‘Cyclades with Hades Expansion’ Board Game Review

Among all of the themes that could be applied to a board game – or indeed any game or interactive subject – I think that Ancient Greek Mythology might well be my favourite. Everything about this setting fascinates me, from the Gods and monsters to the heroes and their fantastic stories.

Cyclades is a relatively old game now, having first been released in 2009, but a number of expansion packs have extended its lifespan and kept it relevant. Recently, I’ve been playing the base game of Cyclades along with its Hades expansion, and already I’ve seen enough to want to try Monuments and Titans – the other two large expansions.

Cyclades takes the Ancient Greek theme and invests in it wholeheartedly. Each player controls a generic faction comprising of a handful of plastic hoplites, a few ships and a player board behind which they will hide their resources. The board – which varies in size and setup based on player count – depicts a series of islands over which the players will vie for control.

Down one side of the board, the player order will be set and cards will be placed depicting a market where monsters and other powerful effects can be bought. The lower half (ish) of this board is reserved for the five God tiles – depicting Apollo, Athena, Poseidon, Zeus and Ares. Apollo is printed onto the board directly, whilst the others are presented as tiles that allow them to be drawn and placed in different orders.

With the Hades expansion, a similar tile for the God of the Underworld is placed off to the side with a threat countdown on it. When this threat marker reaches its peak (based on dice rolled each turn) Hades will enter the game, bringing his deadly (yet very short-lived) undead armies into the game.

To win a game of Cyclades, a player must simply build two metropolis cities. To do this, they can either collect four Philosopher cards, or they can build each of the four available buildings (temple, port, university and fortress.) The third option, of course, is to capture someone else’s metropolis…

The way in which the board develops and the players expand their position is what differentiates Cyclades from many other area control games – and this is a formula which hasn’t really been repeated by any other game in the genre. At the most basic level, the players simply bid (tribute) to each of the God’s in turn order, vying to outbid each other and force others to spend more money than they should (or to accept a God that they don’t want.)

Bidding begins in turn order and goes on until everyone has a God. The number of God’s available to bid on varies by player count, with all configurations resulting in one God per player. The first player bids for any God, placing the value of their bid on the God card using a coloured token. The next player now bids, either choosing a different God and bidding, or outbidding an earlier player, forcing them to bid for a different God. This continues until all players have placed a bid that is not then outbid.

There are a few things wrapped around this mechanic which are important. Firstly, player order matters (because it determines the bidding order) but so too does the order the Gods are drawn in – because whoever wins the “top” God will resolve that Gods’ action first – and will also be able to buy creatures from the market before anyone else.

Each God also has its own effects. Poseidon allows a player to recruit and move ships, Ares recruits and moves armies, Zeus grants priests (who discount future purchases), whilst Athena grants philosophers. Apollo, who is always the “last” God (and arguably acts as a form of passing your turn) simply increases the revenue that a player earns – which feels low impact, but can deliver long-term benefits.

Here’s the thing with Cyclades – it is effectively two games in one, but the two very different parts connect together almost perfectly. On the one hand, you have a really tightly contested area control game where moves and troops are limited and small changes to the board state can matter for several turns. On the other hand, you have a tight bidding mechanic that links directly to the board state on the first hand, yet you’ve also got turn order, bidding cost and resolution order to think about.

The monsters (and heroes, when Hades is added) that players can purchase after the bidding phase are also game-changing – but rather than the Gods (who you will get to use each of, sooner or later) some heroes or monsters may simply not appear all game. This means you can’t count on these effects, but you need to be ready to either capitalise on opportunities as they arise, or be prepared to defend yourself from something bad – like a cyclops or a Minotaur!

There is so much to like about Cyclades that it’s almost impossible to pick fault. I find this especially difficult because it has a theme that I love, and what’s more, I have a general tendency to lean in to area control whenever I get the chance. So with those biases on the table for all to see, I must still say that I think Cyclades is a fantastic game.

The bidding aspects are simple to understand but very, very impactful, whilst the area control proportion of the game is also accessible – expand outwards, increase your earnings, protect your main locations, capitalise on the weakness of your enemies and so on. The objective (hold two metropolises) is straightforward to understand, and the way in which these cities are built or obtained is also very clear. The real excitement of Cyclades is in all the nuances.

If I were being critical, I would suggest a couple of things. Firstly, the component quality is slightly showing its age – I’m not saying that the pieces are bad, but the modular board (in three pieces) is quite low-quality and was already bowing from the very first play. The plastic figures are OK to be honest, but modern productions from CMON or Mythic Games (for example) make them look lacking in detail. Combat is also potentially an issue because it uses dice, but it is quick to resolve and fairly infrequent.

Overall then, Cyclades remains relevant today. It is almost certainly still in the top ten area control games out there. I also enjoy Kemet, Blood Rage, Cry Havoc, The Godfather and quite a few other games of this kind, but Cyclades is unique enough to compete, and frankly I can’t wait to try the other expansions.

**** 4/5

Cyclades, and the Hades expansion, is available online at 365Games.co.uk, or at your local games store. Don’t know where yours is? Try this handy games store locator