Tag Archives: Complex Games

Empire Of the Sun by GMT 2005

Overview

Final Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star christmas_star(4 out of 5 Stars)

Designer: Mark Herman

When it comes to the genre of historical simulation war games, I’m definitely an outsider looking in. While I have a fairly healthy respect and desire to learn about history, this genre has historically not really been my thing (pun intended). Historical simulation war games is really a world in on itself in the board game space and when it comes to this genre there are few subjects explored more exhaustively than World War II. In Mark Hermans Empire of the Sun this exploration is of the Pacific Theater, arguably one of the bloodiest but oft less known about theaters of the war.

Empire of the Sun however isn’t your typical historical simulation war game even within the genre, it zooms out from the field of battle and functions on an operational level where you make large scale decisions launching vast military operations with sweeping consequences, any one of which can have tremendous impact on the war at large. Whether you are playing the aggressive Japanese trying to expand their empire, or the righteous Americans seeking an end to the conflict, Empire of the Sun takes you through the whole pacific war from 1941 to its conclusion in 1945. Covering in some form or another every aspect of the conflict.

It’s a game that is more than just a tactical game of moving military units around and it’s this particular concept that really intrigued me enough to pick it up. When even within its own genre a game is considered to be “unique”, that is something that peeks my interest.

Empire of the Sun is what is sometimes referred to as a “Chit” game, using small tokens you almost need tweezers to manipulate. Even within the genre of historical war games however, Empire of the Sun is widely considered to be a very different approach to a historical simulation war game.

Using a very clever card mechanic for which Mark Herman is notably quite famous for in war gaming circles, on a subject oft less explored, this award winning game becomes one of my first real deep dives into the genre. I chose it because Empire of the Sun is hailed my many as Mark Hermans crowning achievement in a game designers career that spans over 70+ games according to boardgamegeek. As something of a game design aficionado, I felt an almost natural draw to find out what all the fuss is about!

While Mark Hermans game design credits are epic by any standard, his signature card mechanic appears in several games besides Empire of the Sun. There is some nerd-debate as to whether the definitive masterpiece of Mark Herman is Empire of the Sun or Washington’s War.

In this review we will explore Empire of the Sun, but I think I have to offer fair warning that this will no doubt be one of the longest and most exhaustive reviews I have ever done simply because of the depth and complexity of this game. It’s impossible to do it any other way and remain fair and impartial. It’s also the only review I have done that includes a first impressions section. Finally as are all my reviews, it’s absent of a gameplay description (click on Rating System link to find out why I do this). I think it’s such a critical component to this review to understand the difference between having played the game for a week and having played it for several months.

I have also done something I think most reviews of this game don’t do, which is judge it based on modern game design standards and the standards of other game genres outside of the of historical war game simulation. Perhaps it’s unfair but as I researched the game I found that most reviewers where veterans of the genre with a certain level of expectation that I don’t share and though they were clever and well thought out reviews they did not speak to me as a new comer, not just to the game, but to the genre itself. Still this game is considered a classic by fans of the genre so I felt it important to give it a few months and many plays before I come to any conclusions, while simultaneously I felt it important to capture the first moments with the game as well.

Enjoy the review!

First Impressions

I wanted to write a first impressions article for this game because of the enormous disparity between how I felt about the game in the early days of playing it and how I feel about it today, several months and many plays later . The change in perspective is something I feel is significant enough that it really warranted explanation and I suspect that that many will run across a similar experience given this games general level of complexity. There is a wide range of cause and effect for this discrepancy between early plays and later players however that go beyond just complexity and I feel strongly that it’s important to explore and understand in the review of a game like this.

When I first started looking into Empire of the Sun I have to admit I felt excited, I was almost a fan boy before I even got the box home. The game was certainly intimidating and the word “complex” was thrown around a lot but I was intrigued with the concept and when I get on a thing, I go all the way. I have found over the years that this idea of complexity being a property that defines whether or not you should play a game is rather overused and fairly inaccurate. Besides, anytime I venture into new territory as a gamer and expand my horizons I find the experience refreshing and in a way I pride myself on the fact that I’m a versatile game able to appreciate a wide range of genres of games. I really wanted to prove that you can love Euro games, Ameritrash games, Abstract games and historical simulation war games and still be just one person.

I want to be clear on this point, It wasn’t the complexity of the game, at least not directly, that formed my poor first impression of the game. I knew it would be a complex and long game, so a fact being a fact, did nothing to sway me or affect my expectations. I went into it with my eyes and mind wide open.

There are a number of hurdles to entry that have to do with how the game is presented and I have to say, even now, though my impressions of the game have changed since those first few weeks with the game, I still find this to be true as I try to teach others. The hurdle to entry, even through knowledge and understanding doesn’t make it any easier for existing players to teach newcomers trying to grasp this games many in depth concepts. There is a steep learning curve that is demanding, which is fine but I think the issue is that it very easily could have been avoided in my opinion.

For starters the game fails to create a presentation suitable for new players. There are many rules in the game and they are sometimes complex, or at least difficult to remember as a result of the sheer number of them, but not all of them should have been necessary to know to understand and play your first few games. There are many mechanics that could simply be removed for a “basic” or “light” version of the game and I really wish this approach was included as part of Empire of The Sun tutorial process. This is definitely a game that could have benefited from a Basic and Advanced rule system break down and a more intentional approach of teaching players how to play it. Also, If there was ever a game that should have a playbook, its Empire of the Sun.

This practice of having basic and advanced versions of a game and including a playbook to help walk you through the game step by step is seen in many more complex games today, it helps new players to learn to play and experienced players to teach the game to new players. Instead I found that even with the rulebook in hand, examples of play walkthroughs in the back of the book and tutorial videos straight from the designer did little to create sufficient clarity to play the game properly the first few times (about half a dozen). You had to struggle and fight for your right to that Zen moment. In fact, some of the video tutorials and examples of the game made things even more confusing as they are clearly made for people already familiar with terminology and concepts of simulation war games which is kind of a game culture driven hurdle that adds to the confusion. Acronyms are thrown around as if the average gamer is a US marine and we all live on a military base. This is made worse by the fact that even in the tutorials most of these guys made errors as well, so you know there is a problem in learning the game when even the guys teaching it can’t get the rules straight.

In a sense what I discovered is that there was a learning curve to the learning curve. In order to play Empire of the Sun, you have to know all of the rules before you start your first turn, as well as many of the nuances of the ambiguous concept of military and what comes in the box seems to steer you clear of the approach you should actually take to learn the game, namely, by playing the South Pacific scenario (more on that in a minute).

The other issue that you run into is that there are tremendous amounts of rules exceptions scattered throughout the rulebook, the classic “this is true except in these five circumstances”. While much of this is covered in the reference cards, and is important to the design, there is so much of it it can be painful to try to remember everything. I found that some rules and terminology aren’t even defined sufficiently to understand certain concepts until you read some of the Italic designer notes from Mark Herman. Now everything you need to understand IS in the rulebook, this thing is clear as night and day once you understand the game but every printed word is important and skipping or missing even the tiniest of details can create confusion later when concepts, terms and rules are referenced. There really is little in the rulebook to indoctrinate players, its written in a kind of matter of fact way that becomes an extremely reliable source of information once everything clicks, but not before then.

Finally and this was the real killer is the opening plays of the game. When you play the 1941 scenario full campaign, and you will if you want to follow along the only examples of play in the rulebook, the Japanese player must execute two operation cards as a sort of semi-scripted start. These operations (and operation cards) are a principal start of the war and explain a core concept of the game, in essence they are the cards you play that define the way you execute your actions on the game board known simply as “Operations”. In one way this is really great, in that there is a lot of instructions and examples on how to execute these two specific operation cards in a clear and efficient manner. On the flip side these examples are a walkthroughs without any rules explanation as to why certain things work the way they do as it assumes you have read and absorbed the entire rulebook cover to cover by that point. The icing on the cake is that one of the two operation cards that you start the game with is hands down one of the most complicated in the entire game. An operation that requires you to activate 26 units at once launching the biggest and most complex offensive in the entire game with tons of decisions to make all of which will impact the real start of the game in the first turn of 1942. The walk-through example makes all of those decisions for you, holding your hand through the process but doing it on your own is daunting, even if you get some games under your belt. More importantly these examples are kind of out of context, they don’t really explain how to play, they just show you an example of the procedure.

The opening play in the first round has the Japanese player executing two Strategy Cards. While one of them is relatively straightforward, the IAI operations card is without a doubt one of the most complex actions you will take in the whole game. The fact that its the first thing you have to do makes this a very rough introduction to the game.

What is worse is that these operations function without certain key rules which gives you the impression about some of the things you can do in the game, but because this operation card ignores rules such as zones of control and reaction actions that would typically be made by the defender it does very little to actually prepare you for turn 2 when all of these rules will be in effect and you are on your own executing other operation cards without walkthrough examples. Now there is a turn 2 example section as well and it was probably the most useful teaching aid in the entire game, but it still does stuff like place X unit in Y spot, without explaining why that is a legal move and what rules are in effect when taking this action.

