More thoughts on The First Tsar
It was interesting to play ⚒️ The First Tsar: Ivan the Terrible after Minos. Both games were designed by Stan Kordonskiy, and both are played over 4 rounds with a scoring after the 2nd and 4th round. Even the action selection feels a bit familiar, as you first plan out your actions, then you execute them one-by-one, possibly in a different order. You also place out buildings and warriors to the map and move them around - but that is where the similarities end, and in spite of them The First Tsar manages to provide a wholly different experience. I’d say overall it’s a more restrictive and tight one, with less overall actions. 🤔
🧐A big focus of the game is area majority, as whoever has the most influence in the 4 regions will get a bonus at the end of each round - ☝️ and those bonuses are an essential source of points and additional resources. Contract fulfillment is another important aspect. One of the actions lets you draw or complete Project cards and these cards are also the only reason to gather resources.
Every Project card gives you victory points, but additionally Construction 🏗️ projects let you place down buildings which help with influence in regions; Military ⚔️ projects let you send warriors to the battlefield for spoils of war (and to take part in another majority contest); and Trade 💰 projects let you activate trade tokens on your player board that produce all kinds of things.
👥2-player games work well but also become zero-sum - as expected with these game mechanics. Any majority contest you lose will be won by your opponent. The Tsar favor track that is mostly only there for tiebreaking feels either useless or super powerful depending on the situation. That is another element that would be less swingy in 3p or 4p games. If you are up for some tight and calculated fights, The First Tsar is perfectly enjoyable in 2p.
The action selection is fun and it is always a difficult decision as you can only choose 3 from 5 actions. And as a game is over in 4 rounds you really have to make the best of the little that you get. 😉
