Para ir abriendo apetito, aquí os dejo un buen resumen de la historia de Cyclades Legendary Edition y los cambios que traerá según Bruno Cathala:(FAQ al final)On February 16th, Open Sesame Games announced the upcoming launch of
CYCLADES LEGENDARY EDITION, on Kickstarter Q2 2023.
With Ludovic Maublanc, we relayed the information on our networks, and, of course, it generated a lot of legitimate questions. So it’s time for me to explain what this project contains / doesn’t contain. So that everyone knows if it’s for them or not!
First of all, what was Cyclades
Cyclades was released in 2009. Many of you clearly know what it is. With the boardgame world growing a lot since then, many players might not know what this game is about. Let’s summarize:
Cyclades is about Ancient Greece major cities struggling to prove their supremacy (and to be the first to own two metropolises). To obtain these famous metropolises, three ways are possible:
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Economic development (owning port + fortress + temple + university earns a metropolis)
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Cultural development (owning 4 philosophers earn a metropolis)
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Military conquest (you can take over the opponent’s metropolises through combat)
Cyclades’ DNA comes from its clever bidding system:
Necessary actions to develop your city are linked to the 5 gods, each one being specialized in its field. (Poseidon > Maritime, Ares > military, Zeus > religion, Athena > Culture, Apollo > the poor man’s god)
In order to obtain the favors of a God, it is necessary to make offerings.
Ensuring a specific god’s favors requires that you are the highest bidder. But as the intensity with which you can use it depends on the amount of gold you have left, you will have to make decisive choices.
Cyclades, under its false appearance of « ancient Risk », is in fact a game of management / development / control, always hyper tense, in which Gold is the key!
The game was a real success which allowed us to keep developing its universe, through various expansions:
Cyclades HADES in 2011, which contained several modules:
– a free placement start
– a new God, Hades (with his armies of undead)
– the arrival of the legendary Heroes
– the emergence of divine favors
Cyclades Titans in 2014; with again several modules:
– A new board, with islands composed of several territories
– A 6th player
– the possibility to play in teams
– A new God, Kronos, accompanied by his Titans
– Specialized metropolises
– Divine artifacts offering a new way to victory
Cyclades Monuments in 2016:
A » mini-expansion » with mythical monuments, materialized by 3D miniatures
In summary, from 2009 to 2016, we had the opportunity to develop a whole universe around Cyclades.
A universe that we wanted to be modular. Each group of players being free to choose, before each game, if that night, they wanted to play with Hades + Heroes, or 6 in teams of 2 players, with artifacts and Monuments or… in short… lots of possibilities.
As time went by Ludo & I felt an intense desire to propose a new vision of Cyclades.
A sort of « designer’s cut », that is to say, keeping only the ones we liked the most from the modules described above.
And then finally, from reflection to reflection, with a desire to make the game as dynamic as possible for the most intense gaming experience, we ended up interweaving our desires and changes so much that we ended up with something that is… another game. Another Cyclades, which is so much more suited to our actual preferences. And of course, all this while maintaining the original Cyclades’ DNA. And that’s how :
Cyclades Legendary Edition :
First of all, what has been kept?Well… all primary Cyclades’ DNA, of course, with its bidding system on the Gods. And as always, the fight for the control of gold that will allow you to make the actions that will lead you to victory.
Everything has been re-illustrated by Miguel Coimbra’s brushes. This also contributes to keeping the game’s precious identity..
But many things have changed / evolved
– Modular boardsThe game surface is now composed of tiles fitting into each other, in a totally free and modular way, which will create, according to the assemblies, archipelagos of variable surface islands, composed of one or more territories. In each game, it will be necessary to know how to exploit the specificities of the unique topography to your advantage.
In summary:
> Increased replayability
> Easier to set up
– Basic Gods reviewedSince the beginning of the game, each God has given access to automatic and free benefits, and others that must be paid in addition to the initial offering.
In the original Cyclades, you had to pay to get the buildings and earn the Metropolises.
We realized that in some games, players never paid for these buildings. They preferred to wait for others to build their metropolises, while they accumulated their gold. In order to launch a single military expedition to win in a single turn by stealing the opponent’s metropolises.
While this tactic is perfectly legit, it could lead to games where no players created buildings in the end, resulting in games that would last a good couple hours.
As a result, in Cyclades Legendary Edition, the automatic and free effect of the gods is the construction of buildings. This results in Metropolises appearing on the board much, much faster. It makes the game more dynamic.
But now, you’ll have to control 3 of them to win!
– Metropolises with specific gainEach Metropolis you build will give you a nice little bonus (a priestess, or some soldiers, or ships, or gold…). This contributes a little more to the desire to build them without waiting.
Even better: if someone steals a metropolis from you, you will « leave with the loot », i.e. benefit from this metropolis’ bonus again before losing it.
– A new God HERAWe have sorted out the Gods, and the way to manage their arrival.
