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Main Catalogue |  Board Games & Card Games |  Rio Grande Games |  Gloria Mundi Gloria Mundi Price: £34.99 Board Game, 2-6 Players by Rio Grande Games The Glory of Rome is fading. You’re a Roman statesman struggling to survive in this era of cultural decline and political chaos. While foreign invaders and domestic incompetents devour the last resources of the Empire, you’ll try to build your career out of the rubble. You will administer your Farms, Cities, and Legions, trying to score points by deciding which of them will be improved, and which will be destroyed. In the end, the points you’ve scored may be all you have left. +++++++++++++++++++++ Counter Magazine Review +++++++++++++++++++++ 2-6 players, 60 minutes (allegedly) designed by James Ernest and Mike Selinker reviewed by Steve Owen A mixed bag, this one. You are a rich Roman patrician who, upon hearing of the dreaded advance of the Goths (presumably the Visigoths) in the north, promptly heads south for sunnier and safer climes. GM is co-designed by James Ernest of Cheapass fame (as in Kill Doctor Lucky etc) and published by Rio Grande Games. This is something of a departure for this company who normally license German games for an English speaking (read American) market. The box (and board) artwork is quite interesting. It is designed as a mosaic (modelled on the murals used on Roman floors) with a Boris Johnson persona centrepiece, a couple of rather cracked flanking nymphs and an ominous plume of smoke on the cracked horizon. This is reproduced on the rulebook cover and the player screens. The board is similarly cracked with a point to point track extending from Northern Italy and down through Rome as far as Carthage. There are coloured plastic figures for the players and a large very odd red one to represent the relentless Goths. Lots of little wooden pieces represent various resources and two packs of cards split into buildings and production. Rio Grande have made the components language independent by Latinising all the identifying names. This is fine but has the disadvantage that useful play aid information is not reproduced on the backs of the screens. Symbols are also used on the building cards representing various actions which are sometimes rather unclear. So, what do I think of the game itself? Well, overall good but not great. This is based on four outings: one each with 2,3,4 and 5 participants (the game stretches from 2-6). Before you play be warned that the timing on the box lid (an hour) is rubbish. You need to allow at least two hours for 3 or more. Even the 2 player game, when we were completely familiar with the rules, took 75 minutes. GM is at heart a resource management game but with some rather unusual quirks. You begin with a production card of each type (city, farm, legion) and the corresponding resources (1 gold, food & peace). The fourth resource is glory which only appears during the game. The starting hand is a mix of the above cards which vary according to the number of players. Each turn you play a card from your hand which activates all the played cards of the same type - each providing a resource. These can then be used to buy buildings. One building card is revealed each turn - these initially appear with a substantial surcharge but become cheaper as others displace them down the track. Only one building card is allowed on each production card and thereafter you can choose of the two to activate. Buildings are quite expensive and it often takes several turns before they become affordable. Usually they have an immediate benefit, which tends to involve steps away from Rome, and a regular advantage which may again involve steps for a commodity or various exchanges. The Portus, for example, costs 3 food, 2 gold and one peace: it allows 2 steps to be moved towards Carthage as a one off and then each time it is activated 2 gold may be exchanged for 5 food. Some of the symbols here are quite involved and include Spend A to Produce B, Replace A with B, Produce B, Have A to Collect B and Satisfy A to Earn B. A careful reading of the rules is definitely advisable when confronted with these! One group of buildings are red and can potentially be played on any production card. Most of these can only be activated when a new building is being erected but there are also some wall cards which I will return to shortly. Several of the legion-type buildings produce glory which may be used as a substitute for any other resource. Quite civilised so far but here is where it becomes rather nasty. Each space from the Goth start to the gates of Rome has a symbol or two representing resources. At the end of each turn either you must appease the Goth by spending resources appropriate to the symbols or the Goth moves on. Appeasement can go on for several turns until one player is unable or unwilling to pay the Goth at which point the piece moves to the last tribute laden space. All of the resources previously laid are now gathered together and the players sequentially lose as many production cards as there were resources laid of the appropriate type. The resources themselves are then given out in a similar fashion. Naturally if you don\'t have a card which matches any resource left then you lose nothing which can lead to some very mean behaviour. Adding insult to injury, if the production card you lose has a building on it, that goes too! Much of the skill in the game comes from judging when it is the best time to screw your neighbours, so if this is anathema to you, steer well clear. Buying a wall card (which protects the card beneath) is often a clear sign that mayhem will shortly ensue. The game ends if the Goth enters Rome, a player reaches Carthage or the cards run out - if there is no outright winner then the furthest along claims victory. The most useful building cards are normally those whose regular benefit is to propel you towards Carthage. Others, such as the Temples, give a large initial boost of four spaces. Obviously, having several cards out of a particular type means proportionately more benefit whenever these are activated by someone playing a similar card. Runs can consequently become rather powerful and difficult to contest. There is also a concern that the Farms, being more frequent, may have a destabilising advantage especially with an increased number of players. Indeed Bruno Faidutti has suggested a variant on his website which reduces the number of farms with 5 or 6 players. Certain cards may also be unbalanced - we found the Exactor in the 2 player game to be all powerful for the player with several city cards as when activated each city card allowed another space on the flight from Rome. Replay value? - difficult. There are lots of buildings which come out in a different order each game but the objectives are always the same - maximise your income, buy buildings with regular movement if possible, run like hell and screw your opponents when feasible. If this your forte you will have a ball! In conclusion: nice package, unusual game system, probably better with 4 or less, some concerns over balance. Our group ratings over the four games varied between 5 and 9 with an average rating of just over 7 which seems reasonable. For those of you with access to boardgamegeek there is a useful aid which documents the features of all the buildings. 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