Advanced Civilization is a game where each player starts with a single nomadic tribe with no skills. As the supreme leader, you use your abilities to grow and develop your people into a powerful empire. The question is - do you have what it takes to be written into history as an enlightened ruler of an Advanced Civilization? This is a challenging game requiring both skill and stamina. Players must manage their board position, financial accounts, their neighbors and the civilization advances. Excellent diplomatic, military and trading skills are needed.

The game has grown a touch shorter, as the final space on the AST will be omitted during the Heats, ending the games after the 1500 point space is reached. The game will be played to the full duration in the Final.

New for 2026: The first heat will use the Mega Empires boards (Western and Eastern Empires) and rules. If you have played any version of Civilization or Advanced Civilization, these rules are very easy to pick up. If not, then you are encouraged to attend the demo, where both games will be explained. Although the demo is listed for 1 hour, there is an hour between it and the first heat, so there will be plenty of time for follow-on questions if necessary.

The Final will consist of the best eight or nine players from the Heats using the Heats Most Wins – Points Standard Tiebreakers with GM specific tiebreakers listed below. The version played in the final will be determined by vote of the top three finishers in the second heat. Majority determines whether the final will be Advanced Civilization with eight players or Mega Empires with nine players. Qualifiers from both heats are eligible for the Final in either case.

This method of advancement for heats allows all players to gain points in multiple heats but does not require them to play in both heats. There is no disadvantage for participating in more than one heat.

WBC-SPECIFIC RULES OF PLAY

Reminder: All players are expected to play the game to completion. A notice will be provided by the GM of time constraints prior to a game round that it will be the last round of play (so players can perform actions accordingly) before adjudication. Any player who leaves a game in progress before the scheduled end of the Heat without advanced permission from the GM will be barred from that event in future years. All players will be reminded of that penalty before play begins.

At the beginning of any Advanced Civilization game, all non-tradable calamities are shuffled with the bottom two cards of their stack (which would normally be the bottom 3 cards of that stack). This only occurs at the beginning of play. After that point, these calamities are placed at the bottom of the draw pile when they are returned. Mega Empires games will use those rules for trade card deck preparation.

The heats will use the draw cards and choose nations system for selection of empires. Once you advance to the Final, it is assumed that you are skilled enough to play any country. Therefore, civilizations will be chosen by random draw from a bag. Trading of positions will be allowed prior to play.

Advanced Civilization setup:

1. Asia is out of play for all games. All games are to use the Western Expansion Map
2. 6-player games will use the Western portion of the board, with Africa, Iberia, Illyria, Thrace, Assyria, and Egypt being the available nations (NO Babylon)
3. 7-player games will use the entire board, including the Western Expansion with Africa, Iberia, Illyria, Thrace, Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt being available
4. 6-and 8-player games use 47 tokens. 7-player games use 55. Please ensure you are using the proper number. Anybody caught using too many tokens will have to play short by that same amount for the remainder of the game

Mega Empires setup:

Depending on the copies available, Western or Eastern Empires will be used. Games will consist of between 5 and 9 players, balanced as much as possible (e.g. with 15 players, either three 5-player games or one 7-player and one 8-player game, depending on maps available).

HEATS: MOST WINS - POINTS (HMW-P):

1. Most Wins (e.g., total in all heats entered)
2. Total Points – Players earn the following pints in each heat they entered:
   • 1st Place - 1,000 points
   • 2nd Place - 100 points
   • 3rd Place - 10 points
   • 4th Place - 1 points
   • All other places - 0 points
   • e.g. player has a 1st, 2nd, and 4th in three heats: total points would be 1,101
3. GM Specific Tie-breaker
   1. A total point average behind first place in second place finishes. Not playing in a heat counts as an N/A for this criteria, not 0 points
   2. Fewest total point average behind first place in all finishes. Not playing in a heat counts as an N/A for this criteria, not 0 points
   3. Fewest Heats
   4. Highest average score in all heats played
   5. Highest individual score in any heat played
4. High dice roll.

Links: