Peloponnes Card Game Review

I’ve written several reviews about some tabletop games with civilization or city building theme in the past. Most of those games are competitive and the goal is only to score more points than the opponents while trying to develop our tableau. Probably with some screwing between each player every turn.

Usually the game itself will not contribute anything to the players other than giving random cards or items that the player may not need it, slowing the progress.It turns out there are games that can be considered as very harsh. punishing, that they will somehow ruin all of the players.

In this kind of game, not only we have to deal with the opponents, we also need to be prepared with what the game may throw at us, randomly. If we are looking for such games, Peloponnes Card Game is one example that we should try.

It is a competitive civilization building game in a small box. Players will have to balance the development of their civilization and at the same time mitigate some disasters that might ruin it. Survival is probably the best word to describe the game.

So, what is Peloponnes Card Game? How do we play it? Is there any expansion for the game?

Those are probably just a few question that came to mind after hearing about the game. Well, in this article, I’m going to share with you my Peloponnes Card Game review based on my experience on playing it and what I can find from the internet.

Hope this helps. Is Peloponnes Card Game going to be the best card game?

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Overview

Game’s Name: Peloponnes Card Game (Peloponnes Kartenspiel)
Designer: Bernd Eisenstein
Artist: Matthias Catrein
Publisher: Iron Games (www.irongames.de)
Genre: City Building, Civilization, Ancient Greece, Tableau Building
Game Mechanism: Auction / Bidding, Card Drafting, Variable Player Power, Multi Use Card
Number of Players: 2-5 players
Playtime: 45 minutes
Age Range: 10+
Official Website: Peloponnes Kartenspiel

Release Year: 2015
Initial Price: $20

Contents:
1 Rulebook (DE, EN, FR)
144 Cards (50 x 92 mm):
Civilization Cards (10)
Power Cards (48)
Luxury Cards (5)
Coin Cards (72)
Arrow Card (1)
Catastrophe Cards (5)
Summary Cards (2)
Conquest Card (1)
5 Player Markers (3 for each 5 colors)
5 Catastrophe Markers

Expansions:
Victoria Expansion (DIY Kit) (2015)
Patronus Expansion (2016)

About Peloponnes Card Game

The Peloponnes Card Game is a simplified version for the board game version which was introduced in 2009. Some people say that the card game can also give almost the same experience but within a smaller box.

Instead of using mats, tiles, and coins, here we will play with cards with less number of markers. The idea remains the same.

This is a city building and civilization games with Ancient Greece as the settings. Players will start with one of the 10 City or Civilization cards, each with its own different power from one to another.

We can choose randomly and the cards will decide the players turn order. Since this is a bidding game, the first player can bid first a power cards which can expand their city. Bidding first may have more advantage.

However, the unique thing about bidding in Peloponnes game is that if the next player outbid, the losing one can’t increase their initial bid. Instead, they have to buy the other power cards without changing their bid.

That means, not only we have to consider what we are going to buy but what else we can buy if the opponent outbid us. For people who doesn’t like confrontational things, they can also buy without the risk of getting outbid but with higher price.

But there is a problem. Not only we have to score more points than the opponents, we also need to prepare for obstacles from the game in the form of catastrophes. Five possible catastrophes can happen randomly in this game and they could wipe out the civilization development of all players.

We can see them coming but we don’t know for sure. Some of the development cards will allow us to avoid the disaster but that means, we will be competing against other player to get that card.

Bidding is just one part of building the city. Some may require additional cost to build. The last thing about this game is that we also need to consider the citizen since this is a civilization game.

The more citizens we have, the more resources they can generate. However, there will be some point in the game that require the player to feed their citizen.

The games will count the points separately from the buildings and the citizen. We can’t just focus on one and ignoring the other since the lowest of the two will be our final score.

Some people consider Peloponnes as an unforgiving game because of a lot of things we need to manage. However, they also said that this card version is more laid back than the board game version. The board game version may already have more expansions

This video below is the gameplay for the board game version by Rahdo from Rahdo Runs Through channel.

Components

Before we can start playing Peloponnes the Card Game, here we can find out what components of the game we will get from inside the box. The size of the box is 12.5 x 17.6 x 3.4 cm which is small enough that we can easily bring the game anywhere.

However, the large part of that box will be filled with the plastic insert so the box itself is more than enough than just storing the components. The insert itself is nice so that the two decks of cards and the markers has their own space. Not so much for the rulebook though.

The problem is that is not going to fit if we sleeve the cards. It will lift the lid a little bit. We can throw away the insert or just use elastic band.

All of the 144 cards use the same size, 59 x 92 mm or as they call it Standard European size. For most of them we might want to use the two sided sleeve. All of the cards has rounded edge and white border for both sides.

The primary languages for the game is either German or English. The components or cards themselves are not language dependent. The rulebook will explain everything with three different languages, German, English and French.

Here are the components that come within the box.

Rulebook

As mentioned before, this one rulebook has all three languages. First the German (page 1-12), English the second (13-24) and the last one for French (25-36). For English, since it is in the middle portion, we can actually take them out easily by removing the staples.

If we access the official page, there are links to other different languages like Dutch, Hungarian and Greek. The developer officially has the solo version for Peloponnes the Card Game but not included in the printed rulebook within the box.

We can find the solo version rulebook within this page, in German, English, France and Dutch only. This printed rulebooks are for 2-5 players.

Here is the breakdown of the rulebook.

1st page: Components (illustrated), and introduction
2nd page: Setup
3rd and 4th page: Gameplay: Reveal Power Cards, Catastrophes / Supply, Bidding
5th page: Gameplay: Turn order, Gain Power Cards
6th page: Gameplay: Income and Supply Event
7th and 8th page: Luxury Goods
9th page: Catastrophes
10th page: Game End
11th page: Scoring
12th page: Special Buildings further explanation

Even though the rulebook includes a lot of illustrations, one thing that I think is missing is the illustration for overall setup. I understand that the size of the book is probably the reason.

The setup itself isn’t described with pointer or step by step but with a lot of paragraphs. I think they could have made a summary page illustrating the setup for all of the languages, no need for each one separately.

Based on my experience, after we get used to how the game works, most of the time we will still check the rulebook for the catastrophe section. The catastrophe cards do have some icons to remind us but for me, I need more info.

Markers

The markers are actually at the bottom of the box, within a resealable plastic bag. We will get 15 + 5 wooden discs of six colors. The diameter is about 1.5 cm with about 0.4 thickness.

I think if we need replacement, we can buy separately from the local store. They are common game pieces which are used in other games like One Deck Dungeon. So, if we buy used copy of this game, and losing some of these components, we can replace them with something else.

The five grey markers are for disaster or catastrophes which we will use in any game session. For the other 5 colors, red, blue, green, black and yellow, each has three markers which will be used depending on the number of players.

The color doesn’t actually matters specifically. We can even use small coins for one player, as long as we can tell which one are ours. Each player will use them on turn order card or arrow card together to determine who goes first for that round.

Arrow Card

This one white card with giant arrow is for the turn order. So, in Peloponnes, which player will go first will change from one round to another depending on how much they bid previously.

To use it, every player simply place one of their player’s marker on that card following the arrow sign, first player at the front. We rearrange the marker’s position right after everyone has finished bidding and add power cards to their tableau.

So, most of the time, this card will stay on the table, in the middle. There will be no shuffling for this card. For people who don’t sleeve every card, this is the one that doesn’t need any sleeve. The card itself has two sides which has the same arrow sign. We can use sleeve with just one side for this.

Luxury Cards

These luxury cards are those with orange color with the number from zero to 8 on one side and 9 to 14 on the other. Each player will have this, including the virtual player if we play the solo mode.

