The First Tsar: Ivan the Terrible (Pre-Order)
Description
This item is a pre-order item with an expected release date of Q1 2026
Orders containing a pre-order items WILL NOT SHIP until the final pre-order item is able to be shipped.
Dates and product details are subject to change as new information from the manufacturer is updated.
The First Tsar: Ivan the Terrible is a thematic sequel to the popular board game Rurik: Dawn of Kiev.
In this board game you will lead the boyar families competing for power and honor in the 16th-century Tsardom of Russia. Over four decades, you’ll collect income from estates and equip troops, trade with foreigners and fortify cities, seek privileges and carry out royal assignments. Use your influence on the tsar, bribe his minions, and perhaps it is your family that will succeed in taking the Russian throne in the next century.
The game is played over four rounds, each one representing approximately a decade of Ivan the Terrible’s reign. At the beginning of each round the players send their boyars to the Kremlin chambers, choosing their actions for the current decade.
Then the players perform the chosen actions:
- receive income from cities;
- place boyars and warriors on the map and move them;
- gain and complete construction, trade and military projects;
- exchange goods;
- acquire new titles and estates.
At the end of the round, the players with the most influence in the four regions receive additional rewards.
An important element of the game is the Tsar’s favor,
which is used to resolve all ties.
At the end of the game, the player with the most victory points wins.
In the game The Battle of Versailles, players take the role of either the France or U.S. team, facing one another by playing action cards to show off their best dresses, to attract the most popular celebrities, or to annoy the opponent by spreading bad gossip. They also compete to contribute more than their opponent to the reconstruction of the palace of Versailles.
The French player has five actions per round, representing the classic but overly-long show (2h 30min) that it put on, while the American player has only three actions per round as their show was fresh, innovative, and short (only 37min). Correspondingly, the game has different victory conditions:
- The French team tries to keep its prestige in the fashion industry, while the American team tries to steal the French prestige.
- Both teams fight to control the most influential celebrities in the fashion world.
- The Americans try to show off the best innovative features on their dresses.
- The French try to contribute as much as possible to the reconstruction of Versailles in order to raise their national pride in this beautiful palace.
