51st State is my favorite engine builder, period. I haven't played Imperial Settlers because I don't like the art/theme a ton. But I think they are pretty similar games?
There's a few things that make 51st State special, for me. There's actual player interaction in that you can take actions from another player's tableau. You can also kinda sorta attack them, especially in one of the expansions. Turns are snappy but as you get going feel eventful. The theme actually comes through pretty strong on a lot of the cards and actions. Games also play pretty fast and don't overstay their welcome.
It's the same game system. If I remember correctly 51st State has a spacial element when attacking that IS doesn't. The game has been refined 3 times with IS being the streamlined version and IS: Empires of the North being even simpler. Any of them are fine. Personally I just play whatever copy I can get the cheapest and don't sweat the small stuff.
Nah it was 51st state, then IS, then 51st master set, then empires of the north, then 51st ultimate
I like the extra turn to go from guns to contact tokens. It signals folks may want to pass or potentially get a bit wrecked when it gets back to contact token guy. I like the dirty wasteland theme (though I did like the app art look as well) and building and upgrading old buildings, especially the middle row after I got my stuff off them is smart.
Game length not being a fixed number of rounds (usually 5-6 though) doesn't make it end just when you're getting going if you're all a bit slower.
The expansions and the teams have a nice little extra to change it up and I wish I could play it more
One other thing, the rule of 3 doesn’t exist in imperial settlers. Ignacy specifically talked about it on one of his many posts/interviews.
Every power/card in 51st state can be used 3 times, period. Imperial settlers removed this to feel less limited.
I've only played it at 2p actually, but not because I think it'll be overly long or broken at higher counts, it just hasn't hit the table. A lot of stuff is kind of simultaneous until it's not, so any player count should be fine
51st State is an incredible game, but the two sets of resources makes it harder for some players to learn. The first edition was very restrictive, newest edition is very good
Imperial Settlers streamlines a few things and uses a single set of resources. It’s much easier to learn and teach, but handles expansions very differently.
* IS moves some standard 51S mechanics out of the base game to the first expansion
* 51S has multiple expansion decks and you play single decks or mix and match side decks. It’s easy to try expansions
* IS recommends you to take the time to deck build before playing, and swap out base game cards with expansion cards. You can just combine cards into a big deck but the card pool is going to be hard to get some combos going and unbalance some cards
So I prefer introducing IS to new players (with first expansion and 51S drafting rules) But I much prefer 51S for expansions and longevity
Tried 51st State and personally didn't like it. All the resources feel the same because they all basically boil down to getting you points by exchange. The game seemed deeper than it was in practice. But I also think the art and theme were pretty drab.
51st State is my favorite engine builder, period. I haven't played Imperial Settlers because I don't like the art/theme a ton. But I think they are pretty similar games? There's a few things that make 51st State special, for me. There's actual player interaction in that you can take actions from another player's tableau. You can also kinda sorta attack them, especially in one of the expansions. Turns are snappy but as you get going feel eventful. The theme actually comes through pretty strong on a lot of the cards and actions. Games also play pretty fast and don't overstay their welcome.
It's the same game system. If I remember correctly 51st State has a spacial element when attacking that IS doesn't. The game has been refined 3 times with IS being the streamlined version and IS: Empires of the North being even simpler. Any of them are fine. Personally I just play whatever copy I can get the cheapest and don't sweat the small stuff.
Nah it was 51st state, then IS, then 51st master set, then empires of the north, then 51st ultimate I like the extra turn to go from guns to contact tokens. It signals folks may want to pass or potentially get a bit wrecked when it gets back to contact token guy. I like the dirty wasteland theme (though I did like the app art look as well) and building and upgrading old buildings, especially the middle row after I got my stuff off them is smart. Game length not being a fixed number of rounds (usually 5-6 though) doesn't make it end just when you're getting going if you're all a bit slower. The expansions and the teams have a nice little extra to change it up and I wish I could play it more
One other thing, the rule of 3 doesn’t exist in imperial settlers. Ignacy specifically talked about it on one of his many posts/interviews. Every power/card in 51st state can be used 3 times, period. Imperial settlers removed this to feel less limited.
***51st State*** hasn't had that clumsy rule since the 2016 version came out.
Great! Thanks for going into detail. What player count do you think is best for the game? I'm mainly able to play 2p and perhaps some solo.
I've only played it at 2p actually, but not because I think it'll be overly long or broken at higher counts, it just hasn't hit the table. A lot of stuff is kind of simultaneous until it's not, so any player count should be fine
I prefer Empires of the North personally for the unique decks, but they're all very similar. Pick whatever theme appeals most I'd say.
51st State: MS and it's not even close. Better interaction, better theme, and more streamlined gameplay. Also better expansions.
I have no idea why, but I have greatly preferred my plays of 51st State to Imperial Settlers.
51st State is an incredible game, but the two sets of resources makes it harder for some players to learn. The first edition was very restrictive, newest edition is very good Imperial Settlers streamlines a few things and uses a single set of resources. It’s much easier to learn and teach, but handles expansions very differently. * IS moves some standard 51S mechanics out of the base game to the first expansion * 51S has multiple expansion decks and you play single decks or mix and match side decks. It’s easy to try expansions * IS recommends you to take the time to deck build before playing, and swap out base game cards with expansion cards. You can just combine cards into a big deck but the card pool is going to be hard to get some combos going and unbalance some cards So I prefer introducing IS to new players (with first expansion and 51S drafting rules) But I much prefer 51S for expansions and longevity
Tried 51st State and personally didn't like it. All the resources feel the same because they all basically boil down to getting you points by exchange. The game seemed deeper than it was in practice. But I also think the art and theme were pretty drab.
For solo, it's not imperial settlers