Imperium: Classics/Legends Solo Mode Review - with Mike DiLisio

[@nigelbuckle3759]

Wow, thanks for the review, glad it worked for you :) The fact you were a history teacher and you think the theme fits is great, we definitely spent time on the thematic integration.

[@ospreymarketing4411]

Thank you for the review Mike. We're so excited to see people diving into the solo mode. We are honored.

[@PwnageEngage]

I'm not even a solo gamer but I respect the love and detail you put into these reviews. Awesome!

[@Beppsta]

This is my solo game of the year. Such a perfect design and 225 unique playable combinations means hours of replay ability.

[@jdaddyaz]

As a fellow history teacher, I too am in love with both the design and theme of this game. The art is simply beautiful to behold, and I love the fact that every faction's region cards have a recurring animal popping up. Bonus parts for having the Killer Bunny Rabbit from "The Holy Grail" making a guest appearance in the Arthurians deck.

[@jdaddyaz]

P.S. Great review Mike, per usual.

[@gregkleinfall1901]

I just bought both Classic and Legends and will receive the games tomorrow. With all of the reviews, how-to-plays, and play throughs I have watched (including reading the rulebook online), I think your summary of the game is absolutely spot on. You touched on exactly the same things I am expecting to experience (pro and con). Excellent Review!

[@Wonderflonium]

Great explanation of how the bot functions! They took your advice with the solo cards in Horizons.

[@marcojean8806]

I agree setup is more than 2 minutes... I actually timed it and even taking my time, it took me under 6 minutes. It takes longer to setup Viscounts of the west kingdom and I don't recall many people complaining... Tear down isn't that bad either...

[@Bleuchz]

This game is a great example of how good storage helps with set up imo.

[@jamessendy8131]

yeah i did the same when i saw people complaining about set up and teardown, setup was ~5 minutes and tear down not much longer lol, such a weird complaint

[@TheJacksonSloan]

Just purchased this game today. Will play it solo - so this video was a great introduction. Thank you, Mike - I think I would have enjoyed having you as my History Teacher.

[@robertbouley7697]

Even when our tastes differ you articulate yourself so well. Makes sense you were a teacher. Thanks for the informative review - game looks amazing.

[@panosliakos3653]

One of my favorite solo card games out there - if not the best... Operating and effective bot, that I compare only with the "Race For The Galaxy" bot. A game for the rest of your life and a companion for everywhere; we need more games like this!

[@Fighterfan69]

I had a feeling you would like this one. It's definitely better as a solo game. My wife would not be into this one at all. The replayability is off the charts on this. I've had both of these for nearly 2 months and have yet to play every single civilization. My favorites being from the Legends box. Arthurian, Utopian, Olmecs, Minoans, Mauryan, and difficult to grasp, Utopians. Solo game of the year for me. This is jumped into my personal top 5 rather quickly. Still won't dethrone Spirit Island though.

[@anab0lic]

what else is in your top5?

[@Fighterfan69]

@@anab0lic Paladins of the West Kingdom, Anachrony, Empires of the North( I use a variant I posted in the BGG forums) not in any specific order.

[@jamescartwright1150]

Another excellent Mike Dili-solo review 🙂I didn't find the rules difficult to understand apart from them missing out the unrest bot rule. I enjoy it solo and don't think the got turns are to long I have tried it multiplayer and it does take quite a while.

[@Vlad2.47]

I bought this based on your recommendation. No regrets! Great solo game

[@ButOneThingIsNeedful]

Top-level review, Mike. Thank you very much!

[@Paulovlyra]

My favorite solo experience ever! Love it!

[@HARDSTYLERRRRR]

Great review! And yes I would love to have the nation reference tables as separate double sided cards. I was thinking to print them myself. I'm going for my 4th attempt to beat the Atlanteans as the Minoans on imperator diffeculty. I just can't seem to beat them. It's mind-blowing 😂

[@Castorshells]

Great game and great video. I agree it is best as solo. As for the faction actions I printed all the tables on card stock, cut them down to size, and stuck each civ with barbarian and empire sides back to back. Great Idea!

[@Copterman]

If you’re a solo gamer and you don’t think a game in your collection could be played 100s of time, you need to sell that game. Less games, deeper dives. This is a game I can play over and over.

