Altay - Dawn of Civilization, a deck-building civilization game set in a mythic age where players lead an ancient society to navigate the challenges brought by human settlers, will be soon in stores. Learn more about the creation and development of the game in this diary written by Roberto Di Meglio, director of production and lead developer at Ares Games, and originally published by Game Trade Magazine (issue 296, October 2024).
Altay - Dawn of Civilization, a deck-building civilization game.
The development history of Altay – Dawn of Civilization is a long one to retell. When I first played its original prototype, simply titled “Dawn of Civilization” (the world of Altay was yet to come), I was immediately fascinated by the elegant combination of deckbuilding and tableau building with a civilization theme designed by Ole Steiness.
In Dawn of Civilization, players started with the same initial deck and a slightly asymmetric player “city board” to develop. Each board featured multiple “buildings,” each providing different bonuses. Your civilization progressed in strength and technology through deckbuilding and spending resources to activate the buildings on your board.
Even in this early version, the game was captivating, deeply engrossing players in the progress of their civilizations – perhaps too deeply. Once you drew a new hand of cards, it was natural to start planning your next turn without much regard for the other players’ intentions. We thought that this strong game engine could shine even more with added interactivity.
A playtest session with the game board added.
In a meeting with Paolo Mori, we discussed various prototypes Ares was working on at the time, including Dawn of Civilization. We explored ways Paolo might help advance these projects in our development pipeline. Paolo immediately began proposing new ideas for the game – exciting but revolutionary changes. He argued that what the game needed was a common board, a physical space for players to interact, in addition to the individual player boards. We were soon convinced, and Paolo started developing the idea. The game board was added as the focal point of player expansion. Player progress was now visible in their expansion across different territories on the board, rather than being tracked abstractly. Simultaneously, the player boards were replaced with a “tech tree” of possible civilization advancements.
Adding a board allowed us to create new card effects that interacted with this physical space. Different territories could produce different resources, synergizing with cards. Other cards allowed players to build settlements, while military cards enabled expansion or defense on the board. In many ways, it became a different game from the original version — it retained the strengths that initially drew us in but was now much more interactive with greater expansion potential, thanks to its unique blend of deckbuilding and kingdom building.
Some of the Achievement cards.
The next development step focused on the tech tree. Initially, each “node” on the tree was a separate achievement unlocking a specific player bonus. However, we realized we could replace this fixed tree with a more flexible approach, allowing players to gain new technologies for their faction. Each technological or cultural achievement could be represented by a card, aligning with the game’s card-based nature. Instead of forcing development along fixed paths, players could add new technologies in a more free-form yet logical sequence, divided into three levels of increasing difficulty and power.
From a gameplay perspective, Altay – Dawn of Civilization had now taken its final shape—apart from hundreds of hours of playtesting! However, another crucial aspect, its setting, was still under development. We fell in love with the art of Pauliina Hannuniemi after seeing her work on a role-playing game project, and we were eager to collaborate with her. The fantasy setting of Altay, with its mythical and almost dream-like qualities, was designed to complement her art.
The beautiful art by Paulina Hannuniemi in the Action cards.
We envisioned a far-off land inhabited by unique peoples who lived there before humans, each with distinct qualities (the initial asymmetrical starting decks). These peoples would face challenges from newcomers bringing different crafts and trades. While there were things to learn from the newcomers, the “old ways” were precious too. Finding a balance between the old and new was key to the future of your people. This setting further inspired additional game developments as cards and decks were tweaked and redesigned to convey the differences between the Earthfolk, Elvenfolk, Firefolk, and Smallfolk—and between them and the newcomers.
Altay – Dawn of Civilization, like the civilizations it portrays, took many twists and turns to become what it is today. We can only hope you love it as much as we do!
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