Build a civilization from a small tribe
Through the Ages is the digital version of Vlaada Chvátil's strategy board game. You start with a small tribe and grow it across the ages by playing cards: expand farms and mines to produce food and resources, then spend what you gather on technological advances, better governments, and grand wonders. Military strength backs up your political moves, so you are managing an economy, a research path, and a fighting force at the same time. There are hundreds of cards in the deck, which means the routes to victory vary from game to game. Careful resource management is the core of it — every card you play is food, resources, or science you could have spent elsewhere.
Playing together with your group
Your group competes against each other online in PvP matches. The game supports asynchronous multiplayer, so turns do not need to happen at the same moment; a match can keep going while people take their moves when they get to it. That suits a Discord group where everyone is on a different schedule. Besides playing against friends, you can take on computer opponents at several skill levels when you want a match without waiting around. Single-player Challenges are also available, each one pushing a different strategy.
Before you start
There is a tutorial that walks through the rules in a light, funny way, and it is worth doing before your first competitive game since the systems stack on top of each other. You can choose between the original board game rules or a streamlined digital version, so decide with your group which one you want to play before you set up a match — mixing the two would make comparisons awkward. Expect a turn-based, tactical card game with a historical theme and an economy to balance rather than something fast or action-driven. It is competitive: someone's civilization ends up ahead, and the rest fall behind.