This is my story of Epic 38 from Realms Beyond Civilization. The scenario setup is there. The variant rule is that, as the Mayan civilization, you can only acquire a new city if you found it and merge in a worker enslaved by a Javelin Thrower.
Griselda wrote on the info thread: "outside of the opening, there should be room for players to take the game in a number of different directions."
I would like to submit that even in the opening, there's room to take the game in a number of different directions.