The two signs in the middle of the cards will be counted as victory points at the end of the game. Since this is an economic simulation game and player will have to manage resources.

The excess resources for each round can be converted into this luxury items. The way we use is we will place the second player marker on this card, start with zero. Then we move the marker based on the number of excess resources we get each round or if we spend it on something.

So, this is like a bookkeeping tool for the player. In the board game version, we will get a big player mat instead to bookkeep every different resources separately.

For most of the time, this card will also stay on the table, right next to the player. There will be some flipping but very rarely. We do need a double side sleeve should we want to sleeve these cards.

Reference Cards

The game comes with 2 reference cards. They are both the same but with different language, German and English. So, most of the time we will only use one of this.

The card has two sides. One side is for determining the income based on the number of citizen or population. Every player will want or need to refer to this card each round.

Most of the time it will only stay on table, no need for sleeve actually. But if we want, we will need the double sided one.

The other side is a summary of how the end game works and scoring. At the end of the game, we will need to do one last supply action, pay for the incomplete building cost, and remove the cards triggered by the disaster if we have successfully complete a protection. That is what the symbol on the card means for the top part.

The lower row are symbols for scoring. The first symbol means, each player will have two victory points counts which the lowest will be the final score.

The first point is the population points, counting every population we have from the tableau, coin cards, and the luxury cards. The second point is from the building or power points, counting every points from the tableau and luxury cards. We will also add 1 point per remaining coin card and luxury items to the power points.

I think the card has a room to remind us about the lowest points of the two as the final score. Even though I’m not sure what icons to represent that.

Well, if we already play a lot, this is not something we will miss. Another thing that I constantly asking every game is that, should we have another income phase after the last round. The answer is yes, but just wishing that we can easily look at just from the cards not the rulebook.

Conquest Card

This is the green vertical card that says CONQUEST on one side and EROBERUNG on the other. The function is the same for both, just different language version between German and English. So, most of the time we will only use one side of this card.

Every round there will be power cards that players will have to compete by bidding to get and there are cards where we can just buy with higher price. This Conquest card will mark which cards with no risk of getting outbid.

Those cards will be placed on the right side of this Conquest card. As we can see there is a +3 coins sign on the card. That means each card price will be higher by 3 coins from their minimum bid.

The card has an army or troops illustration. Maybe thematically, that 3 additional coins are the cost of conquering.

Catastrophe Cards

There are five possible catastrophes that can happen in Peloponnes, PLAGUE, DROUGHT, DECLINE, TEMPEST and EARTHQUAKE. Or in German side of the cards are PEST, DURRE, VERFALL, UNWETTER and ERDEBEBEN.

So, these cards, like the Conquest card before, has two sides with same function just for different language. Every game session we will use all of these cards. Whether some or all of the catastrophes going to occur will be determine randomly.

These cards will be the indicator to see which one will likely to occur. If we get 3rd signs of the same catastrophe, then that catastrophe will hit the players.

The way we use this card is by placing the 5 grey markers, one on each card, starting from the Blitz sign. Each first 2 power cards draw from each round we will move the markers of the corresponding catastrophe by one, following the arrow on the card.

Each catastrophe has different way to affect the player’s civilization. The earthquake will hit the buildings. Decline will remove all of the luxury items and the capabilities of storing later.

Drought will affect the grains production which will be necessary to feed the population. Tempest is similar to earthquake, except instead of building, they will hit the landscape.

The Plague will affect the player’s starting city. That is what the icon in the middle of the each catastrophe card means. I think the icon of what will happen are good enough to deliver the message but more for experienced players. Again, there are some details that we might want to check the rulebook again like the rounding up.

I’m not sure if the illustration can represent the catastrophe well enough but it does picture a disastrous scene. Some people may not enjoy the theme.

So, most of the time, these cards also stay on the table. Not really need to sleeve for these but if we want we can just use one side.

Civilization Cards

The civilization cards are the starting point of our tableau or city building. These cards have a green color back of the card that says Peloponnes Card Game. Players will have to choose one randomly and this will determine a unique starting resources for the player.

There are 10 cards in the game, ARGOS, SYRACUSE, MESSENE, SPARTA, CORINTH, ARCADIA, THEBES, DELPHI, and PATRAS. Each card is worth 2 Power Points at the end of the game.

Another unique thing about this game is that the player can even lose their starting card, losing this 2 extra points. The card has 3 major rows. The middle one are the same, for the illustration and the points except for the name.

The bottom row has 3 sections. The first one with the red arrow and a number indicates the starting turn order. Player with the lowest number starts first, followed by the next lowest. The turn order can change depending on how they bid.

The second part of the bottom row will be the special power. So far, only Thebes has this which allows the players to get reduced cost by 1 for bidding process.

Then the last part of the bottom row will display the resources that the city can generate each round. It can be a combination up to two types of resources that are available in the game, WOOD, STONE, WHEAT, or LUXURY ITEMS.

The number right next to the resources indicates the amount. The Arcadia town doesn’t even have any starting resources.

For the top row, there are three parts as well. From the right most part, we can see a citizen and coin icons. The Coins are just the one time income but the citizen or population counts for each round.

The left and middle part of the top row will display up to two catastrophe signs. This is a protection from the catastrophe. We need to have three of them before the catastrophe hits and we can add more from the power cards we buy later. Some civilizations don’t even have a single catastrophe icon.

So, with all of the features that the civilization can have, players will play the game differently, considering what they have and what their opponents’. This give the game a variable player power mechanism.

As far as I know, there is no statement that some cards maybe better than others. But then, I don’t see any complain about one is stronger than the other as well.

I do think those with protection to catastrophes could be better especially those with pair of the same disaster. The coin is just one time income. The population while they can generate more cards but unless we have enough wheat, not really a good idea.

The resources at the bottom right corner, on the other hand can generate enough luxury items in earlier rounds for landscape cards. Excess wheat will only generate luxury goods during supply which only happens twice for the whole game.

Whichever card we get, we need to understand how each of these resources works or we will lose the game. Most of the time we will only shuffle the card once each game so they can be picked randomly. After that we will only place them in the middle of our tableau.

We can actually use one side sleeve for this one but maybe easier to just use the two sided like the other cards.

Power Cards

These cards are what we are going to bid for to develop our civilization. There are total of 48 cards, 24 building and 24 landscape cards. At the back of these cards we will see a giant letter either A (18 cards), B (18) or C (12). They call this as epoch, group of time. I think it will make more sense if they use like number instead of letter.

Each game we will go from A to C, which is why the building cost from the A group is cheaper than from the C. Each game, we will play over 8 rounds and each round we will access 6 of these cards. That means three rounds for the first epoch, 3 for the second, and 2 for the third.

Building power cards will have additional cost to build. So, not only we have to pay to bid but also pay the cost to build. Landscape on the other hand has no cost, so we can build immediately. Usually the building will generate higher points at the end.

If we want to break down even more, the first epoch has the ratio between landscape and buildings of 12 to 6. The second has 8 to 10 and third has 8 to 4.

Another consideration when buying either of these is the catastrophe. As mentioned before, earthquake will damage buildings and tempest will damage the landscape.

The front of the card is similar to Civilization cards. There will be three row which the middle is for illustration, points and for the building type, a name.

For the lower row, the right most part is the same as civilization card which will generate resources every round. The middle part of it is the special feature, just like civilization but more variation. Here we can also get additional protection for the catastrophe or even a complete protection depending on the cards.

