“Construct buildings, vie for city lots, and compete to shape the city of Rome..”

Link: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284189/foundations-of-rome
Playing Time: 60-90 minutes
Weight: Light
Genre: Economic Territorial Control
Designer: Emerson Matsuuchi
Players: 2-4

Image from boardgamegeek.com

The first thing that you notice about Foundations of Rome is the mammoth box size. In recent years, I’ve become more skeptical of games with huge box sizes – even with my relatively decent income and McMansion life existence, shelf space is at a premium and a game with a box has to justify its existence. And Foundations of Rome does, and does it in spades.

Which is amazing because the game is light. What’s included in the box is a full palette of buildings in each of five player colors (as well as a tray of wonders), which players will take turns building on a central map. You’ll buy lots – hope to acquire adjacent lots, and when you do, build buildings that (usually) take multiple lots but (hopefully) offer big benefits. The end result is a quick and breezy game reminiscent of a deeper Acquire but with a final game result that looks like a beautiful model of a bustling roman city.

Could Foundations of Rome work without the big chunky pieces? Possibly, maybe. This year, the same designer released Foundations of Metropolis, a modern take on the game only with cardboard tiles designed to fix in a standard-sized box. And while the gameplay is undoubtedly great even if its at all similar to Rome, I just feel like once you play with the big, chunky pieces, there is probably no going back.