Twilight Incripstions is the roll-n-write edition of the infamous Twilight Imperium (TI). TI is known for many things. First is its longevity, the first version came out decades ago, and is in its 4th edition now. Second, I used “infamous”, since TI is frequently mentioned as an example for games that last too long. An average game can take more than 8 hours. Third, TI is also a good example of love it or hate it, since people who love TI play it almost religiously. Some play TI only, while some set up yearly tradition to play it once per year. Others look at the playtime and give up before even trying.
I enjoyed TI4 when I played, but didn’t feel it gave enough values for the time spent. I also don’t like games with too much negotiation. The randomness from players plus the randomness from dice and cards are just too much for my taste, especially considering the length of one session.
But this, Twilight Inscriptions, seems right down my alley… for a solo game. It has some of the the parts that I like about TI like the asymetrical factions, without the part I don’t usually enjoy. It is very easy to set up, and doesn’t take much space to carry with me. After one session 3p and a few solo games, I am quite confident this would be next to Cartographers when I travel and need to bring some solo games for boring nights at the hotel.
Like for (as a solo game):
- Easy to set up, simple rules
- Many map combinations and factions for great replayability
- Travel friendly
- Quite thinky