Romans

[Chris08]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Board-Games-...522&sr=1-15

 

i bought that and wondered if any of you might know if its any good, dont worry i looked more into it reviews and all, just wanted to see what you guys thought.

 

-chris08

[Nephele]

Funny you should mention this game -- I think I saw this game in NYC's Compleat Strategist last weekend, and was considering buying it! Maybe when I'm in the area again on Saturday, I'll see if it was the same game and perhaps will buy it.

 

-- Nephele

[caldrail]

I saw a gamebox when I was at shop near Hadrians Wall recently. I remember being curious about it, I wonder if that was the title?

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Board-Games-...522&sr=1-15

 

i bought that and wondered if any of you might know if its any good, dont worry i looked more into it reviews and all, just wanted to see what you guys thought.

 

-chris08

 

I've seen this board game around before, I've been tempted but never bought it.

 

Let us know how it goes, Chris.

[Northern Neil]

Ok - I will stick my neck out. I am going to go onto Amazon and order one of these - it looks GREAT!

[Chris08]

Ok ive played it twice now.

Heres My Opinion.

 

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QUIS CARDS

 

Romans board game, is an excellent form of education and can be fun for all the family, there are different rules for different ages, which means an 8 year old who is really interested in the roman period can have just as much fun as an adult who has various experiances of it. For example take a look at the way that the questions work : -

 

Adult Example:-

When was Gaius Julius Ceasar Born?

 

Child Example: -

When was Gaius Julius Ceasar Born?

 

a) 100ad

100bc

c) 44bc

 

Just a little more on the questions till i have to move on to shorten this review as there is so much to talk about heh. Not only is there varies for ages theres also a range of difficulties, heres one cards:-

 

Level 1 :-

Did Houses in roman times have a shrine to pray at?

 

Level 2 :-

What was the general name given to people who lived outside of roman territory?

 

Level 3:-

How many Vestal Virgins tended the shrine to the goddess vesta at the forum?

 

So even if you are well informed some may test ones knowledge and greatly increase it.

 

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FORTUNA CARDS

 

Now onto the fortuna cards, whilst some are typical swap positions with the player on your right ect, others are more expansive and use roman generals, gods, and emporers as a key, some are interesting whilst others are just silly but it makes it more fun i guess! heres an example of one :-

 

"Caligula has banished you to the Cyrenaica port, Apollonia, you must roll an even number to leave the port."

 

but whats this, you want it in latin (i presume its latin) well on the same card underneath is this :-

 

"Caligula vous a exile vers le port de cyrenaica, Apollonia. Vous devez obtenir un nombre pair au de pour quitter le port"

 

so in every sence this game can also teach you the very Basic Geography of the empire, maybe not as much as the unrv map which i wish to buy but havent got paypall .

 

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GAME BOARD

 

The board is somewhat nicely decorated and can be of use for geographical purposes, it has names of main states, Hispania, Aegyptus, Mesopotamia, Gallia, Mauritania and much more, but general province names are included. But all in all its a nice gameboard with some educationa; purpose.

 

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AIM

 

from the words of the manual itself :-

 

"Starting as an ambitious Roman General, your goal is to become 'Ceasar', abosolute monarch. You must conquor garrison forts within the roman empire and make your way back to the capital in Italy to be problaimed ceasar!"

 

"The term 'Ceasar' litterally means autocrat, or absolute monarch"

 

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SUMMARY

 

Overall rating - 7 out of 10

 

Educational rating - 9 out of 10

 

This depends on your age and knowledge of the roman empire, so i rate this a 9 as such a broad selection of people can play it and get more from it, than you walked into.

 

Enjoyment Rating - 8 out of 10

 

The enjoyment increases the more people you have playing (maximum of 4) ive played it a few times, and rather enjoy it with more people, and for some reason each time it gets more comical, especially when your 8 year old brother awnsers the question, Where does the term "Pyric Victory" originate from? and he awnser without the multichoice and expands on it :0. And i struggle on When did Brutus kill Julius Ceasar, even though i knew he died in 44bc i still said 100bc which was like opps heh.

 

Game Length - 4 out of 10

 

most games lasted 40 minutes, i generally like a game like this to last 1 - 2 hours, but thats my opinion.

 

So there we have it a good game from a good designer, god knows why its not as popular as Tribun when i prefer this to that heh.

 

-chris08

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

Great review Chris.

 

I think after reading your review I'm going to splash out and order the game, although my daughter's only six, she's already pretty clued up on Rome, so although she will more than likely struggle early on, because you say it's so educational then it can only help to improve her knowledge, right? And because it only lasts about 40 mins then at least she wont start getting board (no pun intended )

[Chris08]

Great review Chris.

 

I think after reading your review I'm going to splash out and order the game, although my daughter's only six, she's already pretty clued up on Rome, so although she will more than likely struggle early on, because you say it's so educational then it can only help to improve her knowledge, right? And because it only lasts about 40 mins then at least she wont start getting board (no pun intended )

 

hehe, It will improve her knowledge on basic time scales, births and deaths, Where roman phrases come from, diffrent objects such as the bulla, roman buildings, where they would geographically be based, for example villa, but what it wont teach is Indepth history , for example the gallic wars, it will only teach Basics on it, I also think Tribun is an amazeing roman game! But thats less educational!

 

But yeah Its good education for a 6 year old however I'd only advice level 1 questions, as some level 2's and 3's are hell.