Twilight Inscription

Twilight Inscription is an odd mix, being a roll and write set in the Twilight Imperium universe. Unlike Twilight Imperium, a game will take only a couple of hours, unless you play with people that get bad analysis paralysis, then it's anyone's guess. I can't say this is a good substitute for Twilight Imperium. There isn't much player interaction and the rules are geared toward more of a multiplayer solitaire with occasional rounds where players vote on how an event will play out. If you love Twilight Imperium's world and are looking for something lighter and shorter, or you love roll and writes and want something a bit deeper and longer, then this is a good purchase. Otherwise, I would recommend doing some research before buying.

I knew I would like this game somewhat, at least for its Twilight Imperium theme. But after 4 solo plays, I am very pleasantly surprised at just how much I've enjoyed this game. Contrary to what many reviewers have said, the game is surprisingly successful at evoking a Twilight Imperium feel from a solo roll-and-write experience. I have to hand it to the designer and FFG for the creativity and thoughtfulness in deploying this theme across the game's many roll-and-write mechanics. Twilight Inscription delivers the same kind of brain-busting puzzle that Twilight Imperium offers up every time I've played, and I felt the same kind of fuzziness throughout from Inscription's sheer scale and the array of options available. For my first game, I played as Universities of Jol-Nar, which was kind of overwhelming but also a great way to jump into the deep end and get quickly acquainted with all of the various boards and technologies. This happens to be the same reason I would recommend Jol-Nar for beginner players of Twilight Imperium. Each Inscription faction I've played so far has exhibited a really neat implementation of that faction’s flavor from Imperium. Moreover, everything in the game is couched so attractively within Twilight Imperium art and graphic design, along with fun references and tie-ins to Techs, Relics, etc., that together make the Twilight Imperium vibe all the more palpable. Whether it was being able to deploy a carrier into a neighboring war zone because of previous positioning, making use of a hazardous planet to shore up votes for an upcoming agenda, or utilizing a tech skip to expand my industry — across all four player boards, the theme enhanced the gameplay so much that it really ended up scratching something of a Twilight Imperium itch for me. I like the swingy-ness that dice can bring into Twilight Imperium's calculations, and I think that the use of dice in Inscription is a clever integration. I even dug the voting mechanic in the solo game, because it introduced a little bit of randomness in the dice roll to see how many votes the automa would cast. My one critique of the solo mode is that your final score can be negatively impacted by the game randomly ending in round 23 rather than round 25. My other main critique is of the dry-erase markers. The markers themselves are nice, but the erasers? Useless! Have to resort to paper towels instead. I could see how Inscription could be cleverly expanded in a lot of ways. Event cards with more variety and special triggers would be interesting. I hope FFG will support this game with expansions! All in all, I recommend Twilight Inscription for solo play, especially for those who can't get enough of the Twilight Imperium theme. The admin is so light compared to how crunchy the puzzle is, and plays are relatively short. Set-up is a breeze and I'm reliably finishing games within 60-70 minutes now. I'm looking forward to playing this with others at some point.

Excellent roll and write game, It does feel epic!

NOT a condensed Twilight Impiriim experience or a light roll and right (too many of those). Not complex like a big box euro game but there is alot going on the game (4 boards per player) which makes game stands out among roll and rights. (Hadrian wall/ fleet).

It's a very intimidating game in the beginning, but it gets easier. This might cause problems for people who have a difficult time making decisions since there are four sheets to shift your attention between. I have not played with 8 players but I would not recommend introducing many new players to this game all at once. I love that your sheet setup can be so varied. I've played multiple solo games, but I still haven't played as all the factions. My only gripe - With so many options for factions and sheets, I find it strange that the events that happen are barely varied. For example, War happens each Age, but I would like a war where we could potentially get surprise reinforcements, or agree to a peace treaty, or encounter a solar storm, etc. The game is fun overall because I like solving the different puzzle combinations each time I play.

It won't replace the 4x experience of Twilight Imperium, but it's still a fun 4x-themed game you can finish in less than 3 hours.

Such a deep and enjoyable roll and write! While it invokes the TI setting and feel, it can be finished in a fraction of the time!

This is a faster and much liter version of Twilight Imperium. I can see why these games are so popular if this is a good representation of roll-and-write game systems.

I only have a few roll n writes (or card draw n write), and this is certainly one of the more involved ones. That is not a knock against it at all. It has just the right level of crunchiness to really appeal to Twlight Imperium Fans but it is fast enough you do not have to dedicate a whole day to it. It can be played in about 60-90min. My only concern is how long the weird orange markers are going to last, and if FFG will offer replacements in the future or not.

Impressed with the depth of the game for a roll and write. I love TI4 and was worried it would be a shallow and boring game that lacked the complexity of TI4. The many different options allows for creativity between players as you must decide what is bet for you in the moment.