I think when you get right down to it, the introduction is on its best day very intimidating, one based on some of the most complex events that transpire (most complex operations) in the game. In a sense it just makes learning the game way more complicated then it should be. Given that now I do understand the rules and the game as a whole, when I teach it, it’s definitely not how I would do it, quite to the contrary, the example it walks you through is precisely how you should not go about teaching this game. A 1942 start should be a default and actually using the South Pacific scenario on the smaller map would have been an even better introduction and a place to start your induction into the game through examples, which notably should have been covered in a detailed step by step playbook.

The South Pacific Scenario first off plays on a much smaller map with fewer units, fewer card and cuts out several mechanics like China and India stuff. It’s exactly what you want, a sort of basic version of the game that does not require you to know every rule in the game. This is where the walkthroughs and the introduction to the game should be focused, it’s here you should do your induction to the game. Starting with the 1941 large campaign, or really any of the full map campaigns as a starting point is quite literally the last thing you should be doing as a newcomer, yet this is exactly where the instructional stuff pulls you.

The South Pacific scenario is a 1/4th piece of the whole map in Empire of the South that focuses on the battles near New Guinea. It cuts out several of the more complex rules, trims the amount of units and cards in use and helps to effectively simplify learning the game. It is surprising that the focus of the rule books tutorials and examples of play isn’t on this scenario.

Suffices to say my first impression of the game was that it was very unfriendly to new, inexperienced or even veteran players who might want to induct someone new into the hobby. The complexity of the game is high and this is a fact with which I have no problem, but Empire of the Suns presentation of the material really raises the bar of that complexity unnecessarily. It’s almost like a kind of hazing of new players as if to say “yeah this isn’t for you little buddy”. This is made worse by the fact that hidden in that box is actually a much easier way to do it that really should have been the focus of the games new player education.

Its clear to me how easy it would be to create an even “lighter” scenario version of the game for the purposes of learning to play. So many rules could easily be cut out to thin the required knowledge to play your first few games and you have to wonder why after almost 15 years and several editions this has not occurred to the designer and publisher to change that introduction. In particular since the 3rd edition comes with the aforementioned South Pacific scenario that is played on a smaller map with fewer rules in play, hence much of the work is already done for you.

The whole experience was a struggle and after having learned the game finally after weeks of effort, I came to the stark realization that had I ignored the examples of play and “this is how you learn” direction the rulebook was giving me and simply started with the South Pacific scenario this entire process would have taken half the time and been considerably less painful.

Well that was my first impression and as you can see, it was a rough ride for me. There is however a light at the end of this tunnel and though we have started off a bit negative, as I learned more about the game, became comfortable with the rules, things began to change. That Zen moment was right around the corner for me and this review, I will focus on what happens, how your perceptions will change as the light comes on and you start really playing the game.

Components

Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt:christmas_star

Pros:  Beautifully illustrated and designed game board and high quality components, plenty of great player aides.  

Cons:  Chits are tiny without replacement parts.   While the reference guides provided are great, a guide that explains what each token/unit is for and what it can do is missing and seems critical as a gameplay reference.  A much needed playbook is missing.

It’s unclear really for me what the expectation for components is in a historical war game simulation like this, what the norm is exactly. My only real exposure to games from this genre is with B-17 Flying Fortress Leader and in that case I was very pleasantly surprised because I sort of expected it to disappoint me.

With Empire of the Sun, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I would quantify the components quality over all as very good by any standard.

The big map game board, the centerpiece of the game is absolutely stunning and is easily the most impressive and high quality piece of the game. Notably the mounted board only comes with the latest printing of the game, which is the one I got. Beautifully illustrated, thoughtfully laid out and structured in a way that even a novice like me could figure it out. Its one of those game boards that is wonderful at the start and becomes even better as you become familiar with the game and catch on to the many nuances of what is on it to facilitate play. More than anything though the map itself is a foundation of the theme of the game, you are meant to feel like a strategic general of a great war theater and this map really gives you that sensation. Some of the most difficult decisions will be made by reviewing this map and the pieces on it in great detail and because its so well illustrated the amount of times you end up asking “what is that mean” is rare even if your a beginner which is a great tribute to the cartographer. It also includes some of the most frequently used tables you need to play the game, well chosen additions to the map.

One complaint I do have about the map is that in the game some nations will surrender when certain hexes are claimed by the Japanese player. It would have been nice if those where highlighted in some clear fashion so you didn’t have to reference the index card to find this information. Its fairly confusing yet a critical element of victory conditions to know which hexes are part of these surrender conditions for which countries.

While the map is good sized, its actually considerably smaller than I originally imagined. Its compact enough that I would say it doesn’t take up any more space than your average game of Monopoly not that I play such bullshit!

The cards are of extremely sturdy, glossy finish quality, I’m not sure the quality could be improved to be honest. In fact, is there such a thing as too good? The cards are so stiff they are hard to shuffle. The art work is black and white on the cards reflecting the thematic way we imagine World War II and the card text is clear, easy to read, easy to understand with all the information you would need to reference very accessible. Clearly a lot of thought went into making these cards which you will be agonizing over during game-play as much of your strategy in the game is built around these cards.

The “Chit” tokens are tiny and I suppose they need to be, but they are hard to handle with my big clumsy fat fingers and because tokens are stacked up on top of each other you end up having to handle them quite a bit. I had to get a pair of tweezers, which helped, but I think this is just a normal part of these hex based war games you have to accept. The tokens themselves are of good quality and will clearly last, but that is assuming you don’t accidentally lose any. There are no extras of anything in the box and given their size, losing some seems inevitable and the way the game is designed even a single missing chit will impact your ability to play the game and potentially the balance of it. I think given the expense of the game, it would have been nice to include a couple of extra sheets of everything. Fortunately chits are relatively easy to make yourself and there are contact sheets available online to make replacements yourself so you do have that route to solve the problem if something gets lost.

The rulebook itself is what I would call overly efficient, yet difficult to absorb. Strictly speaking everything you need to play the game is there, I found no question or problem I couldn’t solve/answer without the rulebook but its 50 pages and you will rifle through that thing constantly during play, reading, re-reading and reading it again. I became so intimately familiar with that rulebook over time that I could practically write it at this point, yet I found it physically impossible to play the game without constantly referencing it and even after dozens of play throughs that has not changed.

Suffice to say however I think the rulebook is a bit short on examples. It gives you examples of the first turn and the first part of the second turn of play in great detail but very little else. There are certain aspects of the game that have unique rules, special circumstances and procedure that don’t function in a kind of natural or organic way. These things often sound more complicated than they are when structured as rules in the rulebook, compared to their actual implementation and I think that sort of confusion could be easily alleviated with more examples. In fact I would have thought given the complexity of the game, a whole book (playbook) dedicated to examples of play that cover every faucet of this game could be extremely useful and should have been included. In fact, given Mark Hermans affinity for taking up space with designer notes, I would have thought this a natural document to write.

Generally however the rulebook is extremely efficient, after a play or two you will come to appreciate the intricate style of writing that is clear once you understand all of the terminology and nuance of the game. Getting to that point takes time and you really need to have the game map in front of you when you read the rules as the rules very frequently reference hexes and locations on the map. The game also comes with a lot of useful reference guides, though there are some omissions here as well I would have liked to have seen. For example a clear guide on what each type of unit can and can’t do as there are many special circumstances and rules for individual units that can be hard to remember.

As a whole this is a high quality production, historical simulation war game or not. Considering its size and scope of the game, it is relatively compact and a modestly sized table to play on will do.

Theme

Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star(5 out of 5 Stars)
Tilt:christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

Pros:  Between the interaction of the operation cards, the gameboard and its many units, this game tells the story of the Pacific War in a way that must be experienced, it’s a masterpiece. 

Cons:  Before you can enjoy the story of this masterpiece, you must traverse this tough learning curve and one cannot be enjoyed unless you suffer through the other.

A game about World War II is definitely going to be very much about the theme, but even more so is that the case in a game that has such an incredible focus on historical accuracy and attempts to really tell the story of the war.

Empire of the Sun is populated with countless intricate details that will have you googling to find out what the significance of these different events were in real historical terms and it’s an amazing way to experience the game to have that reference of realism and history. When you have done this enough times you start to realize that not only is Empire of the Sun uncannily thematic, but extraordinarily historically accurate. In a sense the game is designed in such a fashion that if you put all of the strategy cards in a specific order and played the game out with fixed results of the real war, you could replicate the historically accurate results in game form. It’s quite extraordinary.

Now of course simply replicating history is not what a game like this is about, in this game you are in charge of one of the two factions of the war and will make the decisions your own and the game is really about how you change the history of the Pacific Theater, how you do it differently and the impact of those choices.

With the exception of the opening turn where the events of Pearl Harbor unfold, the rest of the game is up to you. From the initial offensive perpetrated by the Japanese in the south pacific, every tactical and strategic decision is yours to make as you re-write the history of the war. Throughout this game you are treated to microcosms of information about what really happened and how your own war differs. This nuance of the game in the context of real historical events is absolutely fantastic and will have any history buff smiling from ear to ear, while potentially turning you into a historical buff if you aren’t already.

