New characters and gameplay modes, modular board, and unique playthroughs every time.
Board game enthusiasts can now look forward to Cyclades: Legendary Edition, a remastered version of the Greek mythology popular board game. The game, which combines the original Cyclades and its expansions, promises a brand-new gaming experience.
What’s the game about?
Designed for up to five players, Cyclades: Legendary Edition revolves around earning the favor of Greek gods by collecting gold from different map spaces. Once the income is collected, the Greek pantheon and mythical monsters are available for auction. After that, players use their money to control their unique powers. The powers range from Zeus’ ability to spawn priests and build temples to Apollo’s income-boosting ability, Poseidon’s seafaring prowess, and Ares’ army movement.
To win, a player must build three metropolises in their territory, one more than in the original Cyclades game. The game includes various objectives such as constructing different buildings, sacrificing hero characters, and taking enemy cities via combat.
Features and rules changes
Cyclades: Legendary Edition represents a “director’s cut” of Cyclades and its three expansions: Hades (2011), Titans (2014), and Monuments (2016). The game’s designers, Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc reworked the game’s rules to make gameplay more dynamic and fluid. The game now features six gods instead of five. In addition, Kronos and Hades’ abilities are now combined into the new character – Hera.
The game’s central auction round also underwent changes. A new exponential bidding scale speeds up auctions and makes bidding battles more dynamic. Also, the game plays out on a new modular board assembled from various tiles, increasing replayability.
Cyclades: Legendary Edition will allow three to five players to play the standard ‘Classic’ rules. In addition, four or six players can form competing groups of two in a team mode. The designers also have improved the two-player mode to offer a more authentic and enjoyable experience.
Unfortunately, there will be no upgrade pack to make existing copies of the original game compatible with the new rules. However, there will be a cheaper version with meeples and standees released.
Cyclades: Legendary Edition is set to hit Kickstarter in Q2 2023, with a planned release date in the following year.
