Hello there. For my first ever review on BGG I'm going to take on The End of the Triumvirate, published in 2006 by Z-Man games (originally by Lookout Games).

The game was designed by Johannes Ackva and Max Gabrian. I'm unfamiliar with their work, but based on this effort I will certainly give their future games a look.

First off, I'll mention the components. Solid job here. Wooden cubes work fine, good sturdy board, good thick cardboard cards and tokens. No complaints here except the size of some provinces. As the game progresses and legions amass in certain provinces, it becomes a little difficult to fit everyone in. It's a minor complaint though.

I won't go over the rules since they're available online, so instead I'll just jump right into my impressions. The thing that attracted me to this game was that it was specifically designed for 3 players. I have yet to play with 2, so I can't comment on how that goes. But just the idea that 3 players are duking it out intrigued me. So far I've only played the game 3 times, so take this review with a grain of salt.

Simply put, I like it.

I seem to play a LOT of games that are just a battle for victory points so to see a game with no victory points but instead victory conditions, is refreshing. So each player immediately thinks "okay, how do I achieve a victory condition" and goes for it. Here is where the awesomeness of the game kicks in. You CANNOT only focus on your own goals, you MUST focus on your opponent's goals as well.

To put the game into a simple phrase, it's one big balancing act. You are trying to tip the scales in your favor but you also have to make sure that both your opponents can't runaway with the victory at any time. This gets harder as the game goes on, but such is the nature of balancing.

As I said before, I've played 3 times and each victory condition has come into play. Military victory is the easiest to identify just because of the huge Governors each player has in front of them. If one player runs low, you'd best knock him down a peg. It's probably hardest to achieve for that reason then. But also which provinces you control dictates which resources you get, so even if you don't achieve military victory you can use your might to aid your true goal.

Political victory is bound to happen if the game goes long enough, since you only have to win Consul twice to win the game. After the first election, the winner loses 3 citizens but also gets a target on their back if they start working towards a 2nd victory or getting 6 citizens. If they make small strides each turn though and can pick a citizen here or there without alerting their opponents too much, the game can easily be won. It also forces opponents to abandon their plans in order to stop you.

And finally Competence victory is probably the easiest, but takes the longest to achieve. You NEED the game to go through at least 2 elections, possibly 3 in order to get enough turns to move up your markers. Players will then target your Character, so he must be well-protected. Plus you need to keep the money coming in.

So again, all in all, the game is about balance. You may say it's almost too balanced, but if it was a game where everyone didn't have a legitimate chance to win, then what fun would it be? The compensation cards help to that end, even if they take away from the theme slightly.

The only negative I can really see in this game is the anticlimatic ending. If a player makes 1 bad move right before another player who has a chance to win, then as soon as someone realizes it, the game is over. So you play and play and play and then a player realizes "oh, I can takeover 3 provinces this turn to win by military victory". Game over.

Still, I imagine the more the game gets played, the less that will occur since everyone will keep a keen eye on each other. And really it's the fault of BOTH players for not recognizing the threat sooner. If 2 players continually fight each other back and forth, chances are they are ignoring the 3rd player and helping them to victory. Spread out your attacks!

And I'd also like to give a shout out to the guy that came up with the "Don't Forget Your Supplies From Rome" player aid. That gets overlooked incredibly often.

Very good game, very good balance. If you are looking for something fresh and have a few like-minded individuals to play with, this can be a great one. I give it a 8.5 / 10, maybe even 9 as I play it more.