Tawantinsuyu: The Inca Empire Review - with Tom Vasel

[@ormhaxan]

I enjoy the game very much, the best part for me is gradually creating interesting board states with your workers, which can lead to pivotal turns.

[@Judge021979]

Yes! Exactly this! It’s so much work to find what to do - like a word search like exercise rather than fun.

[@ralelunar]

I watched the Paris review before this one and yeah, the quality of the two board designs are like night and day. The Paris board doesn't make me go cross-eyed.

[@Agent_Pendergast]

Different strokes for different folks. In my opinion and to echo another commenter this won game of the year for myself and our playgroup. The decision space in this game is amazing and lends to an incredible amount of replay value. The player aid is top notch and does a great job of helping players understand their options. Our group had no problem with the board design and never got the “Where is Waldo?” feel. The icons and board were clear and easy to locate and the game play shined. The game was A+ and our number 1, but we also recognize that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea and that is ok.

[@boardgames9950]

I'm stone cold color blind and I have no problem with the iconography. Ymmv.

[@davidturczi5713]

Your comment warms my heart. :)

[@boardgames9950]

@@davidturczi5713 Indeed! The Team did good. Well done.

[@Agent_Pendergast]

And thank you and your team for creating an amazing gaming experience.

[@jessicaw2137]

We really loved this game! For me it´s the best one by far in the T-series! It´s so interesting that all the workers stay on the board and allow for more powerful actions later in the game. There are also a lot of strategies you can go for. I actually also love the look of the game :)

[@davidturczi5713]

Thank you, it always brings joy to me when people appreciate in my game exactly what i wanted them to experience :)

[@terrencesoltz8943]

Hmm, didn’t realize this was a new game. Thought from the title that it was a reprint of Inca Empire, since that was originally called Tahuantinsuyu. Seems like this game might be better in a digital format where your available options were highlighted or you could hover over symbols to show the cost or benefit.

[@Patronux]

Terrence Soltz exactly what I was thinking. By this review the game is promising interesting decisions, but we'll see if the actual playability gets in the way of the gameplay.

[@monoludico6166]

David Turczi is one of my favorite board game designers. I cannot wait to try Tawantinsuyu. I'm pretty sure that to me it'll be the kind of game I love to play: lots of meaningful choices, well interlocked mechanisms, multiple paths to victory, satisfactory and deep gameplay.

[@boardgames9950]

I agree with the look, for sure. But the actual 'play' of this game for me was better than Teo and Tek. I liked the brain feelings for this one. Although I generally love Dice Drafting, I was very surprised by how 'meh' I found Tekhenu.

[@benlauson555]

Interesting!

[@aasever]

One of the designer for Tzolkin, Tekhenu, Trismegistus, Teotihuacan is Daniele Tascini. While for this game designer is only Dávid Turczi.

[@benlauson555]

Yes you are correct

[@shanerion]

Turczi co-designed tekhenu with tascini

[@davidturczi5713]

Yup, and I'll happily correct anyone who gets this wrong.

[@hairbrainedgames3127]

Opinions vary, but every year some game takes me by surprise in a pleasant way, and this was my surprise gem of 2020. No issues with the aesthetics of the board (quite the opposite), impressed with how smooth all the various elements flow together. Not only that, but there's just a joy in playing it, and all the diverse ways you can "forge your miniature destiny" in the game and still feel like you contributed to the game state as a whole. Easily an 8.5 out of 10.0.

[@chaffgrenade_x3]

I really, really like this game. Granted it does have some hard to remember rules but the player aid is fantastic and is always there to speed things along if anyone is ever stuck. I think I've played it 5 times this week!

[@pczplughead]

I bought this because of the Inca theme - I'm kinda worried by the "more work than fun" comment, as I sold Lisboa for precisely that same reason. Still, will give it a shot and, if I don't like it, I'm sure there'll be some resell value.

[@shanerion]

Toms overblowing that here. If you generally like mid-heavy euros, this fits right into that niche

[@pczplughead]

@@shanerion Hopefully you are right - he's not wrong about the board being, ah, icon-busy... still, will give it a good shot as I already have it (can't play it yet for obvious reasons!)