The left most part of the lowest row, instead of starting turn order, will display the minimum amount for bidding. The cards from first epoch will have the minimum bidding from zero to 3. The second has from 1 to 4 and the third have from 3 to 6.

For the top row, the right most is the same as civilization card. It will display the one time income, either coin or luxury goods and additional population to our civilization. Or it could be empty, one part or both.

The middle part will display the catastrophe icon, which will serve two purposes. If we build it as part of the civilization, this icon will be part of the protection for the corresponding disaster. It will also determine which catastrophe to occur if the card is one of the first two drawn each round.

The left most part of the top row will display the building cost. This will either display empty for landscape or has wood or stone or both icons and amounts.

So, we will shuffle these cards a lot separately for each group of epoch. They get moved a lot as well. We might need to sleeve these and we will need the two sided sleeve.

The illustration doesn’t say much, especially for the landscape. Maybe except for wheat generating one. For the building, some illustration clearly better than others not just about the aesthetic but what they represent, based on the name.

All of the arts use water painting style. I don’t know why for the building they choose to only use half of the middle part for the illustration while the other half is just for victory points and name. The landscape however, uses the whole middle section. Maybe it is just to make it cheap but I agree that they could improve it.

Coin Cards

These are the last of the card components of Peloponnes Card Game. There are 72 coin cards or half of all cards that come in the box. These cards are also a multi use card, one side as a coin and the other as the resources.

The illustration has a single coin and picture of pile of coins on the table. Even if the illustration displays different size and color of coins, that really doesn’t mean anything. There is only one and the same value of coin.

There are 4 resources from these cards, STONE, WOOD, WHEAT and INHABITANTS or citizen. The first three has 20 card each and the last has only 12.

As a coin card, everything has the same value but as resources, one can be more valuable than others depending on the circumstances. Stone and wood can only be used as building material or cost to build. The excess will generate luxury items.

Wheat will be useful when we have to feed the citizen during supply phase and if we have excess, we can trade into luxury items.

The inhabitants or citizen will not be counted as part of the population during the game. We can only use these cards during supply, not going to generate income each round. Thematically, we let people go than losing part of our city if we can’t afford to feed the population.

However, at the end of the game, during scoring, the citizen will be more valuable than the other resources. Each citizen card will generate one point while the other coin card will only generate points per 6 of them.

As a coin card, there are multiple ways we can use. From paying the bidding, applying for mortgage, or covering some of the city due to the disaster. For this purpose, it doesn’t matter what the resources at the back. However, that resources might be useful for other purpose.

Which is why everytime we are going to spend one of these cards, we have to consider a lot of things. We might have enough coins but do we have enough resources?

Not only we have to consider the card we have in our hand but our city can also generate some of those resources, except for the citizen. If the city can provide, then maybe we can spend those resources cards.

These cards will get shuffled a lot and they will stay as one deck of cards facing down. We can only see the coin icons and draw blindly.

Sleeve is probably a must and even if we can use just one side, maybe the two side will be better. At least we can tell the difference with other cards in this game, and make the setup much easier and faster.

How to Play

Now that we already know about the components, it’s time to learn how to play Peloponnes Card Game. This is a competitive multiplayer game and the base game is intended for up to 5 players.

This video below is how to play by Rahdo from Rahdo Runs Through channel. He simulates how the two player game works.

Setup

First, players can choose their color and get the corresponding MARKERS and one LUXURY CARD each.

Second, we can pick randomly one of the 10 CIVILIZATION CARDS for each player. This will become the starting point of our tableau. We can return the unused cards to the game box.

Third, we can place the ARROW CARD in the middle of the table and each player can place one of their marker following the turn order determined by their civilization cards. The one with the lowest number at the lower left corner will go first, placing their marker at the front most and followed by the other players in ascending numerical order.

Fourth, we can place on of our MARKERS on our own LUXURY CARDS on the “0” space.

Fifth, we need to shuffle all of the COIN CARDS and form a single deck facing down, placed in the middle of the table. We might want to leave a room for the discarded cards later.

Sixth, each player will draw a number of COIN CARDS following the number indicated at the top right corner of their civilization cards. It is right next to the coin icon.

Seventh, we place the 5 CATASTROPHE CARDS on the table where every player can see. The order of the card doesn’t matter.

Eighth, we place the GREY MARKERS on each catastrophe cards onto the lightning or blitz icon.

Ninth, we can use the two SUMMARY or REFERENCE CARDS on the table where every player can see. Alternatively we can just use one of them and flip later at the end of the game for scoring.

Tenth, we sort the POWER CARDS out into “A”, “B”, and “C” separate pile and shuffle them individually. Then, we can stack them face down so the “C” pile will be at the bottom, “B” in the middle and “A” at the top. We can place this big deck in the middle of the table and leave some room for discard pile later.

Eleventh, we need to spare some room for 7 cards, preferabler right next to the power card deck. One of them will be for the CONQUEST CARD and the other for drawing the power cards each round.

Place the Conquest card on the number of player + 1 spot. For example, if we play with two, the conquest card goes to the third.

Gameplay

The game will take place over 8 rounds which at the end of the game, the Power Card deck will be empty. Each round consists of 6 parts, REVEAL POWER CARDS, CATASTROPHES / SUPPLY, BIDDING / CONQUER, TURN ORDER, and INCOME phase.

Reveal Power Cards

Each round starts by drawing 6 power cards facing up onto the 6 spots described above during setup. Some will go right on the left side of CONQUEST CARD which will be available for BIDDING later. The rest of them will go to the right side of Conquest card which we can CONQUER for higher price.

The catastrophe symbols of the first two drawn cards will determine which catastrophe is getting closer to occurring. The symbol is from the top row of that card and the middle part.

We then move the marker from the corresponding CATASTROPHE CARDS one space to the next spot. Only the first two power cards, always on the bidding part, will determine the catastrophes, the rest of them are not.

Catastrophe

In later round, the marker on the catastrophe cards may reach the final spot. When that happens, the catastrophe will hit all of the players. Unless they have the protection before that.

To have the protection, we need at least three icons of the same corresponding catastrophe on our civilizations before the catastrophe hits. Whether from the civilization card itself or the power cards. We can also just get one icon of that catastrophe if the symbol is at the bottom middle part of the card.

From the available 48 power cards, there are 10 partial protection for each Plague, Drought and Decline and 9 for each Earthquake and Tempest. There are 2 complete protection cards for each catastrophes.

If we have completed the protection after the catastrophe has occurred, we can save those cards and remove the covering coin card. This will still benefit the final scoring only at the end of the game not round in the middle.

Depending on the catastrophe, what will happen to the player’s civilization will be different. We can see the further explanation on 9th and 10th page of the rulebook for each language section.

If the PLAGUE hits, the starting civilization point will go to waste. That means, we will be losing every resources that can be generated from that card, no longer functioning for later round.

Player will have to use one of their COIN CARD in hand to cover the civilization card so that only the catastrophe symbol is visible. That means, the population will not be counted for later rounds, and will not produce any resources.

If the player doesn’t have any coin card, then they will lose the CIVILIZATION CARD for the rest of the game. We can return the card to the game box.

If the EARTHQUAKE hits, some buildings that we have built in our civilization will get damaged. We also need to cover a third of the buildings, rounded up, using our coin cards in our hands.

It is up to the player which of their buildings to get covered including the unfinished one or under construction. We place the coin card so only the top row of the power or building card is visible.

That means, the population will still be counted for later rounds but the special function and the production part at the bottom can no longer be used. We can choose not to cover the card but we will lose the card completely for the rest of the game.

If the TEMPEST hits, some of the landscape cards will get damaged. We need to cover a third of the available landscapes, rounded up using the coin card. Place the card face down so that only the top row of the card is visible.

