Following up from the Abbasids last week, the designers of Imperium: Horizons are here to walk you through another new civilisation - the Guptas.

An image with the words "IMPERIUM HORIZONS CIVILISATION SPOTLIGHT: THE GUPTAS, DESIGNED BY NIGEL BUCKLE AND DÁVID TURCZI" alongside an illustration of several finely dressed Guptas sat for a feast.

This time we are featuring the Guptas, the Indian civilisation that flourished between 320 CE and 550 CE. Like the Abbasids discussed last time, the Guptas are another trader deck, meaning you will need to use the Trade Routes expansion to play them. The rules for clean-up are also changed when you play the Guptas, meaning you’ll add Goods onto the market rather than Progress.

A selection of sample cards from the Guptas deck from Imperium: Horizons, titled left to right: Guptas, Sri Gupta, Shreni and Sarthavaha.

Although they do not have a Trade Route in their deck, the founder of the Gupta Empire (Siri Gupta) will get you started with one. The Gupta deck is unique in that it has two cards with the new Merchant icon – Shreni (guilds) and Sarthavaha (merchants) – as well as a way to capitalise on these: the Height of Civilisation serves as a one-time “epic Prosperity” card for them, and can reward you for having these merchants in play. If you look closely in the Horizons common deck, you’ll find a few cards there that make the life of the merchants even more effective.

A selection of sample cards from the Guptas deck from Imperium: Horizons, titled left to right: Height of Civilisation, Merchants, Merchant Empire and Glory.

Once you have your steady flow of Goods sorted, you are going to want to flip your Merchants card to become a Merchant Empire to get access to the fame cards, as your Glory card is your accession card (just like it was for the Mauryans, a few centuries earlier, in Imperium: Legends), so it will be a while before you get into the fame cards otherwise.

Aside from the trading, you’ll also have lots of opportunity to acquire Civilised and Uncivilised cards both while you are on your way to Empire and once you become an Empire. Just like the Greeks (in Imperium: Classics) you’ll be able to develop Philosophy and Science to help with that. Another of your leaders, Chandragupta I, gives you access to another trade route. Finally, don’t overlook the epic Mahabharata which will help with your Unrest management.

A selection of sample cards from the Guptas deck from Imperium: Horizons, titled left to right: Philosophy, Science, Chandragupta I and Mahabharata.

Check out our civilisation spotlights for the Japanese, Taíno, Mayans, Inuit,
 Magyars, Polynesians, Cultists and Abbasids - and learn about Trade Routes here.
Next week, we'll be back with the Aksumites...

High res versions of all teased cards are available on the the game's
BoardGameGeek page under the images section.

Imperium: Horizons is out February 2024. Pre-order now.