Sylla Board Game Review

 The Sylla board game is a crisis strategy game. For 2-4 people, although the optimal composition for the game is 4 people. The game consists of five rounds, 7 phases in each. The compact field is a kind of organizer for the placement of components and is very informative, reminding us what and in what phase we need to do.

 "Sylla" is a unique game to some extent - here you do not start with zero points, but with ten, although this is done with a completely prosaic purpose - so that you do not have to immediately drop below zero, you will not only get points here, but also receive them. and lose At the very beginning, you have a choice of 10 characters, two of each type (total of five types), and the merchant, slave and senator have both a simple version and a version with the Christian faith, in addition to them there are legionnaires and vestals. At the top of the characters, the colors that will be useful to us in the construction phase are drawn, in the lower left corner there is a feature of the character, indicating the number of the phase when this feature is used. Everything is very convenient and informative.

 Each year begins with the election of the first consul. Our senators vote for us, and if there are not enough votes, others can be bribed. The chosen one will solve controversial issues all this year, will be the first to put the buildings up for auction and will even have the right to the first night, sorry, the first round of hiring.

 The first consul, in addition to resolving disputes and having the advantage of choice, receives as a reward one of the tokens of the republic, which are one of the main ways of obtaining points in the game. There are three types of them: civic pride, health and leisure. One of the most interesting mechanics is that the "winning" value of each of these tokens changes constantly throughout the game depending on our actions. And if the base rate of points per token is two, then by the end of the game, when the calculation will take place, it can be from one to four. In addition, the duties of the first consul include moving the hunger marker, increasing the city's need for food.

 After the election of the first consul, we are looking for new followers. Unfortunately, the gift of oratory in Rome is not very much appreciated in these times, and all our efforts are enough only to attract one more associate once a year.

 An interesting point is that we have to choose from those characters that we rejected at the beginning of the game, and by the fifth round we only have a choice of those characters that we rejected in the first three rounds.

 Having received a new associate, we go to help the city in construction. For which we receive a modest reward. When all the constructions are finished this year, the treasurer gives us all some dinars, so that we have something to bribe the senators with during the voting, and if the slaves are released, it will not chivalrously drive them out into the street without money to live on, even if they are free. .

 Players in the construction phase bid their price for the construction in a circle. This price is revealed in the number of people we will send to build, and the color of the deal shows who can be sent to build and who cannot. The main problem is that when we send characters to build a building, we return them and they become unavailable to us until the start of the next round, and with them all their abilities - so it is worth carefully considering whether to send your allies to build what you need. building or use their features later. In the fourth phase, we receive our income.

 Closer to the end of the year, according to a strange Roman tradition, the city gets an ass. Persecution of Christians is arranged, epidemics and famine come to the city, slave revolts and purges in the senate take place, and at the end, for complete happiness, barbarians come to the half-flooded city. Of course, I, as a knight, could not remain indifferent and tried to cope with all the troubles with the help of legionaries and vestals loyal to me, but it is worth saving the city from one, as another came, there was not enough strength for everything. Not to mention the fact that it was impossible to save this city from decadence, as they call decline, only to slightly slow down its destructive effect.

 In the fifth phase, we will have to face various troubles that provide the main regrabability of "Sulla". In one game, we protect the city from flood and famine, and the raid of the barbarians at the end of the game does not bother us anymore, another time the game begins with a slave revolt and persecution of Christians, and we are already thinking about how to save ourselves from it. Interestingly, some events have a cumulative effect, so if we lose, for example, a Christian senator in the Senate purge, we can't get him back into play until we also get rid of Christian persecution if that event is on the field. In total, players can, no matter how hard they try, prevent two events, one of which leaves the game forever. But all your efforts to prevent trouble, even if it does happen, will still be rewarded with a republic token or a victory point.

 In the sixth round, players are given the opportunity to act together - and build one of six large buildings. Depending on the votes and money invested, players will receive victory points, although they may not receive anything, but will now move one of the republic markers, increasing its value. The round ends with starvation penalty points, which pushes everyone back significantly, and possible riots that occur if one of the republic markers reaches the far left value. Riots are interesting because the player with the fewest Republic tokens gets a penalty, and the player with the most, on the contrary, gets extra points, so it's worth thinking twice before doing abominations to an opponent who collects unpopular Republic tokens.

 And my five years flew by in such troubles. But it ended all right. The inhabitants of Rome have accepted our Christian faith and are building a temple that is more beautiful than the light has yet seen. They arranged a great feast in honor of this, and at the same time granted freedom to all the slaves, providing them with a couple of denarii as a farewell. This is the end of my story. And this is what I will say to you in farewell, brother knights, this is a troublesome business, to save a city mired in debauchery, troublesome, but worthy and very interesting.

 Summing up, I would like to say that "Sulla" is a very worthy representative of serious strategies, and more precisely, of their crisis direction. If you are ready for a constant lack of resources, slow progress along the points track and the need to think a lot, then this game is for you. The best way to get to know the game is, of course, with a trial game - be prepared for it to take up to several hours, and the victory points you get at the end will be disappointing. Instead, subsequent games will be much more dynamic (for four it takes about an hour, but the time flies quickly) and will allow you to try out many strategies. Well, I will put a spoonful of tar in this barrel of honey in the final article of the short summary. Personally, in our company, in games for four, it is among the top favorite games, second only to "Burgundy Castles".