Review: Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North (Portal Games)

Welcome to the frozen north, where the land is cold, the penguins are friendly, the drink is plentiful, and the islands are up for grabs. In Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North, you take your clan on a quest to expand their influence by using their unique skills and abilities (plus a bit of luck and timing).

Empires of the North is a stand-alone game, not an expansion. It takes place in the Imperial Settlers universe, inheriting some of the original game’s flavor and flair, but sailing in an entirely different direction. The game introduces new strategies, gameplay elements, and engine building opportunities, along with six new clans who each have their own way of doing things.

Here are the top five things you need to know about Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North to help your clan rise to victory instead of shivering on the ice.

Meeting the Clans

#

Each player claims a clan at the start of the game. This choice matters immensely, because each clan does things very differently. What you choose determines the strategy you’ll play for this particular game.

The clan skills vary wildly. The Glenn clan focuses on working together by copying their cards. The Ulafs love to fight (“they sharpen their axes as a hobby”), while the Panuks build sets and find card synergies. The Nanurjuk clan stays on the move, while the Heidel clan loves to fight and party (not necessarily in that order). Finally, there’s the money-loving Mackinnon clan that focuses on gathering and investing.

Changes from the Original

#

Players who love Imperial Settlers and its myriad expansions will find several changes in Empires of the North. First, cards are built anywhere in front of a player, not along specific rows and sides of the faction board

The card design is similar but simpler, with details on how to play or build a card still in the upper left corner and an explanation of the card’s ability along the bottom. In this version, players draw four new cards at the beginning of each turn, using workers to “buy” specific cards into their hands.

Six Decks with New Cards

#

Each of the game’s six clans gets a unique deck of cards, just like the original game. Every card in each clan’s deck adds some unique strategic value, so you want to consider each of them carefully as you draw.

Boost cards and field locations are new additions to the game. Boost cards and field locations get played for free when you choose a particular action on the action wheel (more about that in a moment).

Because there’s only one copy of some cards in each deck, we occasionally ran into issues where a key card didn’t show up until late in the game simply because it got shuffled to the bottom of the deck.

An Ever-changing Action Wheel

#

Empires of the North introduces a completely new way to perform actions by adding a randomly arranged action wheel. During setup, players shuffle the five tiles that make up the wheel and then lay them out in a doughnut shape. Each tile lets players do a specific action, such as draw a card, add a worker, build something, gather a resource, or set sail to an island.

Players each get two double-sided action pawns to use on the wheel. On your turn, you can place a pawn anywhere on the wheel and take the action, as well as play a related boost card directly from your hand.

Once you’ve used one of those pieces, you can spend one food on a future turn to use the same piece again on an adjacent space. That makes the order of the wheel pieces a very important part of each game’s strategy.

Sailing to the Islands

#

While most of the abilities on the wheel are fairly straightforward, sailing is completely new to this game.

During each round, there are four island cards to explore. These islands can be incredibly valuable. To interact with them, you either take the sailing action to put one of your ships out to sea or use a card that lets you skip sailing and simply take claim one for your clan.

Islands also add a new tension to the game because after a round finishes, the current islands go away (probably never to be seen again in that game) and new ones replace them.

Verdict

#

If you enjoy engine building games and are new to the Imperial Settlers universe, then Empires of the North makes a great addition to your shelf. It’s easy to learn, highly replayable, and delivers the right mix of strategy and fun.

If you already enjoy the original Imperial Settlers, then you’ll find a lot to like in Empires of the North. The designers streamlined some of the mechanics while keeping the game’s engaging (and sometimes slightly goofy) flavor. The result is a new twist on the classic Imperial Settlers experience that will keep this game coming back to the table.

With six clans that each have their own unique ways of doing things, an ever-changing action wheel to challenge your planning abilities, and just a touch of “screw your neighbor,” Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North earns a solid recommendation worthy of a coveted home on your shelf.