Vital Lacerda has become one of the most praised game designers in the past decade. Known for his detailed and strategic games, Lacerda has brought us hits like Lisboa, The Gallerist, and On Mars. His games are complex and deeply engaging, perfect for experienced board gamers. Here are our first impressions of his latest game, Inventions: Evolution of Ideas.
What’s the game about?
Imagine Chronos, the god of time, turning the wheels of history, making humanity evolve at an incredible pace. Inventions: Evolution of Ideas lets you explore this journey from the very beginning.
Throughout six different eras, players get to launch, develop, and innovate various ideas, preparing to showcase them to the world. You’ll see ideas ranging from making bread and horseback riding to steamboats and the modern technology we know today. To develop these ideas, you’ll need specific knowledge for each era. Starting with the control of fire in the Stone Age and moving to solar cells in the Computer Age, players can gather this knowledge through Eureka actions or learn it from opponents by sending diplomats.
Developing ideas on different continents allows you to travel and gain influence around the world. This influence and your meeples’ positions are crucial for your end-game goals. During the game, you can collect progress tiles in three categories: technology, culture, and economy. These tiles can be built on your player board, giving you immediate benefits, permanent abilities, one-time-use chain actions, and extra actions that can be used once per era.
What are our first impressions?
This game is packed with complexity and requires a thorough rules explanation, and it can be overwhelming at first. But once you understand how everything fits together, it’s brilliant. With only 16 turns in the game, it might seem like there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. However, players can earn chain tokens based on their influence, which lets them link multiple actions together in a single turn. This makes it possible to achieve a lot more than you initially think.
Inventions is definitely a game that can fill an entire evening, keeping us entertained for three to four hours each session. Despite its length, it never felt boring. The constant changes to players’ ideas, the map, and the milestones keep everyone engaged and adapting to the evolving game situation. Every turn brings new opportunities and challenges, making you rethink your strategy and stay alert. The interaction between players is also a big highlight, as you need to pay attention to what others are doing and sometimes adjust your plans on the fly. This dynamic gameplay ensures that there’s never a dull moment, and you’re always involved in what’s happening on the board.
You’ll need to play this game a few times to get familiar with the rules and all the options. But once you do, it’s incredibly rewarding if you love heavy board games.
Tabletopping 