Tianxia – A Little Order in a Warring World

Tianxia takes us back to ancient China, around 260 BCE, during the Warring States period. Seven rival kingdoms are trying to outdo one another while nomadic tribes threaten from the north. In the middle of all this, you lead a noble family seeking influence and honour through careful governance, trade, and defence. You will also want to stay in favour with the powerful dynasties that dominate the land.

👥 1-4 players, ages 14+
⌛ Playing time: 60-120 minutes
📝 Designers: Antonio Petrelli & Daniele Tascini
🎨 Artwork: Fernando Abravanel

🏢 Publisher: Board&Dice (review copy provided)

Gameplay Overview

The game plays over four rounds, and each round starts with an income phase. Players collect resources from their workers on barges and from the buildings where they have placed governors. This brings in wood, stone, rice, and sometimes goods, coins, or even prestige.

The main part of the game happens during the action phase. In turn order, players take one type of action at a time, marking their choices with action markers, until everyone passes. Regional actions let you install governors in buildings, exchange resources for goods, or deal with merchant ships at the ports. Installing governors expands your presence in the regions and increases income, while trading with ships brings coins, prestige, and useful rewards. Regional actions also allow players to move along the palace tracks, which show your standing with four dynasties. Progress there brings both quick bonuses and end-game points.

Military actions happen along the walls. Here, players can fortify by spending stone to build walls and towers, or train soldiers using rice to defend the borders. Strong defences are important, because at the end of every round the nomads advance, and if they reach the walls, there will be fighting.

The barges along the river offer another way to gain resources. By paying coins, players can place workers to gain a resource right away and then collect the same type again during later income phases, as long as the worker remains on the barge. It costs more if you already have workers there, and anyone pushed off returns as a merchant, which can be useful later.

When you have done what you wanted for the round, you can pass. This locks in your position for the next round’s turn order, gives you a bonus tile, and lets you advance on the palace tracks for coins, depending on the jade figurines you have collected. Once everyone has passed, the round moves on.

The attack phase is when the nomads strike. Each round, their chieftains move forward along their invasion paths. If they reach the walls, players compare their defences in that section, counting soldiers, towers, and walls to see who earns prestige. Towers and walls weaken the nomads, and soldiers are removed from play, but their owners receive prestige in return. If the defenders succeed, they earn additional prestige for repelling the attack. If not, the nomads raid the region, removing governors and adding extra costs to buildings. After the battle, the chieftains retreat to the start of their paths, preparing for the next invasion.

At the end of each round, ships are refreshed, action markers are reset, and the board is prepared for the next cycle. In the final round, the cleanup phase is skipped and the game ends right after the last attack.

Prestige points are earned in different ways, such as from the palace tracks, defended walls, delivered goods, objective cards, and jade figurines. When it is all done, the player with the most prestige becomes the most respected leader of the Warring States.

Gameplay & Flow

Tianxia is a web of systems that constantly feed into one another. Every choice you make affects your economy, your influence, and your defences. Installing governors boosts income and palace influence, which can then support trade or help fund your military efforts. Holding the walls against the nomads does not just protect everyone, it also brings prestige and can strengthen your position on the palace tracks. Every action has consequences, and even a small move can ripple through the rest of the game.

Resources revolve around the river barges, which link cleverly to your personal abilities. When workers leave a barge, they return as merchants who can perform special actions on your player board. The same meeples serve several purposes depending on where you send them. Soldiers defend the borders, governors manage buildings, workers collect resources, and merchants later trigger bonuses. You begin with sixteen meeples, which feels like plenty, but by the final round they are scattered across the board like rice after a festival.

The palace tracks open up another way to grow your influence. Advancing on these four dynasty tracks brings immediate rewards, useful abilities, and end-game points. Jade figurines and bonus tiles add flexibility, letting you choose whether to advance for quick gains or long-term prestige. It feels rewarding to plan ahead, and the system stays clear once you understand how it works.

Scoring comes from different directions: governors, ships, fortifications, palace tracks, and objective cards. Objectives in particular push players to try different approaches, whether through trade, governance, or military investment. The structure of each round ties everything neatly together. Income sets up your resources, the action phase builds momentum, and the attack phase provides tension and a satisfying sense of resolution before the next cycle begins. That phase always feels tense.

The way actions work keeps you planning every move. You are always deciding whether to squeeze in one more move, or maybe pass early for better turn order and bonuses. Each round ends with a tidy reset, so the game unfolds in little cycles of preparation, growth, and defence. The pacing feels steady and thoughtful, rewarding anyone who plans a few steps ahead.

