Through the Ages (2006 Czech Board Games First Edition)

Through the Ages is widely considered one of the greatest strategy board games ever designed, a civilization-building card game that consistently ranks among the top games on BoardGameGeek and has influenced the design of dozens of subsequent titles. The 2006 first edition from Czech Board Games, published before Czech Games Edition was formally established as a company, represents the original commercial realization of Vlaada Chvátil's vision, and it is this edition that collectors of historically significant modern games seek out.

The Story Behind the Game

Vlaada Chvátil is one of the most celebrated game designers of the modern era. His catalog includes Galaxy Trucker, Space Alert, Mage Knight, and Codenames, but Through the Ages is considered by many to be his masterwork, the most complex and rewarding of his designs.

The game was developed and produced with a small Czech team before Czech Games Edition (CGE) was formally founded. The 2006 edition was essentially a pre-CGE release, a self-produced limited run that Czech Games founder Petr Murmak and the team worked on together before deciding to create the company around it. CGE's official founding came in 2007, with Through the Ages as the catalyst.

The 2006 first edition was printed in relatively small quantities and distributed primarily through European game conventions and specialty stores. Its scarcity was compounded by the international growth of its reputation: as the game spread through word of mouth and internet reviews, demand for the original edition grew among collectors.

How It Plays

Through the Ages is a card-driven civilization builder for 2-4 players. Players develop their civilization from antiquity through the modern era, managing population, food, resources, military, and culture. Cards represent technologies, buildings, wonders, great persons, and government systems from human history.

The game's elegance lies in its resource economy: every action has an opportunity cost, and the constraints are designed to create genuinely difficult decisions throughout a 3-6 hour play session. It won the International Gamers Award for General Strategy in 2007, bringing it to wider international attention.

A revised and expanded edition ("A New Story of Civilization") was published by CGE in 2015 with updated rules, new cards, and improved components. The 2015 edition is the version most players use today. The 2006 original is specifically sought by collectors rather than players.

The First Edition's Collector Appeal

Several factors make the 2006 edition particularly interesting to collectors:

Historical Significance: This was the edition that launched CGE, one of the most successful game publishers of the following two decades.

Original Design Artifacts: The card designs, art direction, and rules text differ from the 2015 revision. For game design historians, the original represents Chvátil's unmodified vision.

Limited Print Run: Production numbers were small, and many copies have been played extensively. Sealed or lightly played examples are genuinely scarce.

Designer Pedigree: Among collectors who focus on designer games and the origins of the modern hobby movement, first editions by landmark designers carry significant premiums.

Values and Condition Grades

eBay sales show played complete copies in the $80-$200 range. Sealed or near-sealed examples are rarely listed and command significant premiums when they appear.

Identifying the 2006 Edition

Look for "Czech Board Games" as the publisher (not "Czech Games Edition"). The copyright year on the box should be 2006. The card backs, box art, and rulebook design are all specific to this edition. CGE's 2015 edition has substantially different visual design and prominently features the "Czech Games Edition" branding and the "A New Story of Civilization" subtitle.

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