The theme in Empire of the Sun comes through in a number of important ways, but I think the organization and structure of executing the operation cards is the greatest connection to the theme here. These cards are based on historical events that you will use to re-write history as you execute them to tell your version of the story of the many battles in the Pacific. I love how they range from small skirmishes to major operations, from well organized tactical maneuvers to wildly risky almost fantastically sounding epics, yet these things all really happened at some point. Each card feels like it represents an amount of time, both in the size and scope of the operation. There is just so much going on in these cards and they breath life into the theme of this games in ways that its difficult to describe and is simply something one must experience. In 30 years of board gaming I have never seen a single play of a card, have such a huge impact on the theme of a game.

While the map is impressive, at the heart of this game are the Strategy Cards, the countless historical moments that define the events of the game. This system is brilliant, blending theme and strategy into a single indistinguishable experience.

The map too is a core that sort of rounds out the story of this game. The placement (position) of units is such a fundamentally critical component to the strategy in which one hex can mean the difference between success and failure, but this too is very crucial to telling the games story. The map is laid out in a way where you can see the depth of the strategic possibilities wherever you look not to mention coming to an understanding of the historical significance of these places. The flow of the game is such that it’s really difficult to predict everything your opponent will do and as they execute actions you can’t help but smile about all the cool stuff they came up with. It’s an action and counter action story, where each players turn, each card that is played is as engrossing and thematically rich as the next, but both players are always involved in every card played so there isn’t this thing happening where one player acts while the other play waits. It binds the game together and results in a story, one that is unique to that game and will never be repeated, keeping both players engaged at all times.

I can’t imagine the story of the Pacific Theater being told any more masterfully then in Empire of the Sun, it does not surprise me at all that Mark Herman is hailed as a genius and Empire of the Sun as one of his definitive masterpieces. From the perspective of theme, this game is indeed a masterpiece, worth stumbling over the learning curve to get at it. This is one of those games that you will use as a reference and marker for what it means to be a thematic game.

Gameplay

Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star(4 out of 5 Stars)
Tilt:christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

Pros:  Ingenious card mechanic creates a visceral highly asymmetrical yet balanced experience that is unmatched. The gameplay is diverse and the strategic options feel endless despite the subject and premise of the game being static.

Cons:  Not for the uninitiated, this is a game for veterans and it remains difficult to comprehend no matter how much you play it, always seemingly just out of reach of retention.

This is a historical strategic war game about the war in the Pacific,  I can imagine it must have been quite a challenge for the designer to come up with a way to replicate this historical war in a board game and make it both fun and fair. To understand why that is you have to understand a bit about the history of the Pacific Theater, but at the most high level, the short of it was that this was never a particularly fair war and Japan losing the war was kind of an inevitable thing.  This presents several fundamental challenges to the designer in making Empire of the Sun. How do you design  a board game where one side is definitely going to lose and has a clear disadvantage?  Especially since the part of the goal for the game is to keep it historically accurate.

Mark Herman re-defined the concept of victory in Empire of the Sun and it is here where much of the games historical premise converts into being an exciting game for both US and Japanese players.  The historical reality is that Japan can’t win the war and this is not your goal. In Empire of the Sun, Japan, attempts to instead force the US into a negotiated settlement rather then an unconditional surrender that they demand.  The result is a game where Japan aggressively pursues US allies and tries to deter American commitment to the war, resulting in an accurate historical portrayal for story purposes and a great set of victory conditions for the purpose of a board game.  This objective turned victory condition for Japan, solves the core issue of coming up with a historical simulation of the Pacific War, while being a fair game, a fairness that becomes balance mechanically thanks to the clever cards and starting conditions of the game.

Mark very brilliantly and carefully created highly balanced asymmetrical play here, a feat that is often attempted but failed in board games.  Given the complexity of the rules, depth of the mechanic and continued adherence to historical accuracy, for this game to maintain this asymmetry while being balanced is an impossibility that Mark Herman turned into a reality.  It’s an extraordinary piece of game design, to be appreciated even if the game itself does not speak to you directly.  The study of this games design should be part of the curriculum for anyone wishing to be a game designer, its that good.

Now good design does not necessarily translate to being a fun game, a case I could make with quite a few highly acclaimed games.  The question here is, between the complexity of the rules, deeply rich historical accuracy, asymmetrical design and frankly mind boggling depth, is the game actually fun to play in practice?  Is it something that one might recommend to a fellow gamer?

Its with this part when it comes to Empire of the Sun I struggle.  As a game design aficionado, I can appreciate a game I don’t play and there can be a fair amount of reasons why I won’t play a game I think is a great design.   I don’t think everyone can and I imagine most would not want to view board gaming this way.  I think most people just want to sit down and play fun board games.  So it is fun?

Civilization by Francis Tresham is a good example of a game I love, think its an amazing design but never play. In this case the issue is the length of the game.

The answer is, most definitely and unequivocally yes.. almost.   It’s not an easy journey to unravel the foggy mystery that is Empire of the Sun, but once the rules click and you examine the gameplay from a perspective of understanding, Empire of the Sun is not only exciting but extraordinarily engrossing. 

In this journey you will always stumble over the rules.  You will always play this game with the rulebook in hand and if you step away from the game for a month or two you will realize that you effectively have to re-learn everything.  The rules complexity is just high enough that it never really fully sticks and I have never managed to play this game through without screwing up several rules during the course of play. In fact, even the tutorials online (All of them!) make major goofs with the rules as they teach you the game.   I said at the beginning that to judge a game negatively because its complex and long when that is what intends to be is poor form, so this may make me a hypocrite, but this is me saying that this game takes complexity just one step beyond the average Joe’s retention and that really gets in the way of the fun.

Rules complexity should not be a reason not to play a game, but inevitably for many it is. However often rules complexity is overstated, unfortunately in Empire of the Sun it is not. It is as complex as it appears and sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade.

Still this is a game where you will contemplate your actions into extreme depths, the strategies, plans and ideas you can try in this game are endless.  Here you can theorize and explore the vast possible outcomes of different actions that can re-define the war in what is an always shifting and dynamic game thanks to the card system that drives it.  I can see this mechanic being applied to just about any theater of war, but it seems to work very well in the specifics of the Pacific Theater.  

More than that though the game is chalk full of those “Holy Shit!” moments, which is fundamentally important to good game design merging with fun gameplay.  While there are small curves on this race track as well, most of the action in the game is grandiose, game changing, in that “I can’t believe that shit just happened” space.  It may seem strange looking at a board full of cardboard chits and think the game exciting, filled with adrenaline, but that is exactly what it is.  I found myself at the edge of my seat at every card play, at every activation, at every shift of the many properties be they war weariness, European war track, the India or China tracks.  It all boiled together into a mind blowing experience that had me nodding my head in approval and resetting the game for another play, one after the other.  

If I could dislodge even my limited knowledge of this game and implant it into the brains of the gaming community at large I have absolutely no doubt, complexity or not,  Empire of the Sun would be ruling at the top of the charts on boardgamegeek.  It’s the game we are all meant to play, it’s without question a modern classic.  Unfortunately I suspect it will always be regulated to the undiscovered gems pile and I hate to harp on it, but the high level of complexity really acts as a major barrier to entry that I don’t think most are going to be willing to cross.  Those that do, are in for a treat, those that don’t are missing out.

What drives these exciting moments that has me praising Empire of the Sun like it’s the greatest invention on earth since the Philadelphia Cheesesteak?

At its core I believe it’s the marriage between card mechanics and a hex based war game.  To me, the most unattractive part of most simulation war games is that there is a rulebook, a hexboard filled with chits and the endless charts of doom on the basis of which the games battles are resolved.  Those things may be cerebral puzzles and interesting, but they don’t make for particularly inspiring storytelling and in a game like this, the story is the juice!  To me the source of the juice is really all about the strategy cards. 

The limitations on planning, the execution and the theme of these strategy cards all combine to create not only the cerebral experience that works on countless levels here, but the visceral experience that triggers your imagination.  I think it’s here where the masterful design really comes together to become a fun board game.

Your planning isn’t just around what you want to do, but what you can do and your cards define that.  This limitation is key to making the game feel like the real world, it’s not just manipulation of resources, units,  and the map, but dealing within the confines of the these cards that represent events, people, places, battles and more.   

It’s also important to note that the cards are extremely well designed from a balance perspective.  They are built to create big moments and I have to say that I don’t think just any cards would have sufficed.  It’s clear that these cards have been meticulously tested, adjusted and adapted to get the feel just right, to ensure their impact.  Such a thoughtful mechanic demanded no less and it’s no doubt at the center of the success in Empire of the Sun as a game.

Now this of course isn’t the only part here and I could go on endlessly about how well thought out unit design is, the mindful interactions of units in combat,  how clever the map layout is and how great the abstracted inclusions for things like the war in Europe or China are.  In the end however its the cards that really make all of this work, they are the batteries for the whole system and quite frankly it makes this game nothing short of a work of art.

