Colour plays an important role in this game, linking several of the key mechanisms together. Each player takes their four leaders, two catastrophe tiles and a player screen. Each player also begins with six playing tiles, drawn randomly from the tile bag, which are also kept behind the player screen. The object of the game is to earn victory points in the four areas of importance for every self respecting ancient civilization. This clever mechanic goes a long way to explaining why this game is so good.
Game play is very simple.
When it is your turn, you may perform two actions. Placing a tile on the board. Placing, removing or repositioning a leader on the board. Placing a catastrophe tile on the board. Discarding and replacing up to 6 tiles from your hand.