Zhanguo: The First Empire

If I’m ever called to testify at the (thankfully fictional) Board Games Court in defence of ‘dry Euro games’ then Zhanguo: The First Empire will certainly be my Exhibit A. The real crime for any Euro player would be for this splendid game not to be in your collection.

Zhanguo: The First Empire
Designer: Marco Canetta, Stefania Niccolini
Publisher: Sorry We Are French
2023

How to Play:

An updating of the 2014 title ‘Zhanguo’ with some new bells and whistles, Zhanguo: The First Empire is set in 221 B.C during the unification of China. On the promise of securing a place in the terracotta army, players will be working to contribute to Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi’s cause.

In each of the game’s five rounds you’ll draw six cards and on your turn you will either:

• Take a Unification Action: Place a card into one of the five ‘regions’ of your player board - regions which correspond with those out on the main board. You’ll get a certain number of ‘unification tokens’ depending on which card you played onto your player board / how many cards are already in that region. For example place a ‘currency’ card into the ‘Zhao’ region of your player board (which i this example already has a card from a previous turn) and grab yourself two ‘currency’ unification tokens - one for the card you just played and one for the card that was already there. You’ll use the different types of unification tokens at the end of each round – the person that has the most of each type gets to take a super-charged action as a reward. Nice!

You can only place a maximum of three cards in each region on your player board and you also need to be quite careful - the more cards that you place in a region, the greater the ‘unrest’ becomes. If your unrest gets too high, then you’ll find it more than hard to be doing things in future turns.

The cards you place out onto your player board are also serving another tableau building purpose. Each one displays one of the game's main actions and a bonus that you will receive when you take that main action. So, with that said…

• Take a Court Action: The other thing that you can use your cards for is to take a main action. Place your chosen card into the ‘Emperor’s Area’ and choose from a range of main actions - actions that could see you hiring architects, alchemists, generals and workers to place into the regions of your player board, building palaces out on the main board for bonuses and immediate VP, placing Governors out on the main board to bring down your levels of unrest (as well as competing in a little bit of area majority tussling), building sections of the Great Wall of China which will reward you with some end game victory points (VP) depending on how well you have fulfilled the requirements of that specific section of the wall that you have built, sailing along the seas for rewards... and more.

Lots to juggle here between the player board and the main board: are the right things in the right place on your player board to let you do the thing you want to do out on the main board?! However, the main twist when you place a card in the Emperor’s area is that you can hopefully trigger all of the bonuses out on the tableau you have previously built on your player board. You see, each card in the game has a unique number between 1 and 120. Certain actions will need you to have played a card with a higher or lower value than the card that was previously placed there in order to trigger your tableau bonuses. You therefore have some delicious choices on which cards to place in your tableau, which cards to place in the Emperor’s area and finally which cards might numerically be advantageous to place in both!

As you place out your various palaces, governors and wall sections onto the main board you might complete some variable strategic goals in each region - e.g. ‘have two palaces and a governor in the Wei region’ in which case reward yourself with some tasty VP for doing so. Complete rows or columns of these ‘mausoleum goals’ by the end of the game for even more points.

In addition to any VP you have gained during the course of the game for completing any goals or picking up any bonuses, after five rounds you will also gain a chunk of points if you have the most Governors in each region, how well you have done to meet the objectives of the sections on the Great Wall that you built in, how far you sailed your ship down its path and finally, those aforementioned extra points for completing rows and column goals in the mausoleum. The person with the most points wins.

Solo Headlines:

Given that Zhanguo: The First Empire is such an interactive game, it’s only natural that the solo mode would be intensive to manage, with a good amount of upkeep and flowcharts to work through, right? Well, that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth! The solo mode here is astonishingly simple to manage, yet it still genuinely feels like you’re competing against a living, breathing human opponent. That opponent is ‘Li Si’. He offers four levels of difficulty to choose from and each difficulty comes with its own small deck of cards and slight variations in starting setup e.g. perhaps he goes first in turn order or starts slightly further ahead in certain areas.

On his turn, flip one of his cards over and you’ll either:

• Gain the displayed amount of unification tokens (so that he competes with you at the end of the round).

• Take a specific action that is displayed on the card (such as placing a palace, deploying generals, or building a section of the Great Wall). The card specifies where on the board he’d like to take that action and he prioritizes spaces that allow him to complete those strategic ‘mausoleum goals’. If he has already completed a goal, then the card tells you the next space that he prefers to place in. It’s quick and intuitive but makes your opponent appear to act more than intelligently.

