History of the World (board game)
| Designer(s) | Gary Dicken, Steve Kendall, Phil Kendall |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) |
Ragnar Brothers (1991), Compendium Games (1992), Welt der Spiele (1993), Gibsons Games (1993), Avalon Hill (1993), Hasbro (2001). |
| Publication date | 1991 |
| Players | 3-6 |
| Playing time | 180 minutes |
History of the World (often abbreviated HotW) is a board game designed by Ragnar Brothers and originally published in 1991. It is played by up to six different players in seven different epochs; each player playing a different empire in each epoch.
The first edition of History of the World by Ragnar Brothers was released in 1991 (with a tea-towel board). Following English, Dutch and German versions by various publishers, it was published by Avalon Hill in 1993. In 1994, History of the World won the Origins Award for "Best Pre-20th Century Boardgame of 1993". After Avalon Hill was purchased by Hasbro in the early 2000s, History of the World was re released as a big box game. Ragnar Brothers released a revised version of the game, A Brief History of the World, in 2009.
The game is played in seven rounds known as epochs, which correspond to different historical periods. At the beginning of each epoch, each player receives an empire card and assumes the role of that empire for the round. Each empire has advantages and disadvantages based on the order in which it appears in an epoch, starting location on the world map, its number of armies, navigation abilities (access to certain lands by sea), and whether or not it possesses a capital.
During each empire's turn, its allocated units are placed on the board beginning from its capital (or starting space) and proceeding through contiguous areas and controlled seas or oceans. Occupation of empty territory is automatic, while dice-based combat rules are applied if a unit is placed in an area already occupied by another player's forces.
At the end of each player's turn, they are given a score based on how much control they have of different regions of the board (known as "Areas") and how many capital, cities, and monuments they possess. The remains of players' empires never move again, but remain on the board for the rest of the game until they are conquered or destroyed by other players. Players are also given "Greater Events" and "Lesser Events" cards at the beginning of the game, which can be used throughout the game to gain certain advantages.
The following is list of all the empires in the game grouped by epoch and organized by their order of play in each epoch. Each empire is listed with its name, the number of armies it gets, its capital or starting location in parentheses, and the seas it can navigate in parentheses. Each epoch there is a minor empire and a kingdom that can be played as event cards, and these are listed at the bottom of the epoch.
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