Last modified June 27, 2025 by Jarjar

Overview
Released in Essen in 2024, Civolution is an evolving civilization board game (3X, missing extermination for 4X), where players develop their people through different eras by exploring unknown territories, constructing buildings, discovering technologies and wisely managing their resources. The game shines with fluid tableau building and dice-based action selection mechanics, coupled with a rich evolution system that allows players to adapt their strategy as the game progresses. Visually stunning and mechanically quite deep, Civolution offers an immersive experience with great replayability, thanks to the diversity of cards and multiple possible development paths.

My first impressions

Ultimately, the rules are quite simple! The game runs smoothly and plays quickly. With two players, you can easily complete an era in 20 minutes.

It's a sandbox game with a lot of choices, to be avoided by players who suffer from analysis paralysis. It's about finding the best way to use your dice and put your cards into play. You have to know how to prepare for a bad roll of the dice, because it happens, sometimes too often! You should definitely try to concentrate instead of spreading yourself too thin. Visually very impressive, the turns follow one another and the time flies because there are so many options. It's a big favorite of mine, I prefer it to Castles of Burgundy (by the same author), I feel like we're a level above. We find an evolving personal board with actions that can be improved (at 3 levels). The game offers a unique economic system linked to the exploration of the map as well as 6 progression tracks with various rewards. Several very satisfying point chains are quietly put in place as the game progresses. On the variability, we are served with 160 unique research cards, 21 available actions (out of a possible 43) organized in a smart grid, 6 dice to use per turn (2 dice per action), with the possibility of fetching more dice.
Rulebooks
I must take the time to highlight the exceptional quality of the game rules, the glossary, and the summary booklet: we've clearly reached a peak here! It's really very well organized, with color identification (action row) and several examples. You can feel all the work done to make the task easy and enjoyable. Clearly an example to follow!

FACTS ABOUT THE GAME
>> The author, Stefan Feld, was born on October 2, 1970 and lives in Gengenbach, Germany. He began designing board games in the late 90s, with his first game being published in 2005 (Roma). He is considered one of the most prominent designers of the Eurogame genre, particularly noted for his ingenious use of dice in his games. His famous games include: The Castles of Burgundy (2011), Trajan (2011), Bruges (2013), Bora Bora (2013), and AquaSphere (2014).
>> Stefan had the initial idea for Civolution in 2016-2017, but only talked about it after two years of solo thinking. The game was "very aggressive" during early testing.
>> The game developer, Viktor Kobilke, increased the number of actions considerably, taking them from 21 to 43, completely transforming the gaming experience.
>> Stefan Feld appears in the game as "Agera," the director of the Technical Academy of Creation.
>> The basic mechanism comes from a card game Stefan designed twenty years ago, but which was never published.
>> The aspect that took the longest to develop was the movement mechanism, with “a thousand different approaches” tested.

SOLO MODE

The game's single-player mode is very well designed, with customizable difficulty levels where you face off against an automated opponent. This single-player mode is designed as a "self-teach" system without having to manage the automated player.
I recommend using the small app for single player here: https://brdgm.me/civolution/#/, available in several languages ​​including French. The app replaces the action card game, manages difficulty levels, and guides you through the single-player rules. Robot turns take about 5 seconds with this app!

TECHNICAL SHEET
Number of games played: 3
Best player configuration: 2-3
Price paid: CAD 127
Level: experienced player (BGG complexity: 4.22/5)
My best score: 194

MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS
  I loved :
>> This giant sandbox is truly delicious!
>> Even though there are a lot of rules, the mechanics remain very fluid.
>> The structure of the eras is very pleasant (weather, events, effects on the board, round points, etc.).
>> The visual, which is impressive on a table, can, however, intimidate others.
>> Superb production, very good storage.
>> Exceptional quality of the rules, glossary and summary sheet.
>> Very high replayability.
>> Just enough interaction (stealing dice, moving opposing tribes) without falling into the overly nasty "take-that".

I liked less :
>> Reset turns: Not much happens other than rolling the dice.
>> Dice Dependence Despite Mitigation: Even with the “ideas” for adjusting the value, you can sometimes get stuck with repeated bad rolls, especially early in the game.
>> Is it possible to come back from the bad start?
>> It would have been nice to have statue markers instead of taking the same marker as resources.

RULES POINTS
>> Each water territory is distinct and not part of a single water zone, but boats do not move. Unless specifically instructed to return a boat to your reserve, a boat remains in the water territory where you built it. You could, if you wish, build another boat in a water territory adjacent to a water territory where a tribe is on a boat.

A game offering exceptional replayability, Stefan Feld's well-refined mechanics, superb production, fun, and with remarkable strategic depth! A masterpiece to have in your game library.

FUN FACTOR 🙂🙂🙂🙂