Li Si’s deck of cards is slightly larger than he needs and is also reshuffled every round. This keeps things feeling fresh. On one hand, you get a sense of where Li Si will focus, but on the other hand, there are big question marks around ‘if’ and ‘when.’ What if his ‘build a palace’ card rarely gets drawn? What if his ‘place out a governor’ card seems permanently at the top of his deck and is drawn every round? The balance between predictability and unpredictability is excellent.

The four difficulty levels felt about right for me, the eternally average Euro player. No real issue beating Level 1 difficulty and somewhat of a toil to beat Level 2. Level 3 and 4 feel like I may never reach those dizzy heights. I can see better players than me finding things a little easier as this is a game where the better you get the worse Li Si will score. It's not a case that each and every game he is going to score the same number of points depending on which difficulty level he is playing at. Instead, in this more than interactive game, every victory for you deprives Li Si of points which he could have earned, and I can see there being quite a disparity in scores as the human player starts ‘getting good’. That said, having not beaten Level 3 myself (yet!), I can see even the best players needing some serious skills to beat Level 4 Li Si! I think there is something for every ability level here.

I also really enjoyed the tension in this solo mode – trying to reach spaces before Li Si snatches them up. Almost every gain in the game disadvantages your opponent. You absolutely want to be the first to place a palace out to claim its bonus, secure that juicy spot on the Great Wall, complete mausoleum objectives for ‘first place’ victory points rather than ‘second place’ victory points, be the first to sail to the end of the sea track, have the most of specific unification tokens so that you get first pick of the end of round bonuses. While all of those things apply to the game more broadly, it’s a particular credit to ‘Li Si’ that he keeps those multiplayer ‘races’ and interactions vibrant even in solo play.

I did have some head scratching frustrations with the solo section of the rulebook – some explanations most likely lost in translation, others perhaps needed a little more care and attention, and it did make some simple things harder than they needed to be and sent me hurtling towards the ever helpful BoardGameGeek forums for clarifications. Nothing deal-breaking, but hopefully an update to the current rulebook is on its way to help future solo players as I felt that the rest of the rulebook was largely fine.

Solo game plays in c.90 minutes plus the usual set up time for a hefty Euro – helped slightly by a reasonably decent (though basic) insert that is bundled with the game. Not the worst table hog that I have in my collection, but both the main board and the player boards are unusually long! Fine on my 6x4 table but perhaps a little snug (but manageable) on something smaller.

All told, Zhanguo has perhaps one of the most impressive solo modes I have seen – particularly for a game that has so many points of interaction. It reminds me very much of the solo mode in another recent Euro in a lot of ways…but more on that in a moment.

General Headlines:

Let me start by getting my only real complaint out of the way: This is one dry Euro. I say ‘complaint’ but that is probably the wrong word to use as I am more often than not drawn to the drier end of the Euro scale and enjoy many arid, desert like titles! But I can see the overall dryness here putting some people off which would be a real shame as there are some wonderful and vibrant things going on behind the dryness. Let’s imagine for a moment an alternate reality where this game is published as a new title by Garphill Games featuring vibrant cartoonish art by The Mico with a snappy compass based title such as 'Emperors of the East Something or Somewhere'. I think in that reality this game would be all that most Euro players were talking about, making many a ‘Top 10 of the year’ list. On the other hand, there is something in Zhanguo’s dryness and beige-ness that actually adds something here – lulling you into making assumptions while in reality having a heap of unusual and unique things going on that feel really fresh and surprising – grabbing you when you least expected it. In many ways, Zhanguo: The First Empire reminds me of the relatively recent title, Carnegie – extremely dry thematically, but some really intriguing mechanisms, good levels of interactivity and an excellent solo mode which replicates the interactivity of the multiplayer game in a simple to manage way.

Another similarity with Carnegie is how your own individual player board provides much of the central focus and influences what is happening out on the main board. Here in Zhanguo I don’t think it would be too much of a stretch to say that your own player board is probably where the bulk of the game is being played – building a tableau, recruiting workers, juggling levels of unrest, trying to move all of the right pieces into all the right places to then hopefully be the first to do X,Y or Z out on the corresponding spaces on the main board. There is such an excellent duality – your player board is complex and absorbing and engaging and absolutely appeals to the ‘solitaire, do my own thing in my own little world’ player but equally, out on the main board you’re having to walk a tightrope of interactivity, rushing to be the first to reach a multitude of bonuses and goals and area majority tussles. In a lot of euros your player board is a glorified tablemat –a place to hold things that you will eventually place out on the main board or holding things that you have obtained from the main board. Here though, your player board IS the game, or at least a good 70%+ of the game.