That means, just like for earthquake, the population still counts but every production and special function can no longer be used. Like the previous two, cover using coin or lose permanently.

If the DROUGHT hits, it will affect the cards with the highest grain producing power card but not the civilization card. So, it can be the building or landscape but only one of them. It is up for us to decide if there are more than one card with the same level of production.

If the DECLINE hits, every player will lose their luxury items. We have to return the market on luxury cards to zero. Additionally we also need to use the coin card to cover the luxury card so only the left most column is visible. That means, for the rest of the game, we can only have up to 3 luxury goods.

For this, if we don’t have the coin card or don’t want to cover that, we will lose the luxury cards completely. We are unable to store any luxury goods for the rest of the game. Additionally, we will lose the extra victory points from the luxury cards as well.

Supply Event: Feeding Population

The supply event will only happen twice throughout the game. Once in B epoch and once in C.

If the drawn power cards has a POPULATION = GRAINS symbol or supply symbol, that means the supply phase must occur. How the SUPPLY event works is further explained on the 6th page of the rulebook for each language.

What it means is that every player will have to feed their population. We need to have at least the same amount of grains or wheats as the number of population.

First, we need to count the number of population in our civilization by counting every population from the civilization card and power cards, assuming not affected by disaster. This excludes the one from the luxury card and the cards in our hand.

Second, we need to count the amount of grain our civilization can produce. This also only from the civilization and power cards, assuming they are not covered due to disaster. This excludes the card in our hand depicting grains or wheat.

Then, if we have less amount of food, we can make them up using the cards in our hand that depict either population or grains. We have to remember that those card may serve the same purpose now but not for the scoring later.

If we have some luxury items, we can use them to cover the differences. On the other hand, if we have excess food production, the excess amount will increase the number of luxury items only during SUPPLY EVENT.

If we can’t or choose not to feed the population, we have to remove some of the power cards in our tableau so that the number of population and grain are match. When that happens, we can choose which one but we also need to consider losing every benefit of that card like other resources.

Supply Event: Under Construction Building

Feeding population is a must thing to do in every SUPPLY event. There is another one that will happen if the player has it. They need to pay the resources for under construction building.

In this game, we can compete on bidding to get the card and if it is a building card, it will have a cost that we need to pay in order to build it. However, the game allow us to keep the building functional even if we don’t have enough resources immediately.

During this SUPPLY phase, we eventually have to pay that mortgage feature or we will lose that building. We can use the resources generated by our civilization and power cards. If that is still not enough, we can use the right resources in our hands, assuming we do have that.

However, there will be a problem. This supply phase happens just at the start of the round. If we use all of the generated resources for this purpose, we can’t use it again for building the card we successfully purchase in this same round.

So, before we choose to pay the under construction one, maybe we can instead let it go. There might  a better one from result of bidding or conquering.

Also, if we have more than one under construction buildings, we need to pay everything. We can’t choose just one and dump the other. There is not much benefit of having a building under construction to be honest.

However, this feature exist because when we do bidding against some other players, there is a chance that we lose the bid and end up getting the building that is so expensive. Of course, we have another option of taking the bid back.

It is just the supply phase could happen in random time even if we can predict it. Some things could change between getting that mortgage until the supply.

Another thing from the LUXURY GOODS section is that we won’t get any luxury goods from the excess resources for completing the under construction building.

If we choose not to complete the building, we should remove the building cards from our tableau and return to the game box. Also, return the coin card underneath it to the discard pile of coin card.

Bidding or Conquering

Now that we have done with the catastrophe and supply, assuming they happened, we can move to the next phase. BIDDING or CONQUERING for the player to get the power cards.

We can also choose to pass if we don’t think that the available cards are valuable enough. If we choose that, we will get 3 coin cards instead from the deck, which could be helpful next round.

The first player based on the turn order, will choose first whether to bid or conquer followed by the next player. If they choose to conquer, they only need to pay extra 3 coins from the minimum bid for that card. The minimum bidding amount can be found at the bottom left corner of the power cards.

The benefit of conquering is that nobody can outbid us. On the other hand, especially on later rounds, that could be very expensive.

To bid, we can use the cards in our hands and place them on the power card that we want to buy. Then we have to place our third markers to indicate which player made that bid.

If we need more coin cards, we can trade the luxury goods into some, moving the markers accordingly.

After the player has done placing their bid, the next player can choose to bid something else, overbid or pass. If they want to bid other things, they only need to bid the minimum but with the risk of getting overbid as well.

In case they want to overbid the previous bid, they need to pay higher. If that happens, the first bidder loses immediately. This is the unique thing about bidding in Peloponnes Card Game. Every player only bid once, can’t increase the initial bid.

What they can do then, is to move their bid trying to get the other power cards. The problem is that they still can’t change the bid. So if the available cards has higher minimum bid than our initial bid, we have no choice but to take the money back. We won’t get any power card this turn.

A chain reaction of bid being moved is possible in this game. So, being the first player or earlier player to bid might not always be the best. They can’t just consider what they are going to buy, but they have to plan is somehow they got overbid.

Once all players have done either bidding, conquering or pass, the phase is over. We can return the leftover power cards to the discard pile or to the game box and we will not see them again this game session.

The coin cards for bidding will go to the discard pile and if the coin card deck ever runs out, we can form a new one from the discard pile. Players will take the power card they successfully acquired.

This picture from the rulebook means, the red player bid first with 2 coin cards. Then the yellow overbid with 3 coin cards and the red player has to move and bid something else with the same bidding value.

Rearrange Turn Order

As mentioned before, the players’ turn order can change every round depending on the amount they bid previously. The player who bid the most will become the starting player next round followed by the remaining players in descending bid order.

We can rearrange the markers on the ARROW CARD accordingly. If two players bid the same amount, their turn order stays the same. Passing means, they bid zero and will go last next round.

Some of the power cards allow us to increase the value of our bid like MARKET and AGORA. This additional value doesn’t count for rearranging the turn order. Only the coin card we spend that counts. So, even if we win the bid against the other player just because of the additional value, they won’t change the turn order.

Gain Power Cards

Now that we have the new card, we can add them into our civilization or tableau. If it is a building card, we put it on the left side of the civilization card and the landscape goes to the right. It’s either next to the card directly or the same type of cards from previous round.

Landscape has no additional cost but for buildings, we have to pay the cost with the resources, either stone or wood. The cost can be found at the top left corner of the building card.

We can use the resources generated by the civilization card or previously built power cards. The new one doesn’t count yet. Alternatively we can also pay with the resources card in our hands.

If there are some excess stone or wood from the production after paying the cost, each excess resource will be converted into 1 luxury good. We can move the marker on the luxury card accordingly.

Alternatively, we can also use the luxury goods we already have to pay the cost. Each luxury goods can be considered as either stone or wood. However, if we choose to pay with luxury goods, the excess from production will be ignored.

As mentioned above, there is a chance that even though we have the power card from bidding or conquering, we might not have enough resources to pay the building cost. If that happens we can use the mortgage feature by placing one of the coin card in our hand and slide the card beneath that new building card from the top.

That building is considered as UNDER CONSTRUCTION. What it means is that we can still use it like regular buildings, with the production and population. However, during the SUPPLY phase later, we need to pay the cost as described above in previous section.

If we don’t have any card left in our hand to slide it beneath the new building, we fail to get the mortgage and lose the building completely. We can also trade one of the luxury goods into coin card so we can use it for this mortgage.

But still, this makes another consideration before trying to spend all of the coin cards to bid. We have to make sure that we have enough resources to build or at least for the mortgage.

