The main map is divided into two regions, Sumer, and external areas. Within Sumer players can build cities. Trade can be carried out with most external areas. Empires will also start and spread from some of these areas.

The game lasts for five turns. Each turn consists of six phases. Players will collect income, in the form of workers, grain, and textiles. The central part of each turn is the action phase. Players take it in turns to perform one action. This procedure is repeated until all players have passed.

As an action a player can build a city, trade, place workers, start an empire, expand an empire, or pass.

Resources are crucial, they have an input into a range of actions. There are eight resources in all, grain, wood, metal, textiles, tools, oils, gold, and lapis lazuli. Sumer itself only produces grain and textiles, so to get other resources a player must trade with those areas that produce them. The trade table indicates what resources can be exchanged. Tool makers are used to convert metal into tools.

Each turn three empires are available to be claimed. These vary in strength and starting location. A player can add armies to an empire by expending resources. Resources must also be expended to equip an army.

When empires clash the better equipped army has the advantage in combat.

When one or two players pass there is an 'opportunity' cost for the remaining players, making it more expensive for them to perform actions.

At the end of each turn players score victory points. At this point players can expand a city to earn points. The number of points earned depends on the range of resources spent on expanding the city. Players also score points depending on the size of the empire they control.

Cities are important both for the victory points they can earn and also for the special powers they may possess. Control of Babylon will lead to larger armies, while ownership of Ur will give additional textiles. Seven of the nine potential city areas confer an advantage of one sort or another.