Twilight Imperium is one of the best games I have ever played. As a student at college, my friends and have 1-2 board game nights per week; with Twilight Imperium and Acquire being the most played games. I would highly recommend this game, though the learning curve is rather steep (an hour at to learn the rules) and the game takes a long time to play (4+ hours). If you are looking for a conquest game like RISK, stop reading now. Twilight Imperium is based on maneuvering, preparation, and diplomacy with few significant battles in the game.
The game is played to victory 10 points and unlike most war games, conquest is not the only means of victory. Points are acquired through capturing planets but also "researching" technology, and political decisions. The method of determining turn order is also quite original. Each player chooses a card (1-8) which in addition to being the order in which the players play, gives each player a special ability for that round. To further add interest each card has a secondary ability which all the other players can use when the player owning the card uses it. As a result not only are broad discussion (like conquest or technology) important but every turn can be critical as the players ability to ace often depends directly on when and how the other players act. This may seem as if it would slow the game, but a restriction on how many turns a player can take per round keeps the game moving nicely but keeps strategy extremely important through out.
This is not to say I don't have a few complaints about the game. The first couple of times we played we noticed some imbalances which led to certain having a definite advantage and the game always trending in the same way. There are 3 ways to get these points. Every player can complete common objectives, a new one being revealed each turn. A player gets 2 points every time they get the 8 card, and a player has a secret objective which can be worth two points. Our problem was that everyone accomplished the same common objectives. Because the 8 is so valuable, whoever went first had to take the 8, the person on their right then always took the 1 (and so they chose first next turn), so they could get the 8 next turn. Anyone who failed to follow this pattern automatically became 2 points behind, and never could catch up. The result is that there is little strategy to taking the 8 or the 1. Finally the secret objectives vary greatly in difficulty. As a result players who got easy secret objectives, or got to go first were far more likely to win. In fact in our first 3 games (5 players), the player who went first won 2 of them, and the only player that completed his secret objective in the 3rd game, won that one. At this point we were ready to give up on the game but instead we played around with the rules and came up with a slightly variation which greatly helped improve the game. If you do buy this game I highly recommend trying this variation after playing the normal rules a couple of times.
Rule Variation:
Many of these rule variations were taken from the Twilight Imperium Rule Variations which can be found (...)
1) The 8 card's text has been modified to the Game Option: Ancient Throne which gives a player 1 point for controlling Mecatol Rex. This modification greatly increases the strategy in choosing the 8 or 1.
2) Long War Variant: Play to 14 victory points. This will be necessary due to rule change # 3.
3) A player receives 2 victory points if they capture a planet in an opponent's home system. A player may only get points for a home system once. If the owner of the home system was not in control of the planet when it was captured this is reduced to 1 point. The reason for this rule was to encourage conquest (something that was seriously lacking in our previous games). The point reduction rule is to help prevent two players from allying to take a home system (since one of the players will not get all the points).
4) Every player receives 2 secret objectives. After creating the board but before the first turn each player must choose and discard one of them. This rule helps reduce the problem of unbalanced (in terms of difficulty) secret objectives.
5) You may only complete public objectives if you control all the planets in your home system (you may complete other objectives however). This allows players to slow down a player who gets too far ahead.
6) Destroyers get 4x Anti-fighter barrage. Destroyers are the weakest units in the game; this makes them a little better, but still hardly worth using.
7) The common objectives are laid face up on the table (you may still only complete the first after the first turn, second after the second, etc). This reduces the luck involved near the end of the game, as every one knows what is coming.
8) Technology can be purchased with influence or resources (but no combination). This rule helps balance the planets so everyone has more equal resources.
These rules seem to be very effective. While most players still get all of the common objectives, winning the game now depends on controlling Mecatol Rex, completing secret objectives or taking home systems. Players have been very successful using any combination of these three methods, and no race has done better or worse than any other. While these may seem to lead to large amount of conquest, this has never been the case, with only 3-10 major battles occurring in 4 player games.
Twilight Imperium is a space conquest board game with many different ways to win and numerous things that make it new and different every time you play.
You can win one of any three ways in TI.You can win by conquering all of your opponents(much like Risk), by accumulating points(much like Settlers of Catan), or by some random game events that come up in cards that are drawn occasionally.
This game has 10 races that you randomly choose from at the beginning of each game.The "universe" is made up of 30-40 some odd hex tiles that are randomly placed to create a unique and changing universe every time.
