Middle Kingdom Game Review:
Following the collapse of the Han Dynasty, warlords backed rival claimants to the CHinese throne, while others sought influence among the merchants, nobles, farmers, and bureaucrats. In this game, players blind bid each round to claim Dynasty cards in order to control the Emperor, Heir, Palace, Market, and Harvest. However, the heavens, in the guise of the Celestial Dragon, can disrupt the best-laid plans. The game ends as the Emperor dies and whoever gains the most influence will ascend the throne.
What’s Cool:
- Goal cards which give you abilities.
- Small and Portable. (But needs a medium sized table)
- Good rule book with examples.
What’s Not:
- That artwork isn’t impressive.
- Not much replay value.
Neutral Info:
- It’s a bidding game.
- Check out Priests of RA for a great bidding game.
User Ratings:
Overall User Ratings:
Middle Kingdom Video Review,
2 comments
joypog
January 8, 2011 at 4:39 PM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Just wanted to make a quick note. There was an error in the game explanation shown in the video. When you deal out the cards to be bid, you deal out **1 fewer than the number of players**, as opposed to what is said and shown in the video.
That will have a noticeable impact on the game since the lowest bid may get nothing.
Tarno
June 3, 2010 at 10:08 AM (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Looks like someone was taking still shots of the old 8 bit nintendo game Romance of the Three Kingdoms and used them for the artwork. Z-Man puts out some great titles but i’d probably pass on this one. If i wanted to go retro and stomach some basic artwork the card game Battle Line would be a much better choice!