The decisions of Tianxia

Let’s bring back 🏯 Tianxia to the table! If you scroll back a bit on our profile, you’ll find a first overview of the gameplay. Today, let's take a look at where the fun comes from and how it plays with 2 players. 👇

The decision space of Tianxia is pretty huge. On a given turn you only need to choose from 1 of 8 possible regions to go to with your action disc, yet deciding the best one needs careful consideration. 🧐

Each region is associated with a Palace, so every time you go to one, you go up the corresponding track. 📊 Depending on your objective cards, position of your rivals or bonuses you can claim, you might prefer some tracks over others.

If other discs are already present you need to pay coins, which might steer you towards other regions - especially as you never have enough coins.

Not all regions have the same possible actions which is of course the main thing to think about. Inland regions let you exchange basic resources for advanced goods ♻️, and the seaside regions have ships ⛵ where you can offload your goods for points and other useful things. Both region types have buildings 🏠 you can utilize by appointing Governors, and what buildings are still up for grabs is another huge deciding factor from the very first turns.

Even when you decide for the defense action, you need to choose whether you build walls or train soldiers, and which section you are protecting.

So yeah, each turn is filled with delicious calculations, and this is what makes the game heavy and sometimes long. I also find it simple to accidentally miss a small sub-step or two when executing actions. You need to be on top of your game when playing (as tends to be with heavy euros).

As for the 2-player experience: 👥 you do require a 3rd dummy player who acts according to a deck of cards. It adds a bit of overhead of course, but it is necessary to make the game enjoyable at this player count. Once you get the hang of it, it’s not a big deal, but it is important to mention. 

All in all we really enjoy Tianxia, partially for its incredible replayability but also for its enormous decision space. It has everything you might expect from a heavy Board & Dice game. 😊