Veni, vidi, vici! I spotted this little beauty whilst trawelling the wilds of Facebook, popping up in my FB feed like a Spartan assaulting a man-god-thing. But past the gorgeous artwork lies an interesting card game of war and tactics set in the ancient Roman era. Suitable for 1 on 1 or 2 v2 team battling and a run time of around 30 minutes, Burning Rome looks to be the ideal game for starting an evening of gaming when waiting for Joe Bloggs to arrive. So let’s dive in and take a look.
Billed as a strategy card game, players can take one of the pre-built decks (or once you have some experience, a self-build) and set up opposite your opponent. Players then play units and tactics cards from their hands into one of three columns to try and out-muscle and out-manoeuvre their enemy.
What’s clever is the order the units are played in affects the Attack and Defence values they contribute to the column they are in. Each unit has a double row of stats. The top card will contribute it’s top row as it represents the frontline attacking troops, whilst the second and third card in the column will act as support and therefore contribute their second row. In this way, players will need to take care that units which are poor in support don’t end up behind weak attacking units and vice versa. Not only that, but the order a card is played will determine whether it will set off it’s special ability. It’s all about the maximising efficiency and dropping cards at just the right time to grab the advantage.
Straightforward, beautifully presented and with four different factions offering completely different play styles (not to mention increased replayability), Burning Rome looks set to be an excellent addition to my gaming library (yeah, yeah, I’ve already backed, take that wallet!) and I hope you take a look too.
