Description

Empire is light civilization-building game, played using 4 shared decks of cards. In that respect, it bears some similarity to games such as San Juan or Race for the Galaxy, but with added combat and resource-development elements reminiscent of Magic: the Gathering. The game, the first offering by fledgling publisher Gurushar Games, provides 2 to 4 players six different paths to victory: either by amassing 80 Gold (a measure of the civilization's wealth), 30 Order (a measure of infrastructure and governmental improvements), or 10 Support (a measure of the civilization's morale). Alternatively, a player may attempt to reduce their opponent's Gold, Order, or Support to 0, thus eliminating them from the game.
Similarly to Magic: the Gathering, Resource (i.e. land) cards, such as farms or villages, are played, and then taxed to produce Gold. This Gold is then spent to play more Resources. It is also possible to use this Gold to buy Units (which defend the land, or can attack an opponent's Order), or Systems (e.g. Democracy, Capitalism, Martial Law), which provide permanent upgrades to a player's capabilities. Alternatively, your Gold may be spent to trigger 1-time Event cards, or simply hoarded to reach the 80-Gold victory condition.