VARIANT FOR HISTORY OF THE WORLD By Glenn Rahman and Kenneth Rahman We're game designers ourselves, so we appreciate a good design. There is a lot of handsome product out right now, but unfortunately, a good package doesn't always make a good game. (Neither does a bad package.) Though we're used to being disappointed in new games, "History of the World" was a pleasant surprise. It plays quickly, isn't so complex that it gives you a headache, and its approachable to beginners. Even so, our first games brought up some ideas for improvement. Here' what we suggest: 1. As far as we can see, Viking ships are banned from the North Sea. Silly if true. The Vikings were very far-sailing people. Let the Vikings sail in the North Sea, North Atlantic, and the Atlantic. 2. When a Greater Event "Leader" card is assigned to an empire, let its units cross Barren Lands (shades of Hannibal!). Let units defending from attackers that came across the barrens add +1 to their dice rolls. 3. Treat cities as Difficult Terrain. That is, the defender rolls 2 dice. A fortified city allows the defender to roll 2 dice, adding 1 to the highest roll. 4. We found it unclear when it is allowed to build a capitol. We allow it built up to the very end of the player's turn. (After all, it took the Turks a long time to settle on Constantinople). 5. Everybody is too weak. Sometimes it really looks pathetic to see the Mongols, the Romans, the Arabs, and Tamurlane petering out and accomplishing nothing. We believe this happens so often from play balance problems rather than bad luck. Rich empires can hired more troops, so we suggest ways to get rich. Earned coins can be spent at once, or saved. Any unspent coins are lost at the end of the player turn. Here are the changes we've made in our house rules: A. Add 3 land units to the original force pool of all new empires. (This is a matter of taste. Add more or fewer if it improves the flow of play). B. For each new Resource area captured, immediately draw one coin. C. For each fort or city captured, take 1 coin. D. For each capitol captured, take 2 coins. E. For each capitol or city captured, take 1 extra coin if it was fortified.