Thrive in the chaos of Mesopotamian war and politics in Tigris & Euphrates!
In Tigris & Euphrates, players control budding dynasties at the dawn of urban development in an ancient fertile crescent. They compete to build the largest and most balanced civilizations through tile placement.
Each dynasty has four different leaders specialising in farming, trading, religion, and government. These leaders allow the players to collect the corresponding victory points when their controlled kingdoms are expanded with tiles representing the four categories.
What makes the game especially challenging is that your final score is the number of points in your lowest scoring category. This rule encourages players not to get overly specialised, aligning with the thematic ideals of building an enduring civilization with balance in all four aspects.
Deceptively featured as a kingdom building game, conflict is actually the prevalent condition in this pseudo wargame. Players are encouraged to build temples around their leader tokens to secure political advantages during the early phases of the game. They can also work towards constructing special monuments and wonders in their kingdoms for additional benefits.
However, the situation on the board can and will shift around quickly to foil all plans. Both revolts and wars will rob players of political control, leading to the loss of vital assets, positional advantages and even massive destruction within the kingdoms.
Massive wars also directly translate to massive points awarded to the victor, therefore players are advised to be flexible and mentally resilient enough to abandon safe but passive positions to seek fortune from risky endeavours. Opportunistic tacticians who thrive in chaotic situations will definitely perform stunningly in Tigris & Euphrates!
If you would like to learn how to play the game, watch this short video by 3 Minute Board Games.
And if you prefer watching a full playthrough, I recommend this video with Rym DeCoster!
Love Tigris & Euphrates? You will definitely enjoy Five Tribes too! Check out our first impressions here!
