Twilight Imperium
Box Art for Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition
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| Designer(s) | Christian T. Petersen |
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| Illustrator(s) | Scott Schomburg Brian Schomburg Tyler Walpole |
| Publisher(s) | Fantasy Flight Games |
| Years active | 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Strategy |
| Language(s) | English |
| Players | 3 – 81 |
| Age range | 12+ |
| Playing time | 6+ hours |
| Random chance | Some D10 dice |
| Website | Fantasy Flight Games: Twilight Imperium |
| 1 7-8 players available with the Shattered Empire expansion. | |
Twilight Imperium is a strategy board game produced by Fantasy Flight Games. It was designed by Christian T. Petersen and was first released in 1998. The game is currently in its third edition, released in 2005, has large changes over previous editions. The third edition also has two expansions – Shattered Empire released in 2006, and Shards of the Throne released in 2011. It is known for the length of its gameplay (typically greater than 6 hours), and its in-depth strategy (including military, political, technological and trade).
The game's premise is a large-scale space opera. It is set in the unstable power vacuum left after the centuries-long decline and collapse of the previously dominant Lazax race. The old galactic central capital, Mecatol Rex, located in center of the map is maintained by custodians who maintain the imperial libraries and oversee the meetings of the galactic council. Players assume the roles of rising empires on the fringes of the galaxy, vying for military and political control, until one finally becomes sufficiently dominant to take over as a new galactic emperor.
The game consists of cardboard map tiles, cards, plastic units, cardboard counters, and player sheets. The map is built from hexagonal tiles, each showing up to three planets, empty space, or a red-bordered system containing an obstacle (with additional types added in the expansions). The centre tile is always Mecatol Rex, with the remainder of the galaxy built out in concentric rings.
Plastic playing pieces represent various starship classes and ground forces. Players are limited to the number of playing pieces provided with the game, except for fighters and ground forces. Counters are included for record-keeping, including command tokens, control markers, trade goods, and extra fighter and ground force counters. Cards are used to track planet ownership, trade agreements, technologies, public objectives, secret objectives, special actions, and policy voting agendas.
Three to six (eight, with 'Shattered Empires') players can play, with games typically taking more than six hours to complete (approx. 1.5 hours per player), although players new to the game can take longer. The game works on a 'victory points' system such that players earn points by completing as combination of public and secret objectives.
Each player randomly selects a race to control. Either a pre-designed map can be used, or players generate a map via a pre-game mechanic whereby each takes turns in placing map tiles to construct a galaxy map with Mecatol Rex at the centre and home systems around the periphery.
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Wikipedia