Fantasy Flight GamesC.I.V. Carta Impera Victoria

CIV is a game for 2-4 players created by Lodonaute Games, a French company.This is a good game for a family that has younger players, 8-10, who are just starting to learn about more complex games and are ready to move on from Chutes and Ladders to something with a bit more strategy.(Please see the enclosed pictures.)The players initially start with three cards in their hand. Each turn, they play a card, used card powers (optional), and draw a card.There are six types of cards, and the game is divided into three periods.At any point in the game, if a single player has seven of any specific type of card, they win immediately. Otherwise, at the end, you see who has the most cards in the most categories.As you accumulate cards, they affect game play. For example, once you have a number of religion cards, your hand size changes from three to five.Military cards allow you to destroy other cards.Utopia cards allow you to add more cards to the victory condition for a particular player.Yes, you guessed it. The main mechanic involves preventing the other players from accumulating cards.In the several games we played, the tactics immediately turned to ensuring the other players' plans of victory were thwarted.At the end, it came down to a lot of luck.The game is simple and fast, and there were a number of rematches. After about ten plays, the game lost its luster.On to the Dr Games Criteria ...GO/NO GO Criterion• Complexity: (GO) The game is not complex, and it comes with some great player aids that detail what each type of card does when you accumulate the appropriate number. (Also, you can discard a card of a type for a one-time effect.)• Balanced: (GO ) The game is completely balanced.• Chance (GO) There is some chance, but after you have played the game a few times, you have a very good feel for how many of each card are left by era and can make educated guesses about what is coming next. This is a huge advantage.• Clarity: (GO) The rules are fine, but I had to turn to “how to play” videos on-line to understand the details.• Reasonable Time: (GO) A game usually runs from 15-20 minutes.Bonus Criteria• Social: It is not inherently social, but the main tactics involve foiling other players’ plans. That always comes with some friendly trash talk at the gaming table.• Unique/Interesting Mechanics: The fact that you can either horde cards or use their one-off abilities makes for an interesting dynamic.• Informed: No, not this this game.• Rewards Throughout: No, it all comes down to the final turn as people can use their cards to wreak havoc on your plans each turn.All in all, this is a good game for a family with younger strategy game players.

This is probably one of the best value card games for my money I have bought. So far I have only played this game as a two player and it has not disappointed. For how simple the design is you get a lot of depth in strategy and decisions each turn. You’ll find yourself either feeling really clever when you pull off a big turn and win or thinking for the rest of the night about where you could have played some card differently to come out on top. Some reviews have knocked the games reference cards and rulebook for being hard to understand, I would disagree, like with any game yes it will take a read through of the rules and a play through to familiarize yourself with the symbols etc but that’s pretty standard. If you’re looking for a game that’s gonna really test your strategy but won’t take 2-3 hours to play, this is a great option at an excellent price point.

Bought this to play with my middle schoolers. Even watched videos online to try and learn. We still didn't understand the game and all of its complicated rules. Perhaps if I was playing with patient adults we would have an easier time explaining it to the kids, but we started with everyone not knowing how to play. We might give it another shot in a few years but I don't think it's worth the hassle to learn without more adults understanding it first. Given the discount price I paid, it's not worth returning. Beautiful graphics on the cards at least.... I'll try again in a few years or with a different audience.

The goal of Carta Imperia Victoria was to create a fast, easy to learn filler game. In that respect the game has done just that. Very often civilization type games can last hours, this game goes through three ages in less than 30 minutes. The instructions are very easy to follow and learn. This game really only takes a few minutes to get to the table. The instructions are well written and easy to follow and you also get a terrific player aid that is well made and easy to follow. The entire production is top notch. The card quality is excellent. The artwork on the cards is even better, in fact the artwork is quite outstanding. In short, the production value is excellent. However, the game is just good.The game is a filler and despite the theme and the use of ages it is still a relatively simply game. There are some good choices to be made about whether to pursue trying to win or trying to block your opponent from winning. I like that you can either choose a discard ability or a more powerful permanent ability or an even more powerful double permanent ability. The choices are fairly standard: discard cards, replace cards, exchange cards, add to the winning condition from 7 to 8 cards or 8 to 9 cards in a two player game. The game is fun, but simple. So once you get past the great production and art you are left with a fairly simple filler game and that is my biggest issue with this game. There are many two player games out there and many of those games are better than this game and certainly more complex and with more depth. Take 7 Wonders Duel, which has a similar feel to me. 7 Wonders Duel is a way more complex game to me and one I would much rather play than this game. This game serves a great purpose as a filler and sometimes after a much longer deeper game, games like this hit the spot. However, there are a lot of filler games I would rather play.To summarize: this is a great production and the game is decent enough, however, there are many other choices out there that offer more game.

At first glance CIV looks like a fluffy filler without many meaningful choices. But don't let looks deceive you. It's not to say CIV is a deep game, but there's far more under the hood than is readily apparent. I'd say this game needs at least a couple of plays by the same people to make it really shine.Who is the audience for CIV? I think it actually has a broad audience. Serious gamers who play games more than once and want a good filler, especially those who like civilization games (but aren't looking for the multi-hour experience), I think will like it. I think a lot of card game players will also enjoy it. And I think CIV can also be enjoyed by family gamers - as long as they give it several plays. CIV is a bit of a hidden gem - at least for some.Who is it not for? If you're the type of gamer to play a game once and that's it forget it. This game will feel like cotton candy during a first play and you'll hate it. Also, if you don't like games with a bit of take that/mean gameplay you'll likely want to avoid CIV. In CIV you can attack other players at the table and force them to lose cards. If that sounds unappealing stay away. And while I think some family gamers will like CIV, some will not - those looking for uber simplicity (e.g. Blokus) will not enjoy CIV. The game is light for serious gamers, but might be a little too much for less serious players.I'm giving CIV four stars because I think it's super clever and does what it's intended to do rather well. That said, for me personally I'm not into games with take that elements, especially at 2 player. So for me this game is a pass. However, I can still see that this is a solid game for the right audience.