That said, I don't think its fair to couch this as a review in the way I did with Pandemic and The Game of Thrones board game, since I have only played it once. So, instead, here are my first impressions of Twilight Imperium (TI).
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| Space: it's full of plastic |
Firstly and most obviously is the scale and scope. The game has you vying for control of the galaxy following the fall of the tyrannical Lazax empire. While TI has much in common with Risk as a game of strategy warfare, it is so much more than that. You don't just have to consider the military arena, but also the economic, political and technological.
It's not only possible to survive while being militarily weaker than your opponents, but also to thrive, as you lean on your other advantages to gain leverage on the other players. I took on the role of a race that was, broadly speaking, the 'military-industrial complex' - the Barony of Letnev - while the player to my right was a race of more pragmatic, trading-focussed space lions - the Emirates of Hacan.
While I started in a position from which I could threaten and bluster my way into profitable trade agreements - to ensure 'mutual coexistence' given our proximity (read: not turning my fleet into a giant space vacuum cleaner and blasting the kitties into the nearest supernova) - his economic superiority, combined with some of my own poor fortune (read: poor planning), meant that I became pretty dependent on that relationship to maintain any grip on power by the middle of the game. Since my race needed trade goods to gain an advantage in combat, the cancellation of that trade agreement would have been pretty disastrous. I found myself Harkonnens, beholden to my very own Guild.
It's not only possible to survive while being militarily weaker than your opponents, but also to thrive, as you lean on your other advantages to gain leverage on the other players. I took on the role of a race that was, broadly speaking, the 'military-industrial complex' - the Barony of Letnev - while the player to my right was a race of more pragmatic, trading-focussed space lions - the Emirates of Hacan.
While I started in a position from which I could threaten and bluster my way into profitable trade agreements - to ensure 'mutual coexistence' given our proximity (read: not turning my fleet into a giant space vacuum cleaner and blasting the kitties into the nearest supernova) - his economic superiority, combined with some of my own poor fortune (read: poor planning), meant that I became pretty dependent on that relationship to maintain any grip on power by the middle of the game. Since my race needed trade goods to gain an advantage in combat, the cancellation of that trade agreement would have been pretty disastrous. I found myself Harkonnens, beholden to my very own Guild.
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| My fleets about to get into trouble with the dreadnoughts from my left |
The fact that such a dynamic relationship is actually possible in the game speaks volumes of what TI is all about. But that also comes with its downsides. It took me around two hours just to clip out and bag all the pieces that came in the box. Setup and explaining the rules took around 30 minutes each - and this was with a group who had familiarised themselves with the principles ahead of time.
For all that there are a lot of rules and pieces to get your head around, the complexity of each part isn't so bad. Pretty much every piece of the puzzle makes sense in isolation, it's the just the whole picture taken together can spin the brain faster than one of my cruisers going down in flames.
For all that there are a lot of rules and pieces to get your head around, the complexity of each part isn't so bad. Pretty much every piece of the puzzle makes sense in isolation, it's the just the whole picture taken together can spin the brain faster than one of my cruisers going down in flames.
Even once we had gone through all of the rules, it still took some hands-on figuring out before we really got to grips with the flow of the game, and I think it was actually pretty near the end before we got a good handle on how it 'should' be played. The game makes many different strategies viable, depending on the race you're playing, but it takes some familiarity to figure them out. As it was, being our first playthrough, we lacked the context to make defensibly sound decisions, but at least everyone was on the same level coming into it.
That's both a good and a bad thing. On the one hand, it rewards repeat play, offering a depth that allows you to experiment and find your stride, getting 'better' over time, which is generally very satisfying. Additionally, if one strategy bores you, there are plenty of alternatives available (play a political or trading race!). The flip side is that, given an average eight-hour duration, getting to play it with any frequency becomes a challenge.
There are also some well-known and well-justified balance issues. Generally, everything is pretty finely designed to avoid weighting advantage to any one player early on. However, one of the Strategy Cards (each player selects one Strategy Card per turn which defines their special action) is a fast and reliable means of scoring victory points - the whole goal of the game - meaning that it becomes 'technically correct', in terms of optimal gameplay, to select this card whenever you are able, regardless of the other choices. If the card is not available, your second choice should always be the 'Initiative' card, which sets you up to take it next turn.
As long as players are aware of this, it's not 'game breaking', but it does suck some of the fun out if you feel compelled to take it all the time, rather than trying to plot and execute a wider strategy. We were aware of this, but still didn't do enough to prevent it throughout the game. The expansions contain some alternative versions of this card which 'fix' the issue, but it's quite a frustrating limitation of the core game, and I'd recommend house-ruling it if that's all you're playing with.
That's both a good and a bad thing. On the one hand, it rewards repeat play, offering a depth that allows you to experiment and find your stride, getting 'better' over time, which is generally very satisfying. Additionally, if one strategy bores you, there are plenty of alternatives available (play a political or trading race!). The flip side is that, given an average eight-hour duration, getting to play it with any frequency becomes a challenge.
There are also some well-known and well-justified balance issues. Generally, everything is pretty finely designed to avoid weighting advantage to any one player early on. However, one of the Strategy Cards (each player selects one Strategy Card per turn which defines their special action) is a fast and reliable means of scoring victory points - the whole goal of the game - meaning that it becomes 'technically correct', in terms of optimal gameplay, to select this card whenever you are able, regardless of the other choices. If the card is not available, your second choice should always be the 'Initiative' card, which sets you up to take it next turn.
As long as players are aware of this, it's not 'game breaking', but it does suck some of the fun out if you feel compelled to take it all the time, rather than trying to plot and execute a wider strategy. We were aware of this, but still didn't do enough to prevent it throughout the game. The expansions contain some alternative versions of this card which 'fix' the issue, but it's quite a frustrating limitation of the core game, and I'd recommend house-ruling it if that's all you're playing with.
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| At least the expansion has a normal-sized box |
Twilight Imperium is a very deep game with more replay value than I've seen anywhere else. There are so many optional additions and other play styles enabled in both the core game and the expansions that you could play this game over and over without it getting stale. The playtime and dense-if-not-actually-high barrier to entry are marks against it, but, as long as everyone is on board with this from the start, it's actually fine. Just don't let it take you unawares.
The group that I played with was overwhelmingly enthusiastic about how TI played out and the epic drama it let us build, and seemed interested in picking it up again if there was the chance (unless they were just trying to justify investing eight hours of their time...!).
So, should you play TI, or even buy it? If you're a fan of 'big box' boardgames in general, it's hard to see you not liking this, since it's a big strategy game on steroids, so give it a go if you ever have the chance. That said, it is a reasonable investment to buy, not to mention store, so I'd say skip purchasing it unless you know and love the game already, or you have a guaranteed audience of (almost) equally enthusiastic people to play with.
Pax Magnifica Bellum Gloriosum
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