Designer: Matthew Dunstan (Elysium, Pioneer Days, Relic Runners)

Artists: Philippe Nouhra, Lucile Fournié, various

Publisher:  Funforge (Agricola Revised Edition, Barenpark, Brass: Birmingham, Brass: Lancashire, Caverna: The Cave Farmers, Caverna: Cave vs Cave, Evolution, Evolution: Climate, Grand Austria Hotel, Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King, Oceans, Patchwork, Quantum, Tokaido, Viceroy)

Genre/Mechanisms: 4x, action queue, area movement, civilization, deck building, expansion, fighting, hand management, modular board, set collection, solo/solitaire game, territory building, variable player powers

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Monumental – African Empires is already fully-funded. Pledges currently total almost 2x the initial funding goal with 2 days to go on the campaign.

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode:  yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-high

What It’s About: “An expansion to Monumental with new civilizations and game play mechanisms including quests, a new continuous play mode and advanced economics. Monumental itself is a civilization and 4x deck-builder with a modular board.”

How It Works:  “In Monumental, each player leads a unique civilization. How will you shape your destiny, and how will history remember you? Dare you succeed as a warmonger, as a pioneer of cultural and scientific progress, or an architect of a great city and remarkable Wonders? The aim of the game is to develop your civilization by constructing new buildings and wonders in your city, improving your scientific knowledge and cultural development,band using your military power to conquer new provinces.”

Turns are comprised of 4 Phases: Activate City, Take Actions, Replenish City, and Replenish Display.

During the Activate City Phase, the player activates a row and column of their 9-card grid, for a total of 5 activated cards. The player first collects all of the resources on the associated cards. Then they’ll Take the Actions on the activated cards, the Second Phase of the player’s turn. Actions include: Acquire Development Card or Basic Building card, Complete a Wonder, Develop a Cultural Policy, Conquer a Province, Move Military, Construct Outpost, Play Explorers, Use the Effect of an Activated Card in your City or Active Cultural Policy, and Make Scientific Progress.

After discarding all of the activated cards, the player then Replinishes their City, drawing new cards from their deck to fill in the now-empty spaces in their tableau. And finally, if the player purchased or acquired any cards from the Development Display during their turn, they Replenish the Display as well.

“The end of the game is triggered when the last card of the Development deck is dealt into the Development Display at the end of a player’s turn. Play continues until the player seated to the starting player’s right has taken a turn. Then all players take one final turn. That way, all players have played the same number of turns. If the end of the game is triggered at the end of the turn of the player seated to the right of the start player, then each player simply gets one final turn. Each player scores points for their achievements as follows: each Knowledge Card, 1 point; each Wonder Card, 2 points; each Cultural Policy Developed, 2 points; each Province Controlled, 1 point. Archived cards do not count towards a player’s score, and neither do the starting Knowledge cards of a civilization. 3 Points are also awarded to the player with the most Knowledge, the player with the most Provinces, the player with the most Wonders, and the player with the most Cultural Policies. The player with the most points wins. If there is a tie, the tied player with the most remaining Gold wins. If there is a still a tie, the tied player with the most remaining Culture wins. If there is a still a tie, all tied players share victory.”

Comparisons: While Monumental’s card selection mechanic, where players simultaneously trigger a row and column of cards for their resources and abilities each turn, is fairly unique, beyond that Monumental is a combination of 4x and civilization game at its core (featured deck building and dudes-on-a-map-style gameplay). A few well-rated games that traffic in the same sub-genre circles include the likes of Clash of Cultures, Eclipse, Empires: Age of Discovery, Empires of the Void II, Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Board Game, Sid Meier’s Civilization: A New Dawn, Star Trek: Ascendancy, Twilight Imperium,

What Should I Pledge?:
$62 African Empires Expansion Box – CLASSIC: includes the CLASSIC Edition (containing standees only, no miniatures) of the new African Empires expansion only (base game not included), plus all applicable unlocked stretch goals.
$62 Lost Kingdoms Expansion Box – CLASSIC: includes the CLASSIC Edition (containing standees only, no miniatures) of the Lost Kingdoms expansion only (base game not included).
$85 African Empires Expansion Box: includes the new African Empires Expansion (the version with miniatures, base game not included) only, plus all applicable unlocked stretch goals.
$85 Core Box – Classic Edition: includes the Core Box of Monumental (containing standees only, no miniatures) with all stretch goals from the original Kickstarter campaign, plus all applicable stretch goals from this campaign.
$85 Lost Kingdoms Expansion Box: includes the Lost Kingdoms expansion (the version with miniatures, base game not included) only.
$124 Core Box: includes the Core Box of Monumental (the version with miniatures) with all stretch goals from the original Kickstarter campaign, plus all applicable stretch goals from this campaign.
$208 Classic Champion Bundle: includes everything in the Core Box – Classic Edition pledge level, plus the CLASSIC (standees only) versions of both the Lost Kingdoms and African Empires expansions.
$270 Warlord Gameplay All-In Bundle: includes everything in the Core Box pledge level plus the Lost Kingdoms and African Empires expansions (the versions with miniatures).

Add-Ons:
$124 Core Box (miniatures version)
$84 Lost Kingdoms Expansion (miniatures version)
$84 Core Box – Classic Edition (standees version)
$62 Lost Kingdoms – Classic Edition (standees version)
$25 Art Book
$28 Metal Coins (50)
$16 Player Mats (1)
$29 Player Mats (2)
$40 Player Mats (3)
$49 Player Mats (4)
$56 Player Mats (5)
$22 Resource Counters (72)
$11 Card Sleeves (250)
$6 African Empires Tokens
$8 Core Box Tokens
$6 Lost Kingdoms Tokens

KS Exclusives
The entire project is a Kickstarter Exclusive.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $270 for the Warlord Gameplay All-In Bundle, $56 for 5 Player Mats, $28 for the Metal Coins, $11 for the Card Sleeves, $22 for the Resource Counters, $20 for the various Tokens, plus an estimated $17 in shipping for a total of $424.

Monumental – African Empires completes its Kickstarter on Sunday, July 5th and tentatively ships in April 2021.