Can a game be re-invented? Well, there always have been occasions when publishers have decided that one of their products had been so successful that a new edition was needed, and others followed even simpler motives by just re-theming a game in order to sell the same idea twice. Knowing that Ignacy certainly is not someone who would copy his own game, I have been waiting for his newest game Imperial Settlers with a high degree of curiosity because it was said to be based on his successful cardgame 51st State. You might remember that post-apocalyptic 51st State has been my convention hit of the SPIEL in 2010, and the game had been further improved by The New Era and the Winter expansion which had been released in following years. Even this year the 51st State franchise has been further enriched with the new Ruins expansion, but with all these products and ideas taken together I first was a bit puzzled by the question why a new game could be needed.

To my mind the answer to this question in connected with the game's theme. Considering the fact that the mechanics of 51st State provide an excellent playing experience, I can see the sense behind a re-theming of the game, because a post-apocalyptic setting certainly is not suitable for everybody's taste. In fact, a game which such a martial theme hardly can be called a typical "family game". I'd guess that these thoughts come quite close to Ignacy's own evaluation of his game's development over the last few years, and considering the great value of the ideas which had been realized in 51st State it can be understood that he looked for a way to present his game to a bigger audience. Keeping this in mind, just looking at the box of Imperial Settlers reveals that he did not only succeed in reaching this aim, but already the amiable Farmer on the cover signalizes that Ignacy had taken the whole idea one step further. The game's graphics have been re-designed to imitate the cute graphics which can be found in some empire-building computer games, and the way it was realized was none less than a stroke of genius. The new graphic style has found its way into every part of the game, and players now take lead of the incredibly cuddlesome tribes of the Romans, the Egyptians, the Barbarians and the Japanese. Leaving the apocalypse behind, the game's graphics now will appeal to all kinds of gamers, and this should guarantee that Ignacy's mechanics finally get the audience they deserve!

But okay, enough praise for the graphics, let's go for some facts. Imperial Settlers indeed is strongly based on the mechanics of 51st State, and so the game sees the players building a small empire from cards which are partially drawn from each player's own Faction deck and partially chosen from an open display. Each player has a basic income of a few workers and resources, and these resources can be used to build some first buildings which in turn will provide new resources and other abilities. However, a card cannot only be built, but a player also may spend less resources to establish a deal with the new card, not using its major ability but getting a small additional income for the rest of the game. Finally, a card may also be destroyed ("razed"), and if a player does this the card will be discarded, granting the player some resources as a one-time benefit. So, it's up to the players to decide which cards they should raze, which cards they should use to establish deals, and which cards they should build to use their abilities to their full extend.

Cards which have been built are added to the player's Empire, and all buildings fall into one of three different categories. One type of buildings produces resources, the second type gives the player a permanent benefit which may be triggered if certain conditions are met, and the third type of buildings can be used for actions. Workers may be sent to these buildings to perform a broad range of actions, sometimes resulting in the production of resources and sometimes providing the player with special actions which may possibly be used to hamper the other players (stealing resources, destroying buildings etc.).

The game is played over a total of five rounds, and during a round the players take actions one after the other until all players finally have chosen to pass. The range of possible actions goes from building a card to making a deal or razing a card (a building owned by the player, or, if he possesses a Sword token, a building of an opponent), and it is also considered to be an action to send workers to an already existing building to perform an action there. Players who have chosen to pass may not perform an action anymore, but at the same time they also become immune against other players' hostile actions for the rest of the round.

It's the overall aim of the players to build as many of their cards as possible, preferable the cards from their own Faction decks because they will count for two victory points in the final evaluation. Cards which have been built from the Common deck open to all players only count for one victory point, and in addition these cards are often discarded since many of the cards from the players' Faction decks need another building as a foundation on which they can be built. In the end, the player with the most valuable buildings will win the game.

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Copyright & copy; 2015 Frank Schulte-Kulkmann, Essen, Germany