Income

The income phase is the final phase of each round. After every player has done adding the new power cards to their tableau, players will receive income.

First, there is a one time income that we get from the new power cards. We can see this from the top right corner of that card. A number right next to the coin icon indicates the number of coin cards we get as one time income.

Second, is the income that we can get later round as well. This is based on the number of population we have in our civilization from the civilization cards or power cards.

We can see how many coin cards we get based on the number of population from the reference card. Here is the detail.

0 – 3 citizens: 1 Coin Card
4 – 5 citizens: 2 Coin Cards
6 – 7 citizens: 3 Coin Cards
8 – 10 citizens: 4 Coin Cards
11 – 13 citizens: 4 Coin Cards + 1 Luxury Good
14 – 16 citizens: 4 Coin Cards + 2 Luxury Goods
17+ citizens: 4 Coin Cards + 4 Luxury Goods

Since there is a maximum amount of luxury goods we can have, we can convert them into coin cards immediately. We can have as many coin cards in our hands but we are not allowed to convert them into luxury goods.

Game Ends

The game will end after the 8th round or getting the second power cards from the C epoch. The last round ends with the income phase and we can move to end game phase.

We can see this from the summary of reference card of how the end game works. First, there will be one last SUPPLY event, whether to feed the population or pay the mortgage.

The next step of the end game phase is to check the protection we have successfully collected for the occurred catastrophes. If we have the protection, we can now remove the coin cards covering the power cards and put them into the discard pile.

This way, we can see again all of the resources and citizens of that card again. Otherwise, the coin card stays and the icons will not be counted during the scoring phase.

That means, if those affected cards have some wheat or grains or other resources, they are useless because we can’t trade them into luxury goods at this point. However, the victory point in the middle of the power cards and the population still counts.

Scoring

In this game each player will score two sets of points separately, THE POPULATION POINTS and POWER POINTS. The lowest score between the two will be the final score for the player and whoever has the highest final score wins.

In case of a tie, then, we will compare the other score and whoever has the higher wins. If there is still a tie, player with the most luxury goods wins.

For the POPULATION POINTS, we can add up all of the inhabitants or citizen we have in our tableau, from the coin cards in our hand and from the luxury card if it was not affected by a catastrophe.

For the POWER POINTS, we can add up the power points from our tableau. Then, we add 1 point for every 6 coin cards and luxury goods. We also add the power points from the luxury cards if it was not affected by catastrophe.

As we can see that not all of the coin cards are worth the same points. Each citizen card will increase the population points by one but the other resources will need 6 of them to increase just one point of power points.

But then again, we can’t just hoard the citizen cards to boost one score and ignoring the other.  That is a consideration that we can take in the final SUPPLY phase before the scoring to decide which cards we should use to spend.

That is it of how to play Peloponnes Card Game for the regular multiplayer mode.

My Experience and Thoughts

This Peloponnes Card Game is a difficult game. There are a lot of things we need to consider, plan and try to prevent. Some people consider it as harsh that if we don’t plan very well, we will lose the game.

Even if this is a competitive game, most of the time, we are going to face against the game itself. Somehow, at least for me, I don’t even have the time to check what the other players civilization progress.

So far, I only tried simulating a two player game. With more players, I imagine it will be even harder to track each other player.

We do consider them when we want to bid. However, the focus is still about our own. After all, we can only bid once. We make a plan how much we want to bid and just hoping that other might not overbid us. If we play as the last player, we might have more control but if we do have the money.

For the two players, even if we lose the bid, the number of available power cards remains the same, 6 cards. So, assuming we have enough resources, conquering might be a better option.

In two player mode, we can avoid mortgage most of the time. Even passing is not a bad idea sometimes. That is probably not going to be the case with higher player count.

With more players but still with 6 power cards each round, we might have to buy the cards we don’t need or have to mortgage at least. If we keep passing because we keep losing the bid, we might not have enough to withstand the disaster.

Catastrophe is the main issue here. But some people say this is very laid back compared to the board game version. It is true that not every catastrophe will occur. Four would be at most and it is very rare. Most of the time, two is very likely.

Even though they will occur randomly but I still think that players that starts with some protection from the civilization card may have higher advantage. For each catastrophe, there are only about 9 or 10 power cards to create the protection.

That means only 3 player can have them, assuming they can get all 3. I guess if we do play with 5, maybe players will start to screw each other hoping that everybody will suffer the disaster.

If the player start with some protection, they might not suffer the disaster that will occur early and will get the benefit until the end. That could help them score more.

At least, if they fail, they can also easily save them at the end. While for those who don’t have any and fail to protect, they will not get the benefit of their power cards or even have to lose them.

There is no bonus for having a protection if the corresponding disaster didn’t happen. The game is indeed very punishing rather than rewarding. We can even lose our starting card in this game.

The next problem we have to deal in this game is the supply. We can predict and mitigate the risk but sometimes the resources are just not enough.

I thought at first that we need to save the resources card evenly. Because of the feeding and that the citizen card will have higher points later, we have to try saving more citizen and grain card.

We have to spend grain card first before the citizen. Stone and wood cards will be valuable if we have a mortgage. So, if we only play with 2 player, or can avoid the mortgage, we can just spend them.

So, there is also a luck factor from the coin card. We have to shuffle it to make sure everyone will get the resources evenly. Otherwise one player can get all of the citizen card and more likely to win while the other may not get any of them.

If we fail the supply event, it will force player to lose their progress of the game. Unlike other civilization game, we are not going to find sense of progressing or building something in this game.

We may not attack each other but the game will instead hit us. Survival is probably the main thing of this game, what we are going to feel.

Then finally the scoring that we will have two scores and the lowest will be our final score. I guess to play this game well, we might have to track both of our score from the start.

From my experience, we can’t really tell that the other player is doing better than us. We can see that their tableau has more cards but unless we really count the scoring, the result might not be as clear as we thought.

By using the lowest score of two, at the end, one player may not as far as the other.

From the rulebook, I think the luxury goods needs further explanation of when it can be increased or spent. Especially for earlier round when we mostly purchase landscape but we already have production.

I also think that the luxury goods may play an important role in this game. It gives us a lot of flexibility managing the resources. If somehow the DECLINE hits, which restrict the use of luxury goods, the game is already harder.

The game is very elegant in the sense of player making decision and taking action. There are many things that could happen during the game but only as a result.

The components, successfully simplified everything with just icons but somehow I think the rulebook doesn’t support this. Somehow, it is like they design the rulebook for people who already play the board game version, I’m not sure.

I do wish they have a reference card for what happen every round not just the income and end game phase. It is understandable that they try to make a compact small box game and will reduce the number of cards.

I think they can fix this with a major expansion. Also, more power cards can really help for each epoch even if we will only use like 6 per round, mix and match.

For me, this is still a great game. It is just not something everyone will expect from any civilization game. Some people may not like the punishing aspect.

House Rule

I don’t know if this is would be necessary but there are things that we can easily alter and we can have different experience. There are a lot of things that happen in this game but most of them stands on their own. It doesn’t really affect the other aspect if we remove or ignore them.

For example, ignoring the catastrophe could really be done. It will be just a bidding or auction civilization or city building game. Balancing will still become the issue here. Supply and mortgage can still become threat to the players.

We can also ignore the bidding and conquest row. This will become just a regular city building game. The main focus will be about economic simulation and player can just pay the minimum bid.

For this, we might want to add rule about the turn order. We can still use the rule about the player who pays the most or move the first player to the next every round.

Of course, we can also ignore the supply phase. Maybe entirely for the feeding part but not the mortgage part. Or at least, we can keep one at the end.

