Comancheria: Rise & Fall of the Comanche Empire Review

The heyday of solo board gaming may be behind us, but GMT has been valiantly attempting to bring it back to life as of late. Its latest effort, Joel Toppen’s Comancheria, is perhaps as good an attempt as any made in recent years to provide a strong, immersive solitaire experience on the tabletop. It’s satisfying both as a meaty, intricate game system and as an acceptable simulation of the series of conflicts it represents, as the player is tasked with expanding the Comanche Empire while simultaneously fighting off increasingly nasty waves of invaders.

The brilliance of the solitaire system Toppen created for both Navajo Wars and Comancheria lies in its tendency to consistently challenge the player, not through cheap brutality or bad luck, but by forcing players to think through the long-term consequences of their actions. Most solo and cooperative games simply have the player do good actions while the system tugs back the other direction, and we’re forced to simply cross our fingers that what the game throws at us next isn’t insurmountable. Not so with Comancheria, where players have a wide range of paths to take, and the system subtly responds to the route you’ve chosen, rather than simply burying you in bad luck.

Consider the game’s success check system, which discards other games’ simple “try to roll a 6” mechanism for a complex series of steps that could end in a wide range of results, from a highly successful raid to an enemy that immediately punishes you back. This might sound like part of the norm for these sorts of games, but in Comancheria, you have a responsibility to make sure the success draw cup is seeded with enough good counters that you stand a decent shot at making your attempt work for you. Players who plan poorly and rely on the simple luck of the draw will find themselves beaten back by opposing tribes and invading foreigners time and again.

The flow of the game is very smooth for a game of its relative complexity (relative to other board games, and not necessarily to hex-and-counter wargames). Though you’ll find yourself lost at times in the game’s very mechanical series of steps, you’ll finish off a turn and think, “That’s it?” It has a very strong “just one more turn” draw because of the tantalizing palette of actions it lets the player pick from, and you just may find yourself glued to your solitaire gaming table for a couple hours at a time.

Through the time you spend with the game, you’ll experience the struggles and trials of the Comanche people. Whether you’re fighting or trading with other local tribes or nervously eyeballing European war columns encroaching on your territory, you’ll feel the sense of pride and sense of loss in equal parts that the great Native American empire did throughout its glory days and eventual fall.

I’m tempted to draw comparisons to civilization and 4X games, and while that’s a slight stretch, it’s not so far from reality. Comancheria will have you juggling among various tasks, like climbing up a development tech tree, micro-managing your comancherias with their various bands, headmen, and resources, all while trying to grow the influence of the mighty Comanches across the land.

Yes, players who like to micro-manage will have a ton to sink their teeth into here. Personally, I could have used more streamlining in some of the step-by-step instructions that have you sticking a finger in one part of the rulebook, checking one player aid, then squinting at a second player aid on the far side of the table as you try to remember what sub-sub-step you’re on during a given turn. Still, that means it’s a game that rewards those who are willing to stick with the system for repeat plays, and most instructions are fairly straightforward once you get the hang of them.

It also means it is going to be a tough one to pick up again after a few months of inactivity, and that’s something of a shame, because when you’re in the heat of a session of Comancheria, it’s solo gaming bliss. Thankfully, there are several scenarios, ranging from accomplishing one time period’s goal to working your way through the full “rise and fall” advertised on the box cover.

As far as production values go, GMT’s work here is nothing short of gorgeous. I was at first skeptical of the point-to-point map, which brought back horrible memories of Arkham Horror’s thinly disguised spreadsheet of a board, but once I started playing, it became clear the map is very intentionally designed to look and feel the way that it does. Form meets function perfectly throughout the finished product.

At the end of the day, Comancheria provides a robust wargaming experience that effectively immerses you in the struggles of the Comanche people. Wargamers and strategy gamers alike will love the kinds of decisions it tasks the player with, while history buffs will appreciate the game’s high level of detail. I can’t recommend it enough if this kind of game is up your alley.