Variants
- The Easy Option Earth variant. Earth is tough to play for a Hidden Agenda. Remove 1 Hidden Agenda card for Earth before dealing them out at the start of the game. Thanks Doug.
- The Two-Player Leaf variant. In a 2-player game, using the Optional Rules, restrict the Leaf power of the Discovery Track to an adjustment of only 1 position. This gives the other powers more of a say in things (note: this rule is now standard in Version 2 of the rules).
- The Hungry Players variant. Perhaps it's a bit too optimistic removing famine from the game when used. Leave them in (makes for a slightly longer game). Try this variant when you have not eaten for a day.
- The Quick Game variant. For a shorter game, allow the game to end when a faction gets to 512 (or even 256, for a really short game).
- The Long Game variant. For a longer game, require both end-game conditions to be met.
- The Pessimist variant. For pessimists (I hope that you're not realists), do not deal out the "Colony 2" cards during set up (shuffle them into the deck) and don't use the "Opening Treaty" rule. Tough game...
- The Warmonger variant. For wargamers (I hope that you're not realists, either), the player of a War card chooses which token is reduced. Nasty game...
- The Extra Friend variants. 6 Billion™ plays with 2 to 5 players. For people with an extra friend, use an extra sets of tokens in a different colour to play 7 Billion, with 2 Neutrals. Or, buy an extra set of cards, and additional sets of tokens to easily expand 6 Billion™ to accommodate more players (recommended maximum of 2 Neutrals).
- The Futurist variants. For futurists, or people who don't want to buy an extra copy of 6 Billion™ or extra sets of tokens, you can still play 7 Billion and 8 Billion etc For example, for a 7 Billion variant with 3 players, start the players on 2 billion and the Neutral on 1 billion. I'm sure you can think of more variants of 7 Billion, 8 Billion etc... I don't need to list them all. Perhaps it would be more realistic (and a slightly shorter game) to start the game on 12 billion (2 billion each in a 5 player/1 neutral game - this could be 2100AD).
- The Take Pity variant. For veteran 6 Billion™ players - you might use this variant to take pity on novice players. For example, in a 3 player game with 2 Neutrals (normally 5 billion), give one novice player a starting population of 2 billion instead of 1 billion (making 6 billion).
- The War Of The Worlds variant. As a science-fiction variant, allow populations to start on planets other than Earth (this makes use of the Earth Holding Box). Deal out one Hidden Agenda, face-up, to each player & Neutral. This is where their 1 billion starts. Reshuffle the Hidden Agenda cards, and deal them face-down to players only as normal. The Opening Treaty applies to any player with only one established colony, regardless of location.
- The Fast Neutrals variant. A neat way to speed up the assessment of who controls the Neutral is to allow the player who last had control to keep control unless another player proves he / she should now have control. Either the players will now know how their board situation compares to the controlling player, or they won't care. Allow a minute in total (not per player). Of course, you still have to perform the assessment for the first Neutral turn after turn one (Play Hint: the Neutral Migrant can't go anywhere on turn one, so don't worry about it). Thanks Alan.
- The Earth First variant. After the set-up, and the random turn order has been drawn for the first turn, players declare in turn order whether they declare an Earth First policy. If yes, their populations on the Earth population track are considered to be on Earth (normally, populations on the Earth population track are considered to be on Earth, the Moon, and space habitats).
Players who declare for Earth First:-
Can only colonise other population tracks using a Colony 2 card or Discovery card, though other players can use New Colony and Migrants cards (for Another Player, thus scoring 3 points) on them as normal. This may require the Earth First player's permission, as per Opening Treaty rules.
Can, after turn 1, decline free doubling on the Earth population track (thus showing "moral restraint", as advocated by the Revered Thomas Malthus)
Start on position 7 of the Leaf track. At the start of each turn after turn 1, just before free doubling, reduce this position by 1. Starting a turn on 1 would result in the token being removed. Design Note: this represents the fact that all other life, so far as we know, is currently in the "care" of Earth's human population.
