Foundations of Rome

Foundations of Rome does not merely arrive on the table; it occupies it like a miniature film set. The enormous plastic buildings have weight and presence, the sort of faintly ridiculous luxury that makes an office-bound adult rather pleased to have another Rome in the living room. Its table appeal is off the charts, as are the price and the size of the box.

Players buy plots in ancient Rome, claim them, and build on them, trying to turn their choices into productive scoring combinations. The central structure is simple enough for a gateway game, while the Kickstarter expansions add enough material to bring it close to light euro territory without losing its immediate visual clarity.

There is enough to chew on, and there are some pleasing little cuts across the table, without the game becoming especially harsh or complicated. You spot a useful patch of city, take it before someone else can, and their lovely plan suddenly requires a rethink. Should a cardboard-building edition appear, I suspect it would be considerably more fiddly to live with than these plastic beasts.

Yes, most of us can think of wiser things to do with this much money. That does not make Foundations of Rome a poor game: we enjoyed it, and it is quietly excellent for moving non-gamers one step beyond Catan.