The theme is non-existent, but for a game that is done with in less than 45-60 minutes, that’s something I can put up with. It’s an abstract card game through and through and should be approached as such. Draw"/"Meld"/"Achieve"— Dogma effects that instruct you to do one of these things are performed similar to taking the action, but do not count as that action for any purpose that cares about that distinction.

The dig event is ignored if you already have a card on display, or if the Artifact supply pile of that age is empty (you never put non-Artifact cards on display). In general, if a base card supply pile is empty, all expansion card supply piles of the matching age are considered empty (even if they still have cards in them).

Essentially the more players you have, the more chaos that may ensue from dogma effects. This is quite fun to witness however so I don’t mind a three player game for that reason, but Innovation is always at its best with two players or two teams. If you think that four players is all you’ll do, then you won’t get the best out of this game. Final Thoughts on Innovation On a normal turn, you must take two actions. If any effect or rule gives you a "free" action, it does not count as one of these two. For each action, you must choose from the following four options (you may choose the same action twice):

Age of Innovation retains the renowned player scalability from its predecessors. The power charging + the upgrade discount works fantastic as a tool to keep the players at exactly the right distance. The "Legend", "Repute", and "Fame" Special Achievements can be triggered by any meld effects, not just Meld Actions. In a 2 player game with just the base set, 6 achievements are required. For each extra player, subtract one from the requirement. For each expansion added, add one to the requirement. ex: "Score a blue card from you hand. If you do, draw a card of value one higher than the card you scored." Alphabetical" comparisons are done by the English version of the title, and include leading articles. i.e., The Wheel is considered to come before Tools alphabetically.

3 Reviews

The rulebook is also very good. It starts with the setup, explains the general principles of the game, and then moves on to actions. Finally, all the tiles are included in the appendix, explaining what they do. It’s hard for me to judge how the rulebook is if you’re a newcomer, but everything seems to be in the right place.

Your Demand effects are not executed by your teammate. Your teammate can share in your non-demand effects, but if they are the only other player who does, you do not get a free Draw action.

If you have at least two red cards on your board, you must score the top two (possibly losing their splay if you had only two or three). Then you splay your green cards up, if possible (if you have at least two greens on your board). 2. If you have one red card on your board, you must score it, but then you do not splay your green cards up. 3. If you have no red cards on your board, nothing happens.) If you take the action, claim an achievement you are eligible for by transferring it from the available achievements, to your personal achievements pile on the right side of your player reference card. So, how does everything add up when the game is in action? Very good, actually. The gameplay is very similar to both GP and TM (obviously), but Age of Innovation could be best described as a pimped-up Terra Mystica. Very comparable, yet with more customization options. You may only claim achievements that are set aside as "available". Once another player claims an achievement, it is no longer available to be claimed. Asmadiwere the original creators of Innovation and they use a more abstract approach to their graphic design and styling, whereas IELLO’s edition was more artistic and colourful. Both have their pros and cons, but most people prefer the look of the IELLO version.