The Warfare sheet is among the more complicated, with players needing to divide their units between four different war events and battles with each of their table neighbours.

Votes are cast by spending a vote asset for each vote cast (also handled via a simple AI for two player or solo games). Wow. There’s a lot to process in this game. The original game, Twilight Imperium, has been described by some as “epic”, and this R&W version of it is just about the most “epic” in the R&W genre – both in scope of time as well as the number of possible marks you can and will make on the FOUR sheets in the game.Twilight Inscription is an all-new way to experience the Twilight Imperium universe. This roll-and-write is FFG’s first foray into the genre, and the game is as epic and massive as anything in the TI universe should be. Make your mark on the galaxy and claim the throne when Twilight Inscription launches this fall! Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Twilight Inscription, a brand-new game in the Twilight Imperium universe! I have certainly not fully explored the game yet; there are plenty of other factions to play with – and each will cause you to approach the game differently. Also, I think I have yet to see how some of the different Agenda cards can change the game nor how choosing to specialize in different ways will work. The game can play up to 8 players; but man, you’re gonna need a humongous table. With each player needing 4 full sheets on the table to look at, it’s unlikely that any gamer would have enough space for all 8 people to sit and see everything. But, it’s nice to have a long/complex game that could expand to that player count. I don’t think I have any other game in my current collection that can do that. And I know that I don’t have any other roll and write game that hits all the spots that this one does. Twilight Inscription is a competitive roll and write for one to eight players, with games lasting between 90 and 180 minutes, depending on the number of players and their knowledge of the game.

There are three reasons I did not sell Hadrian’s Wall after playing Twilight Inscription. I managed to get a picture of all twenty four Factions in Twilight Inscription – they would never be this close together without a war breaking out in Twilight Imperium. Production (three events during the game): Players claim trade goods based on how advanced their Industry is – yep, it’s that fast and that easy. You may have caught it earlier when we mentioned the player count, but you can play this game solo as well! Twilight Imperium’s imposing length combines with a fairly steep climb up its rules for newcomers - expect to add at least a couple of extra hours for teaching first time around - and enough cardboard tiles and plastic spaceships to leave most tables creaking. In short, it’s a board game that asks a lot of you. Finally, I have concern with long-term usage of the chalk markers included in the game. If you consistently play two-, three- or four-player games it will not be an issue compared to those who play at higher player counts, but you will have to buy replacement markers eventually and they are more expensive than pencils. Final Thoughts:Having played a guided demo of Twilight Inscription at Gen Con 2022 ahead of its release later this year, my experience of the unexpected collision was that of a game that manages to bring the best elements of its disparate halves together in a deep, thoughtful adaptation. The Lazax Empire has burned to ash, rejected by its subjects. The aftermath was tragedy and petty conflict in equal measure, a time of loss and exhaustion. In the ensuing Dark Years, the factions of the galaxy retreated and recovered their strength. Now, they look upon the stars and see an opportunity—a chance to reclaim what was lost. A chance to redefine galactic civilization. A chance to leave their mark upon the stars. The largest difference in the two games is the absence of the board.In Twilight Imperium, you are all on the same board interacting with each other and the decisions of another player might severely hurt or help your strategy. In Twilight Inscription each of you are on your own individual boards. While this is common in roll-and-writes, this takes away from the communal aspect of the original game’s experience. If you are that type of player, Twilight Inscription may not be the game for you. The Takeaway

Enter Twilight Inscription, Fantasy Flight's brand new game that promises to be "The Epic Roll & Write Experience", with the ambitious aim of abstracting the Twilight Imperium experience into a game-night-able roll and write that can still accommodate up to 8 players, all vying to become the new ruling force in the galaxy score the most victory points. Twilight Inscription does indeed manage to abstract Twilight Imperium, but in so doing it also completely misses the mark on the things that make Twilight Imperium so special. With that being said, this is still a worthwhile game, you simply have to table it with the proper expectations. What is Twilight Inscription? Warfare is where most of the player interaction in the game is found. Here you’re playing a sort of Tetris game to try and fill in as much of a grid as you can. Filling in certain spaces gets you a bonus whereas others can’t be filled in at all. At 4 points during the game war will break out. Now you compare your warfare score to the players on either side of you, think 7 Wonders. If you win you get a bonus, if not you lose a few points. Whenever I’ve played Twilight Inscription, I’ve gone fairly heavy into warfare as I really like the puzzle and there are some great rewards up for grabs. We’re In For Some Chop Industry has players building up their factories to produce trade goods, the wild resource of the game, to strengthen their expansion. Lastly, with warfare players assemble their fleets and strike out at their neighbours around the table. There is also a battle to be the first to fulfil each of the four public objectives, one for each board, available each game. The galaxy is also littered with relics; Powerful forgotten objects that can be used to change the fate of your empire. The 32 sheets included in Twilight Inscription are double sided – one side is the same for every player and the other is asymmetrical.

