2022Stan Kordonskiy
- Videos
- 207
- Creators
- 143
1 - 4 players60 - 120 minHeavy weight

2026David Falla de Acebo
Mainly reviews. Ashes & Amber is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 4 reviews, 1 how-to-play guides, and 3 other videos.
From BoardGameGeek
The inevitable will come. Cities will fall. Yet from their ashes, you may rise again. Plan carefully. Endure wisely. Preserve what truly matters. Will your civilization be remembered as the one that left its mark? · · · ◆ · · · Ashes & Amber is a competitive civilization tableau-building card game where cities are living stacks of cards: expand them, protect them, and rebuild them after devastating catastrophes. - Build cities as stacks of cards and activate the top cards - Protect your valuable cards or see them burn when the catastrophes strike - Raise Wonders to show the world your accomplishments - Achieve greatness by saving your Amber to the end but beware when the major event is triggered · · · ◆ · · · The game unfolds across five eras, Prehistory, Antiquity, Middle Ages, Age of Discovery, and Modern Era, one era per round. You build your civilization by creating cities. A city is a stack of cards, and only the top card can be activated. The more cities you have, the more cards you can activate and combine. But the more cities you have, the greater the danger, because at the end of each era, a Catastrophe strikes. If you do not protect your valuable cards properly, they will turn to ashes. You will need to acquire cards to protect them. One card in particular is precious, your Amber card. You have it from the beginning, and it symbolizes the resilience of your people through time. If you protect it and shape your civilization wisely, your Amber card can become a major source of victory points in the final era, when humanity reaches its defining moment. You see this goal from the start and plan your strategy around it. Players will use five different decks, one per era, for a total of over 700 cards. Each player also selects a unique personal deck, a Tribe, with asymmetric mechanics, which they will develop throughout the game. Player interaction is indirect, with players racing to claim cards from the shared display, from vital protection to powerful Ambition cards that shape the final score. The game features 19 unique Tribes, each with its own distinctive play style. Some encourage greater player interaction, others sacrifice a strong start for a spectacular finish, and others bend the rules in unconventional ways. · · · ◆ · · · Build. Burn. Rise Again. · · · ◆ · · · -description from the designer
Ashes & Amber has 8 videos from 5 creators: 4 reviews, 1 how-to-play guide and 3 other videos. They date from 2025 to October 2026.
To learn the rules, start with "Ashes & Amber - Gameplay Tutorial" by David's Games, which runs 18 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Ashes & Amber - Cities Will Rise...As Will The Cards" by BoardGameCo. 4 creators have reviewed it.
If you like it, try Endless Winter: Paleoamericans, Gaia Project, Ezra and Nehemiah or Age of Galaxy, which share several of its mechanics.
2022Stan Kordonskiy
1 - 4 players60 - 120 minHeavy weight
2017Jens Drögemüller, Helge Ostertag
1 - 4 players60 - 150 minVery heavy weight
2024S J Macdonald, Shem Phillips
1 - 4 players90 - 120 minHeavy weight
2022Jeffrey CCH
1 - 4 players45 - 60 minHeavy weight
From BoardGameGeek:
The inevitable will come. Cities will fall. Yet from their ashes, you may rise again. Plan carefully. Endure wisely. Preserve what truly matters. Will your civilization be remembered as the one that left its mark? · · · ◆ · · · Ashes & Amber is a competitive civilization tableau-building card game where cities are living stacks of cards: expand them, protect them, and rebuild them after devastating catastrophes. - Build cities as stacks of cards and activate the top cards - Protect your valuable cards or see them burn when the catastrophes strike - Raise Wonders to show the world your accomplishments - Achieve greatness by saving your Amber to the end but beware when the major event is triggered · · · ◆ · · · The game unfolds across five eras, Prehistory, Antiquity, Middle Ages, Age of Discovery, and Modern Era, one era per round. You build your civilization by creating cities. A city is a stack of cards, and only the top card can be activated. The more cities you have, the more cards you can activate and combine. But the more cities you have, the greater the danger, because at the end of each era, a Catastrophe strikes. If you do not protect your valuable cards properly, they will turn to ashes. You will need to acquire cards to protect them. One card in particular is precious, your Amber card. You have it from the beginning, and it symbolizes the resilience of your people through time. If you protect it and shape your civilization wisely, your Amber card can become a major source of victory points in the final era, when humanity reaches its defining moment. You see this goal from the start and plan your strategy around it. Players will use five different decks, one per era, for a total of over 700 cards. Each player also selects a unique personal deck, a Tribe, with asymmetric mechanics, which they will develop throughout the game. Player interaction is indirect, with players racing to claim cards from the shared display, from vital protection to powerful Ambition cards that shape the final score. The game features 19 unique Tribes, each with its own distinctive play style. Some encourage greater player interaction, others sacrifice a strong start for a spectacular finish, and others bend the rules in unconventional ways. · · · ◆ · · · Build. Burn. Rise Again. · · · ◆ · · · -description from the designer
Designer
David Falla de Acebo
Artist
David Falla de Acebo
Publisher
David's Games
Categories
Mechanics