Review Detail

"The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it." -- Nicolo Machiavelli

I played Princes of the Renaissance once and found it a boring waste of time. We had six players, and my five opponents were former AT and CCG players who fully embraced Euros in the late '90s.

PotR just didn't entertain me. It was long, slow, complex, and offered a bewildering array of options to a new player. Due to the complexity, none of the options seemed particularly better or worse than each other, so I made fairly random decisions form turn to turn. Combat was abstract and lifeless. The treachery tiles didn't feel particularly treacherous, and I usually enjoy games with an element of deceit or treachery. The VP element separated the mechanics from the theme. Worst of all, the interaction was minimal, and this was with a group that once enjoyed spirited table talk during board games and card games.

I realize that there is a lot of game there, and it did seem to entertain my opponents, in a quiet and introspective way. Perhaps with additional plays, I could come to grasp the subtle interplay of the mechanics and the diversity of strategies that my opponents spoke of when talking me into playing. But that first game was just so boring that I don't feel like giving PotR another chance. There are so many other games that I would rather try or play again.