Osprey Games Imperium: Classics

If you like civ builders, or have never played one in your life, you're in luck. This game is fantastic. As a base game, you can get a lot of value and replay from the eight included civilizations. Add in Imperium: Legends and you get an exponential amount of value to this game.GAMEPLAYGameplay has a slight learning curve and you will find yourself referring to the manual occasionally to clear up some mechanics. Other times, you'll feel yourself googling for answers or checking out the forums on BGG (the developer is very active on the BGG forums and answers a lot of gameplay mechanic questions-thanks Nigel!).Once you get the hang of the mechanics you'll be playing though many games and enjoying every single one. Your first game, depending on your ability to pick up on the rules, could last anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hours. Once you get the hang of the game you can get through most of them in 90 or less.QUALITYThe quality of the cards is subjective. Overall, they are pretty decent and the colors and artwork are fantastic. However, some cards came damaged in my box from the manufacturer. Some had small dents at the bottom center while others looks like they had mildly smushed corners. For the most part it's not a dealbreaker because I was sleeving them anyway.Speaking of sleeving, when putting cards in the sleeves some of the cards almost bent on me to the point where it would have creased the card. The card stock is not the thickest and if I had to guess is less than 300gsm. When sleeving, be careful!ERRATAThe game has a small errata that I would recommend you follow if possible. The changes will not most likely break the game, but they are small enough to make an impact. There is a lot of ill-will towards the publisher because they refuse to print and sell an errata pack, so some users on the BGG forums have stated they refuse to buy the game or trying to sell their 1st edition.The publisher fixed the errata cards in a second printing, but there is no way to know if you buy the 1st or 2nd just looking at the outside of the box. The methods of knowing it is a 2nd printing is: a) a Dice Tower sticker is on the top-left of the shrink wrap, b) the errata cards are fixed, and c) the solo manual has the bolded text of what to do when the bot reveals an Unrest card (1st printing does not tell you what to do with these).The errata is not game-breaking so if you get a first edition it's no big deal. If you plan to sleeve your cards, you can print the errata cards and put them in the sleeves along with it.VALUEThe pricing for the game varies depending on retailer, but it seems to have an MSRP of around $50. At that price, it is still well worth it, but some vendors have it cheaper.You get plenty of replay value from this game and it supports 1-4 players out of the box. If you are a solo player, you can play against the bot and that has endless replayability as well.OVERALLI highly recommend this game to anyone looking to get away from competitive PVP games like MTG. Sure, this game is still competitive and not cooperative, but since your goal is to build your civilization, it doesn't feel like your attacking or using counter spells.Thanks for reading!

I haven’t played many solo card/board games but this one has made me a believer. It’s a ton of fun and has a lot of replay value.I have also played several rounds with friends. While still highly entertaining, the learning curve to teach others and the length of time to complete a game makes this a bit harder of a sell for the none strategic friends.The artwork is excellent and I’m amazed by how diverse it is for each people group. They really went all out and I appreciate that!Overall it’s an excellent game with a deep strategy that will leave you wanting to explore and play more in solo play. For groups you may need to find a dedicated friend group if you want to get the full value from playing with othersFinal verdict:Solo play 10/10Group play: 7/10

I play solo for the most part (as my wife doesn't enjoy games and I have yet to find a group in my area). This game is perfect for that. Great deckbuilding game. If that is your cup of tea in tabletop gaming, this should be great for you. The Solo variant mechanics are really great, and simulate interaction pretty well. I have only one once, it's challenging even for the lesser factions. But I love just trying it over and over and trying the control of different factions. It's great how they all play very different from one another.

I’ve been having fun with this and its companion game, Imperium Legends, playing solo. With all the different civilizations, there is a lot to explore.

I play this solo. Fun deck builder that slowly builds to endgame. You goal is the get the engine up and running faster then the bot ai. The bot is easy to manage. You can play the different empires against each other

Great product from a great shipper...

One of the best solo games I've played this year.

the choice of multiple opponents is good. components are good. HOWEVER, learning time and set-up time are quite lenghty. I do not recommend.