I won’t go into detail here, but we found a way to manage them that has the advantage of working identically, no matter if you play with 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 players.
Simplification, whenever possible, is the key!
Tough we have kept, of course, Poseidon, Ares, Zeus Athena and Apollo, we have added a new one: HERA
HERA, replaces for us what we liked in Hades and Kronos.
The idea, the desire, is to have the possibility to move troops even when you don’t have access to Ares. Always this desire for dynamism.
Hades, with its troops of ephemeral living dead, allowed this, but once every 3, 4 or 5 turns, depending on the dice results. Fun but random.
Kronos, allowed to have titans leading troops to battle. Particularly interesting when the islands are composed of several territories.
Hera allows :
– To recruit mercenary troops (unlike the undead, they do not disappear at the end of the game turn)
– To recruit a Hero… and these Heroes will allow you, at each turn, in a logical way, to take the troops that accompany them to the battle (except if you are on Appolon).
– Heroes reviewOf course there are more heroes than in the original Cyclades, but their effects and use have been reworked. As we have just seen, they don’t arrive randomly, mixed in with the pile of mythological creatures. You’ll have to get Hera’s favor… and have the necessary Gold (4 Gold) to recruit them.
In exchange, they will :
– Allows you to take your troops into battle each turn, with a specific military bonus for each hero
– Each of them will benefit from a unique sacrificial power, allowing them, when the conditions are met, to earn a Metropolis.
Thus Heroes are now a 4th strategic axis to gain Metropolises, synonymous with victory!
– Creature Review:
Also here, we will find some of the creatures that make Cyclades’ DNA. But some new ones will be discovered. And above all, the beautiful creatures with miniatures will be able to influence the board for longer periods of time.
Previously, it was basically a short round, then gone.
Now, each turn, it will be possible to sacrifice a priestess to keep the creature dear to your heart (and more importantly to your strategy) a while longer.
– Preservation of the team modeWith 4 players we will have the possibility to play individually or in teams of two players.
With 6 players, we will have to play in teams of two players.
In teams, we play side by side, sharing only one screen for two, where you hide your common gold.
Each one has his priestess, philosophers, heroes, creatures, as individuals.
But gold is common. Teammates will have to agree on how to spend it.
Buildings are also shared (If I have port + fortress and my partner has the two complementary buildings, I make a Metropolis)
The game becomes cooperative within the team, and competitive, between teams. We love it.
– Two player game completely revisedThe two player game was the poor parent of the first Cyclades edition.
Not because it didn’t work. But the game was usually best conceded if a major advantage was gained by one of the two players. The final result was not in doubt, but probably required another 30 minutes of play.
With two players, now, it’s basically like playing as a team.
Each player controls the destiny of two cities, with a central screen behind which they manage the gold of their two cities.
Each city / color has its priestess, philosophers, heroes, creatures, but the gold is shared.
The two player game is certainly a bit more technical than before, but at the same time, it is quite adapted to the target audience of this game. But most of all it is more intense and suitable for turnarounds.
So… Now you have a fairly complete picture of what Cyclades Legendary Edition is all about. Which allows me to answer to the following questions:
– Will there ever be a pack to upgrade my initial Cyclades?
NOIf you check all the changes, it clearly appears that the changes are too many, too deep, for any backwards compatibility.
– When will the KS be launched?At last information, the launch should take place in Q2 2023 for a delivery in 2024
– Will there be a version available in stores?
YESAnd this version will contain all the gameplay elements that will have been unlocked during the KS campaign
Indeed, it is essential to us that everyone can have the same gameplay elements.
Consequently, the « KS exclusive » elements will only touch « qualitative improvements of the material », but not the elements that give rules.
However, regarding the store version :
– this is still but quite likely that it will be a « basic box » + « extension » form, in order to have a price compatible with the market.
– This store version will be available only after the bakers have been delivered. Personally, I had a very bad experience with the fact that the Cleopatra and the architect’s society bakers have been delivered after the game arrived in stores. I have no desire to see that happen again. It is imperative that we focus on those who will support us and help bring this project to life.
Will there be a single player mode?
NOAnd here, it’s clearly a wish of mine. Indeed, I am not at all hostile to the idea of a game having a single player mode. But for my games, that mode can only exist if it meets 3 requirements:
– Not to turn the game into a « gas factory » with a tree structure if…. then… but if… then … etc etc
– Offer a game experience that remains consistent / analogous / close to the original game
– You must be able to lose against the game (I hate solo modes that only lead to a high score attempt. I must feel the potential breath of defeat)
As mentioned above, Cyclades is primarily a bidding game. It would have been perfectly possible to offer a single player mode using the Cyclades material, but without recreating the game experience that is so important to us. So even when the single-player mode’s big specialist offered his services, I preferred to say no, with no regrets, even if I clearly know that this will prevent some people from pledging.