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Production – there is one each in Era II, III and IV. See how many trade goods you get from the grid in the bottom right on the Industry board. Claim to corresponding number of goods in the area just to left of this While much of this review has focused on how players who have played Twilight Imperium might feel about Twilight Inscription, it is important to look at this from the other direction as well. If you have friends who you would like to bring into the Twilight Imperium universe, Twilight Inscription is a much more accessible entry point. It does not require any knowledge of the original to enjoy the game or play it well. In the same way that knowing Twilight Imperium might help you learn Twilight Inscription faster, having played the roll-and-write could make someone feel less overwhelmed and daunted by the immense Twilight Imperium experience. I have always wanted to play Twilight Imperium, but the high player count, complexity, and most importantly, game length, prevented me from doing so. Well, at least until Fantasy Flight Games announced a new game premiering at Gen Con 2022. A much more streamlined version of their flagship IP called Twilight Inscription? Sign me up!! Wait… it’s a roll and write? And it still takes two hours? Seriously?? If you are looking for a shortened version of Twilight Imperium that is going to make you feel like you've played a galaxy spanning 4x space opera then you need to continue your search. On the other hand, if you like to play with a smaller group, and your group really likes puzzle-y Euro games that puts most of the path to success on each player's choices rather than the goings on of their opponents then there really is a deep, fun experience to be had with Twilight Inscription. Even though it doesn't truly scratch that epic 4x itch, it's actually accessible enough and easy enough to table that you'll be able to play it far more often than once or twice per year.

There’ll be no shortage of room to experiment too, with Twilight Inscription including all of the factions from both Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition and its expansion, Prophecy of Kings. Each faction comes with its own unique ability, a faithful translation of those seen in the original board game to the roll-and-write format. If that wasn’t enough of a way to shake things up from game to game, all four of the sheets have different A and B sides, which can be combined in any format - and with players able to use completely unique combinations in the same session, it looks to offer a huge amount of replayability and variation without changing the central gameplay. I’m not sure if this is my favourite heavy roll and write game. Hadrian’s Wall is excellent and I really enjoy Rome and Roll too. I think Twilight Inscription needs you to strategize more when you play. Those other two games I’m very much thinking, what is the best thing I can do this turn? Twilight Inscription has me thinking more about the bigger picture and about how these choices are affecting my path in general. I also feel like Twilight Inscription plays better with other people. A lot of Roll and Writes play well, if not at their best, solo. Twilight Inscription has a good solo mode, which is also used in a 2 player game, but the game absolutely shines with 3 or more players. That said, beyond the Warfare events, player interaction is pretty minimal. This is a mostly heads down, solo experience. Second, the interaction from the Warfare and Council events are not very deep. The Warfare event is just like 7 Wonders—compare the strength of your armada to your neighbor’s strength and determine the winner. I wish it had more depth like being to eliminate your opponent’s ships if you drew a certain formation or special abilities on the Faction sheets. As for the Council phase, you simply spend votes on the outcome you want to have happen. There is no trading. I suppose you could promise to not do something on Warfare in exchange for votes, but that would be the extent of your ability to negotiate. Again, I wish these events were more robust.As you can see, during strategy events it is not as simple as “I’ll activate Expansion.” Ok, TECHNICALLY it is that simple; however, since the event card is revealed BEFORE choosing your active sheet, you know what resources are being provided by the event. As it may be more beneficial for you to spend the resources on one sheet versus the other three. Meanwhile, Twilight Imperium’s political clashes become agenda cards, divisive events affecting the entire table or even specific factions that players can sway in their favour by using gathered votes. Like the board game, seizing the galactic seat of Mecatol Rex grants a significant bonus in the form of both votes and victory points, with the bonus reduced for each successive player that reaches the planet. As roll and write games go, it’s also surprisingly interactive. Winning wars isn’t such a huge deal in this regard. You can try and keep up with the military totals of your neighbours, but failing to do so just means a few lost resources and victory points; it’s not zero-sum where what one player loses is gained by another. No, the big interactive engine is the council votes. These involve drawing a random motion that has a specific pass-or-fail effect which will benefit some players and damage others depending on how their strategies are evolving. Then you use votes you’ve gained to support or oppose the motion. It’s an exciting moment that can have a big impact on how the game unfolds. Any similarity with Imperium does not run to game length, since Twilight Inscription can be played in two hours. Do you sacrifice some of the epic-ness in that reduction? Well, yes, but it seems a reasonable trade-off, as few of us actually have entire days or weekends free to dedicate to the art of fictional cosmic imperialism.