First Impressions – First Play reviews are a series of reviews from initially opening the box to the completion of the first game, these are not designed to be in depth reviews of the game itself or an explanation of the rules, more of a quick precursor. As (if?) the game gets more play time a more in-depth review will be added.

What’s the game about?

Building a cathedral during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, to do this you are to take on the role of architects. The game is a bit of several things including area control/majority (the sections of the Cathedral built by you are critical to scoring points), and worker placement via dice on a rondel, there is also a bit of resource management thrown in for good measure. The game has elements of luck to it (the dice rolls determining how many spaces on the rondel the workers/dice can be moved) but there are enough options and mechanisms (such as spending money for extra movement spaces and the choice of multiple dice when selecting resources) to mitigate much of the luck element within the game.

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