More on Twilight Imperium 3

(image courtesy @ nollan BGG)
This weekend I managed to get in another game of Twilight Imperium 3, this time with four players. I've now played three games but this was the first that we successfully completed! Our final play time was around the eight hour mark I think; for learning games it certainly seems like two hours per player is about right. I would guess with more plays that time will go down but the game takes just long enough to not make it a viable option for a regular game night during the week.

My love for the game continues to grow with each play. Twilight Imperium is a space epic that has players competing to be the first to earn ten victory points which are earned by completing public objectives. These objectives range from owning a certain number of planets to spending resources and destroying other player's craft. We play with the "Age of Empires" variant where all objectives for the game are made visible and available from the very start which I really think helps get the game going. Normally objectives are revealed as the game goes but I think that doesn't give players enough focus in the early rounds. With 10-15 points out for grabs from the start players can decide early in the game which they want to focus on.

The interesting part is these objectives don't necessarily require a lot of aggression but you'll certainly get pulled into conflict. At a glance the map looks large; with four or six players there are 37 over-sized hexes that make up the map. Once you start playing, though, you realize that you'll be butting heads with your neighbors within two to three rounds. Planets earn you resources for building new ships and influence for maintaining your ability to command ships so getting and holding planets is very important. There's enough room for everyone to have their share but I think it's rare that anyone is completely happy with what's given to them! You'll get fun contention over some planets and it almost never fails that at least one zone becomes mutually considered neutral.

Some objectives are going to require you to extend outside of your boundaries and the secret objective each player is given tends to force conflict if only in the very middle of the board on a planet called Mecatol Rex. Mecatol is a high influence planet which makes it very useful for commanding your fleet and controlling the senate votes. There's usually a race to get to Mecatol and then some fun, heated exchanges to fight for control over it.

(image courtesy kilroy_locke @ BGG)

Yes, you'll get some diplomacy - as much as players want to have - but at its core it is a light war and resource management game. You need to balance spending resources on your fleet and technologies to keep up with your neighbors while planning ahead to claim victory points. Many of the victory points are just a matter of time before you earn them: research a number of technologies, spend resources or influence, etc. The fun comes in deciding when and how you'll claim these points to push you into the lead and figuring out how to earn the last few more difficult ones.

Typically each player can only claim a single public objective at the end of a round so there's a limit to how quickly you can earn victory points. The expansion added a role that, when taken, allows that player to claim multiple objectives at the end of the round. I really love this mechanic as it allows players to try and plan ahead for a big move that jumps them ahead of everyone else, possibly pushing them to the win. There is certainly a lot of randomness in combat and in card pulls but I think the fate of your race really falls on your own shoulders. You can make good and bad choices throughout and I think playing with public objective and the right mix of expansion content really makes for a great strategic and tactical game.

At the heart of the game's play are eight roles that players pick from each round of play. These roles determine turn order for the round and also give each player a special ability they can use, along with a secondary ability that all other players will get to use. The original game came with a set of roles and there was a lot of discussion and argument over the balance (or lack thereof) surrounding these roles. Later the expansion (called Shattered Empire) added a new set of roles that could replace or mixed in with the base roles however players desire. The role mechanism really drives the game and good timing and choosing of roles is really key to success.

(image courtesy Santeler @ BGG)
One of the guys commented on how "stressful" the game was and I agree that it is but in the best possible way. The map closes up quickly and you'll constantly be on the brink of war and probably fighting on at least two fronts (unless you can negotiate peace with your neighbors). If someone sees that you are pulling away with the win you had better be prepared to have everyone else at the table turn on you. That tension and need to find balance really makes the game extremely fun and engaging. Sure it takes a long time to play but that time really flies. You'll be deep into the game, look at the clock and be shocked that six hours have passed already!

There's a lot going on in Twilight Imperium but it all comes together to make one of the best board gaming experiences I've had. The basic rules are really quite simple but there's so much breadth and depth that every single game will play out differently. I can't possibly cover everything there is about the game in a single writing, at least not without the majority of you completely glazing over. Maybe I'll do a few featurettes here and there to cover some of the more interesting aspects of the game.

Needless to say I'll never turn down a game of Twilight Imperium... nor should you. Assuming you are free for a good six to eight hours.