So, those are like modules that we can turn some on and ignore the other. It can make the game too easy though. I agree that every module is like the essential of Peloponnes.

At least, by removing some, we can teach people who new to this game easier.

Solo Mode

The designer has officially release the solo variant for Peloponnes Card Game so anybody can play against a virtual player. In this variant, there will be no bidding contest but whether we bid or conquer, will determine the card that the virtual player will get.

We will still have to deal with the catastrophe but that will not affect the opponent. Over the course of the game, the virtual player will get a civilization card, coin cards, power cards and luxury card without we need to set as tableau, just collection of cards.

From those cards, the virtual player can generate both population and power points during scoring. Like the regular mode, we will get the lowest of the two score and if we have higher final score, we win.

We can find the pdf file for the solo version on their official page here. There are 4 separate files for different languages, German, English, French, and Dutch.

Below is the video from Slickerdrips channel for the solo mode of Peloponnes Card Game.

How to Play

As the setup, we will use the setup for the two player variant of the regular game. The exception will be the virtual player will only get the civilization card and luxury card. No need for markers for the virtual player and they will not get the coin cards generated by the one time income.

We still need the player marker for just the luxury goods. There will be no turn order or we can say we will always be the first one and the virtual player will follow.

As mentioned before, there will be no competing bid, but we will reveal the power cards which two of them will have the minimum and the other four with the extra conquest cost. Also the first two cards will trigger the catastrophes.

We need to resolve the catastrophe and supply events when they happen but this will not affect the virtual player. The virtual player will not lose any of the cards or need to feed the population.

Next, we can continue with the bidding or conquering phase which we can either buy or pass. Our decision will determine what the virtual player is going to get.

If we pass, we will get 3 coin cards. The virtual player will then get the right most card of the conquest row and 3 additional coin cards.

If we buy from the conquest row, we need to pay the extra 3 coin cards. The virtual player will instead just get the right most cards of conquest row, without the additional coin cards.

If we purchase from the bidding or regular row, we just need to pay the minimum bid. The virtual player will get the right most card from conquest row and also 3 additional coin cards.

The game will go like this for 8 rounds just like the regular mode. At the end of the game, the player will still need to do one final supply phase and paying the under construction building before moving to scoring phase.

For the virtual player, from the coin cards they get, the citizen cards will be added to the population points. The rest will be count as 1 power point per 6 resources. Don’t forget to count the points from luxury cards as well.

Like the regular mode, the lowest of the two will be the final score and if we have higher final score than the virtual player, we win.

Difficulty Setting

I think the developer realized that this variant is very difficult to defeat. The virtual player clearly has more advantage because they don’t need to deal with catastrophe and supply.

So, in the rulebook, the developer suggests a way to increase the chance to win with some additional set of rules.

For the EASIEST game, labeled in the rulebook as 1ST GAME, we can start with 3 additional resources, not as coin cards. We can draw three from the coin card deck and place those cards right next to the luxury cards face up.

These can be used to pay the building cost or feed the population if the card is grain. If the card is citizen or inhabitants, the rulebook only says that this can be added during the scoring to population points.

I think we can also use them during any of the supply.

One more new rules to make the game easier is that we are allowed to purchase additional cards in the same round but only once in any epoch. So, we can get up to 3 additional power cards.

Both of this purchases will happen like two full bidding and adding card phase in single round. Which means, the production will happen twice as well and we will resolve one by one. The production result of the first power card can be used for the second purchase.

If we plan it correctly, we choose the first that might generate not just resources but the one time coin cards as well. Those coin cards may help us for the second purchase.

Since what we buy will determine what the virtual player will get, from the two purchases, only the second one will do. That means, we have the chance to lower the amount of cards they will get.

For example, we can purchase from the regular row first then from the consquest as the second. By doing this, the virtual player will only get the right most card but not the additional coin cards.

If we think the game is too easy, we can increase the difficulty by modifying these two additional rules. As the next level, the developer suggest still adding 3 coin cards but we can only purchase second power cards twice. We can choose any epochs we want. This is labeled as 2nd Game in the rulebook.

For the 3rd Game, we can only purchase the second power card once. This can happen in any epoch. We can increase the difficulty again by not allowing any second purchase at all, labeled as 4th game.

As the 5th Game, we can only get 1 additional coin card. The basic solo version is the next or considered as the most difficult.

Comment and Suggestion

I have to say that the rulebook for the solo mode doesn’t explain everything. Some of my description above might be just my interpretation, especially about the second purchase.

Based on my experience, which I might not played correctly, this solo mode is really hard to beat. Even after we use the easiest mode, I still can’t win the game.

I think the additional rule to make the game easier, does help me score higher points but just for one score. Eventually the other becomes the lowest and thus the final score which couldn’t beat the virtual player. Balancing between the two may still become play the major role.

Even if there is no bidding in this mode, we still have to consider what the opponent will get. Because of the randomly drawn power cards, the virtual players can easily get cards with very high score.

We might try to prevent that but the card doesn’t really help us much. Or worse, they could become a burden because we need to pay for mortgage. So far, usually I will play just focus on my civilization and that is not enough to win the game.

I think we can still modify the base rule or use our own variant for this solo mode just like the regular mode. We can still ignore the conquest row or even any of the catastrophe. Even though we will be losing the essential of this game, what makes this game different than other similar genre.

Another idea would be to set some penalties to virtual player based on the different catastrophes. These are just rough ideas of what will happen to virtual player when the catastrophe hits.

Tempest: lose one of the landscape cards
Earthquake: lose one of the building cards
Decline: lose the luxury card
Plague: lose the civilization card
Drought: lose the coin card

For this idea, we might need to separate the virtual player’s card to make it easier to discard the corresponding card.

Or, we can just set something like, lose 1 coin card when the first catastrophe occurred, 2 coins for the second and so on. Here is another rough idea regarding the catastrophe.

Tempest: lose every coin card that depicts WOOD
Earthquake: lose every coin card that depicts STONE
Decline: lose a number of random coin cards
Plague: lose every coin card that depicts INHABITANT
Drought: lose every coin card that depicts GRAIN

As I said that this is just rough idea that we can try. I do think this can balance the game a bit because at least the catastrophe could happen to the virtual player. Catastrophe is probably the main issue of this game and letting the virtual player go without getting any penalty will give them very high advantage.

There is no guarantee because the catastrophe could occur very early and the virtual player may not even have any coin cards. Or they do have some but not the corresponding card. Just like in regular mode where the catastrophe may not affect us at all. For example, earthquake but we don’t have any building yet.

We can also add some more rules like if somehow the virtual player in fact complete the protection later they will get another cards back. Either the same card or randomly drawn again.

Other games can actually set a rule to emulate the bidding for the virtual player like in the FLEET Card Game. But they have different way of bidding.

We don’t have to emulate the bid but at least, we can make the virtual player buy cards differently. Maybe we can roll a D6 and the result will determine which card to get. If somehow the result is the same card that we bid on, we need just to pay one additional coin. For this idea, we might be removing the conquest row completely.

So, there are a lot of ways we can try. It requires more testing for this idea to become a solid rule Just something for the fan of this game can try to make the game a bit different than just the official rule.

Overall, with the official rule for solo mode, we can still have similar experience with the regular mode in Peloponnes Card Game. The game loses it’s bidding mechanism but some form of drafting through purchasing which could affect the outcome of the virtual player replace it. Some interesting decision may still happen in the game.

We still need to deal with catastrophe, but not for the virtual player. This may be the reason why the solo mode is very hard to beat.