Must be present on all 3 Discovery Tracks at game-end. Penalty for failure is an 4 point deduction from the Earth First player's score.
Must, in a 2 player game, be in 1st scoring position on at least one Discovery Track at game-end. Penalty for failure is an 4 point deduction from the Earth First player's score.
Must, in a 3 player game, be in 1st or 2nd scoring position on at least one Discovery Track at game-end. Penalty for failure is an 4 point deduction from the Earth First player's score.
Must, in a 4 or 5 player game, be in a scoring position on at least one Discovery Track at game-end. Penalty for failure is an 4 point deduction from the Earth First player's score.
Score for the Earth track at game-end with first place going to the player with the smallest population on Earth etc. Neutral tokens and non-Earth First players' tokens affect the relative positions of all Earth First players, and visa versa. Deduct 1 point for each player over 1 in a scoring position (to a minimum of 1). The Earth Hidden Agenda doubles points after all adjustments.
(Warning: The Earth First variant is largely untested. I'll happily consider any constructive criticisms).- A Token Gesture. This one is a quickie, designed to make for a quicker game. Reduce the number of tokens for each faction to 12 (it's normally 16). Note that 1 of these tokens is required for the score track, and another for the turn order track, which leaves 10 playable tokens (enough to secure a presence on each of the 10 population tracks). The game can now end when any faction runs out of tokens. Tokens on the Holding Track are still considered to be in play. If a faction is left with a single token at Mercury and/or Pluto, and no more tokens to play, then the faction gets the Mercury/Pluto token(s) back.
Hints: 1. If you are going to colonise Mercury or Pluto, do so earlier in the game. 2. It's a good idea to keep at least 1 Discovery Track free (and keep a card with a symbol for that Discovery Track), as you can end the game just by putting a token on that track.
Note: You could easily play with fewer tokens per faction for an even shorter game, but it would not be possible to end the game by populating all population tracks.- Matrioshka Brains
Inspired by the writings of Robert Bradbury on Matrioshka Brains, I present a simple (as yet, untested) variant which allows for the possibility that humanity may be made obsolete by colossal artificial intelligences.
If a Neutral faction token survives a turn in the Asteroid Belt holding box, and becomes established on the Asteroid Belt, it is no longer possible to prevent that token from free doubling. Also, for each Neutral token that does this (up to two), turn over Discovery cards from the deck until a planet is revealed. That planet has been disassembled (it is removed from the game) and the deck of Discovery cards is reshuffled. Any tokens on that planet's population track are lost.
If the Neutral token makes it to the 1024 space before a player faction wins, then humanity has been surpassed by a vastly superior intelligence and a Matrioshka Brain has been established in the Solar System (not necessarily in the Asteroid Belt). The players, and humanity, have lost (You could still decide who did the best out of the human losers...).
- Kuiper Belt - based on some thinking by Freeman J. Dyson
- Once Around The Sun
This is a standalone game which uses only components available in 6 Billion™, still being tested. In this game you play the part of a bored space tourist, out for fame!- Hunter Gatherer To Civilization
Another standalone game, but for this one you need the maps available from the website plus 6 Billion™. Still under test. This relates to the demographic history of humanity.- Moral Restraint - This simple variant allows you to claim 2 victory points for not playing a Double card for your own faction, and instead you must discard the Double card. Also, claim 1 victory point for each Free Double attempt for your faction that you decline (for each eligible token, you must announce that you will decline your Free Double attempt rather than allowing players to play Famine or Pestilence cards).
Note: This simple variant is for those players who prefer to reward themselves for slowing their faction's growth even when it is probably unnecessary (eg. in space, for the next thousand years). Alternatively, you could limit the Moral Restraint victory points to tokens on Earth.
"Moral Restraint" can represent whatever measure you feel is appropriate for humans to voluntarily reduce birth rates.- Richard Heli's Alternative board for 6 Billion™
- Blitzregel for 6 Billion™ from Abspeil (in German), and also this
- Kurzregel for 6 Billion™ from Ferdinand Köther at Spielerei (in German)
For a list of articles by me, see the Articles page.
