Hi,
The rules don't specify how the dice and the wonders are structured exactly, so I thought I would talk about it for the benefit of anyone that wants to play but doesn't own a copy at home, since BGA doesn't give any way of accessing them (you can guess, of course). I won't talk about strategy here because the game is very new, so we need the meta to grow a bit more before high level players can confidently share some real tips.
These info, though, might help you with manipulating your luck by maximising the chances that you get a useful die at any given turn. That knowledge is very important if you want to improve. Reading this post, calculating and focusing should be enough to get you significantly above 150 elo, maybe even 200 (which is not a lot of people yet !).
Wonders (know where to look)
The 7 city boards are mostly symmetrical, but they differ in 3 important ways that you have to think about as soon as the game starts (your own's AND your opponent's, especially at 2 players where interaction is highest).
- Wonder powers/costs : first stage unique at 2/3/4-cost (mostly 3), second stage mostly unique at 3/4/5-cost (mostly 4), third stage universal with 7 pts at 6-cost. As far as the 2 first stages are concerned, you should notice early if they are on the expensive side (Gizah 1, Olympia 2 for instance) or on the cheap side (Babylon 1, Rhodos 2) because it helps with how to play them.
- Secondary resource's costs (primaries being stone/wood/clay, all free) : Gizah has 1 for each, everyone else has 0/1/2 with all combinations across the 6 wonders. As we'll see, secondaries are less common, which means that, if you're not Gizah, the best resource is the 0-cost secondary one.
- University first square's color of every symbol : each city uses the 3 powers on 3 colors among green/blue/red/yellow. I won't make a list because these are visible : you need to know about them, observe and react, but memorizing them is not that useful (and pretty much automatic if you play a lot).
Dice (know them by heart)
- The blue die has obviously 1 face for each of the 6 symbols. Keep in mind that each row/column completed closes the use of a symbol ! That's true with all dice but you really feel it when you try to complete the agora rapidly.
- The yellow die has 2 faces with the camel and the chest and 2 faces with 7 gold.
- The red and green dice have 2 faces with each symbol.
Basically, any basic square of any "rainbow" building (red/blue/yellow/green) has 33% chances to be accessible through the basic corresponding die.
- The 3 grey dice are unique (which is not obvious at all !), and here you'll see why I call stone/wood/clay primary and papyrus/glass/cloth secondary. The secondary ones are not only more expensive but also rarer. One die has 2 faces of wood, no cloth, and 1 of each other one. Another one has 2 stones and no papyrus. The last one has 2 clay and no glass. When any special die is unlocked, if you play online, there is no way to know which one is out (not a big deal usually because you should have enough resources at that point). But you know that 1 primary is significantly more impacted than the other ones, and that 2 secondaries are now extremely rare. When 2 special dice are unlocked, 1 secondary is out (bonus greys from camel, Alexandria power and black die put aside).
- The black die has 1 face for each basic color (grey,yellow,red,blue,green) and the last face is a rainbow (same effect as the middle bonus).
- The purple die has 1 face for each basic color and the last face for your wonder (easiest to use at 3p+ since you just need to complete it, hardest to use at 2p for the exact same reason because of the special rule).
- The all-mighty white die follows the structure of the gallery itself : 2 faces for white and 1 face for each color of the rainbow.
I hope it helps. Have fun !
The rules don't specify how the dice and the wonders are structured exactly, so I thought I would talk about it for the benefit of anyone that wants to play but doesn't own a copy at home, since BGA doesn't give any way of accessing them (you can guess, of course). I won't talk about strategy here because the game is very new, so we need the meta to grow a bit more before high level players can confidently share some real tips.
These info, though, might help you with manipulating your luck by maximising the chances that you get a useful die at any given turn. That knowledge is very important if you want to improve. Reading this post, calculating and focusing should be enough to get you significantly above 150 elo, maybe even 200 (which is not a lot of people yet !).
Wonders (know where to look)
The 7 city boards are mostly symmetrical, but they differ in 3 important ways that you have to think about as soon as the game starts (your own's AND your opponent's, especially at 2 players where interaction is highest).
- Wonder powers/costs : first stage unique at 2/3/4-cost (mostly 3), second stage mostly unique at 3/4/5-cost (mostly 4), third stage universal with 7 pts at 6-cost. As far as the 2 first stages are concerned, you should notice early if they are on the expensive side (Gizah 1, Olympia 2 for instance) or on the cheap side (Babylon 1, Rhodos 2) because it helps with how to play them.
- Secondary resource's costs (primaries being stone/wood/clay, all free) : Gizah has 1 for each, everyone else has 0/1/2 with all combinations across the 6 wonders. As we'll see, secondaries are less common, which means that, if you're not Gizah, the best resource is the 0-cost secondary one.
- University first square's color of every symbol : each city uses the 3 powers on 3 colors among green/blue/red/yellow. I won't make a list because these are visible : you need to know about them, observe and react, but memorizing them is not that useful (and pretty much automatic if you play a lot).
Dice (know them by heart)
- The blue die has obviously 1 face for each of the 6 symbols. Keep in mind that each row/column completed closes the use of a symbol ! That's true with all dice but you really feel it when you try to complete the agora rapidly.
- The yellow die has 2 faces with the camel and the chest and 2 faces with 7 gold.
- The red and green dice have 2 faces with each symbol.
Basically, any basic square of any "rainbow" building (red/blue/yellow/green) has 33% chances to be accessible through the basic corresponding die.
- The 3 grey dice are unique (which is not obvious at all !), and here you'll see why I call stone/wood/clay primary and papyrus/glass/cloth secondary. The secondary ones are not only more expensive but also rarer. One die has 2 faces of wood, no cloth, and 1 of each other one. Another one has 2 stones and no papyrus. The last one has 2 clay and no glass. When any special die is unlocked, if you play online, there is no way to know which one is out (not a big deal usually because you should have enough resources at that point). But you know that 1 primary is significantly more impacted than the other ones, and that 2 secondaries are now extremely rare. When 2 special dice are unlocked, 1 secondary is out (bonus greys from camel, Alexandria power and black die put aside).
- The black die has 1 face for each basic color (grey,yellow,red,blue,green) and the last face is a rainbow (same effect as the middle bonus).
- The purple die has 1 face for each basic color and the last face for your wonder (easiest to use at 3p+ since you just need to complete it, hardest to use at 2p for the exact same reason because of the special rule).
- The all-mighty white die follows the structure of the gallery itself : 2 faces for white and 1 face for each color of the rainbow.
I hope it helps. Have fun !
