La Belle Époque

At my first post-trip gathering, with everyone in a slightly odd mood and the games matching that strange menu, La Belle Époque came out as the main course. It is an unusual, understated game from Aleph: Britain, France, Russia, and the Central Powers become entangled in war and diplomacy in the years before World War I. It does not make much noise when you first look at it, but it has the charm of a game that knows exactly what it wants to be.

At its core, it is area control, with very simple rules and smooth gameplay. Each nation plays asymmetrically and has its own historical objectives to pursue, so the conflict does not feel like everyone doing the same thing in a different colour. Diplomacy and war sit alongside one another, while your choices are shaped by what the other players are trying to achieve.

What I particularly liked is that the historical objectives are rewarded without locking you into a single strategy. There are reversals and tension right to the end, even when the dice decide to put you on trial without mercy. Its length, however, is greater than I would expect from such a simple game—three to three and a half hours—though I suspect that will tighten up as players become more familiar with each nation’s objectives.

Its biggest thorn is the production. With better materials and, let us be honest, half a kilo of plastic, I can easily imagine it finding a few thousand backers on Kickstarter. As it stands, it is relatively difficult to find—I think mainly through direct orders from the Italians—and the component quality can be trying, especially the scoring, which can easily become a nuisance. Even so, for groups that enjoy Quartermaster General, La Belle Époque is a historical, asymmetric, pleasantly unpredictable recommendation worth seeking out.