Nick and I (Tim) both love games, but we don’t really agree on what our favorites are. Oh sure, we like a lot of the same games and play them together, but when it comes to our Top 10 lists, I think there’s only one game that would be on both of them. (Maybe next week, we’ll post those lists.)

And that game is Imperial, by Mac Gerdts. Imperial really wants to be wargame, and at a casual glance looks a lot like Diplomacy — same setting, big map of 1900s Europe, army, fleet and production center counters, no dice. Anyone would be forgiven for thinking it was an updated version of the great old classic.

But it’s not, because it’s really an investment game. The players take on the roles of multi-national bankers and financiers who buy “stock” (that is, bribe, manipulate, and otherwise subtly control) in the various countries of Europe and send them to war with one another in order to make themselves wealthier. The winner is the player with the most money at the end of the game.

Since the players do not own a country (control of the country’s actions goes to the player with the most stock) the game creates a brilliant tableaux of shifting alliances as players control multiple countries and vie to take control of their opponents’ nations.

Thrown into this too is Mr, Gerdts’ favorite design element, the Rondel, a list of all the different actions that a player can do during a turn, laid out in a circular pie-chart. A counter for each player shows what action he or she performed last turn. On their turn, players may move the counter only so many spaces (or spend money to move additional spaces) so not all actions are available at all times. A clever system, and I feel like this game utilizes the Rondel the best out of all of his games.

The game has a lot going on, but I never feel overwhelmed by all of it. The game is essentially a race game, but since money is goal and how much each player has is a secret, you never feel out of the race. The game has such a strong narrative quality, I almost feel like I’m reading a historical account as I play.

We played a game last Friday night and have an open store copy if anyone wants to give it a try.