Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

This game is big -- in scope, complexity, replayability, and both time and table space required. But it is worth every bit. There are very few board games out there that can match this one in what it does. Players play a particular faction or species in a galactic setting where the old empire has fallen and the strongest civilizations are vying for the imperial throne. The balancing is asymmetric - each faction (17 in the base game) has their own unique abilities, and while the units are more-or-less common across factions, there are particulars and abilities that make each fleet feel slightly different. The game board is built from a selection of hexagonal tiles, each representing a system in the galaxy. There are rules for building custom maps by dealing tiles to each player, or you can play from one of the premade maps included in the rulebook or on the Internet to give more balance in exchange for randomness. Starting from your home system, you'll expand your personal empire, exploring and collecting planets and resources along the way to fuel your economy. Strategic alliances and trading with other players, technological advancements, space and ground combats, and political machinations all combine together to allow players to score various public and secret objectives, worth various victory points. First person to 10 points (or 14, if you want a longer game yet) wins. But while victory points are the ultimate goal, the methods to get there can vary from game to game and faction to faction. Some factions are more suited to trade and economic growth, others to political maneuvering, others to warfare, and others are somewhere in between. Depending on the faction you play, the systems on the board, the action cards you're dealt, and the strategy cards you choose, the game is very fluid and ebbs and flows between exciting dice rolls and mundane matters of trade. The replayability of this game is astronomical (pardon the pun). So, some downsides. The first and most obvious is the time commitment. This is not a short game. A minimum of an hour per player is a good baseline for experienced players, but new people just learning can easily be double that. Plus there is extensive setup and teardown time. Proper storage and separation of pieces (and there are a LOT!) is an absolute must. Various tuckboxes, 3D printed trays, retail storage solutions, and the like exist across the Internet -- while the included plastic insert is okay, you're definitely going to want to invest in storage to make setup and teardown easier and faster. And then there are the pieces themselves. The plastic ships are excellent in detail, the cards are printed well with a glossy finish and good feel, and the cardboard components are thick with a sturdy heft and detailed colors. The size required, though ... you'll have a faction card (not quite US letter size), a command pool card (about half that size), planet cards, action cards, technology cards, ships and ground units ... and that's just the player-specific stuff. Common areas include the objectives and objective deck, political agenda deck, strategic action cards, generic tokens for infantry, fighter ships, and trade goods, and on and on. Then there is the game board itself, composed of several dozen tiles, with a six-player map about 2.5 ft in diameter. I have a dedicated gaming table with a 3 ft by 5 ft playing surface, and it's already getting real cozy with just four players. Add in additional players, or the Prophecy of Kings expansion, and you're going to need some TV trays or additional side tables to hold components. Again, solutions for this abound across the Internet -- whiteboards for objective scoring, playing card holders to shrink the horizontal space, etc. -- but it's yet another thing that's "required" and not included in the game. But, above all, this is an excellent heavy strategy game with a sizable commitment. If people go into this expecting Catan-in-space, they're going to be severely disappointed, severely frustrated, or both. With the time commitment, the space required, and the familiarity of rules necessary to exploit the game world to its fullest, this is the best game you'll never play.

The board game that has it all if you want to spend 6+ hours at a game. It is NOT an easy game to learn. Have someone that knows how to play teach you first. Make sure you have a large tables as this game is huge! This game is well made and the art is top notch. .. Once you learn it and play it, Every game is different: So much replayability! But damn, it's expensive in both money and time commitment.

I've only played this game twice so far. I love it though! It's epic, the learning curve is really high though. The first game was almost just all about learning it. The second game though. The game felt way different. Way more conflicts, more alliances, more everything! It's one of the best in it's class. Alright for some serious notes, the game comes with a ton of things, 17 playable factions, a whole lot of plastic ships in each of 6 colors, a lot of tiles to make the galaxy which it can make it for a different game everytime if you want, way too many cards of all sorts. Excellent: 1: A war game that is about controlling the galaxy either through military or politics. 2: The plastic ships are super detailed. You could paint them if you want. just make sure you have someway to color coordinate them. Good: 1: A ton of tiles that make a galaxy, the learning book has a preset for the different player counts. But you can also do a drafting style galaxy setup too which we have yet to do. 2: Way too many cards. I play a lot of card games and seeing this many cards would make me happy and it does, but wow there's a lot. Action cards to change the tide of battle, use them in political events to maybe make a law pass or not. And finally the Technology deck is probably the best way to handle techs in a game this size, everyone has the same 16 main techs, 2 faction specific techs and 9 unit upgrades. It's super easy to get a grasp on. Okay: 1: This game is long! Our first session lasted about 6 hours and was cut short. Second session was almost 10 and we actually finished. 2: It's going to probably be the biggest box on your game shelf. 3: The insert is great if you don't sleeve the cards, but only okay if you do. 4: You should watch a tutorial on how to play while reading the learn to play book. Seriously, it's a lot and some of the more fringe question we had weren't easy to find and had to be looked up elsewhere. Overall Rating: 9.5/10 I can't wait to play it again, a couple of my friends and I discuss this game often and it has a permanent place on my board game shelf.

