Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn – How to Play and Win

Quick answer

To play Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn, set up the board with map tiles and starting cities, then take turns using action cards to explore, expand, and advance. Win by completing one of the victory conditions before your rivals.

Step-by-step: How to play and win

1. Set up the board and starting positions: Place the starting map tiles and each player's starting city according to the rulebook. Shuffle the resource and event decks. Common mistake: forgetting to give each player their starting action cards and unique leader abilities. Checkpoint: every player has their leader sheet, action cards, and starting city on the board.
2. Understand your action cards: Each player has a set of action cards. On your turn, you'll play one card to perform its action. The card's row on your player board indicates which actions are boosted. Common mistake: ignoring the row bonuses—they are crucial for efficiency. Checkpoint: before your first turn, read all your action cards and note which rows boost which actions.
3. Take your turn: choose and resolve an action: Select one action card from your hand, place it on the corresponding slot on your player board, and resolve the action. Actions include explore, expand, develop, and others. Common mistake: trying to do too much in one turn—focus on one goal per turn. Checkpoint: after resolving, discard the card unless it's a persistent effect.
4. Explore and expand your empire: Use explore actions to reveal new map tiles. When you reveal a tile, you may gain resources or face events. Expand actions let you place new cities or grow existing ones. Common mistake: expanding too far without defending or connecting your cities. Checkpoint: keep your cities within reach of your action cards' range.
5. Advance your civilization: Develop actions let you improve your cities, unlock new abilities, or gain victory points. Use resources to pay for advancements. Common mistake: neglecting resource production—you need a steady income to afford developments. Checkpoint: aim to have at least one resource-generating city by mid-game.
6. Pursue victory conditions: Victory conditions typically include reaching a certain number of victory points, completing objectives, or fulfilling your leader's specific goal. Check the rulebook for exact conditions. Common mistake: ignoring your leader's unique victory path—it can be faster than the generic one. Checkpoint: at the start, identify which victory condition suits your leader and plan accordingly.
7. Adapt your strategy as the game progresses: Monitor your opponents' progress and adjust your plans. If someone is close to winning, consider blocking their expansion or racing to your own victory. Common mistake: sticking rigidly to an initial plan when the board changes. Checkpoint: review the board state every few turns and reassess your action card usage.

Game facts

• Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn: This tabletop game is based on the groundbreaking video game series and lets players become some of history's greatest leaders. Fans of the video game will recognize the leaders and themes, making it easier to dive into the strategy.