Expansion

So far, there is only one official expansion for Peloponnes the Card Game. However, the board game version has some mini expansion, called the Victoria module which can be used in the card game version.

It is just 8 paper tokens that we need to cut. Each player will get this one at the start of the game. They can keep it and it will be worth points at the end of the game, or they can use to buy something through out the game.

The explanation only talks about buying the tile, which is the board game version. My guess is that it can be used to buy the power cards in the card game version.

Patronus (2016)

A year after the release of Peloponnes Card Game in 2015, the developer launched an expansion which is called Patronus. For about $6, we can get 32 cards and 3 additional markers with white color and a rule sheet of 3 different languages for the expansion. So, the game can be played with 6 player now.

One of the card is another luxury card for the 6th player and there will be 8 Power cards, one addition for each round. We need to sort them for the corresponding epoch. Additionally, we also get 10 coin cards, which 4 of them are inhabitants, and 2 for each stone, wood and wheat.

Even if we don’t play with six, we can use these power cards for the regular game. We can either add the cards or just replaced the existing. If we add the cards, that means each round we have to draw 7 cards for the market just like in 6 player mode.

This expansion also introduced one more game round or D epoch.

There will be 7 new cards, possibly with higher minimum bid but also higher victory points later. This new epoch will last only one round. The 7th cards is if we want to play with 6 players mode.

These new cards, if the player can successfully buy and build them will change how they count the scoring for either or both scoring system at the end of the game.

The last 6 cards of this expansion are the Patronus module. They will form a separate deck and each round we will draw until there are two of them.

These cards are similar to power cards except they only give one or more parts of protection to up to 3 catastrophes. Players can buy them right before the bidding begins. But that is just buying the card. Players will have to pay the cost to build like any power cards.

The cost to buy the card will be different based on the in which epoch we buy them. The earlier epoch cost only 3 and up to 5 in the last two epoch.

We can use every modules from the expansion or choose some of them. One reviewer on the forum said that this expansion address the issue of the game being to hard or punishing with the Patronus module.

Even the new power cards have no catastrophe icons on them which may affect the game but not significantly. There is a new problem though, that this expansion add and the developer hasn’t address it. It is about the solo mode.

The rulebook doesn’t include any instruction as how to use the Patronus module on solo mode, especially the Oracle card for the virtual player. The reviewer suggests removing them from the game if we play solo.

The base game box can’t even contain the base game content with sleeve. To put the expansion into the base game, we have no choice but to remove the plastic insert.

Use this link to read the full review about this expansion on the forum.

If anybody wants to read the rulebook first, we can find it on the official website here.

Session Reports and Pictures

Usually, I share a session report of playing a game on BGG. Here are the links of each session for this game.

I also put turn-by-turn pictures of a session and unboxing pictures for every game on my collection that anybody can find on my Instagram. For this game, search for #PeloponnesCardGameAtHomeOfMark on IG for all of the sessions.

Also, check out my blog on BGG. I occasionally write a detailed session report / written playthrough for a game that I’ve played. In each, I will explain the decision process during the game every turn.

May 2024 session and more pictures of that session on IG. This was using the 2nd difficulty level with 2 civilization cards right from the start and only buy 2 cards in a round twice.

February 2024 session and more pictures of that session on IG. This was the first time trying to play with the next difficulty level of solo variant. Missed the part about drawing a 2nd Civilization card.

October 2023 session and more pictures of that session on IG. Solo, Level 1. This was the Full session report.

February 2023 session and more picture of that session on IG.

November 2022 session and more pictures of that session on IG.

Summary

Peloponnes Card Game is the simplified version of Peloponnes Board Game, replacing tiles and coins into just cards within a compact, small box. Some people who have played both version said that this version capture almost the same experience from the bigger version. It is just more laid back.

Both version offer a city building or civilization building genre. We start with a civilization card out of 10 from the game, building our tableau by adding more development cards that we can buy.

To get the development, there is a bidding element to this game. Players will have to compete with each other to by making sure that they pay higher than the others.

The unique thing about bidding in this game is that we can’t increase our bidding value. That means, we have to make sure that the other player can overbid us or the amount is enough to purchase something else.

We will need to consider several steps ahead. There is also a way to purchase the card by paying more without the risk of getting overbid.

Unlike just regular city or civilization game, not only we have to compete against other players but we also have to deal with the threat from the game. One of them is in the form of 5 different catastrophes which will occur slowly but randomly. We can predict as it builds up each round and try to mitigate.

Fail to collect some protection, we may lose some parts of our civilization. Even if that happens, we can still prepare ourselves to lower the impact or save them later.

The protection can come from the development card that we can get through bidding. Since the catastrophe will hit every player, players may have no choice but to compete to get specific cards because only that card will give the protection.

The second threat from this game comes in the form of Supply phase. Since this is a civilization game, we will have some population. The population will generate income for us but at the same time, there are some points in the game that we have to feed them.

Failing to do so might cost the player their development card. Moreover, this will happen randomly that we can still predict and try to mitigate.

With those two element, most of the time, we will see some progress of developing our city but at the same time with a risk of losing them. Surviving is probably the main idea in Peloponnes Card Game.

Another concept of this game is balancing. At the end we will get two score points from the building and population in our civilization. We will only get the lowest of the two as our final score. That means, we can’t just focus on one and ignore the other.

The game also use a multi card mechanism from the coin card which also works as one of the 4 resources. As a coin they all work the same but as the resources some may be more valuable depending on the situation. So, most of the time, we will also have to think which card to spend.

With the game setup, I think we will have different experience between playing with 2 players and 5 players. As a two we will have more building options to buy.

For 5 players, sometimes we will end up relying on the mortgage feature in this game and probably screwing each other. Unless we manage it, this mortgage will be another threat from this game that we have to deal with.

With so many things that happen in this game, Peloponnes Card Game can be considered as difficult or heavy game. Most of the time, especially with higher player count, we will only focus on our own progress. We will not even know for sure until the scoring phase, whether we win or lose compared to other players.

The gameplay itself is very streamlined, very elegant. We just bid and pay to build our city once per round over 8 rounds. But choosing which one to buy with all of the considerations of managing the threats and economy makes this a very deep game.

The art may not be that appealing but somehow it does capture the feeling of crisis and dry because of the disaster. They use a lot of icons and very language independent but has some room for improvement for the rulebook.

For me, Peloponnes Card Game is a great game in a small box. It’s just maybe not for everyone.

More Similar Games

There are many tabletop games out there whether a board or card game that might share some similarities with Regicide. Some people may look for those similarities that they enjoy. It can be the mechanism or even just the same theme or setting.

Usually, a board game will have a lot of elements. It is kind of difficult find another game where everything is similar. Which is why, in this section, I try to break them into things that I enjoy from the game and point out games that share the same experience.

These next games are just some games that I have tried, played and written a review for them, up to this point.  Check out the link to each article to find out more and also check this Complete list for more games.

Also, check out my blog on BGG. There are more games that I’ve played but I haven’t had the chance to write a review for each.

Assigning Multiuse Cards for Different Phases

For me, one of the most interesting parts of Peloponnes Card Game is probably how they Multiuse cards. It’s not just that the card can be used for different purposes but we also need to assign them separately for different phases in a turn.

We need to choose some cards to pay the Auction, then we also need to choose those that depict resources to build the buildings. If we are lucky enough to get cards that show either Wheat or Population, we need to hold them for the future Supply Phase or end of the game.

The auction itself and the disaster that might happen and even loan can force us to spend more cards than we have prepared for.  So, we might even need to have plan B and use the cards differently.

