Imperium Classics & Legends | Solo Review | With Mike

[@OneStopCoopShop]

COMPONENTS - Nice plastic trays for cards, though they will not fit sleeved cards. The tokens are mediocre but do the job. Card quality seems good. 0:00 - Introduction 0:30 - Fiddly Bits 1:00 - Automa Play 1:48 - Deck and Engine Building 2:42 - Tactical Cardplay 3:30 - Empire Variety 4:32 - Final Thoughts

[@ilqrd.6608]

I ordered both versions. That is how convinced I am that this game was practically made for me!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Excellent! Hope you love it :)

[@aholger]

Thanks for another great review! I think the AI gets easier to manage and less fiddly over time. I've played approx 15 times now, and you do start to learn what the AI does, and what the different cards do, to the extent that I only occasionally have to refer to the AI sheets, especially after a few rounds.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I mostly agree after 12 plays or so, though the different empires have minor differences that can make it more confusing. Like they’ll do the same thing as another empire, but one will put the card in history and the other won’t!

[@aholger]

@@OneStopCoopShop Yes, I've made plenty of mistakes with that sort of thing. I wish they would have highlighted the out of the norm bits a bit more.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Ah, that would have been a great idea, like a different font color or something

[@KyawThurein]

Preordered a copy of classics from Amazon yesterday. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@Hybban]

I love Mike reviews. They sometimes save me money ;)

[@OneStopCoopShop]

How’d this one work for you? Push you to buy, or push you to avoid! ;)

[@OneStopCoopShop]

This is Colin and it better be to buy it!! This one is awesome don't like Mike intimidate you! Haha!!

[@pumpkinhead76]

and most times costs you money :)

[@danieledwards1783]

I really like the game (I played the classic set for a few days and then straight up ordered the legends) but still think Mike's points are spot on. I was originally turned off when I realised the bot didn't actually play its cards (no war elephants for carthage boo) but the individuality of the bot automae is just hidden a bit in the tables. Playing the bot turns gets quicker but you still pretty much have to play with the rule book open in one hand so you can continually cross reference the card to the table. My biggest gripe is the feeling just a bit long part. And multiplayer is compelling but loooong - I'd love to see how a 3/4 player game turns out with all of the nation variability but pretty sure I'll never get the chance.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Our 3-player games haven’t been TOO terrible, but certainly longer than I like. But yes, I don’t think I’ll ever play with 4!

[@doanepoole6640]

Very late to this party, but love your videos and subscribed. You save me lots of money, this game ia like a Top 10 solo game on BGG, as of 2025, but just not for me I think...maybe if I could find ot way cheaper than I can. Also, I cant stand it when folks put Viking factions in with truly ancient civilizations...like the Vikings were many hundreds of years later. Historical wargames do this all the time and it really bugs me! Probably being too picky here but its a pet peeve😂

[@OneStopCoopShop]

One of the classes I teach is World Mythology, and you are absolutely right. I have to explain to my students that the myths of the Aztecs and the Norse and the Japanese and others are generally WAYYYYYYYYY more recent than ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia or China or India.

[@achang101]

I thought you would be more positive on this game. Personally this is the solo game of the year for me. I think it is great.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I hope I didn’t come off too negative! Three pros at the top of the list :). It’s in my top 3 or 4 new games of the year for me.

[@simontodd9631]

Wish I'd watched this before I bought them. Spot on review.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Thanks!

[@Gutock]

Question: Thoughts on 2p+Automa? Useful for more 'interaction' (such as it is) or not worth the fiddle? Thanks for covering this one, looking forward to future playthroughs!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I would say no. Not worth the fiddle, because as I mentioned many automa don’t even interact much. Colin and I have been discussing a co-op variant in the Discord though!

[@Gutock]

@@OneStopCoopShop Mmm, that could be excellent. I figured this was the kind of game where just having an opponent is enough, not that intricately interwoven. That said, co-op could be awesome, definitely post something on the ol' KZbins when you do? Playthrough!?! :)

[@OneStopCoopShop]

@@Gutock Colin is going to try out the idea first. Come chat on Discord about it ;)

[@OspreygamesUk]

Great review Mike. Thanks for this!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Thank you for watching!

[@Tombonzo]

Thanks for another great and informative 5 n 5, Mike!! Tally Ho 😀

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Onward!!!!

[@TableTopWolf1984]

I've been interested in this since I heard about it, but now I've got the money, the blooming classics version is sold out everywhere in England

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Osprey is an English company, I believe, so hopefully you’ll have first dibs on reprints!

[@danieledwards1783]

I find it interesting that each set was about 20 to 25, it suddenly lept up to 30+ then bamn sold out

[@TableTopWolf1984]

@@danieledwards1783 yeah mate, lowest I saw was 19 quid about 5 weeks ago, then all of a sudden its priced at 50-60 or more on ebay, rediculess how popular its become in a short time

[@OneStopCoopShop]

@@TableTopWolf1984 I just hope they can reprint quickly, considering how crazy shipping from China is right now...

[@TableTopWolf1984]

@@OneStopCoopShop yeah will be interesting to see what happens

[@booner8856]

The bot is so easy to manage which makes Imperium one of the best solo games I've ever played. Tons of replay value in just one box.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Amazing value for sure, even with just one of the boxes.

[@jamjams1000]

AI’s turns take no longer than 30-45 seconds…very quick in my experience

[@OneStopCoopShop]

For me it wasn’t all a question of time. More the annoyance of cross referencing 4 different cards for often 4 different effects, and many of them have multiple icons and you have to parse which has the highest priority

[@patriziopastore9895]

Thanks a lot man don't looks a game for me and my group but still interesting

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Always happy to help!

[@brandtsanderson4665]

It’s funny how I don’t really like playing solo games but I love the tedium of this solo bot because it actually attempts to make all of the bots feel different.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Very true! In a way it’s fun just to watch and see how they run their empire ;)

[@jackskellingtonsora]

I just don't bother with the bot. I like the game quite a bit, but I don't like automa in games. I'm not a big fan of games like Scythe or Root solo where you have to run a bot and cross reference a big chart. It's tedious when I just want to play the game. I very much prefer games where the game gets out of its own way and let's you play. Terraforming Mars and Everdell are fantastic examples of this. So whenever I play this one, I ignore the automa completely and just build my own deck. Whenever there's any card that interacts with another player, I just assume that they can do whatever the card requires of them and take the things I'm supposed to take. Like materials or population or what have you. Or I just remove the interaction cards from the game.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I get that for sure. I prefer an automa so what's nice is we all can have different opinions!