Caius Julius Caesar, in person, commissions you to expand his empire. Obviously, ” Omnibus viis Romam pervenitur», « All roads lead to Rome » in Gallic! here is Caesar’s Empire our board game of the week.
The empire is not very large at the start of the game, since it is only made up of Rome. On orders from Caesar himself, you set off to conquer other cities to extend his hold. No doubt he will be generous to his most faithful servant…
The game board represents the map of Europe, with Rome at its center. A coat of arms, numbered from 1 to 8, and a wealth, are placed on each other city. Players have soldier figurines in their color, and a personal board on which to place the conquered resources.
A game turn is very fast, since it simply consists of placing one of your troops to connect Rome to a new city. The only condition is that it must start from Rome or any other city previously conquered, by yourself or any other player. By entering a city, you receive its coat of arms, as well as its wealth, which you place on your board.
Then, by leaving the city just taken, and returning in the direction of Rome, by the shortest route if there are several, each player scores a victory point per troop having made it possible to arrive there.
Cities are grouped by region, by color (North Africa, Gaul, etc.). At the end of the game, you only score points for the largest city of each color. For example, if you took the coats of arms of cities 1, 3 and 5 of the Iberian Peninsula, you only score 5 points in the end.
There are eight different riches (olives, meat, wine, wood, etc.), which earn points according to two different scales. Either by accumulating different ones (nothing for the first, 2 points for the second, and so on, up to 46 points if you manage to have them all), or by taking several of the same type (nothing if you don’t only have one, 2 points if you have two, 10 for the third and a maximum of 20 points for four identical riches).
Players play in turn, creating new roads, extending others, to gradually extend the Roman influence. The game ends when all cities have been taken. The winner is the one who brought the most glory to the empire: the roads built, the coats of arms of the conquered cities, and the accumulated wealth.
There are a few small additional rules, but we have described the essentials for you to understand how the game works.
Why play Caesar’s Empire?
Obviously, one cannot help thinking of Asterix when seeing the box, the illustrations and the figurines of the Roman soldiers. It is even an assumed choice, since it is a licensed game. But, apart from our two little Gallic heroes who appear on the map near the Armorican coast, nothing relates to comics.
Beyond this small regret, Caesar’s Empire is a very good family game.
Family-friendly, thanks to its really very simple rules, its fast games and its dynamic turns. Be careful not to play with people who are a little too touchy. The goal of the game is still to steal the best locations under the nose of your opponents, and to take advantage of the roads opened by them.
This is all the more true as the number of players increases. With two, the games are much more tense and strategic. At five, you gain in atmosphere what you lose in strategy: when your turn comes, the positions on the board have changed so much that it is difficult to predict your move in advance.
Guarantee of quality, the game is reminiscent Rail Adventurers , even simpler. The different ways of scoring points bring diversity and several ways to play. Obviously, expert players, looking for a big strategy game, had better go their way, at the risk of being disappointed.
Nice material, pretty illustrations, perfectly in the style of Asterix, really simple rules, and fluid games, makeCaesar’s Empirean excellent game to play with family or friends. Deeper than it seems when reading the rules, it is very pleasant and pleasant to play, without the hassle, and provides a strong taste of “come back to it” once the game is over.
- Caesar’s Empireis a game by Matthieu Podevin
- Illustrated by Alexandre Bonvalot and Joëlle Drans
- Published by Holy Grail Games and Synapses Games
- For 2 to 5 players from 10 years old
- For games of about 30 to 60 minutes
- Priced at €40.90 at Philibert
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