The first game that I’ve played with similar idea is Adventure of D. In this one, we will be moving the pawn or character in a grid from one space to the adjacent one.

We have a hand of multiuse cards that can be used for movement, to complete the challenge or activate some abilities. The difference is that there is a random element between moving and taking action which can cost more cards. So, we need to carefully plan or we can end up doing very inefficient move.

Aerion is another one with Multiuse card. However, in this one, we don’t actually have a hand of cards. Instead there are up to 6 cards that we can try to get by having the right set of dice. However, to manipulate the dice, we can discard those cards to reroll. If we are not careful enough, we might end up discarding the card that we are trying to get.

So, while we are doing just 1 action, taking up to just 1 card, we need to plan ahead. Based on the initial dice roll and the available cards to be discarded, we need to figure out how likely we can get that required poker set from the dice.

Fleet, the card game one also has this Multiuse card. Every round, we have to do auction first, launch a boat and hire Captain for the launched boats. All of them must be done using the same Boat Cards.

Different Boat Cards have different value of money. We also can only launch a boat that we have the license for.  Like Peloponnes, the bidding part has random part that may force players to spend more cards. So, we will be planning the entire round, first by assigning cards for the last two actions and then if we can afford, we spend more to win the bid.

I think The Lost Expedition can be considered as well. In this one, every round, we will get like 6 cards and we have to assign them into 2 phases to create a line of cards. Each card will have icons that becomes the action and penalties that the character must take.

The goal is to make sure that the character can go through those cards from left to right safely while getting the necessary resources. Some cards can even cancel or skip the effect of another card. Each phase will then rearrange the card differently.

Oh My Goods! is another card game with Multiuse cards. The cards can either become the Factory we are building that round or the resources to start the existing factory or even to boost the production.

Between the planning and the phase where we actually play the card, there is a 2nd market phase which may provide the necessary resources to start the engine. However, during the planning we have to choose which factory to run and how efficient the worker will be. Allocating the cards becomes making a plan B, in case the Market doesn’t go our way.

For non card, multiuse components, Voyages has similar experience. Every round, we roll 3 d6 and have to assign each for 3 different uses. One for the Speed of the ship or how far the ship moves, another one for direction and the last one to complete some tracks and gain bonuses. The current position and spatial aspect will become the restriction to use one value over the other for that specific purpose.

Balancing

The second interesting part of Peloponnes Card game for me is the balancing. This is mostly about the 2 scorings we get from Population and Building points. We only score the lowest. That means, we cannot just focus on improving the score of one part. We also need to work on the other one.

Working on the 2 Scorings matters more in the 2nd half of the game. In the first half, the balancing is between preventing the disasters and improving the resource generator. Once we have figured out how this early issues, we can start working on the scorings.

I think The Castles of Burgundy: The Card Game may offer this experience but mainly with the official solo mode. In the solo mode, every end of the round, we have to compare our score to the opponent’s. If in any of them, we have less score, we instantly lose the game.

That challenge can definitely force us to stop thinking long term. Usually we will wait and keep collecting resources that can be traded into higher points later. With that challenge, since we need to make sure to have higher points, sometimes we need to spend those resources early so we can get higher score. Completing a set in earlier rounds will also give better reward.

Biblios: Quill and Parchment is the next game with this balancing idea. This is a roll and write game with auction. In this game, we are trying to collect different types of books. At the same time, we can also manipulate the value of each type.

We can have the most books of one type and win the majority. However, the value of that Book can be very low to the point where the difference of score between 1st and 2nd place is not that high. In that case, the other player might not even try to compete and instead work on the other type.

So, we need to be aware of the position of each player for each track. If we know we already won that track, maybe we should stop chasing that type and start to work on the other.

The next game that I think, has that similar idea is Mandala, a 2-player game. In this game, the 2 players will be trying to win the majority of 2 areas in front of them. Each turn, they can either add card to increase the Majority power of either areas or they can increase the value of any of those areas.

Winning the majority itself actually only means being the first to choose the reward while the reward can be very high or low. There is a chance that even if we lose, the reward is not that bad if we can keep that balance. So, it is not just the balance between the 2 Mandalas or Areas, but also the balance between increasing the Majority and Manipulating the Reward.

Maybe Dale of Merchants can be considered for having this balancing idea. This is a deck building game, also with Multiuse cards. We can either use the card to buy more cards, adding them to our own deck or play for their abilities.

Of course, we want to buy better cards. However, to win the game, we also need to remove some of them from the deck to create sets of ascending value. As additional challenge, each set requires the same type of cards. So, we cannot just buy the highest value available but we need to aim for cards with the right value and type.

That is one part of the balancing. Another part is knowing when to stop buying and start creating those sets. Since this is a race game where whoever finishes the sets first win, it’s rather difficult for players who are left behind to catch up.

I think I want to mention Miyabi. The balancing is about the spatial, the different heights or layers of stacked tiles without being a dexterity game. In this one, players will try to stack tiles as high as possible and as fast as possible.

The challenge is that each row or column can only be occupied by the object depicted on the tile once. Players also cannot just stack the tile hanging. The bottom of the higher tile must have a foundation. Ideally, the lower level must be bigger than the higher one for easier placement later.

Players can try creating a sudden hill or valley instead of gradually layered stacks but they will have trouble later. So, they need to slowly build those foundation but making sure for that big jump to reach that fifth layer or higher.

Auction / Market Manipulation

Auction is probably the main mechanism of Peloponnes Card Game and what it is known for. Unfortunately, this is probably my least favorite aspect of the game.  In auction game, players need to make and win a bid against other player’s in order to purchase some cards or resources.

Sometimes, to make sure they can win, they need to set higher price or bid. The other players can even force that players to make higher bid even if they are not really aiming for that item. It’s just a way to make one player pays more. I consider it as a form of Market Manipulation, even if it doesn’t affect the actual price.

Other games with bidding that I already mentioned are Fleet and Biblios: Quill and Parchment. Mandala is the one with Market Manipulation where player can actually change the value.

Another one that I have not mentioned is Coimbra. This is a dice drafting, dice placement bidding game. The value of the dice represents the bidding power. Whoever has the highest value can go first buying character cards. However, the value also represents the price that they need to pay for that card.

The challenge is that each die can have up to 4 different colors which will trigger specific type of resource generator. Sometimes we want certain color but not exactly that value or vice versa.

Final Words

This is the first game that I buy as a used copy instead of a new one. Even the guy that sold it said he asked a friend to buy the game for him from German. I think there is no official distributor from the local store here.

Sadly, I have to say that not everybody can get their hands on this game. The industry of board and card game itself is very small. A lot of these games were published by independent small company that may not reach worldwide distribution.

Not that the publisher can’t send it but it will cost a lot of shipping fee. Some people may not consider that as worth it for this small game.

For people who are looking for alternative, they can check out this article for more board and card games. I have also written reviews for some games before.

For civilization games, check out Imperial Settlers, Tybor the Builder, and Villages of Valeria. Other than those, for games in small box, check out Hero Realms and One Deck Dungeon: Forest of Shadows. But those two have fantasy theme.

I keep saying that these tabletop games can help me to take my eyes off the screen of the my gadget for 15 to 60 minutes playtime. Maybe this could also help to have some entertainment activities for staying at home, especially around this pandemic time.

If you have better game suggestion, please do share via the comment section below. I would love to try out those games, assuming I can get a copy of that game.

So, what are your experience with playing Peloponnes Card Game? Please let me know if there are things that I missed regarding the game. I would appreciate that.

This article is just my notes of what I can find from the internet. Hopefully this can help anybody who are planning to purchase a copy of this game. Thanks for reading.

 

Mark M.