Cyclades

*Cyclades* is a board game designed by Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc and published by Matagot in 2009. Its setting is the island world of ancient Greece: players lead rival cities seeking supremacy across an archipelago. The victory condition is specific. A player must control two metropolises, whether by building them or taking them from an opponent. That makes expansion and defense inseparable; a city that completes a metropolis may also make itself an immediate target.

The game’s defining mechanism is an auction for the favor of Greek gods. Players bid gold to take actions associated with Ares, Poseidon, Zeus or Athena. Ares enables the recruitment and movement of land troops, while Poseidon governs fleets and movement at sea. Zeus provides priests, who reduce the cost of future offerings, and Athena provides philosophers. Apollo offers an alternative for players who do not win—or choose not to pursue—one of the other gods. Because players cannot simply select every action they want, a bid is also a strategic commitment: spending heavily to secure military movement can leave less gold for later rounds.

Metropolises can be obtained in two ways. One is to collect four different buildings: a fortress, a port, a temple and a university. These correspond to Ares, Poseidon, Zeus and Athena respectively. The other is to acquire four philosophers. Both routes depend on access to particular gods over successive turns, so opponents can contest a plan before its final step. They can also conquer an existing metropolis. The islands and sea routes matter for precisely that reason: armies can threaten holdings, but fleets are needed to connect forces across the water.

Mythological creatures give the game another distinctly Greek element. Players can pay to use creature cards, whose effects may disrupt an opponent’s position or create an opening for their own forces. The creature market therefore adds tactical possibilities alongside the more predictable benefits of gods and buildings.

*Cyclades* later received expansions that changed its original contest without replacing its central auction. *Hades* introduced the underworld god as an additional source of actions, while *Titans* added Titan units and a different map configuration. Those additions underscore what made the 2009 game recognizable: its victory is measured in metropolises, but the path to them runs through bids, divine favors, naval connections and the constant risk that a rival will take what another player has built.