Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition

Players lead one of multiple asymmetric alien factions competing for control of a galaxy through exploration, trade, technological research, military conquest and political influence. The modular board is built from dozens of hex tiles around a central capital, producing a different galaxy each game with hazards like supernovas, gravity rifts and asteroid fields affecting movement and strategy. Each round players choose a strategy card that sets turn order and grants a special action, then take turns moving fleets, colonizing systems, resolving combat, managing trade and expanding their economies. Periodic galactic council phases introduce agendas and laws voted on by players. Public and secret objectives award victory points; the first faction to reach the required total wins.

Players: 3–6 best 6
Playing time: 240–480 min
Age: 14+
Complexity: 4.4 / 5

8.1 on LudoyaTerritory BuildingNegotiationAction DraftingVariable Phase OrderVariable Set-up

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Full stats in Ludoya

421
Plays logged: 739
Players: 6h 48m
Average play: 196
In collections: 47
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8.1/10

from 74 Ludoya reviews

Fun10.0
Interaction10.0
Replayability10.0
Uniqueness10.0
Looks10.0
Accessibility6.0

BWizard8.3
[c] (15x) GAMING EXPERIENCE: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (5x) DEPTH / WEIGHT: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ (5x) LUCK: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (10x) REPLAYABILITY: ★★★★★★★★★★ (6x) MECHANICS: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (6x) PLAYER INTERACTION: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (3x) SCALABILITY (PLAYER COUNT): ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (2x) LENGTH: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ (2x) CLARITY OF RULES: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ (6x) COMPONENT QUALITY: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ [/c] Deluxe Edition :thumbsup: Top of the chart 4x game! :thumbsdown: We don't have time for this monster. One game/year - maximum! :(
Evan7.2
Solid improvements all around. After rules review, the game took about 1 hour per player which is nice. The changes to the tech tree are very welcome. The way objectives are handled is much more smooth and enjoyable. The components are much nicer. I very much liked the new role cards and their effects. The whole experience seemed much smoother, although I did raise my eyebrows at a few things. The first thing that seemed odd to us was that the game has action cards which are played during the laws phase. The action card essentially says 'accurately predict the way the vote will go and get X'. Then the laws tend to have an effect for those who voted yes and an effect for those who voted no. The rules of the game allow players to abstain. If everyone abstains, then the player with the speaker token chooses a resolution for the law, but since they didn't vote, then they can let the effect succeed or fail without getting/suffering the reward/penalty, and negating the action card's effect. Perhaps we played this wrong, but it felt odd. Another issue is that the action card that cancels someone's action card is still in. I don't know who still thinks counterspells are fun, but I guess those people still work at FFG. Component wise I also feel it's odd to still have custom tokens for all umpteen factions when the triangles and vp markers could just be in the six player colors, and save us all a lot of bits and boxspace. Again though. Overall good. I am impressed and happy with it. I'm just finding little flaws in it's armor is all. I will play it again, and it will stay on my shelf. ★ Art, Iconography and components functional ★ Clever or interesting mechanisms ☆ Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players ★ Multiple plays stay interesting ★ Low or mitigatable luck elements ★★★★☆ Raw enjoyment
Balleflass10.0
FFG mini american yellow sleeves. Gamegenic yellow in TE.

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17OctTwilight Imperium: Cuarta EdiciónSalt · 6 going 31DecTwilight Imperium: Cuarta Edición

Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Do fighters count against my fleet pool or my capacity?

Fighters do not count toward your fleet pool limit; they instead count against a system’s capacity (page 20).

When can I score objectives — only in the status phase or also during actions/combat?

You can score objectives during the action phase at any time and during the status phase in the Score Objectives step; you can score a maximum of one public and one secret objective each status phase, you may score any number of objectives during a turn of the action phase but only one objective during each combat (page 17).

Do I have to spend a command token to use another player's strategy card secondary ability?

After the active player resolves a strategic action, each other player may resolve that card’s secondary ability by spending a command token from his strategy pool, except the Leadership card’s secondary (Leadership does not require spending a command token) (pages 9, 15).

If all units are destroyed during an invasion, who controls the planet?

If a combat results in all units of both players being destroyed on a planet, the defender retains control of the planet and places one of his control markers there (page 15).

When does Space Cannon fire, and do rerolls or combat modifiers affect its rolls?

Space Cannon can be used after the Move Ships step (Space Cannon Offense) and during the Invasion step (Space Cannon Defense); space cannon rolls are not affected by rerolls, combat modifiers, or other combat roll effects (pages 20–21).

When does Anti‑Fighter Barrage occur — can it be used in later combat rounds?

Anti‑Fighter Barrage is resolved simultaneously by players at the start of the first round of a space combat (immediately before retreats) and cannot be used in subsequent rounds (page 22).