Imperial Settlers – Empires of the North

Empires of the North represents the latest game in a journey that started with the first iteration of 51st State. That journey has progressed to Imperial Settlers, and then back to 51st State with the release of the Master Set. This latest versions mixes the best of these games, with some new, improved, 100% amazing parts.

The engine building core remains and keeps the unique decks of Imperial Settlers as opposed to the shared deck of cards to build from. Having unique decks means that you need to bear in mind the particular leanings of your deck. In the box there are eight decks of nation cards split between four nations. The only slight annoyance in components is each deck comes with a couple of cardboard token ships that aren’t clearly linked to the deck you are using.

The ships are a new feature that work really well. Raze tokens that used to be for attacking opponents only allow you to take your ships to the seas and plunder or make friends with other islands. Also, attacking other players simply exhausts their card rather than destroying it as in the older games.

Also gone is automatic production, so all the goods you need will have to be gained by you taking actions. Speaking of which, there is a new action selection/worker placement circle. The circle changes each game in terms of order. To use these actions, you can send up to two tokens to take an action. Then, later on, you can pay a food to move that token to the action left or right and then take that action too.

Other than that, the game revolves around gaining what you need to activate the combos you have built in your tableau. It works at least as well as it did in 51st State and Imperial Settlers. In fact, some may prefer it too 51st State due to the player decks providing different styles of play.

If you haven’t entered the world of engine builder or Portal’s previous efforts, then this is definitely the game for you. Portal have a great history of supporting their games with expansions, and it already looks like this will be well supported! Even if you have played the previous games there is enough here to tempt you away and reward you for straying!

Player Count: 1-4
Time: 45-90 Minutes
Age: 10+