Age of Innovation Strategy: Factions, Books & Expansion Timing
Editorial analysis: The strongest asymmetric setup is only strong if the map can support it. Expansion, science and innovation choices should reinforce one another.
Evaluate setup as a package
A faction ability, homeland color and palace effect should create complementary resource and map incentives. Avoid combinations that pull your economy in different directions.
Use proximity discounts without surrendering space
Building near rivals can make upgrades cheaper and generate power, but it also creates map competition. Take the discount where the contested hexes still leave room for future growth.
Terraform only for useful structures
Terraforming that does not lead to an income-producing building or scoring connection can be an expensive dead end.
Books should buy repeated value
Early innovations are strongest when their effect repeats across several rounds. Late books should be converted into direct scoring or a decisive final-round ability.
City timing should match rewards
Form a city when the City tile reward solves a current bottleneck or supports the active round-scoring tile, not simply at the earliest legal moment.
Final rounds: shift from engine to map and scoring
Once there are too few rounds for new infrastructure to repay, spend resources on final science positions, cities, network reach and direct scoring.