Notebook Nations 2026

In Notebook Nations, you will explore the map to collect encounters, expand your nation via build actions, exploit the map's resources, and work to exterminate other players - or avoid extermination yourself!

4X games can be somewhat intimidating to pick up. Truly, they are big games that seek to satisfy even the most ravenous players. Notebook Nations is a game for those of us who want to have that special 4X experience over lunch, and those of us who seek a gateway that can guide us from being a 4X newbie to a 4X fan.

Players will select a Nation, a map, and a start zone during setup. Then players will take turns selecting initiative bonuses to determine turn order. During their turn, a player will gain their income, move, act, and use Source powers with their Avatar, act with their building tiles to grow their settlements and military, and use their units to fight with their neighbors.

Players will need to make strategic choices in order to win the selected number of victory points from three distinct categories: science VP (by prioritizing research), culture VP (by constructing buildings that increase their culture score), or military VP (by raising and commanding their troops to conquer an opponent's town hall).