Imperial Settlers

Good day friends, as both Christmas and the looming lockdown approach, Amanda and I decided to head out and pick up one more new game to add to the collection to keep us entertained for the next month, and what we found was Imperial Settlers. I’ve been a fan of Ignacy Trzewiczek’s games for a long time, and although I certainly like some more than others, I’ve never played one that I hate, so when I saw this on the shelf, I went straight to it.

The components for Imperial Settlers are both simple and solid. Lots of cards that seems to be of good quality, wooden meeples, all distinct and different shapes and colors for easy discernment and cardboard tokens for the non meeple things. The tokens tend to be a little on the plain side, and if I were to get super into this game, I would either 3d print or order better meeples and tokens to jazz it up. That being said, they are perfectly functional, and I especially enjoy the style of art on the cards, its all very cartoonish caricatures but with a distinct art style that makes them stand out.

The game play of Imperial settlers is part of an ongoing saga. The prototype for this game was the original “51st state” which then evolved into Imperial Settlers, which then evolved back into 51st State – Master Set and seems to be continuing on. I think the theme of 51st state, which is sort of a post apocalyptic factions based game probably fits the mechanics a little bit better, but I generally like the art style on Imperial Settlers more, so it’s a wash.

Players build their empire by drawing cards, both from their own unique faction deck, as well as drafting from a set of common cards each turn. All cards can be played to add their ability to your empire. One can also “make a deal” with faction cards to turn them into resource production and common cards can be razed for instant resources. You can also raze your opponents cards once they are on the table at the cost of extra swords. Resources are gained by the turn based on your production, as well as with the completion of various buildings or razing.

At it’s heart, Imperial Settlers is a recourse management game, but it’s a little more funky in how resources are obtained than in similar games. There is some tableau and engine building, but razing both your own extra cards and your opponents buildings for recourses at the appropriate time is a key part of the game. The order in which you take your actions is of paramount importance, as it is quite difficult to have a solid “engine” if at any point your opponent can take a piece out of it. You being able to do the same to them makes for some very tactical gameplay. I will note that while this game has a plethora of expansions, this was our first play through and we wanted to try the base game before ordering any of them.

As far as 2 player compatibility goes, I think this will be the best way to play the game. Adding extra players may add variety to the draft, but I think having to watch more than one players board each turn to see where those sword tokens are best spent is just going to jam the game up. I will probably give a 4 player game a go once the lockdown lifts, but in the meantime I will be perfectly happy to play it with two players.

Overall I will recommend this to people who are looking for a quick and punchy strategy game. Although “civilization” in theme, you won’t get much of that from this, it doesn’t feel much like you’re building an empire, more like two towns brawling, but a fun brawl none the less.

Note: Fun game that is pretty easy to follow. Each faction (I played the Romans, as seen above) has a different “special feature” that will likely influence how you choose to set up your engine to attempt to gain the most points. I definitely recommend it, and I agree that two players is probably best.

The Teal Dear

Game: Imperial Settlers
Designer: Maciej Obszański, Ignacy Trzewiczek
Price: $50
Players: 2-4
2 player Scaling: Best place to play
Playtime: 45-60 minutes
Estimated Lifespan: 10+ games
Average Play Frequency: Approximately Monthly
Complexity: 4
Components: 4
Bang for Buck: 3
Value for Time: 4
Fun Factor: 3.5
Overall: 4