Age of Empires Collectable Card Game

Second Impressions

Games take quite a while to play. Two players could play 4 or 5 games of Magic: The Gathering in the time it takes to play one game of AoE, so plan accordingly. Also, you will need a lot of table space. Each village can (and will) grow to be quite large. Each player will have four age decks and two discard piles. You'll need room for the technologies you research and for your military units.

One way to win the game is to build a Wonder and hold it for a number of turns. Another way to win is to collect all the Relics and hold them for a number of turns. However, the starter decks do not include any Wonders or Relics. To get these cards, you'll have to buy booster packs. If you are happy to win by beating your opponent to a bloody pulp, you can do so with just the cards in the starter sets.

Very little distinguishes one starter deck from another. Most importantly, you'll get a Civilization Card. This card explains any civ bonus/limitations, and is therefore required to play that civilization. There are a few civilization specific event cards in the starter decks, but most of the deck consists of non-civilization specific cards such as Farms, Palisade Walls, Barracks, etc. The booster packs contain some civilization specific cards, but they may contain cards from any of the civilizations. If you are hoping to complete a full set of civilization specific cards, I recommend trading with a friend who is collecting one of the other civilizations.