History of the World, Dragon Castle and Gorus Maximus: Three Games with More to Explore

A sprawling map, armies, cities, fortifications and dice can make History of the World look like a familiar territory-grabbing game. That first impression undersells what made the 1991 Avalon Hill design worth revisiting. Z-Man Games brought it back in 2018, and the hosts’ experience changed their minds: what looked like a game they already knew became one they wished they’d found much earlier.

The contrast between the editions is striking. The original’s miniature armies and plastic cities give way in the 2018 release to simple colored pawns, while the broad map remains the visual centerpiece. There’s still a catapult, and dice remain part of the presentation. For someone judging the game by its components, those details might suggest a familiar, luck driven contest. The hosts came in with that suspicion themselves. After playing, they were glad they’d given it a chance.

History of the World rewards a first play

One strength the hosts call out is how readily the game can be taught. Its rules aren’t especially difficult to explain, and they suggest using the first round to introduce the system as it unfolds. That gives players a chance to learn by doing without necessarily putting anyone at a serious disadvantage. For a game with a large board and a sweeping historical theme, that sort of gentle entry matters: the table can get moving before every detail feels familiar.

The episode also revisits the game’s downtime. It came up during the discussion, but on reflection the hosts felt it wasn’t as troublesome as it had seemed. Their expectation was that subsequent plays would move more quickly as everyone grew comfortable with the flow. That’s a useful distinction for groups considering a first session: a slower opening can be part of learning the game, rather than a fixed feature of every play.

Dice aren’t a guaranteed hit with every player. Marty, in particular, can be wary of games that rely on dice, yet he enjoyed this one. That reaction is a good reminder that a mechanic rarely tells the whole story. The table’s choices, the pace of play and the way the game’s larger map develops can make a dice based design feel different from what its components initially promise.

The hosts’ regret about missing the original release takes a playful detour into collecting baseball cards. One wishes they could go back and trade a Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck card for the game. Under the joke is a clear verdict: the rerelease gave them a second chance to discover something they’d have liked to play years earlier. For players who passed it by the first time, the 2018 edition offered a fresh point of entry.

Dragon Castle’s quiet choices can sting

Dragon Castle from CMON makes a very different first impression. Players collect tiles that share colors and symbols, aiming to score victory points. That sounds like a calm puzzle focused on building up an individual board. The hosts found that the game can turn sharp when players pay attention to what their choices do to everyone else.

The pressure centers on an action that looks simple: discard a tile to earn a victory point. Used with care, that move can disrupt another player’s plans. But it can also expose an opportunity for someone else, so the choice carries a risk for the person making it as well as the player they hope to unsettle. The game’s tension comes from reading the shared situation and deciding when a point is worth changing it.

The group’s first play was relatively gentle, with players not targeting one another. The hosts expect a different mood when people begin looking for ways to interfere. That makes table temperament part of the experience. A group that focuses only on its own board may miss the interaction that gives the design its bite; a group that watches the whole table can find plenty to consider in a single discarded tile.

That contrast between a peaceful-looking collection puzzle and potentially pointed play is the game’s surprise. The tiles may invite players to concentrate on matching sets, but each decision can affect what remains available and what others can do next. It’s a small action with consequences that travel around the table, which gives Dragon Castle more depth than its first glance might suggest.

Gorus Maximus was set for June 11, 2018

Gorus Maximus was scheduled to go live on Kickstarter on June 11, 2018, according to the episode. Listeners interested in the game were directed to its Kickstarter page and Inside Up Games’ website for details. The source doesn’t give a price, player count or play time, so those specifics aren’t part of the discussion.

The episode’s wider run of topics included a show title contest, a Miniature Market discount code, shipping a game, a Dragon Castle discussion, thoughts on the film Solo, an Ascension app update, the video game Overcooked, Portal Games and The Broken Token. The segment guide places Dragon Castle at 19:45, Gorus Maximus at 38:30 and History of the World at 46:18. The full episode runs through its outro and later updates, with the listed outro at 1:09:07.

Marty was at Origins that week, and listeners attending the convention were invited to look for him for a ribbon and perhaps a Moonpie. For the games covered here, the clearest takeaway is to look past the first impression: History of the World won over a dice wary player, while Dragon Castle’s tile puzzle held sharper interaction beneath its tidy surface. Those are the details worth carrying into a first play.