Sid Meier’s Civilization: A New Dawn is getting its first big expansion, Terra Incognita
Includes support for fifth player and gameplay elements based on Civilization VI.
Sid Meier’s Civilization: A New Dawn, the board game based on the long-running PC strategy series, is receiving its first major expansion.
Terra Incognita is described by publisher Fantasy Flight Games as being a big-box expansion with a price tag to match - $40 - that introduces a number of significant new gameplay elements to A New Dawn, alongside various new tiles, cards and components to expand the offering in the original game.
Developer Tony Fanchi described the upcoming expansion as drawing from mechanical aspects of the most recent instalment in the video game franchise, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, that weren’t included in A New Dawn when it was released in 2017.
The additions include a new focus on exploration, with players’ civilisations now able to explore and uncover the modular map one tile at a time, rather than having the entire board set up from the beginning. Players draw tiles from a central deck and choose where to place them, venturing out from their starting capital. The expansion will include a number of new map tiles, including two new natural wonders and two tiles featuring city states.
There will also be enough components in the box to support an extra player, bringing A New Dawn’s maximum player count up to five.
The other focus is on specialisation, with players able to take significantly different paths toward victory when playing with Terra Incognita. Focus cards specific to each civilisation can be used in place of the more generalised abilities in the original game, with the addition of governments - a key part of Civilization VI - allowing for further specialisation.
Another part of Civilization VI making its way into A New Dawn is districts. Players will be able to place specific areas of their city as it grows - including industrial, campus, commercial, theater and encampment zones - in order to earn greater rewards and bonuses based on their location. Fanchi described the district rules as adding a puzzle-like element to the game, and revealed that Terra Incognita would include new focus bars - into which players place their action cards - with an extra slot to allow for the placement of districts.
Combat will be expanded with dedicated army pieces and a revision of the combat rules, requiring players to move into the same space as a piece to attack it. Fanchi said this also allowed units to be used in a defensive manner, and meant that players would be able to react to potential combat quicker than before.
Alongside the new rules, Terra Incognita is said to more than double the number of leaders from the core box. Confirmed new leaders include Amanitora of Nubia and Shaka of the Zulu.
Sid Meier’s Civilization: A New Dawn - Terra Incognita is yet to have a release date announced. It will cost $40, just shy of the original game’s $50 price tag.