Description
Players will develop their civilization, collect resources and trade at the market in an attempt to become the wealthiest player. The difficulty increases from players needing to find ways to survive against cold winters, attacks from your enemies and the constant need to feed your buildings. The game is won by a player being the last one standing or by purchasing 5 gold ingots.
The goal is to be the first player to purchase 5 gold ingots and this is done by developing your civilization through building, collecting resources and attacking other players. Players will build fishing boats, farms, mines and forester hut to collect resources from the game map. Players can also build towns, pyramids or smithies to collect event cards instead of resources. Event cards allow the player to destroy opponents builds, steal resources or change the game map. Resources can be sold at the market for gold coins, which could be used to purchase other resources including gold ingots.
The game maps will include up to 7 different types of terrain and 5 types will produce resources. Each of these 5 terrains will produce 3 resources that are commonly found in nature. A water terrain can produce fish if a fishing boat is on it. When a mine is on a mountain terrain it can collect marble or iron. Or when a farm is on a plains terrain it can collect bread, which is essential to survival. Forests will typically produce would while a hills terrain typically produces bricks. The last two terrain types are a desert and marsh. These do not produce resource.
Surviving is another key component to the game and bread is essential to surviving. At the start of each turn all the buildings in a players civilization will consume 1 bread. When a player does not have enough bread will need to purchase some from the market or else they are eliminated. Game maps such as Cold or Volcano have additional difficulties that test a players surviving skills.
The earth is always changing, and in Changing Lands so is the map. Both the players and the game itself have the ability to impact the map. The game changes the map when a natural disaster occurs. A few examples include: whirlpools in the ocean wrecking fishing boats, snow storms prevent any resource from being produced and volcanic eruptions covering the game map in lava and ash. Players on the other hand can choose when to use an event card and this will change the terrain of the map.
The game comes with 8 map types and each one comes with its own challenges. Initially the Normal map type comes unlocked and this is a good map to learn how to play. The Cold and Ice Age map will cycle through the seasons and experience snow storms. This will impact if a resource will be produced. Survival on the Ice Age map is very difficult because the terrain gets colder as the game goes on. In the Tropics, players will build through sand, jungles and mountains and experience a higher production of resources. Tides is also a tropics themed map with an added bonus of a rise and fall in sea level. These tidal changes will wreck the buildings on the terrain. The cost of building roads in much higher on the Wetlands map and this causes the game mode to be more difficult. The Volcanic map will be similar to the Normal map with the bonus of having volcanos that erupt. Islands will be similar to the Tropics map except with a lot more water and volcanoes. Be aware, the volcanos will wreck all buildings in their way.
Changing Lands is a strategy game with unpredictable events that tests players abilities to adapt to the changing game map and ultimately, force players to find ways to survive and win the game.