Twilight Inscription

But most board games can't be played on a clipboard.

Apparently copies of this are out at Gen Con. I'm curious to hear how heavy a game it is. Doing a super heavy roll and write would be a suitably weird move.

Gameplay preview from FFG is here for the curious. Beyond curious, I’m still not sure how I feel about this one.

Yeah, I'm not getting it or anything but off the wall projects are always fun.

I was in one of the designer-led learn to play sessions at GenCon. Some notes:

1. They put forth effort to run the demo. The designer was demoing the game on huge laminated versions of the cards, with an amplifying headset, and they had runners helping individual groups that needed it. They were going through what appeared to be the same steps as the Learn to Play book that comes with it. Really well done.

2. On the down side, while their setup was effective at teaching the mechanisms, it didn't teach the fun. Our groups of four were essentially all doing the same thing so we could learn how it worked. There were minor decisions to be made, but the major ones were dictated (such as which board to use). Eventually, they turned us loose, but at that point I had to leave to go to my next event. That said, near the end of my time, it started to click, and I would have been interested to try it "for real."

3. Basically, you have four boards (navigation, warfare, industry, and expansion). Each board effectively has its own minigame. Each turn, you flip an event card which either gives everyone some resources or has some other special action (such as resolving warfare against your neighbors). If it has resources, everyone choose which board will be active for them that turn, spends what was given, and then the three dice are rolled that give you more resources. There are three additional colored dice that individuals may have unlocked that would give even more resources. Ultimately, you're trying to complete objectives that are revealed at the beginning, as well as get points from various spaces on the boards.

4. You have a lot of choices about what to do. Maybe too many for starting players, which I why I think the learn to play is so prescribed. I didn't play enough to tell definitively, but it seems to have multiple viable paths, but you probably have to do at least some of everything, except maybe warfare. Not sure on that last one.

5. Like many other games, there are boards you can play that are the same among players, and some that are unique. Each player has a race that grants them special powers - some setup powers, some game powers, etc. Each board has two technologies associated with it that you can "research" that grant bonuses on that board. The technologies differ between the unique boards.

6. The components are very nice. Dice are large, boards are laminated and fit together nicely. The pens they give you use orange "chalk paint" (what they called it). Kind of reminded me of acrylic paint pens. They are effective at marking the sheets, but I'm a little concerned that the pens could easily stain skin/clothes, and the erasers at the end will get "full" quickly. Probably need tissues or paper towels to supplement.

I'm intrigued enough to want to play it again. It clearly isn't a short game, but I think their estimate of about 2 hours seems right. Play is mostly simultaneous.

Much appreciate you reporting back. I watched about half the video sornars posted and what an nuts direction to take a TI game. I respect it.

Seems like a neat 90's era computer game. Seems like an awful board game port of a okayish computer game.