I would love to give this games game-play a perfect 5 stars and call it a day but being the objective guy I am, I would be remiss not to mention some of the warts in Empire of the Sun and warts it has, masterpiece or not.

For one, this is a game that is going to be tough to learn, something I have already repeated several times resulting in the hypocrisy of my comments in the first impressions section.   To not mention it however would be criminal.   This complexity however isn’t just about learning the game, but it becomes a hurdle in a more practical sense.

Your chances of finding a partner willing to jump through this brutal learning curve with you is not going to be easy.  What makes it even tougher is that once you do finally learn the game, getting to a point where you can put up a decent fight against a more seasoned player is going to take several plays of the game as there is so much that goes into the strategic level here as well.  Experience definitely matters.  Given that a typical full campaign game of Empire of the Sun is an all day affair, the likely result is that this game will collect a lot of dust on your shelf.  If your lucky, you have a friend ready to take on this challenge with you, in which case, don’t hesitate, but if you are picking this up without knowing who you will play it with, know you may end up playing with yourself (pun intended!).  This just isn’t one of those “come over and I will teach you a game” kind of games.  This is a serious assignment for serious gamers,  I would call it a lifestyle game akin to something Advanced Squad Leader.  One does not simply play Empire of the Sun.

TI4 is among my favorite dust collectors, a six player game that takes 6 to 8 hours to play is not something that gets pulled out very often. I think Empire of the Sun will sit comfortably on the shelf in waiting along with one of my favorite games of all time.

Secondly and I can’t stress this enough, this is not an entry level Historical Simulation Game.  I don’t want to discourage someone based on the premise of “complexity”, but this isn’t just about the complexity of the rules, this is a game that assumes you have done this before.  It’s clearly not meant for a first timer and it may very well be the reason why I struggled as much as I did at the start.  Even if this review has peeked your interest, if you are uninitiated, you may want to start with something a bit more docile and work your way up to Empire of the Sun.  This is a postgraduate course, not something to tackle your freshman year.  

Replayability And Longevity

Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star(3 out of 5 Stars)
Tilt:christmas_starchristmas_star

Pros:  Very dynamic starting conditions, several scenarios to explore.  There is plenty of game here for repeated plays.

Cons:  It’s a very niche 2 player game, it will likely earn dust collector status on most game shelves simply by the nature of what it is.

I’m going to make this short and sweet, no two games will ever be alike no matter how much you play this game and because the story of the game is so visceral you aren’t likely to tire of it. I would imagine most people will play this game and then seek out other card driven games of this type, for which there are several avenues. It will make you a fan of the system.

When it comes to replayability, Empire of the Sun is a prime example of what you want out of a game. It kicks of the 1941 campaign with a massive operation that has you activating 26 units and declaring any amount of battles you want. This start means the game kicks off on dynamic footing. Your card draw in the first round has no doubt a few million if not billion combinations possible and after that there is no way any two games are going to play out the same.

Still its a static subject matter, on a fixed map. This is a game about the Pacific War and that in itself is a bit of a confining space. Certain moves will become your go to moves and I do think even with all the dynamics in the game there are certain things that you must do to win. For example as the Japan player you must take the Philippines in the opening moves of the game, after all you can’t have an HQ within striking distance of mainland Japan when Americans get their re-enforcement by turn 3. After several plays, opening moves and random card draws or not, there is going to be a certain routine to things you will do in this game as just a practice of good strategy.

Scenarios can certainly shake things up, the 1943 scenario in particular creates a fairly engaging yet relatively short game, while the South Pacific scenario is an example of how you can use this system and zero in on specific places. You almost wish Empire of the Sun was a series of games using the same rules. I for one would love to see a European Theater version of this one.

This is a deep and very rich game, you will want to replay it but there are certain aspects of this one that are going to effect how often you will play it. It’s a very long, complex 2 player game about a very specific sub-subject of World War II. That is an extremely niche thing and even if you love this game, the odds of it collecting some dust on your shelf between plays is a likely reality for most of us.

Conclusion

I might not be a historical simulation war gamer, but I have learned and do play some real monsters. Twilight Imperium, Mage Knight and 1830 Railway and Robber Barons just to name a few. Complexity neither frightens me or discourages me from learning and playing these games. If a game is good, its good, complexity or not.

In the case of Empire of the Sun however the complexity is seemingly just one notch above the retention of your average human, namely me. I love the game, as I write this conclusion its setup in my hobby room ready to start yet another campaign, but to play it without making rules mistakes and oversights its just very unlikely. There are just too many rules to remember that no matter how often you play it you always seem to forget something. Its not surprising to me that even the people trying to teach it to you online are making blunders, this one just takes complexity to a whole new level.

That wart aside however, I find Empire of the Sun to be hands down the best game I have learned to play in the last decade and it really has been worth the struggle. It’s dynamic, thematic and unquestionably one of the deepest strategy games I have ever played. The combination of hex based war gaming and card driven play is a perfect marriage. Even when playing this game solo with the AI bot, I found the game to be a pure joy. Its a very cerebral experience while simultaneously an incredibly thematic one. Every action you take is agony as you struggle to make tough choices at all times and after every move the entire state of the game must be reassessed before you do anything else. Like chess, this is one of those games where you can spend hours just staring at the board trying to decide what to do.

The question is always, who is this game for and while I try not to use the word “veteran gamer” too often, I would say that this is one of those games where past experience is almost mandated. Its clear to me that everyone should be playing this game, but its equally clear that not everyone takes playing board games seriously. There is nothing casual about Empire of the Sun, its at its core a challenge just to learn to play, a sort of qualification test to see if the game is for you. If you are the type of gamer like me who perks up when someone says “deep complex strategy game”, then Empire of the Sun may in fact be for you. If that sort of thing scares you, you may want to skip this one.

I don’t know what else to say about it other than that this game is a masterpiece in its own way. Not everyone is going to find “IT” when playing this game, as it caters to a very particular type of gamer, those few of us that are true explorers seeking a kind of ultimate experience in our hobby. Empire of the Sun is a game like that and though I would never recommend this game to most gamers, if you think you are that type of gamer, this is one game you should not miss.

The Great Western Trail by Eggertspiele 2016

The Great Western Trail is a German Euro game about an American tradition, the old west cattle drive and as strange of a combination as that might sound to be, the fascination with the old west actually tends to be quite strong in Europe.  In Great Western Trail however players don’t take on the roles of traditional “movie” cowboys, having shootouts in the OK coral but rather they take the more historically accurate role of cowboys moving cattle across the landscape of the old American west.

I have to admit when I first started hearing buzz about this game I was immediately intrigued, and it was quite specifically because of this more real cowboy theme.  The idea of a western based euro game about the economics of the cattle drive, as unusual of a theme as it is got my attention but even more than that was the fact that someone made a Euro game that wasn’t about Mediterranean trading or worker placement really sounded like someone finally realized that both of those elements are seriously played out at this point in game design.

Overview

Final Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star Quarter Star(3.1 out 5 Stars)

In Great Western Trail players traverse a series of trails with a wide range of stops where they can perform a variety of activities including resource and hand management.  Like most heavy German Euros, the game pits players against each other in a very non-confrontational environment, but one rich in strategic decisions and tough choices.

With many routes to victory using a combination of some classic designs and some very new ones, Great Western Trail is an intriguing puzzle to be unraveled.

Components

Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_starchristmas_star

Pros:  Components made to last, very nice colorful art style.

Cons:  Lots of Iconography to learn and remember, player sheets are a bit thin.

Component quality coming out of European publishers has really improved dramatically over the last few years and while there is still a lot of reliance on wooden tokens, Great Western Trail boasts very high quality board, card and card board components.  There is very little to complain about here, this is a game built to last.  I would argue that the player boards are a bit thin and they are easy to damage thanks to combination of thin cardboard paper and hard corners, but of all the components in the box these sheets are the only thing that comes out a bit weak.

The game is colorful and bright, with a cartoony art style that is appealing to the eye. Of course like many Euros it’s also very busy with a lot of iconography.

Its a very colorful game with a clean, cartoony look capturing the western feeling/theme quite nicely.  Their is a brick ton of Iconography which adds a fair amount of time to learning how to play, contrary to first impressions the iconography is extremely logical and after a play of the game becomes second nature and easy to understand and remember.  By the time I was in my third game the manual stayed in the box despite the fact that even in a third game we were still discovering new elements with new iconography on them.  This clarity is needed and you’ll be glad that its there as it makes this rather complex game a lot easier to grasp in the long run.

For a Euro game or otherwise, Great Western Trail looks great on the table and while there are a lot of moving parts all of the mechanics and components mesh well in a logical easy to understand manner.  Initial learning curve aside, I think its thanks to the art style, iconography and logical combination of art and mechanics that makes this complex game a lot easier to learn and to play.

Theme

Score: christmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_star

Pros: A good choice of theme for the mechanics in place, the art helps a lot to give it a bit of extra energy.

Cons:  The theme is largely irrelevant and pretty feather light, there are some missed opportunities.