[@CDCyD]

What are your favorite solo and deckbuilding games? Mine are Mage Knight and Heart of Crown, respectively.

[@XHuntinatorX]

Heart of Crown? I will have to have a look at it. Mage Knight is one of my favorites as well... only played it solo as of now.

[@CDCyD]

@@XHuntinatorX You let me know how it goes!!

[@Okhi_Zumi]

Every review says the rule book is terrible. I learned from the book without any issues. This is my favorite solo experience ever.

[@mindyfranke5279]

Interesting and good review. It's funny that almost every reviewer I've watched says things about the rulebook, which is written in a war-game format. I find them rough to get through because of the text density, but it's Osprey so it's what I expect. Tutorial videos are definitely a must! Still looking forward to getting this and diving into it.

[@IlPiTube]

Great review as usual. It would be great to see a Top 10 list of solo deck building games from you.

[@SoloBoardGamingKnight]

I need to check this one out. Thanks!

[@j_atkinson]

This review may push me over the edge to get this. It's been getting a lot of buzz over at the BGG's 1 Player Guild, but I've been concerned with the length, setup/teardown, and maintenance. If you're still giving it high marks even with these issues you mentioned, I may just have to give it a whirl.

[@franciscorojas8088]

Mike, you should play "The search for planet X" I'm intrigued to hear your thoughts about its solo version. Personally, I believe it's flawless and I bet you'd point a lot of people towards that game when asking for a solo experience.

[@greenskynz]

this is really helpful for people to decide whether the game is for them or not. not sure how to explain but in solo games i prefer when there is no virtual opponent ie spirit island, lotr lcg, arkham of horror, Friday etc. one could argue that in spirit island there is virtual opponent (explorers) but just mechanics are so different. you dont feel that you spend time playing for someone else. otherwise we could say that chess could be a solo game by simply flipping the board around and once playing dark or white pawns. just wonder if anyone feels the same.

[@apollonia6656]

War gaming is very overwhelming for a solo player like me....never got into it ( bought ' Attack ' , ' Alexander the Great ', S.P.Q.R ' and a few more but never got into their complexity! So, the Imperium games give me a bit of a phobia. The rules seem even more complex than I thought. OK , I have not read the rules since I have not bought either game but wondering if I might end up with the boxes meeting the other games I mentioned. Believe me when I say there have been many games whose rule books nearly ended up in the bin ( Robinson Crusoe: Cursed Island for example ) but I unravelled the hodgepodge and ended up living the games....is this likely to happen with the Imperium ones ? 😕😕😕😕😕 Your videos are great for solo players like myself. Btw: Any chance of ' Village ', please ? Thanks.

[@jahniedez6834]

Thanks Mike! I bought both Legends and Classics... R.I.P. wallet

[@BenCurran_17]

i actually disagree about the bot administration, i find it pretty fast on a lot of turns. it gets faster as you remember what the actions are for the corresponding turns, which comes fairly fast for me as they aren't complicated actions. some turns are longer than others but often im done with theirs in maybe 30 seconds to a minute

[@marcojean6578]

Totally agree with this comment. Of course some people want to try all nations one after the other so they change bot chart all the time and it makes it harder. Myself, I tend to play multiple games between 2 nations and, as you said, 30 seconds isn't far-fetched at all!

[@BenCurran_17]

@@marcojean6578 exactly 😁

[@Basilisk4119]

Great review

[@StevenAPowers]

This one is a classic for me. Agree that it could be a bit shorter and also did not enjoy the rulebook. Would have liked player aides for the boys but I'll just print out my own.

[@Mokkel73]

Just got to say: this wat SPOT ON!

[@anab0lic]

Got both coming to me in the post tomorrow, too many positive reviews surrounding this one to ignore it.

[@JerreMuesli]

The audio is really muffled in this video

[@tyrussleightholme7261]

Dark Ages 👀👀👀

[@arnold2011]

I maybe buy this game just because of the solo mode. As a multiplayer game it is just a bit to hard to learn and slow to play.

[@DullDishwater]

And with that Mike proves he has massively better taste than Tom.

[@thedicetower]

We both like the game, you know. :)

[@DullDishwater]

@@thedicetower He didn’t give it a very strong recommendation

[@alicemoore2036]

Tom Vasel really liked the game. He did go into the problems with the rules. For some reviewers problems with rules may not be thought of or soft pedaled.