Age of Innovation

I have a strange relationship with Terra Mystica: I do not particularly like it, yet I keep ending up playing all of its spiritual children. I suppose its core rules appeal to me, while the way the original was put together did not leave me with the fondest memories. Age of Innovation, by contrast, arrives as a juicy, lavish euro—more packed even than the beautiful Gaia Project.

At its mechanical core, I recognize what I have always liked about this line: a weighty euro with decisions built around a familiar rules framework. But there is no desire for restraint here. The flow of a game seems to load that framework with more things to consider and more avenues to pursue, making it very clearly Terra Mystica on steroids.

The main distinction comes from the rather asymmetric powers, which give players different tools and directions within the same game. I will not present it as a model of balance—it is not—but this design mishmash works in favor of a feeling of abundance. As I experienced it, interaction mostly lies in everyone operating within the same dense mechanical space, trying to make the best use of their own asymmetric advantages.

In the end, Age of Innovation feels far too good for me to worry about it not being perfectly balanced. If you want one title from this series but are not drawn to the “tournament-like” minimalism of the original Terra Mystica, this is, for me, the one to keep on the table.