While I love the selection of the theme and certainly the art styles helps a great deal to bring it to the table, like most Euro game the theme is a thin layer added largely to facilitate artistic choices.  I would argue that they picked a very good theme when comparing them to the mechanics, it certainly works but if you are looking to experience the old west in a board game, this one does it just on the surface at best.

There are cowboys here, but you’re not exactly going to feel like Wyatt Earp here. The connection between theme and mechanics is fairly limited.

This is a game about mechanics and while there are some interesting abstraction mechanics added to the game like the hand of cards being your cattle, buildings being stops along the trail that also has various hazards and such, you aren’t exactly going to feel like you are in a role of a cowboy here.

Given the very minimal interaction between players as well, you can’t help but wonder if they missed an opportunity in this game to create some take that mechanics.  You can’t help but feel the absence of certain elements in a  western theme game like some six shooters, sheriffs or bad guys but I suppose since those things didn’t drive me to the game it feels weird to judge it negatively for not having them.  Still its a game about cowboys in the old west given the minimal interaction, the game ends up feeling less thematic as a result.

Like many victory point mash up games, it never ceases to amaze me how a game that appears so busy and full of life is effectively a solitaire game. GWT is not as bad as Caverna, but it’s definitely in the same category.

All that said, like most Euro games it becomes very easy to overlook and dismiss the theme as you focus your energy on the mechanics and Great Western Trail is really no different.  The theme in short is really not that important here.

Gameplay

Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

Pros: Dynamic setup, non-traditional euro mechanics and thinky gameplay make for a great combination.  Very good victory point smorgasbord.

Cons: No real catch up mechanics in place, pretty limited player interaction.

All games generally live and die by their mechanics but its in particular true about Euro games because they often share so many of the same mechanics and aren’t focused on theme, but thankfully in the case of The Great Western trail, there is sufficient deviation from the standard fare of role selection and worker placement that it allows the game to stand out.

There are a number of things to really like about Great Western Trail, I think the most notable however is that while its a pretty weighty Euro with a lot of strategic juice, turns are very quick and the activities of a turn are pretty straightforward and easy to understand.  The choices might be tough, but what you actually do on your turn is very simple.  Move your cowboy and perform the action on the space you land.  Conceptually it falls into the easy to learn impossible to master category and I think above all else this is the zone in which Euro games find the most comfort and simultaneously excel at.  Great Western Trail is a wonderful example of this.

Personally I been exhausted by many of the traditional euro mechanics like Worker placement, action or role selection mechanics and I think the the real strength of Great Western Trail is that its a very strategic and thinky game that does not fall back on these tried and true cores.  Instead it ventures out into some new territory which I found to be a breath of fresh air.  Its nothing I would call revolutionary, but its a new dynamic puzzle and that can be a lot of fun with the right group.

Russian Railroads is often hailed as one of the best among the Victory Point Mash up Euros, but its based on a very static, tried and true worker placement mechanic. I like GWT a lot better mainly because it does something fresh and new in the genre.

The combination of movement, hand management and resource management along the way works really well to create some really tough choices.  You sort of build up a route that works to the strength of your selected strategy for scoring points and while Great Western Trail is very much a Victory Point Smorgasbord, you do have quite a few variations on what you can go for and the initial setup is dynamic as is the way the games tokens that can affect strategy are so you end up with a wide range of variation between plays.  This of course helps with re-playability a great deal but what it really means for the game is that you can’t sit down with a strategy planned in advance, a problem a lot of Euros suffer from.  You really have to look at the board, see what buildings are available, where neutral buildings are initially placed, what workers are available, what cards are in the market place and then you can think about how you are going to do strategy wise.

One of my beefs with Le Havre is that despite its dynamic nature and simple complexity style design, it has a pattern that becomes apparent and rather predictable after several plays. GWT manages to dodge that quite a bit thanks to the many dynamic elements that really shift attention to a wide range of strategies from game to game.

While the interaction is quite thin, one point of interaction is the placement of buildings which can tax players, create stalling points and with hazards can add additional hurdles for players who put their buildings in riskier, but more profitable spots.    This really helps a lot to make the game feel like your playing with others, though the impact of their decisions still has pretty minimal impact on you.   In a lot of ways Great Western Trail can feel a bit solitaire, in particular in two player games but in 3 and 4 player games I think the games interaction makes deeper cuts and I definitely recommend to play it this way.

The personal player board is also very important in the game, what actions you unlock here and where you place your tokens on the train track are critical for getting good positioning of future runs through the trails.  There is a lot to think about and plan here.  There is a lot of investment in strategies as well so you have to make good choices throughout if you hope to win, there really are no “big moves” but rather slow and steady build up of smart choices that pays out in the long run.  For better or for worse, in Great Western Trail it can be pretty hard to catch up if you fall too far behind as players who make wise choices will get momentum that is difficult to halt.  In a lot of ways Great Western Trail is very much about building a functioning engine which acts as a sort of race and its in this that the competition and tension of the game really exists.

When and how you unlock your personal player board actions is really important to a good long term strategy. There is this mix between long term strategy on the player board, several moves ahead strategy of your hand of cards and turn to turn strategy with your movement. The combination creates a lot of tough decisions.

I think the inability for players to do much to slow down a player with a lot of momentum kind of hurts the game.  You can find yourself about halfway through the game falling hopelessly behind or watching one player get far ahead and effectively have to play a game to its conclusion knowing who will win since mid game.  Its hard to say how often this would happen in a game of experienced players, I would venture to say not very often, but given that the game takes about 30-45 minutes per player in a four player game, if you are 1.5 hours into a 3 hour game and you already know who is going to win with no way to stop them it kind of spoils the tension built up at the start of the game.

With all that in mind I have to say that I really enjoyed the thinky elements of the game mechanics.  For a victory point focused Euro, this is a really good one and I have played quite a few at this point.  Given options like Russian Railroads, Voyage of Marco Polo, Terra Mystica or the always popular Caverna, I think I prefer Great Western Trail, if for no other reason than the fact that its not driven by rather stale and over cooked worker placement mechanics.

In Great Western Trail what you are going to do isn’t just a question of this turn but this and perhaps even the next run.  You have to be able to see your actions many moves in advance and there is a bit of luck and risk vs. reward elements here so you can take some chances.  There is a lot of satisfaction and reward for good decisions and I think Euro gamers in particular will find a lot to love in Great Western Trail.

Replay-ability and Longevity

Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

Pros: Dynamic starts and dynamic draws of tiles and cards create a fairly wide range of unique games that will drive strategies, creating plenty of longevity and replay potential.

Cons:  Victory Point Smorgasbords generally have a fixed shelf like getting boring after X amount of plays.

I think the most important element of a game with limited interaction is to find a way to make itself re-playable.   In my experience, the less player interaction there is in a game the less likely it is that people will find any real longevity in the game.  That said Great Western Trail does a lot to curtail this problem with its dynamic variations in setup and general “draw” elements, with its card management and tile reveals.

I’m not sure how long this game will stay in my collection, but I do believe that a game like this will wind up being someones favorite just because it really does have that spark of strategic depth and thinkiness I think a lot gamers enjoy.  I always say that I don’t really understand why people are so captivated with victory point smorgasbord games, but they are and games like Russian Railroads for example see a lot of play and are beloved by a lot of people.  I think Great Western Trail does very well in this genre/style of gaming, so much so that I actually like it a great deal more then most of the games of this type I have tried.

I have to admit part of the reason why I like this game is that I like the theme and while strictly speaking the connection between theme and mechanics is not particularly strong here, I’m still drawn to it.  I think Great Western Trail is one of those, right people, right occasion type games where if you bring it out with the right group they will love it and want to play it repeatedly while other less Euro centric gamers are likely to find it difficult to get through even the first play.  Great Western Trail won’t have that wide, for all gamers, appeal.  Its a niche product, but one I think people like this genre of games will want to play repeatedly as there is a ton to discover and unravel here.  There are many challenges and interesting puzzles to solve and its going to take a great many games to truly master this one.

This is a Heavy Euro with a ton going on, its definitely not for the feint of heart but all things considered I found that people will have that “aha” moment much sooner then what appearances might suggest.

I think the biggest boon to this game is the fact that it has a higher level of complexity but relatively simple round structure and I found that after my first couple of plays I still wanted to go back to try out the many other possible strategies and approaches to the game so I definitely believe there is plenty of longevity here.

I would also argue however that Victory Point Smorgasbords in general play themselves out and I would imagine at some point this game will make an exit from my collection, but I don’t think its going to be any time soon.

Conclusion

Great Western Trail is simultaneously a traditional Euro style victory point mash up and a uniquely styled game with fresh mechanics and interesting approach.  Like many Euro games I find its a bit short on player interaction and I see that as a problem with many of my gaming friends who want to have mechanics that interfere and obstruct each other as part of a gaming experience.  To me however you don’t buy and play a Euro game if you have issues with limited interaction and to be fair there are plenty of games that I like that have virtually no interaction like Race for the Galaxy for example.  This in its own right is only a negative for people who have issue with it and I really don’t.

