Epic Space Conflict in Spaaace

Twilight Imperium. The very name conjures up emotions from people who know what it is. Love or fear, it depends on what kind of game you enjoy, and what kind of experiences you may have had with this monster of a game in the past.

The fourth edition of this epic space game of expansion, conflict, and diplomacy was released late last year, coming a mere thirteen years since the third edition. It is a refinement, rather than a re-do. All the art is new and awesome, the plastic spaceships are much nicer (and you don't have to cut them off the sprue this time!), the player aids are better, the box is a bit smaller with a really useful insert, and the rules themselves are much cleaner.

I didn't play a lot of 3rd (we did play a bunch of 1st & 2nd) and I think that is because it was just a bit too fiddly. It was very close, but not quite, so it saw the table once every couple of years.

When it was announced a new version was imminent, my interest piqued in it again. I read the new rules and decided to dive back into the world of Twilight Imperium. I roped in two friends who have never played before, along with Mrs. Blackheart (who was not really of fan of 3rd) and gave it a go.

 The game takes up a lot of table space, but it all makes sense after the kinda steep learning curve. It is not a hard to game to learn, but there are a lot of moving parts to it. After two rocky turns we all got a good feeling of what we should be doing and the game flowed well. It took just over six hours (with lunch) which not bad for the first time out. It plays very well with four players, I am interested to try it with six.

The universe of Twilight Imperium has great depth and a history well thought out.  The game comes with 17 different races to choose from, all with unique backstories.

If you like big sci-fi, and a bit of weight to your rules, you should check it out.
It is still not something you can just pop out on the table for a quick game, but it is well worth the investment in time and effort to set up a game with a few like-minded players.

Go Roll Some Dice

And Play Nice With the Space Kitties