Parthenon: Rise of the Aegean

Parthenon: Rise of the Aegean is a historical board game of ancient commerce, designed by Andrew Parks and Jason Hawkins and published by Siren Bridge Publishing and Z-Man Games. Set in the Aegean Sea around 600 BC, it seats three to six players who each begin with two villages and a small fleet of ships and then build up their holdings through trade and expansion across the islands of the Aegean. A full game represents three in-game years, each divided into four seasonal phases of ten turns apiece, giving the game a structured rhythm of planning, trading and building across the whole session. Victory belongs to the first player to finish constructing every one of their own structures, so success depends on steadily converting trade income into completed buildings rather than any single decisive move. The box includes one game board, six reference cards, eighteen counters and four hundred and forty cards supporting the trade and event systems. The game won Board Game of the Year at the 32nd annual Origins Awards in 2005, recognition of its detailed economic design within the wargaming and historical-simulation hobby.