That said I do believe there was some missed opportunities in Great Western Trail as a “cowboy” themed game for more direct interaction.  Its a Euro through and through and if you love Euro’s you will likely enjoy this game.  I think its component quality, art style, clever mechanics, dynamic nature and fresh approach work together draw just enough interest to squeak into my personal collection.  I’m drawn to it, I want to play it again and I think that’s a good sign as this is rarely the case for me with Victory Point Mash up Euros in this style.

Great Western Trail is a fun game, its unique within its own genre and while I would rate it as a heavy euro, its considerably easier to teach within its class among games like Terra Mystica, Russian Railroads and Caverna.

I recommend this game for Euro fans for certain, but I think unless you already have an affection for Victory Point Mash ups you should probably skip this one.

Through The Ages: A New Story of Civilization By Czech Games 2015

Designer: Vlaada Chvátil

Final Score: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star3.9Stars (3.9 out 5 Stars)

Vlaada Chvátil is without question one of my favorite designers, not so much because he has produced what I consider the best games, but because every time he makes a game it’s truly a unique experience. His designs stand out. More than that though he does not have a style, but rather is able to break barriers with new ideas and innovations. Whether it’s the wacky Galaxy Trucker or Dungeon Lords, or more brainy games like Mage Knight, he finds ways to separate himself from the crowd of copy-cats and creates something truly original. No game however is more unique, broken more records and set more precedence than Through The Ages. Most consider this his true masterpiece, a sentiment I largely agree with.

Through the Ages is an established award winning classic and a fan favorite on BoardGameGeek.Com sitting pretty in the top 10 for the better part of a decade. Finally after years of refurbished versions of the original Vlaada has produced a new edition that promises not only upgraded components but more streamlined and balanced gameplay. While I have always been a fan of the original it never ranked high on my list of best games because I always felt it had this thick coat of Euro game complexity and length that made the game difficult to get to the table. It was a game that was difficult to explain and even harder to grasp. Over the course of a decade I played it perhaps ten times all together, it’s what I like to call the dust collector of my collection.

Distinctively Vlaada, Galaxy Trucker is truly a unique gem that rivals Through The Ages as one of Chvátil's masterpieces.
Distinctively Vlaada, Galaxy Trucker is truly a unique gem that rivals Through The Ages as one of Chvátil’s masterpieces.

With a new edition and hope for an improved version of this un-played but fantastic game I gladly dove in. Let’s see how it fares!

Overview

Through The Ages is a competitive civilization building game abstracted into card drafting and resource management mechanics. The word competitive hardly does it justice as despite the absence of a map and miniatures it is a brutally combative and competitive game, I’m talking about some seriously mean cut-throat shit here making it difficult to define it as a Euro game, yet that is exactly what it is.

It looks like a Euro game because it is one, but that is just one of Through The Ages many layers.
It looks like a Euro game because it is one, but that is just one of Through The Ages many layers. This seemingly humble Euro gets mean fast!

Each player takes on the role of a world leader of a civilization from the ancient age all the way to the modern age. In typical euro game fashion the game is won by collecting the most culture points of any civilization by the end of the game. Uncharacteristically of Euro games however Through The Ages is as much a resource management and development game as it is a mean spirited war game. It takes that classic formula of Sid Meiers Civilization but in abstracted form, yet maintaining that if I can’t out build them, I can conqueror them approach that Sid Meier’s Civilization is so famous for. Oddly enough despite two previous games with the word Sid Meier in their title (eagle games version and Fantasy Flight Games version), Through The Ages thematically has more in common with the classic PC game than anything that has come before and after it.

Components

Verdict: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_star

Pros: Aesthetically pleasing art, quality components and separated game boards make this a vast improvement over the old editions of Through The Ages.

Cons: A lot of book keeping and statistics to track result in a very fiddly and ultimately messy game space in particular towards the end of the game.

Through The Ages in previous editions left you very underwhelmed in terms of components, certainly they were functional but they were both aesthetically ugly ducklings and so small you felt like a giant trying to handle cheerios. The game was already a hard sell for being a complex Euro with a steep learning curve, but to have look of a prototype definitely didn’t help.

Even in its stock sales pitch photo the old version is very underwhelming. You don't see much art because there is almost not art.
Even in its stock sales pitch photo the old version is very underwhelming. You don’t see much art because there is almost not art.

With this new version component quality could not possibly get worse so naturally it has improved. Thankfully that improvement is dramatic in particular in the application of quality art and a sizing up of components that make it possible for a grown man to handle them without feeling clumsy.

The art style is reminiscent of old school Sid Meier game art, which I don’t think is a coincidence as this is exactly the theme Through The Ages is trying to capture. I in particular like the colorization of components, it makes every type of component easy to distinguish across the table.

World leaders are just one of the many unique ways you can make your civilization different from other.
World leaders are just one of the many unique ways you can make your civilization different from other.

The card stock quality is excellent ensuring this game will actually last through the ages and there is a solid broken up design for the gameboards that will make it easier to put on the table by splitting up the various boards into distinct areas. I don’t know that this change was necessary but depending on the size of your table and available space being able to organize the different pieces in Tetris style is going to be appreciated by those with tighter game space.

A vast improvement over the old version but still only gets a passing grade for today’s standards. Its functional, built to last and aesthetically pleasing but it’s not going to blow you away. Given that a six year old with a box of crayons could have done a better job than the last version of Through The Ages, the improvement in this new edition are much appreciated.

That said the game is still extremely fiddly, you are pushing cubes, counters and cards around constantly and the table gets quite messy towards the end of the game. Towards the 3rd age you will find yourself counting and recounting the tracked statistics to ensure you have them right which kind of renders all the book keeping useless.

Theme

Verdict: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

Pros: Competitive civilization building theme is captured with perfection ensuring every faucet of a civilization is included and equally important. This is Sid Meiers Civilization in a board game.

Cons: Some might miss the absence of a map and moving units around on the board. Like the PC game version its based on, Through The Ages is a loooooong game.

Through the Ages has been in the top 10 on board gamegeek for a decade for one very solid reason, its theme. There is absolutely no denying that the competitive culture race and clash that made Sid Meier’s PC game so popular is captured splendidly in board game form in Through The Ages. The newly improved art helps to solidify the theme, but really even without it Through The Ages had a solid connection between mechanics and thematics.

I don’t think the new version has added anything that distinctly makes it more or less thematic than the old version, but having some quality visuals defiantly makes it feel like this version is more thematic. Art really does count towards theme but the truth is that Through The Age gameplay is really what makes the theme sing.

The new translucent cubes are larger as are the cards which coupled with the addition of new art give this game a feel the old version was really missing thematically.
The new translucent cubes are larger as are the cards which coupled with the addition of new art give this game a feel the old version was really missing thematically.

There is this distinct feeling of advancement and growth, starting with what feels like far too little resources and eventually rising to a point where you have far more than you could ever use. More than that though you’re Civilization can really be focused and distinct. By the time the 2nd age starts each player will have created a completely unique engine, driven by bonuses and advantages as a result of combining different technologies, wonders, discovered territories and just general management. You could argue that some strategies are more or less effective than others but my experience has been that players will often focus their strategy on the theme they have chosen for their civilization rather than simply trying to game the game, which I think is a great sign of the game having strong theme.

In particular the card drafting mechanic really inexplicability have the feeling of the passage of time, a kind of pressure to keep up that gives it that distinctively civilization building feel. Best of all though is that there is no element of the Civilization theme ignored here and every element is as important as the next. You need military, science, technology, culture and resources (food and metal) to win and you need them all in equal qualities. If you focus on one more than the other you will have a distinct advantage in that area over other players who fail to keep up, but it will come at a sacrifice of something else. It’s simply impossible to be the best at everything and that really drives the theme home. Civilization building games are about choices and Through The Ages has choices in spades.

Through the Ages still does civilization building in a board game the best of any game I have played and from that stand point the theme is nearly perfect.

Nations is not civilization building game slouch, but comparatively if you are looking for a deep and rewarding experience and don't mind the complexity and length Through The Ages, in particular the new edition is definitely the superior game. Nations on the other is far more approachable and is likely to make your table more often.
Nations is no civilization building game slouch, but comparatively if you are looking for a deep and rewarding experience and don’t mind the complexity and length Through The Ages, in particular the new edition is definitely the superior game. Nations on the other is far more approachable and is likely to make your table more often.

If there is any part of the game that would count against it is that in most civilization games you get to manage and control unique units on a big map, this is really a big part of the civilization building genre. This part of the theme is abstracted quite heavily in Through The Ages to a point where you might initially feel its absence. The game is so robust and engaging however that after a couple of plays you forget all about it.

The other thematic issue which I will go into deeper later in the review is the length of the game. Civilization building games are typically quite long and Through The Ages is no exception here, in fact, it’s so long that anything beyond 3 players is too long as each player adds about one and a half hours to gameplay. This definitely works against the game since you kind of want to play it with more people, but realistically the more people you add, the longer the game gets and that can be quite painful towards the end of the game. This of course is actually thematically correct as far as capturing the Sid Meier Civilization theme, but ironically while it captures this part of the genre, for many this is the part of the genre people who love the game, don’t like. So it’s a strange relationship of both capturing the good and bad parts of the theme in this genre.

