Ancient Realm and the Wonders of Overlapping Cards
Use locations and hire citizens to build up coins and resources in order to construct stunning wonders in Ancient Realm.
Surprise delivery! I hadn’t expected to try out Ancient Realm, but was excited to learn more about it when it arrived. Wallet-sized games are increasingly attractive to save space, and this one used one mechanic I often love: Overlapping cards! With just a handful of cards to create my own civilization, I eagerly brought this to my solo table to check out!
Disclaimer
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Everything presented here is my own opinion based on my plays. This was a surprise delivery in that it happened while I was on vacation. New deliveries are always fun! But as always, just want to be transparent about the source of this copy and that I did not pay for it myself.
Game Overview
Game Name: Ancient Realm
Publication Year: 2023
Designer: Steven Aramini
Artist: Startraphell Talbot
Publisher: Button Shy
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
With a market that consists of districts and wonders, a handful of resources grow. However, activating these abilities requires overlapping the blocks with new cards. There is an interesting trade-off between effects and scoring bonuses as wonders take shape in this world!
First Play
September 8, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
September 8, 2023
Expansions
0
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
4
Play Time
15 Minutes
High Score
59
Game Area
28" x 12"
Low Score
49
Creating a Quick Realm
There are a lot of excellent solo games out there about building up an entire civilization, yet a lot of them are lengthy and complex. Not the easiest to get to the table!
In this case, a lot of those elements are distilled into resource collection and wonder construction.
Yet even with this small number of cards, deciding how to overlap or place them has major impacts. Overlap too much, and the final scoring might be pretty low.
On the other side, overlap too little and resources will be limited, so wonders may need to be abandoned early on.
Random Events
The market starts off with 2 district cards and 2 wonders to choose from, but this split may be altered as cards are chosen. Why does it make sense not to put out districts?
Random events, of course! The back of each district card features some sort of special event that remains active as long as it’s visible. Lots of great bonuses can be found.
However, the district deck needs to be used at some point. Wonders all cost resources to build, which are expensive.
District cards also feature more blocks that can be used, whereas wonders can never be overlapped. More choices!
A Line Through History
Above the market is where districts and wonders take shape. I mentioned the benefits of overlapping cards, but they can also be placed next to each other.
Sometimes, it makes sense to line up the right blocks to overlap 3 of the right ones. In this case, the king wasn’t useful to me until the queen was elsewhere in the realm.
I found this to be a very interesting puzzle! Decisions about which cards to choose were a lot more nuanced.
Additionally, it sometimes made more sense to hold off on building wonders in order to store more resources.
This Wonderful World
The wonders were quite interesting, too. I couldn’t control the order of the cards in the market, but building some wonders early on gave me plenty of bonuses.
The Great Pyramids were awesome for granting a bonus for building any of the other wonders. I tried to get that out as soon as it appeared, which wasn’t easy!
I also ran into some trouble with the way I arranged the cards. No overlapping wonders stifled some of my plans.
However, I also saw the benefits of earning coins outside of the mines, which were very valuable for final scoring.
New Ways to Enjoy Established Mechanics
The idea of overlapping cards isn’t new, and there are plenty of awesome solo games out there that focus on it! Yet with so many games, I often keep an eye out for a new twist or some sort of unique theme. Here, the way the blocks are activated is quite interesting, especially since there is a balance to be struck with the amount of overlap.
Does every game need to do something entirely different to be great? Not at all! But in this hobby where thousands of games come out and there is always competition for attention, there has to be an element that attracts me. I enjoyed this puzzle and figuring out when to overlap cards… And then when not to! Definitely a game that kept me thinking.
I’m also starting to think more about the sorts of reactions solo games produce. My collection has a wide variety of games that do something different. Above all, though, the ones I keep are associated with strong feelings or the sense of a challenge that calls for another play. I’ve still got some work left to reach the highest scoring tier with this one!
Rotating Resources
One simple way to cut down on the number of components is with resource cards that rotate. Very easy to use!
Coins, wheat, wood, and stone could all go up to 7 by rotating and flipping these cards. It was very fun to bump these up when I was able to double some resources.
The end game victory points also awarded a little bit for having leftover resources. How I lamented when I was so close to trading in for everything I needed… But couldn’t!
My scores all remained pretty close together in a middle scoring tier as I tried the challenge over and over.
Stretching Far Away
As I tried out different strategies with overlapping cards or building wonders at different times, the construction line took on many different appearances.
It always stretched out in both directions, but there was a point when avoiding overlapping wasn’t the right idea.
Even with this small handful of cards, I still found myself very interested in trying out new things. The cards created all kinds of choices and different blocks to activate.
Abandoning wonders wasn’t particularly fun, though, so I tried to collect enough resources to build them all!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-4
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Outcome: 58, 59, 58, 49 (4 Losses)
At least I managed to construct all of the wonders once! But that resulted in my lowest score yet, thanks to me making a blunder of overlapping too many mines. I had a very fun time and was surprised by how interesting the mechanics were. Maybe the theme wasn’t as prevalent, yet for a quick solo game about building a civilization, I was impressed! I’ll have to continue working on my strategy so I can reach my victory threshold… It won’t be long!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
6
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- A lot can be done with a small number of cards, especially with the different ways the blocks can be overlapped.
- There is an interesting trade-off between saving cards for scoring or using them to gain coins or resources.
- Events help provide incentives for following different strategies at different points and controlling the market.
- Play time moves quickly with practically no downtime, as the choices require active thinking that’s not too deep.
- The play area stretches to the left and right, yet generally remains compact with the focus on overlapping cards.
- Mines provide some of the most intriguing decisions with their lucrative coins and unique scoring conditions.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The rulebook feels a little short and doesn’t explain everything in detail, particularly some of the scoring blocks.
- Most of the gameplay feels very mechanical and the theme of building a civilization doesn’t really come through.
- Although there are enough cards to provide variety, the base game may feel too similar after a number of plays.
- Wonder abilities are clearly highlighted, but are sometimes easy to miss as the green blends in a little too much.
Victory Conditions
Score 60+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 67%
Goals and Milestones
Build every wonder in at least 1 game.
Score at least 50 points.
Score at least 60 points.
Continue the Conversation
What are your thoughts about Ancient Realm? Have you discovered a strategy that works best? I saw some earlier posts about this game elsewhere and didn’t think it would be quite for me. However, I was surprised! The challenge is there and I’m still thinking about how I might achieve a better civilization next time… That’s the mark of a good game!
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