The game supports 3-6 players, each having their own unique color, counters, 60+ unit pieces, markers, tokens, etc. All of the pieces are made of a very thick cardboard stock and are quite sturdy.They seemed to be covered in a canvas type material making them moderately water resistant.The actual unit pieces are a medium hardness molded plastic making them tough as well as being well detailed.A typical game takes 3-4 hours.The learning curve is moderate to high and for that reason it is recommend for ages 14+, the numerous small pieces DO represent a choking hazard and the game is not recommended for small children up to age 3.
All in all, this game is AMAZING.It feels like an epic adventure every time!I haven't been this happy about a purchase in ages, so go out and give Twilight Imperium a try, you'll be glad you did.
Buy Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition Now
Let begin with this: THIS GAME IS AMAZING!
It is phenomenal in every way. It balances really well and the rules, as copious as they are, are well thought out and intuitive. You can learn them with ease but it will take some time to get through them all. The game is also really fun and the theme is spectacular. The gameplay is so deep that it feels so much more sophisticated than any board game I've ever played. The biggest problem I have with the game is that it never leaves my shelf. The game is great and I recommend it for anyone with some other roommates that have similar schedules but the problem with the game is the length of time it takes to play.The product description says about 3 hours but that is, in my experience, way underestimated.Of the five games I have played, it usually took about 7 or 8 hours, the fastest game was 5 hours. That big chunk of time is just too much especially for 4 or 5 people to all be in the same place at the same time. If that is not a problem then I say you should buy it, but for 70 bucks, the one game that you might play just isn't worth it.
Read Best Reviews of Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition Here
Twilight Imperium is an amazing experience.In this game, 3-6 players take on the roles of alien races in a crumbling space empire.It is the goal of all players to re-establish the empire and claim the throne.In order to do this, other players must be destroyed (or at least put off).Of course, space combat plays a large role in this game, but this is not just a game of space combat.Diplomacy, trade, and politics are also portrayed in the mechanics of this game.The thing that I really like about this game is that there is a psychological side as well--how well you succeed will sometimes depend on how well you can convince other players that what will benefit you will benefit them as well.
I highly recommend this game.However, there is one thing to be aware of when you purchase this game.It takes a fairly long time to play, especially for new players of the game.I would recommend budgeting 6 hours at least for your first game.If spend that much time on a boardgame doesn't appeal to you, then this might not be the game for you.However, every time I play this game, I have a blast.Also, unlike many other boardgames, you'll be talking about the strategy of the games you play even weeks after the game is finished.This is where I think this game really succeeds--every game creates a story that the players really get into.So, if you'd like to take a chance on an epic game, you can't go wrong with Twilight Imperium.
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I start this by saying that if you are not a fan of marathon games (those taking 4 or more hours to play), you will probably not like this game.However, if you like games that combine exploration, combat, trade, technology trees, and diplomacy in a game that has virtually unlimited replayability, the hours spent playing will go by so fast your head will spin!
There are ways to set up the board for 3, 4, 5, and 6 players, and the "board" is composed of sturdy cardboard hexagons beautifully printed with planets, starscapes, asteroids, novae, etc.The ships are all identical from player to player except for color, but the detail is amazing!And with ten species to choose from, each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses (the game recommends they be handed out randomly), along with the random tile setup of each board, there is a statistically improbable chance to ever see the same game twice!Add to that the factor of which tech people will research in a game (do I want better combat ships, or more productive colonies?), which action cards will come up for voting, and just plain human chaotic nature, and it makes it even more fun!
There is a learning curve, but no more so than with most, and if even one person (usually the owner) knows the rules, you can be underway in about 15 minutes (board setup included).Now, the first time the box is opened, you will have a task of popping the ships off their plastic trees (be careful with the carriers; they can twist the wrong way and break, I've heard!), popping the galaxy tiles out of their cards, and then popping out hundreds of chits from their trees.This can take a little while.
As the species in the game have their own planet(s), chits, and other race-based items, you may find it useful to put each species card (and sundry items) in large Zip-Loc bags for fast setup. Of course, this means a slower cleanup when the game is over, but believe me, the next time you want to play (and you *will* want to play again!), you'll appreciate what you did at the end of the last game!(That, or you'll be cursing yourself for not doing it!) ;-)
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