Gameplay

Verdict: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_starchristmas_star

Pros: A deep strategic experience with countless potential approaches to the game that keeps you engaged despite its very long play time. Great mechanical balance.

Cons: Not for the casual gamer, things can get quite mean and once you fall behind it can be very difficult if not impossible to catch up.

Through The Ages has an incredibly robust and unique combination of card drafting and resource management mechanics. It’s a Euro through and through in this regard and one that is constructed with an uncanny balance and eye for that fiddly complexity and high level strategy Euro gamers love. It evokes a lot of thought and multiple plays reveal the many levels and depths the game can rise to revealing countless possible approaches to the game. If you play the game without the military aggression and war cards, this game would be a pure Euro game experience and a very good one.

The linear civilization advancement line of Through The Ages is a simple yet ingenious way to capture the feel of the passage of time.
The linear civilization advancement line of Through The Ages is a simple yet ingenious way to capture the feel of the passage of time.

At its core the game is about drafting technology cards that represent the various types of advances that can be constructed like buildings, wonders, leaders of the world, military units etc. The card line is constantly moving however and the closer to falling off the line the cards get the cheaper they are to pick up. Civil actions, one of the resources in the game are what drive your civilization. This limited supply replenishes every round but because it’s so limited every decision you make is a tough one. What technology you pick up will in turn determine what sorts of advantages you will be able to construct with your resources through the course of the game and in fact can very much define your advantages and disadvantages in later stages.

The sequence is fairly simple. You might pick up an Iron Mine technology, that will allow you to build Iron Mines which of course will give you more resources to build with later. Simple concept except that in order to build Iron Mines you need population, which in turn requires food to build, so you might need to build some farms first. You need science to put the Iron mine into play to begin with and ultimately you will need to keep your people happy enough so that as you deploy your population to work you can bare the costs of doing so you also need religious temples to keep your people happy. Everything is sort of interconnected this way and it’s all about ceasing opportunities and building a civilization that is self-sustaining one step at a time. Misstep and you might find that you have lots of resources to build with but not enough people to build them with for example. It’s challenging and fun to create your engine and it really captures the essence of civilization building games.

In typical Vladi fashion however the entire game is turned on its heels with the military and politic mechanics which create almost a mean spirited competition of the likes I haven’t seen since games like Diplomacy. It’s ruthlessly brutal where players can really stick it to each other, often kicking your face in the dirt when you’re already a bloody mess. It’s so mean in fact that there is a rule for resigning from the game when you have had enough.

The political phase is where most of the games nastiness comes from. From event cards that reward the strongest player and hurt the weakest, to direct aggression and war cards, there is plenty of opportunity to screw over your competition. But be careful, many event cards can back fire and end up causing more harm then good.
The political phase is where most of the games nastiness comes from. From event cards that reward the strongest player and hurt the weakest, to direct aggression and war cards, there is plenty of opportunity to screw over your competition. But be careful, many event cards can back fire and end up causing more harm then good.

At its core however the entire military and political mechanic is built on a sort of delay and in lays its genius. Whatever wars and attacks are going to take place, they will do so several turns in the future as the event deck is built with a 4 event delay. Meaning that if you put down a nasty event that will help you because you are the strongest civilization, that card won’t actually come into play until later in the game. This gives everyone an opportunity to react to the current status of the game and effectively build up to potentially reap the benefits of cards someone else played.

Military power is as important if not more important than other developments however it produces very little on its own so building up a big one comes at the cost of other developments. It’s a real back and forth balance and so you have to decide whether you are going to let your military fall behind to build other more productive developments or if you are going to keep up so you don’t get smashed when those nasty event and war cards come.

Players are also able to make pacts and alliances with each other, again via event cards. These cards allow weaker players an opportunity to cut deals with stronger players that will encourage them to leave them alone. This works to the benefit of the stronger players in the short term but in the long run players who aren’t focused on military build powerful economies that can be really difficult to dismantle later even with an overwhelming military. The balance here is uncanny and the decisions are tough all leading me to one conclusion. This game is awesome!

There is this amazing risk vs. reward system with a constant stream of hard decisions that keeps you engaged whether it’s your turn or not. It’s as important to you what other players are doing as what you are doing so even though there can be some fairly sizable downtime in the game, the downtime is really an opportunity to re-asses, plan and of course think about your response to each other players actions.

On the flip side though the downtimes can be quite long and while assessment and observation are a part of the game, Through The Age’s fun factor really suffers as you wait for your turn. In particular if players are being indecisive, this is definitely a game that can cause some analysis paralysis. The wait times increase over time as Civilizations become more complicated to manage and events are being triggered almost every round. In a four player game you might end up waiting as much as 10 minutes for your turn to come up by the final rounds of the game which can be quite excruciating after 4+ hour game.

You can play a game of Nations with 5 players in the same time it would take to play a 2 player game of Through The Ages. 3 and 4 player games of Through The Ages can easily exceed 5+ hours in particular with new players.
You can play a game of Nations with 5 players in the same time it would take to play a 2 player game of Through The Ages. 3 and 4 player games of Through The Ages can easily exceed 5+ hours in particular with new players.

The fact that the game is quite competitive and outright mean at times can result in players falling hopelessly behind. This is compounded by the fact that the game can stretch into the 5 hour mark with 4 players quite easily. It’s one thing to be getting your ass handed to you in a 20 minute card game, it’s another to be abused in a 5 hour game and in Through The Ages its often beneficial to attack the weakest opponent. Now experienced players are not going to have this problem, play the game a couple of times and you will know the consequences all too well of not keeping up militarily. This makes the game that much tougher on new players who are not only having to learn the ins and outs of the complex rules, but getting abused for failing to grasp concepts like military power quickly. This might explain why there is a “low aggression” option for the game and a shorter game variant where you only play to the second age. Both good for introducing new players and highly recommended.

Through the Ages has fantastic mechanics and gameplay that merges well with its theme, it’s truly a unique experience but it’s one that takes some effort to get into. It’s a demanding game with considerable rules complexity, tough and unforgiving systems and fairly mean spirited “take it” type mechanics. To me, its music to my ears, but objectively I can understand how this might not appeal to everyone.

Replay ability and Longevity

Verdict: christmas_starchristmas_star
Tilt: christmas_starchristmas_star

Pros: Plenty of strategies to explore for repeated plays, it has already proven itself to have long term legs.

Cons: While the Euro puzzle is difficult to unravel, if you study the game you will eventually unravel its mysteries creating repetitive strategies that can dissipate the dynamics of the game hurting replay ability.

Through the Ages has sufficient strategic routes to keep you entertained endlessly and so its replay ability is very good which might explain its high ranking for so long on BoardGameGeek.com. There is however a sort of general sequence to the game, every card in Age I, II and III will eventually come up so there is definitely a sort of pre-planned strategy possible which can result in players unraveling the mechanical puzzle and creating repetitive strategies that work. This is the drawback of most Euro games. There is some randomness to the order in which cards come out and this definitely mixes things up, but patient players can definitely build long term strategies from round one and with minor adjustments be very successful at executing them in every game.

That said, the game is so long and so complex that its not going to be something you play at every session, it’s just too demanding. This game is longevity and really at the heart of replay ability isn’t so much that it’s something you want to play 5 times a week, but something you still want to play 10 years from now and Through The Ages definitely has that long shelf life appeal.

Replay ability is not the same thing as longevity. Through The Ages is a timeless classic for good reason, there is some serious legs for what is effectively a resource management and card drafting game.
Replay ability is not the same thing as longevity. Through The Ages is a timeless classic for good reason, there is some serious legs for what is effectively a resource management and card drafting game.

I do believe Nations is a much more dynamic game because the reliability of what cards come up for purchase of developing your Civilization is not only randomized every game in what order they come up but what actual cards will be available. In Nations you will see 20% of the possible cards each age come up so effectively every game is going to be vastly different, this is not the case in Through The Ages. I don’t consider this a major drawback, but in terms of replay ability there is definitely a puzzle that can be solved here and I can see this game growing repetitive and tiresome if you play it too often. It’s got dynamic character and longevity, but it’s going to need to rest and collect dust periodically. It’s too heavy, complex and long to be played often.

Conclusion

Through the Ages is a fantastic game, but its deep, complex and long so it’s definitely a game with a very particular audience in mind. This is not a casual game and will likely only appeal to experienced gamers who can appreciate its depth and don’t mind overcoming a steep learning curve both in learning how to play and learning how to play well.

That said this is a true gem in the rough, most Civilization board game implementations really do kind suck. Through the Ages and its little brother Nations handle things in a more abstract way, but actually capture the civilization genre better thematically and mechanically then more literal interpretations like the Eagle and Fantasy Flight Games versions.

I recommend it with the disclosure that you really need to enjoy heavy games like this. If you are looking for a more casual civilization building game I recommend Nations instead which is far more approachable to the casual gamer.

