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Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Unspecified
Unspecified
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Back way back when, ooh must be three years ago now, Richard 'Smok' Clyne introduced me to a garish, cartoony card game called Glory to Rome. I can't recall exactly WHY he picked it up - probably on one of his excursions into Leisure Games / Orcs Nest in Central London - especially as it looked so bloody awful in it's blister packaging with its horribly clip-art-ed aesthetic. It must have called to him through the Time Spiral boosters or something.
Jimmy made one of his rare trips over to Chez Clyne and the three of us played maybe three times that evening. I absolutely bloody hated it.
I hated the look. I hated the fact I had to get my head around six different actions with their 'zone movement' rules. I hated the massive, fold-out, hugely-arrowed rulebook with it's card-by-card clarifications.
Most of all, I hated the LEGIONARY action: in a game I'm trying to get to grips with, mechanic wise, having both your opponents rip all of the cards out of your hand makes for a miserable experience.
Looking back, I may have also have been affected by the seeming-ease with which Richard and Jimmy got stuck right in - they were veterans of San Juan (which I have played maybe 3 times in my life, to date) - and (as it turned out) Richard had been to various Cons and been play-testing what would become Race for the Galaxy. So, they were content with multi-function card play. What bewilders me now is that as a long-time M:TG-er, why it was such a terrible 'first impression' for me?
Anyway, I had inwardly vowed to avoid playing this ugly, chaotic beast ever again.
The following week, Richard and I were at our usual pre-Magic supper table ('Have you been to a Harvester before?' 'Yes, thanks - now piss off and get me a large meat pie') with a couple of un-exposed pals; he removed Glory to Rome from it's supermarket sanitary tray and ran through a quick explanation. My heart sank.
However, during that game something happened; I had a Damascan Road revelation. The scales fell from my eyes, this particular bush began burning and the game suddenly 'clicked'. Literally so! My memory is of a specific moment when I looked at my cards and knew EXACTLY what I needed to do next - a proper light-bulb moment. Legionary ain't so bad - there are ways around it, or to use it better.
Once you get over the card movements (and your snobbery over the 'look'), Glory to Rome has an enormous amount to offer: lots of player interaction, CCG-style combo-deliciousness and a crack-like addictive re-playability. For a single, shared-deck design there is a very low level of luck involved - all of the 'buildings',pretty much, are powerful in their own way and you can often develop a plan around your opening hand.
Within the space of that week, I went from whine-y hater to intrigued fan-boy. It became our filler of choice and, often, the main event of the evening. Very quickly, the GtR bug had spread from Richard, Jimmy and myself to Ray, Jon and Iain. Gaming evenings (lots of them) would begin and end with 'Glory'. It was responsible for more early-morning finishes than anything else; not a session would go by without 'just one more'...
The best thing of all, though, is that Glory To Rome became 'the great leveler' for our group. While I may always have been competing for last place in Age of Steam, The Princes of Florence or The Scepter of Zavandor (hopefully not true nowadays!), when Glory hit the table it would be hard to predict the outcome. Jon liked to Merchant, or build a Circus; Richard's a big fan of the Patron-abusing Bath; I can't resist getting Craftsmen clients and Jimmy went through an outrageous seam of winning the game by building an early Catacombs.
In the first year, we were averaging 5-10 plays PER WEEK - even now, three years down the line, we still get 5+ games per month. I've seen it travel from 1000+ in the Geek rankings to 99 (it's current, deserved position). This is a truly remarkable game and one that I cannot recommend highly enough.
Forget your Nightfalls, your Thunderstones and your Dominions - there is only one TRUE essential card game for your collection..
Glory to Glory To Rome!
Still unconvinced? Take a look at Enders Comprehensive Review.
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