Yeah, buy this game if you have the friends and time to play it. I'd say this shines anywhere from 4 to 6 players, though many have played with 3 and say the same. I'll go down a few more elements below that kept me on the fence when I was thinking about buying it, then give you some pointers at the end. Rules: Are actually very intuitive. It feels like there are enough rules here to really "sink your teeth in" and learn a "big" game, but when it comes down to it, they all are really streamlined and fit together very nicely. Popular games like Robinson Crusoe or Gloomhaven definitely have greater rule overheads. "Fun-ness": Super nerdy theme (that I'm very into), seemingly lots of rules and a long playtime, so it's definitely running the risk of being a long, plotting game where everyone just stares down at their pieces doing math problems to win, right? RIGHT?? --Nope. This is very much not a "math it out" or "euro-y" kind of game. Its mechanics and win states are (mostly) all designed to get you to look up and interact with other people. There's plenty to think and scheme about on your own, but you can't play, let alone win, this game without making deals / interacting with other people. Even in your first game, where everyone is trying to figure stuff out for the first time. Game length: Some pros and cons here. It's great that this tends to be a long game. It really lends to its epic feel and is the reason you'll remember decisions people around the table made in your last game even a couple years from now, but... it can definitely be long depending on your group of friends, experience levels, and player count. I've had a game of 4 new players go for 14 hours (don't let this happen, see tips below). I've also had a 4 player game of newbies go 5-6 hours. Timing can vary, but, if this makes sense, you can see it coming. By that I mean you can judge by the pace the game is going how long it will be and try to adjust accordingly. Staying engaged the whole time: Yes. You will be VERY engaged the entire time. All the players. Almost all of the time. Really no downtime at all. Lots to do, think, and interact about. QUICK TIPS: You need to have a grasp on most of the rules beforehand. Have everyone else watch the YouTube rules video by RTFM. They won't understand any of it, but being briefed will go a long way. Be prepared to try and answer questions as you go. You'll get a lot wrong the first game, and it won't matter. Reddit is a great reference as well as the publisher's "Living Rule Reference" for the game online. Roll with your mistakes. Tell everyone something like, "hey we're all playing for the first time so we'll definitely get a handful of mulligans, but at some point we'll just have roll with mistakes. We're ALL going to be making them, and some of them will feel big, but that's just reality... we'll figure it out." You try and make calls and give / not give mulligans where needed, or put it to the table to decide if needed. If you notice after the first "round" that people are still taking a long time on their turns because they're hanging on every possible move they could make, do the best you can to usher them along. Both on their turn, before and after it. Tell everyone about the pace you all have to try and keep so you're not all winded later on. Even use timers here and there if you need. Call "clock" like you're playing texas hold'em. Maybe avoid a few races your first game (Winnu, Arborec, Saar, Mentak, Nekro, Muaat). They're either complex, or game changing in a way no one should have to deal with out of the gate (Winnu is just not very fun). Have Advil at the ready. Take breaks and eat food.