[@shanerion]

@@pczplughead it will seem less icon busy once you realize that it’s the same 4 or 5 simple icons repeating. The icons are action like take stone, take potatoes, build a statue. The icons represent simple actions and there’s no more than a handful of them. As long as you’re used to mid heavy euros, the board should look clean after you’ve had a chance to parse it and understand it. Similarly to how the teotihuacan board looks overwhelming to a new player when they see it, but once you know what’s where, it’s very clear and simple.

[@danielgoyens126]

Darn I was hoping this would be great! I’m heading to Cuzco and Machu Picchu later this year and was hoping to bring it along and play with some folks out there.

[@BrandonGraham]

Better graphic design would have helped a lot here. When I played, I felt that the game would have been a lot more fun if some of that player aid was integrated into the board... And if they didn't use meeples. Kind of a bland choice.

[@Steve-L]

Is this the very last component drop? I can't find one after this.

[@vincentlepine]

This game is stellar. I really enjoy it. At my opinion, this game is not fiddly at all, player aid is the best i see in big euros games, really clear and concise. I like the mix of game mechanics and all the possibilities/strategy that you can take each turn. Love also the quality of components and game design as well. This game goes right to my top three game! Well done @David Turczi

[@beornthebear9023]

Well looks like a found one to pass on for now which is good cause so many good games that have come out the last month

[@boardgames9950]

Ha! That's one of my goto thoughts...I LOVE watching and reading bad reviews. One less game I have to buy! Sometimes I actually go out of my way to NOT watch any other reviews if the first review I find is negative. I don't WANT to be convinced to buy it! Please god no! The shelf space!

[@StevenStJohn-kj9eb]

I love the look of the board - the 3D effect and the pentagon are really striking. But the "where's Waldo?" point was very insightful. Frankly I think there's some of that in Tzolk'in also. I prefer Teotihuacan, because I feel like your options are clearer, but your choice of which option is best is a nice meaty decision.

[@seansteel328]

I don't think this is part of a series, for one thing no Tascini

[@shanerion]

I consider it part of the series. Dave co-designed tekhenu with tascini

[@PandaOfElastic]

@@shanerion I'm with Sean. Tascini is the heart of the T-Series.

[@davidturczi5713]

Daniele played and gave plenty of advice over this game (I think he liked it :P ) . I would by no means expect him to officially count it as a part of his series, but ... it's a cousin :)

[@shanerion]

@@davidturczi5713 by the way don’t let toms review get you down. This is a great game. To me it feels like a cross between tascinis T games and cathalas games of five tribes and Yamatai. I really enjoyed it

[@jeremyfrost3127]

@@shanerion this was never a game that Tom was going to appreciate anyway. It's a fantastic design, and heavier gamers will enjoy it

[@JohnfromNY89]

I’ve actually picked this game up haven’t played it yet first play will be this week. I’m hoping my game group enjoy it

[@flynryan3053]

Game group?!? Aren't you hidding under a rock like so much of the country lol. Good to here not everyone believes the covid hype.

[@JohnfromNY89]

@@flynryan3053 oh I believe the hype but I also have friends who along with myself are responsible people who wear masks etc that I feel comfortable being around them.

[@southernfriedgamenight4304]

@@JohnfromNY89 100 percent dude. If we had fewer people like the dude above that don’t believe the hype then we would be back on track to going to meet ups. But nope, it’s just hype. He must be from the south.

[@cronkitepercussion]

@@flynryan3053 My wife and best friend of 33 years died of Covid July 8, 2021.

[@Fighterfan69]

Goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover and I think Tom was already let down. I'm still waiting for mine. ARGHH! For what it's worth, I don't think you mentioned that each of the colored meeples provides you with a different bonus. I love worker placement games that have that aspect. Anachrony being one of them (Engineer, Scientist, etc.) also by Turczi himself. Observation, I think the aspect of placement outside your 'cone' provides some interesting choices. I have a worker, my god card has a symbol that's right next to other meeples of the same color outside my zone. Do I pay extra corn for that spot which could provide more actions? or do I just focus on my 'cone' area which may be cheaper but don't provide me more actions?