The splendid interactivity in the game isn't just a case of “damn, that person took that thing I wanted”. Instead, there feels to be a more than tense race element – a constant “I need to do what I want to do before the other player does it”. This isn't just racing to reach the bigger prizes – these races are everywhere. “Can I play that card first, can I get to that strategic goal first, can I place a palace on the board first, can I build part of the great wall first, can I get more tokens first to trade in for end of round bonuses”...and more. Every decision feels laden with the tension of wanting to do something before anyone and everyone else.

What I enjoyed most about Zhanguo is that everything (and I mean everything) felt like it had some neat little twist. Whereas other games might have wrinkles here or there that raise a wry smile, here every single move felt like it had a ‘but you also need to bear this in mind’ moment:

• Want to play a card into your tableau – Which region? What type of card? Should you instead save the card to use to trigger an action rather than place it in that tableau? Will the card cause too much ‘unrest’ in the region that you have placed it in?

• Want to take a main action using one of your cards – Which card? Will the number be higher or lower than the previous one to trigger the bonuses in your tableau? What number card might your opponent then play on top of that one? What bonuses will your card trigger?

• Place some ‘governors’ out on the main board to bring down your unrest in a region – find yourself having to sacrifice valuable and hard earned workers on your player board as a result. Will these Governors even help you win area majority tussles? Are there other bonuses they might trigger?

• Fulfill strategic goals throughout the game for a chunk of points – but complete rows and columns of them for even more points.

…and more and more and more. Twists and wrinkles on every tiny element of the game. Everything is interesting. Everything makes you pause. Everything has consequence. Everything has meaning. There is rarely, if ever, a ‘move one cube to get one resource’ turn. Everything here, no matter how small, has real depth. Even in the first few turns of the game in which it could be argued that things are a little pedestrian (taking turns to place out early cards to build an initial tableau to get an engine of bonuses up and running) other things are happening rather than just ‘I will place one card into slot one’. There is always something else happening no matter how small the turn. This does mean that those that prefer their Euro games on the lighter side of medium weight may struggle with the amount of decisions that are being considered each turn. For those of us that like things on the heavier side of ‘mid-heavy’ however, I think you will find yourself in a nice sweet spot.

Everything melds together in Zhanguo brilliantly and feels like a ‘whole.’ There are somewhat different strategies to focus on from game to game, although they are quite subtle - many of the tiles on the main board (and particularly the Great Wall) change each game to give some variety for example, but the overall arc of the game largely feels the same each time. So, do things start getting a little samey after repeated plays? Maybe, but in all honesty, the core game is just so satisfying, deep and distinct that it keeps you coming back simply for more of the same. The subtle variations being just enough to stop things from feeling ultra-repetitive. It’s a satisfying game that demands you try again and get better at it, rather than coming back to have wildly different experiences each time.

The duality and contradictions that I mentioned earlier continue: Zhanguo is most certainly a tactical game as cards are dealt, spaces get taken, pivots urgently need to be found. However, it is an extremely strategic game as you chase clear and meaty objectives. Zhanguo is most certainly a tight game, and you can feel like you are grinding to achieve even the smallest of tasks. However, it is equally a game full of bursting and giving combos when your carefully balanced tableau explodes. Zhanguo is most certainly a solitaire game as you focus head down on your own player board. However, it is more than a highly interactive affair out on the main board…

However, there is one area where there is no contradiction: Zhanguo: The First Empire is an absolutely superb Euro game.

At a Glance:

• A great balance of tactical and strategic gameplay

• Every small decision has some twist and wrinkle – which makes for a unique overall experience

• Highly interactive out on the main board, amazing amount of solo puzzling to do on the individual player board.

• Great solo mode – manages to keep things super simple but also maintains the interactivity of the multiplayer game

• It's a dry theme and at times a little abstract – don't let this put you off too much. There are some very quirky and enjoyable things happening under the hood.

• Some solo rulebook grumbles and gripes but nothing deal-breaking

Final Score:

8.5 out of 10 (though I seriously suspect that this score might rise even further over time as my respect and enjoyment of it deepens. I'm already hovering so close to giving a 9)

Reviewed after 10 plays