Knowledge: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Hand Management, Area Control, End Game Bonus, Push Your Luck
Player Age: 12+Player Count: 2 - 5 PlayersTime to Play: 30 Minutes Per Player
Game Designer: Rémi Mathieu
Player Age: 12+
Game Designer: Rémi Mathieu
Introduction:
Ancient Knowledge is an engine-building game where players are racing to create 14 declined monuments. The monuments will give you abilities that can be accessed either in the timeline, when it declines, as end-game scoring or throughout the game. Players will also build artifacts to give ongoing benefits and players will learn technology for instant effects or end-game scoring. The two crucial resources in the game are cards and lost knowledge. You will constantly be required to discard cards to pay for monuments while at the same time trying to hold onto some for future turns. Lost knowledge is found on every monument card and will be placed on top of each card as it enters the timeline. The goal is to remove this knowledge before the monument declines otherwise it will amount to negative points at the end of the game.
Game Anatomy:
Builder Cards:
The builder deck consists of monument cards and artifact cards. At any time a player can have a maximum of 10 cards total.
Each monument depicts; a card type in the top left (either cities, megaliths or pyramids), the starting location on the timeline, any cost involving discarded cards and a lock symbol if the card can only be played into its numerically depicted starting location.
On the bottom section, each card has the value of lost knowledge that will be placed atop when played, any end-game victory points, an effect and a symbol to denote when in the turn the effect may occur.
Artefact Cards:
Artefact cards are one of the main ways to enhance your engine. Each player has room for five artefacts, these will have ongoing effects that activate as described on the card.
Technology Cards:
There are three long technology tiles that can hold three technology cards each. At the start of the game, there are two tier-one tiles and one tier-two tile in play. After a player reaches 7 declined monuments one of the tier-one tiles will flip over to the tier-two side.
Technology cards come in three types. Ancient (blue), writing (brown) and secret (yellow). These cards have a requirement to be met before the player can gain them and an effect at the bottom. The tier-one technology consists of instant effects to help you throughout the early phase of the game.
Tier-two technology has harder requirements but consists of end-game scoring that is perfect for the end-game rush.
Lost Knowledge Tokens:
If there are lost knowledge tokens on a monument when it declines they will be placed on your board and are worth negative points at the end of the game. This is where timeline manipulation and the challenge of declining monuments come in. Some of the monument cards can give the players a lot of points but will be discarded at the decline if there is any lost knowledge remaining on them.
Setup:
- Determine the first player and give them the first player token.
- Shuffle all builder cards then deal each player 10 cards, of which they choose 6 to keep and discard the remainder.
- The 3rd and 4th players will draw one additional card.
- The rest of the cards will form a deck within reach of all players. There is also the deck for tier-one and tier-two technology and a pile of lost knowledge tokens.
- Have one technology tile on the tier-two side and two on the tier-one side. Reveal three technology cards on each appropriate tile.
How to Play:
A turn will consist of three crucial phases; action, timeline and decline. For gameplay, players will take turns one at a time until someone has 14+ monuments in their past. Upon this, the game immediately ends and everyone will score. The player with the highest score is the winner.
Action Phase:
During the action phase, you will perform two out of a possible five actions, the same action can be chosen twice. The five actions are; to create a monument, create an artefact, learn, archive, and excavate.
Create a Monument:
A monument can be played from the hand onto the value on the timeline matching the card. Keep in mind that some monuments require you to discard cards as a cost. Each timeline location numbered (1-6) can have a maximum of two monuments placed here at a time. However, a monument can be placed into the timeline at a location that is not specified by the card. As long as the monument doesn't have a lock symbol you can discard cards equal to the difference between the card's original time location and its new time location. For example, if a monument card is to be placed at location 2 in the timeline, you can discard one card (in addition to any cost the monument requires) to place it at the 1 location instead.
Create an Artefact:
Creating an artefact is easy if you have an open artefact spot on your player board. It is as simple as discarding any cards for the required cost and playing the artefact from your hand into the open spot. The card ability is immediately active and other cards will even allow you to remove and replace your artefacts.
Learn:
If you meet the condition of a technology card you may claim the card and place it on the right side of your player board. If the card is tier-one then the effect occurs immediately. If there is only one of the three cards left on a tier tile, that card is discarded and the tile is refreshed with the new cards.
Archive:
Archive is a good way to remove lost knowledge tokens from cards in your timeline. You simply discard cards and remove lost knowledge from monuments in your timeline, or from your player board, equal to the amount discarded.
Excavate:
Rotate one of your declined monuments 90° to draw two cards. These monuments do not rotate back until another card assists with that. Multiple cards can be excavated at the same time during this one action.
Search:
Search is the least efficient action as it only allows you to draw one builder card.
Timeline Phase:
Monuments in your timeline and artefacts on your player board may have an ability that activates now. This is denoted by the building symbol. Declined monuments in your past are not included.
Decline Phase:
At the end of a turn every card in your timeline will decline by one number; moving one space to the left. When a card moves off the number one space it will become a past monument. If there is a decline effect it will occur now and any ancient knowledge remaining on the card will move onto your player board.
End of Game:
If one player has gained their 14th declined monument, the game ends after this turn and each player will score. This includes declined monuments, end-game scoring abilities, one point per card still in the timeline, and negative points for each lost knowledge token.
Final Thoughts:
- Constant hand management game where almost everything requires you to discard cards.
- The card pool is made up of unique cards.
- Great card layout and icon design, that helps gameplay.
- Good range of point salad.
- Interesting push-your-luck system of lost knowledge.
- Room in the box for sleeves or expansions.
Ancient Knowledge, how we played it as a race game, is a fast engine-building game with an engaging strategy about managing time. In the pursuit of 14 monuments. One goal may be to speed up the decline of monuments to gain effects but another 5 that players have to juggle the monuments in play to benefit from their timeline effect. To further complicate this, you want to remove the lost knowledge from your monuments to avoid negative points. This is a challenge to do but it is not essential for every strategy. Ancient Knowledge has a wide array of unique cards, so there are many combos and strategies for players to pursue. As cities fall and monuments decline, Ancient Knowledge, with its quick ruleset and wide variety, will advance its way into a solid spot in anyone's collection.
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