Amazon was out of stock for weeks. I thought I missed out on grabbing this. Suddenly, they were back! This is an excellent quality game. Surely not for anyone looking to play a quick and simple game on family game night. It is very complex. If you like complex games and have the patience to learn the rules, you will be extremely happy. Not for kids unless they are extremely mature for their age. Games like this tend to go up in price quickly, especially after they go out of print. If you're willing to spend the money, then I'm sure you understand the importance of caring for it. It's not just a game. Sometimes it's an investment. 20 years from now I guarantee this will be a rare find and command a very high price. Have a seat and get relaxed when you first open it because it's going to take awhile to remove all the punch-outs. Definitely nowhere as taxing as Gloomhaven, but still it's going to take a bit. Also, the book lists the different pieces but doesn't show all the tokens so there might be a little confusion about which tokens should be separated or lumped together. I like to organize into different baggies, but the manual didn't state which tokens go with which colors or races. I do have some complaints but nothing major. First I hate mini cards. I prefer full size cards. Also, for the cost, I think the tray is kind of cheap and not an optimal layout. Other games at this price point actually have boxes and nice containers for pieces. This game has a great outer box but it's missing the extras that would really make this achieve a premium quality. Gloomhaven and even Axis&Allies Anniversary Edition blow this game away regarding quality. With those game you feel like the developers cared to deliver premium. So in summary, the game is complex, fun,, but they cut corners on the quality. I think the reasonable price for this quality and contend is under $100.

First of all, to the other reviewers that say that this board game “is really simple,” you are objectively wrong. This is perhaps the most advanced, rules dense board game on the market, next to Gloomhaven. Don’t get me wrong, I understand some reviewers don’t want to scare you with the rules, but it is misleading to call this game anything but a high skill, time consuming game. To give you a perspective on the game components in this game, you have 8 strategy cards, an agenda deck, secret objective deck, stage one and two objective deck, technology deck, action card deck and a planet deck. There are 8 separate piles of cards to keep track of in this game and that’s not even mentioning your commodities or promissory notes! This is a fantastic, deeply intellectual sci-fi diplomacy, conquest and negotiations game that is really quite unique. The only other game I could compare it to is Risk, but far more complex with more features and unique abilities. That being said this game is not made for the faint of heart. You will be spending many hours analyzing your next actions and decisions as you attempt to slowly acquire the 10 victory points necessary to win the game. However, if you enjoy deep, tactical and strategic games like chess, you will most likely adore playing this game, as it demands 100% of your brain power to keep track of all the different abilities, cards, actions and possibilities in a single round alone. Finally, I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys risk, chess or sci-fi themed games in general to at least give it a chance. Amazon has an outstanding refund policy, which essentially mitigates any risk. However, if you only play that one game of life board game with your suburban family once a year, and don’t want to invest yourself in a thematic, complex sci-fi galactic council and conquest board game with a 38 page booklet of rules and clarifications, then pass on this and try another, much simpler (and affordable) sci-fi diplomacy game like Cosmic Encounter.

First play TI 3rd edition back in 2005. Once or twice a year I’m able to get enough players together for a gaming day. Playing with expansions, we have had an 8 player game that, with set up factored in, took us more than 12 hours to play, hours that just flew by.

A monster of a game, both in physical size and in length of gameplay, but a worthy investment. Great quality materials and super fun to play. I would describe the game as Risk in Space, with the bargaining and negotiating of Catan or Monopoly, the expansive sci-fi universe feel of Star Wars and Star Trek, and the politics, betrayals and world building of Game of Thrones. This game has great replayability if you can find friends to play it with who are down for the long time commitment. Fair warning, this game is extremely complex with a summarized rulebook of about 40 pages and a separate detailed reference rulebook of about the same length. Both are worth reading if you want to be able to understand the gameplay and so you can teach others effectively. Don’t trust the time estimates on the box! The game takes about an hour to set up, an hour to teach, and in my experience, 7-10 hours to play the full game. In addition, I recommend having your players watch a YouTube game tutorial before joining for a first game before coming over so they understand the basics! Should also note that the box is oversize and the game itself needs a lot of table space to play (sometimes 2 tables). Because the map is changeable and because each alien faction has different powers, the gameplay is a little different every game and is balanced in a way that feels fluid and competitive. The game supports various play styles allowing different paths to win the game, ranging from more aggressive to more peaceful/cooperative at the player’s discretion. This game is worth the high price tag, but is not a play everyday kind of game. Make sure players know what they’re getting into and make sure to set a whole day aside to play!

This is probably the best board game created. Definitely worth its price.

Long game, but enjoyable every minute. Not as rules heavy as I expected but still decently heavy. An absolute blast, components are well made. Price to content ratio seems about right as well for RRP.

Buy it, the learning curve is horrid, but it is worth it

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