In the end however this game appeals to my gamer sensibilities, its deep, complex and extremely competitive, all the things I want a great civilization building game to be.

5 Overly Complex Games That Might Be Awesome If you actually had the will to play them

Whooa, that is a mouthful! As gamers I imagine most of us day dream about some way for us to put our life on the sidelines and get involved in some of those full bodied hobby games that take up extraordinary amounts of time, money and effort to play. Those ultra-complex games that are out there that look amazing, but are largely inaccessible thanks to the hustle of our everyday lives. I suspect most people have a game or two that definitely falls into this magnetic allure so Today I’m going to identify 5 games that qualify in my opinion with some tips and ways you might actually be able to get involved with minimal or at least less effort than what it appears to be.

Advanced Squad Leader

For many gamers war is a very common and favored theme in board games. In fact, I would estimate that at least 80% of all my gaming is dedicated to some form of war game. While I’m personally not that a huge of a realist, historical buff or simulationist gamer, some of my favorite games actually kind of qualify. Tide of Irons for example is a tactical world war II game which has graced my shelf for several years and is one I would not object to being buried with it. I love it and it definitely scratches that itch, but Advanced Commander by all accounts is really the meca of world war II tactical war games.

Advanced Squad Leader is really kind of the ultimate in complex war games in general thanks to countless modules and expansions, but like all of the games on this list it’s really almost overwhelmingly complex and demands a pretty serious commitment to learn to play let alone actually play. Even the smallest most basic scenario will have you reading over a hundred pages of rules and will take 4+ hours to resolve. So why would anyone be attracted to it?

Not really designed with table presence in mind, but it does have that general standing over a map feel to it.
Not really designed with table presence in mind, but it does have that general standing over a map feel to it.

The truth is that most war games heavily abstract combat for streamlining sake immediately drawing it out of the realm of realism, but for me personally sometimes I really want that full experience out of a game. That gritty reality only a complex war game can offer. This is probably why for more complex games I look to my PC as much of what is complex about games like ASL (remembering rules, the math) is done for you. I have never played Advanced Squad Leader but I do feel the allure of it and it’s something that has been on my must try list for years.

Fortunately the Advanced Squad Leader fan base has put forth some effort to creating some initial baby steps and shallow waters for new players. Several levels of Advanced Squad Leader basic kits have been released since 2004 as well as the creation of some pretty comprehensive youtube tutorials that really walk you through the absolute basic need to know information. Enough so that the game almost reaches that approachable spectrum. More importantly unlike many games on this list, its actually very cheap to try so all you really need to do is convince a friend to join you and you really have a shot at getting a game off the ground.

I don’t know if my schedule and patience will ever allow me to try this game, but I can definitely understand its popularity. There is a tremendous amount of depth and realism in this game allowing history buffs to really play out those scary moments in time from the comforts of their favorite chair. I totally get it.

Warhammer

Large table top games like Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40k is not that far from reality for me. I actually dove into it several years ago and its every bit as epic as it looks. The trouble with Warhammer like many miniature hobbies is that aside from simply playing the game it requires that you spend hundreds of hours carefully gluing and painting your army and terrain. It’s really a two part hobby that is not only incredibly time consuming and expensive but fairly complex and difficult to be successful at.

This actually brings me to one conclusion about these sort of epic style hobby games which is that sometimes the allure of them is far stronger than the actual impact. In the end, after playing Warhammer for a couple of years I saw the countless flaws in the game system, tired of the endless stream of “pre-game work” and the insane amounts of money that you have to invest in the game. After a thousand hours of invested time and as many dollars I doubt I played more than a grand total of 15-20 games over the course of two years. Was it worth it?

if the mechanics of the game had the same quality as the view from the table, this would easily be the best game ever made.
if the mechanics of the game had the same quality as the view from the table, this would easily be the best game ever made.

Hunched over a massive table of miniatures painted in painstaking detail after having spent months reading, planning and thinking about a single event was really kind of as epic and monster sized of an event as it sounds. I don’t regret the money or time invested in the short lived hobby, it was really fun while it lasted but it was just impossible to maintain. No regrets, I wouldn’t object to repeating it but in a way it’s probably part of the reason why alternatives pre-painted miniature games like X-Wing and Armada sort of appeal to me more. You still have to spend the money, but after that it’s just to play the game which in a sense is actually the best part of the hobby for me.

If you have never tried it however, I urge you to because it really is, despite all the work and money a lot of fun, even if it does not last forever. Unfortunatly there really are very few shortcuts to take here, ultimately the best way to approach the game is to find people who are already playing it. Thanks to a pretty healthy 3rd party market the cost of getting involved has dropped considerably and in the end selling off your collection is not going to be that difficult either when you’re done with it.

Twilight Imperium

Another Big Bad Ass game that I have actually played a ton in the past that certainly deserves to be on this list. I have met and talked to many gamers who look at this intimidating beast and imagine themselves hunched over the table as a master of a galactic race, drawn to it like a moth to a flame but off put by its sheer size and scope. All I can say is that its every bit as epic and awesome as you probably imagine it to be but the good news is that while it’s an incredibly long game considering the rest of this list, this game actually has some pretty streamlined and comprehensive rules, it really isn’t that hard to grasp. It’s a complex board game, but within the realm of normal gaming, it’s a lot less of a stretch I think. It’s probably the most approachable game on the list and quite possibly the best.

Small tables need not apply, I shit you not this is a small game of Twilight Imperium.
Small tables need not apply, I shit you not this is a small game of Twilight Imperium.

Twilight Imperium definitely is an investment though and the hard part is that it requires an investment of time not just from you or one other opponent but actually a whole group of at least 4 players but preferably 6. That can be the most difficult part for a lot of people myself included, its actually one of the reasons on the I wish I had more time for it list. I would imagine this alone excludes a lot of gamers from ever getting the opportunity to try it.

We probably will never see another game like Twilight Imperium designed either, it’s really a product of an era of gaming that has come and gone. In fact it might actually be considered the spiritual last member of the Big Box Epic board games that evolved from classics like Axis & Allies, Shogun and Fortress America. Games like Twilight Imperium are really not made anymore, these days mechanics are focused on being streamlined, simpler and faster.

I could be wrong, perhaps someday we will see a resurgence of this sort of design but for what it’s worth, in my humble opinion no gamer should ever miss an opportunity to try this game at least once. I would suggest doing it as soon as possible to because I suspect once this game goes out of print, it will be out of print for a very long time, perhaps forever.

18XX Game Series

This is one on this list that really attracts me that I’m yet to try, a complex game of building railroads and manipulating stock markets in the age of steam. The 18XX games is actually a series, though the foundation rules are all the same. It is in effect a Railroad Tycoon style game where you are competing against other players as a Railway Baron in a fairly simulationist economy which is every bit as cut throat and mean spirited as it is complex and I imagine actually was in the 1800’s.

She's an ugly pig, but there is some serious depth here.
She’s an ugly pig, but there is some serious depth here.

I love Railroad Games and Railroad themed games but truth be told everyone that I have ever tried was just too simple for me. Railways of the World (eagle games Railroad Tycoon) was a fun game and it certainly had the theme of railroad building but it lacked that umf as a complex game which I think kind of fits this genre. Games like Russian Railroads are complex, but not in the simultationist way rather more in the Euro puzzle style being barely recognizable as an actual game about railroads. This is one that I’m itching to try, the issue is that the Railroad Baron theme is kind of a love it or hate it one and I fear that my group might not take to it in particular since it’s a very deep, complex, long and unforgiving game.

The good news is that the 18xx’s games received what is referred to as an XL version, you can think of it as 18xx game for newbies which cuts down the rules weight for easier learning. This may just be my ticket to trying it in the near future.

It’s on the list for me though, one day this is going on the table!

Heroscape

Ok so this one might not actually belong on this list in its entirety. It’s actually a very simple game, really the hardest thing about it is

Going bat shit crazy is not a requirement, but I can see myself spending hours building terrain like this if life were a bit more cooperative.
Going bat shit crazy is not a requirement, but I can see myself spending hours building terrain like this if life were a bit more cooperative.

that its insanely difficult to get a hold of, takes up a shit ton of room and has probably one of the longest set up and take down times of any game in the existence of the human race. You are going to spend at least an hour or more setting it up and just as long taking it down unless you just do the rage quit arm sweep into a bin at the end to be dealt with at another time.

 

That said Heroscape is probably one of the most fun looking games I have ever seen and I have always wanted to try it. Its concept is kind of cool as well as there are over a thousand different units in this war game. Players construct a team from soldiers from all genres, histories and imaginations ever created and fight it out in a massive landscape constructed out of hexagon legos that traverses time and space. Its as much a game of war as it is of creativity and silliness from what I have gathered but in the end I just love the way it looks.

Unfortunately Heroscape is both out of print and what is available on the 3rd party markets is really expensive, in particular terrain which you need a lot of. There are a lot of drawbacks to this one, but in a perfect world this game will see a re-print at some point in the future, something I believe is inevitable if you consider how well the 3rd party moves for this game.