About Concordia
Deceptively simple — you only ever play one card per turn. But the decision of which card, when, and how to rebuild your hand is endlessly interesting. Zero conflict, pure efficiency.
Is Concordia Right for You?
Best for
Concordia is for players who want a clean, conflict-free strategy game with real depth. It plays well from two to five and is short for its weight, with little downtime since you only play one card per turn. It rewards hand management, efficient expansion, and reading the scoring engine, making it ideal for thoughtful groups who dislike take-that.
Maybe skip it if…
If your group craves direct conflict or dramatic swings, Concordia will feel dry; it is a calm optimisation race with zero attacking and a quiet, accumulating tension instead.
How to Play Concordia
Setup
Lay out the map (Mediterranean or Germania). Each player starts with identical 7-card hand.
On Your Turn
- Play a card from hand: move colonists, build cities, produce goods, buy cards, score, or reset hand.
How to Win
Game ends when card supply or colonists run out. Score based on which gods appear on your cards × their matching resources.
💡 Strategy Tips
Plan your hand reset carefully. Buy scoring cards that match your empire's production.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Forgetting that you only play a single card each turn, so card sequencing and tempo matter far more than newcomers expect.
- Delaying the Senator or Tribune for too long; resetting your played cards back to hand is a core rhythm, not an emergency button.
- Buying personality cards without a plan for which god will multiply them at scoring.
- Spreading houses thinly instead of clustering around resources and provinces that match your card-driven scoring.
Advanced Strategy
- Buy cards both for their immediate action and for the god printed on them, since end-game scoring multiplies your assets by those gods.
- Time your Tribune carefully; resetting late lets you replay a long, powerful chain of cards in quick succession.
- Decide early whether you are a Mercator money strategy, a wide-expansion Colonist plan, or a card-collection scorer, then commit.
- Watch the bonus for ending the game; triggering the end on your terms, often by buying the last cards, can lock in a lead opponents cannot answer.
Variants & House Rules
Salsa
An expansion adding the salt resource and new map options, plus variants that increase flexibility in production and movement.
Venus
Adds a Venus scoring track and new cards, including a partnership-style variant, for groups wanting an extra dimension.
Map expansions (Britannia/Germania, Aegyptus/Creta, and others)
Standalone maps that change geography and resource distribution, the main way the game stays fresh over many plays.
Video Guides
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Our Verdict
Concordia is, for our money, one of the most elegant strategy games ever made: no luck after setup, no direct conflict, and yet every turn is a meaningful decision. We love that a full game runs under two hours with almost no downtime, and the steady stream of map expansions keeps it endlessly replayable. If you want a peaceful but genuinely deep brain game, this is our top recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any luck in Concordia?
Almost none. Apart from the setup and the order cards appear in the market, it is a pure strategy game with no dice or random draws during play.
How many players is Concordia best with?
It is excellent across its range, but three or four hits the best balance of board tension and pace; two and five both play well too.
Should I play the Imperium or Italia map first?
Italia, included in the base box, is built for first games and shorter sessions; Imperium is the larger classic map for the full experience.
Which map expansion should I buy?
Any that appeals geographically; they mainly vary the map and resource layout, so pick one for the size and player count you play most.