Building your empire in 8 minutes
Eight-minute Empire may come in a small box but it’s a great strategic filler game that lasts probably about 30 minutes. The box itself is 6 inches by 9 inches, so it can easily tuck away in your bag to bust out when you’ve got some time to spare.
The game plays 2-5 players and game play can be varied depending on the total playing. It comes with a sturdy map that when unfolded is about the size of a sheet of paper. The basic mechanics of the game is area control and card set-building.
Each player starts with his or her set of 14 wooden cubes (armies) and 3 wooden discs (cities), and in a four-player game, 9 coins. Six cards are placed face up above the map. Players then bid for turn order by placing coins in their hands. All reveal at the same time, and the person who bid the most coins decides who goes first.
At the start of the game, everybody has 3 armies at the starting region on the board. On a player’s turn, he or she takes one of the face-up cards. The cost of each card is shown by its placement in the row; the first one is free, the next two cost $1, the 4th and 5th cost $2, and the last one costs $3. The player then spends the money for whichever card is chosen.
The cards come with a good and an action. The action is taken immediately, and this is how players move their armies across the board. The various card actions include placing new armies on the board, moving armies, moving armies over land and/or water, building a city and destroying an army. You can only place new armies at the start location or at a city you have built using one of the cards. When moving armies, you can move the same army however many times it says on the card, or more separate armies totaling that number.
A player gains one victory point for each region on the map he or she controls, and another victory point for controlling the most regions in a continent. If players are tied in a region or continent, nobody gains victory points. Control means having the most armies and cities in an area. And as players take cards, the remaining ones slide over, changing their costs, and then a new card comes up on the right.
Players also get victory points for collecting sets of goods on cards. The good shown at the top of the card has various victory points depending on how many are collected, which are shown on the card. For example, if you have 2 anvil cards, you get 1 victory point. Rubies are the most valuable as they get one point per card. There are also wild cards in the deck, and you can assign them to whichever good you want at the end of the game.
The rounds continue until each player has 8 cards (in a four-player game). The person with the most victory points wins. I enjoy playing this game with new board gamers as it introduces area control on a much smaller, simplified scale. Experienced gamers enjoy it as well as there’s strategy involved in moving your armies. Plus, game play seriously lasts about 30 minutes. The game costs about $20, and it comes with solid components and map. There is also a sequel to this game, Eight-Minute Empire: Legends, but I haven’t played it yet.
On a personal note, I thought I had lost coins from a previous game day and I had emailed the company lamenting my loss. They were quick to respond and were ready to send over replacements, but by then a gamer friend had found them packed up in another board game. So I told the company rep that she didn’t have to bother as they were returned to me. That’s some great customer service, Red Raven Games!