Twilight Imperium 4th Edition | Shelfside Review

In this Shelfside review, we warp right into the big ticket space opera game that is Twilight Imperium 4th Edition, also known as TI4. Twilight Imperium 4 is a massively epic board game, spanning multiple hours, where players strive to become the emperor of the entire galaxy, using military, politics, and trade to wheel and deal to get the 10 points needed to be crowned. Players will be using all sort of mechanics with the 17 alien factions included, from hand management, negotiation, area control, and dice rolling. No two games will be the same with different action cards, politic cards (that can change the rules of the game!), and of course combination of alien factions.

Twilight Imperium 4 is a sci-fi lover's dream, with so many elements that would make many a fan of star wars, star trek, dune, battlestar galactica, starship troopers, etc. just go wild. The game even comes with a lore compendium, and plenty of the battle station war suns that are basically just Death Stars. This is an extremely popular game that we've gotten tons of requests to review, so does it hold up to the hype?

Disclaimer: All clips with our friends were filmed before the quarantine.

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Table of Contents:
Intro - (0:00)
Overview - (1:13)
Pros - (2:31)
Cons - (22:16)
Recommender Score - (25:33)
Daniel's Personal Score - (31:16)
Ashton's Personal Score - (32:46)

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Intro:
Star Fox Assault OST - Katina

#BoardGames #Tabletop #tabletopgaming

[Shelfside]

Hey guys! A note on trade goods: you can't actually spend them during the trading phase without the bribery action card. The reason why we bring this up in the video is because it seems to be our house rule that has been so heavily used that we thought it was part of the game. Thanks to people on reddit and in the comments for pointing this out!

[FrankRiker]

This is one of your best reviews I've seen. Y'all nail the chemistry and pacing between your turns speaking.

[louisb]

Only stumbled upon the channel recently but absolutely love what you guys are doing ! I find the way you break down your reviews by recommendation and personal preferences really helpful and think you get the depth and humour spot on - keep up the great work!

[marcuswilliams]

Great to see more content advertising how great this game can be. It’s a 10/10 for me to, this is my favourite game full stop, whether I’m sitting in last place or keeping up with the pack. When playing it actually takes us most of the day to play, but it sure doesn’t feel like that when playing. Treat it as a special occasion, bring some snacks and banter and a few good stories from your last few days and it’ll be a blast. As long as you try to gain 1 victory point per turn you’ll keep yourself in the running, especially if you gain those extras from time to time and therefore it won’t become a chore and you’ll be right in it. Plus, in my experience you can still win without getting Mecatol Rex, so it doesn’t necessarily need to be a race for Mecatol or an attrition around the centre of the galaxy. If you can’t get six others, play at three, it’s still great. If you want the complete experience, there’s always social media for nearby potential players you’ll be surprised on who’s interested out there if you’re fired up enough to do it. My biggest barrier at the moment is Covid so it has hampered my gaming of this awesome game (wish there was a two player variant) and dream of getting it to the table once more.

[leostmark]

Thanks for the review. Previous reviews I've watched have tended to be quite dry, but yours really gives a sense of how it feels to play the game and get immersed in it.

[recowabunga]

upvote for the effort of the intro :) i liked that

[gyroh]

Gosh I hear so much about this game now that I’m into board games and stuff. And this is one of those games that intimidate me because of the long play sessions I hear about, but I know that once I get myself to try it I’m gonna be hooked like I was with Catan Starfarers

[TheJDough]

A less captivating “Shut up and Sit down” but still solid.

A bit more refining and you will be a top channel for this

[paulgibbons]

Intro was great.
Getting 4 players to give up a day for it is the only challenge.
If it had a two player mode, it would no a no-brainer to buy this.

[Maravillante]

0:16 kills me

Also great review, this is my second time watching it after and now I understand better after reading the rules... can’t wait to get, just need to save for ir

[DarthNVious]

Me and my son played 1v1 with 3 randomized factions each with no neighboring allies. He got Jol'Nar, Sardakk, and XxCha; whereas I got Hacan, Sol and Mentak. Early on I dominated the board as I got to synergize the control of trading. His Sardakk and XxCha were hanging by a thread. However, his Jol'Nar managed to crawl towards and controlled Mecatol with with 4 Dreadnoughts (which I learned later on was really bad since he had the Industrial secret objective) and was at also slowly gaining technological leverage. I had wanted to take totally take out Sardakk's homeworld using my Mentak since I had the Conqueror secret objective but got wiped out due to his PDS + passive combat bonus ability. He negotiated for the release of my leaders Gila and Harruch if I would approve his trade negotiations. XxCha was already hemmed in and pretty much taken out so I only needed to ready my Sol for a massive invasion on Jol'Nar's homeworld. Hacan with Usurper secret objective was trying to close in on Mecatol which was very hard as there were 2 PDS installed and Jol'Nar already obtained Graviton Laser System + Magen Defense Grid. Before the turn Sol would have smashed Jol and Nar, my son exploited the Sol faction's dependence on command counters with Signal Jamming action card (which I tried to Sabotage, and he used Sabotage on my Sabotage) and so were left with no significant actions. Mentak drawed Ixthian Artifact but the roll was really bad and Mecatol remained solid plus he even got the 2 tech upgrades necessary to secure the victory points for Public Objective II 9 tech upgrades. He is merely 13 years old and I am quite proud of him for defeating me in such strategic fashion.

[CandBT]

Imagine setting up the game without playing it. Such a blue balls move

[FiLtheThriL]

Like the new guy. My favorite board game channel right now. Would be cool to watch a live play stream some time. Thanks for the upload.

[Esauofisaac]

Easily my favorite game. I had a TI group that would play this once a week for months, it was a lot of fun and you got a better feel for the balance of everything. As such when talking with others I tend to say that Eclipse is the better balanced overall but that TI is the more memorable. It's definitely my favorite game. I haven't been able to play with the expac yet, so right now I feel like TI3 with both expansions is better, but we'll see.

[kyleweeks]

You didn't talk about the new expansion that comes out this November! I've preordered my copy and I cant wait!

[stephenohanlon]

No interest in this game but goddamn, that intro was top tier. Amazing stuff.

[ScarriorIII]

Would love to see ur take on Forbbiden Stars. Its got a similar command token system that has a super crazy chess level mind game where u have to guess token order.

[Solitaresquishy]

I have 5, 000 hours logged on Civilization 5 (casual I know). This sounds like a board game after my heart, I'm sold.

[mariocrest]

Awesome review. I don't have the number of players to play with.
I was wondering if you have played ECLIPSE (2nd edition preferred). And if you recomend it? Thanks guys

[IslanKleinknecht]

Right now my favorite is the Clan of Saar, but I really want to try the Arborec sometime.