More Empyreal: Spells & Steam. We played 6p, and didn’t use the Awards. I was actually kind of shocked how well it worked with 6; it plays pretty crisply for the most part, and while there is some downtime, there is stuff to work out when it’s not your turn. Plus the game just isn’t that long; you’re only going through your tableau 4 times most likely in a 5-6p game. Also, I did prefer the game without the awards, at least for games with more players, and players who are not yet intimately familiar with the game. The winning score in our game was 26, and the spread was about 5 points; the Awards are just a ton of points, relatively speaking (6/4/2 for 1st/2nd/3rd) so you have to be competitive for them or you’re not going to win. This feels like it narrows the scope of the game significantly. With fewer players scores will be higher so maybe it’s not that bad, but I think I’d rather use the Metropolis rules from the expansion as something for the players to directly compete for. Anyway, still liking this a lot. It’s not going to be something I play frequently just because I don’t really have the constituency for it (like Edge of Darkness, another game that’s quirky that I’m quite fond of). It would obviously reward really digging into it, there is just so much variety. But unlike Terra Mystica, to which it bears some resemblance, it also seems like it can reward more casual play. #bgg #boardgamegeek #boardgames #level99games #worldofindines #boardgamesofinstagram #boardgamenight #tabletopgames https://www.instagram.com/p/B8DnUJphZuK/?igshid=17o2ivt7dy84m