[@Islacrusez]

Having just looked into The Transcontinental, this worker placement game really feels disjointed and unnecessarily convoluted by comparison. Definitely don’t think this is one that would be fun for me.

[@wichhouse]

I love you, Tom, but I couldn't disagree with you more. Best Euro of 2020 for our group, and that includes players who usually don't like games this analytical and heavy. Half worker placement, half action selection rondel, with a perfect mix of interesting placement rules and fascinating board states created by workers. And the temple in this game is many times more interesting than any temple in Teotihaucan, as it scores three times throughout the game and rewards predictably (for strategy) instead of the more chaotic way in other T-games.

[@markstarr4039]

Why do they have iron as a resource? They didn't use iron ever.

[@ErmacFellwalker]

It's not, it's stone. Tom misspoke

[@IronSalamander8]

Just listening to you describe how the game plays made it sound like a hot mess. And agreed on the reuse of the temple track in so many games, going back to at least Terra Mystica.

[@davidturczi5713]

the temple track is an explicit homage to Daniele Tascini's influence over my work, having worked as a developer, solo designer, and eventual expansion-co-designer on his game Teotihuacan. This is mentioned in the rulebook :)

[@fjldfldffss]

@@davidturczi5713 just because you want to make an homage does not invalidate the criticism that it is an overused mechanic. Your intentions don't matter if the result feels stale

[@buddylove1002]

I feel this designer gets a lot of positive buzz but to me his games that have been designed solely by him have been subpar at best. The best games with his name attached to it have been codesigns or he just made the solo version for it.

[@boardgames9950]

I can't find a design other than Dice Settlers that he designed on his own.

[@buddylove1002]

@@boardgames9950 That’s the only other one I’m aware of and I didn’t find it a compelling design either. I’m just not sure where this designer gets so much positive buzz based off of his body of work.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@buddylove1002 I think he did Anachrony as well which is really good. But yeah his buzz is more from his solo modes and even they are pretty complex solo modes. He appeals to a specific type of analytical gamer and as such his designs are not the most user friendly but they test the brain cells.

[@TheDarktater]

I love the decision space his games have. Just the right amount of brain burn.

[@buddylove1002]

@@TheBrokenMeeple I also enjoy Anachrony but he is a codesigner on that game.

[@ilqrd.6608]

This looks so incredibly average wow. Green in green with a mix if orange/earth...really nothing about this looks attracting

[@benlauson555]

so what

[@ilqrd.6608]

@@benlauson555 I will not buy it

[@benlauson555]

@@ilqrd.6608 because it doesn't look good?! Haha that is hilarious! Let me guess, you just eat the rainbow ice cream eh?! 🤘

[@ilqrd.6608]

@@benlauson555 I care about theme and looks, this looks like a icon orgy and zero theme. Gameplay might be solid but I'm just not terribly interested in games that look like spreadsheets. Many games combine look, theme and gameplay beautifully. If that is the equivalent of rainbow ice cream for you, fine whatever.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

@@ilqrd.6608 I’m in agreement here. The board doesn’t just look pretty ugly, but it’s also like Tom says, a chore to look for your moves at. I instantly thought Where’s Wally and then Tom said Waldo and I nearly died! 🤣

[@tyquanfleming8554]

Can create a game just 🎲

[@ThymeKeeper]

If you can pronounce Tawantinsuyu you should be able to pronounce Teotihuacan :).

[@Patronux]

Marc MacNair I think the issue is that Teotihuacan has that 'H' in the middle which confuses most english speakers, also the two vowels together, and maybe the "Te" which they'll pronounce as "Ti" and then there's an actual "ti" afterwards. I don't know. Tawantinsuyu is pretty straightforward is you read it syllable by syllable. But I love every time Tom tries to pronounce Teotihuacan

[@JJ_TheGreat]

@@Patronux And they are 2 words from 2 different cultures/civilizations, as well.

[@ericfinley220]

That board is hideous.