Strategy & Luck

Tianxia keeps luck on a short leash. Once the setup is done, there is very little randomness. The only variable elements come from the ships that change between rounds and the objective cards each player draws. Everything else is open information, so success depends on planning and timing, not on hoping for luck.

Timing can be crucial, especially on the palace tracks. Advancing early gives handy bonuses, but waiting until later might secure stronger scoring positions. Much of the game is about reading the table: when to compete for influence, when to invest in defence, and when to quietly let others take the lead.

Tianxia rewards players who plan a few turns ahead, manage resources efficiently, and adapt to shifting opportunities. It is a game of careful calculation rather than luck, but because everything you do affects others, it never feels dry or solitary.

Player Interaction

Tianxia is more interactive than it might first appear. The shared defence against the nomads keeps everyone paying attention to each other’s decisions. Cooperation is often necessary, but rewards are competitive. The biggest contributor gains the most prestige, while anyone who contributes too little risks losing governors when the walls fall. It is that quiet mix of “we are in this together” and “I still want to win” that makes the defence phase so tense. And that moment when the wall holds and everyone cheers is fantastic.

Then there are the river barges, where things can get a bit more personal. Spaces are limited, and placing a worker can push someone else’s piece off the barge, sending it back as a merchant. It is almost polite sabotage, a little annoying, but often useful later. The ports and regional buildings work the same way. Acting at just the right time can secure a valuable space or deny it to someone else. Competition also plays out on the palace tracks. Advancing early can block others from collecting certain bonuses. 

Interaction in Tianxia is never loud or mean-spirited, but it is always there. Every choice influences others, even indirectly.

Theme & Atmosphere

At first glance, Tianxia might look quite mechanical, but the theme is woven neatly into its systems. The Warring States setting is not just painted on, it is built into how the game functions. The wall defence, palace influence, regional governance, and trade routes all reflect the balance of survival and ambition that defined that period of Chinese history.

The historical theme comes through more in the mechanics than in storytelling. The shared walls mirror the need for cooperation against northern invasions, while the palace tracks represent the delicate politics of earning dynastic favour. Even trade along the river feels grounded in the era’s shifting alliances. Everything connects with a sense of purpose.

Tianxia’s atmosphere grows from the gameplay itself. The mix of cooperation, calculation, and tension reflects the constant balance between order and conflict. It is a game about creating stability in a world that keeps threatening to fall apart, and that makes the title feel very well chosen.

Components & Art

Like many heavier eurogames, Tianxia comes with a table full of wooden pieces and cardboard tiles. The main board is large and colourful, showing the regions of ancient China. It might look crowded at first, but once set up, everything feels well placed and easy to follow.

The artwork uses warm reds, greens, and golds to give the board a historical tone without making it too busy. The palace areas look especially nice once filled with player markers, and little details like banners and tiny figures bring life to the map.

Each player controls sixteen wooden meeples that serve different roles: soldiers, governors, workers, and merchants. The wall and tower pieces line the western border and create a strong visual of collective defence as the game goes on. The barges are a fun highlight, tiny wooden boats with roofs that look great when full of workers.

The cardboard components are plentiful but clear. The icons are consistent and easy to read once you know them, the difference between goods and resources is easy to spot, and the player boards help organise everything neatly.

It makes for a busy, colourful table once everything is set up. There is no box insert included, which is a small shame, but it is the kind of thing third-party organisers will fix quickly, or you can always use the classic zip bag method, which never fails.

Pacing & Replayability

Tianxia rewards patience. The first game might feel slow while everyone learns how the systems connect, but once it clicks, it feels smooth and logical. Income sets up your options, the action phase lets you build and expand, and the attack phase wraps things up with a bit of tension before the next round begins.

The game scales well across player counts, but the experience changes. With two players, the walls are easier to maintain and the board feels roomier. With three or four, the barges fill up quickly, the walls get contested, and the shared defence becomes a real test of timing and cooperation. The extra competition keeps everyone more engaged and makes the board feel active.

Replayability comes from variety rather than randomness. Different buildings, abilities, and objectives change how each game develops, pushing you to explore new strategies. One game might lean heavily on palace politics, while another focuses more on trade or military strength. The mix of tiles and tracks keeps it fresh without relying on luck.

Once players know the rules, it stays consistent. It is not a game of big surprises, but it stays satisfying, with new layers becoming clear over repeated plays.

Accessibility & Complexity

Tianxia is aimed at experienced players who enjoy deeper strategy games. The rules are clear, but the interconnected systems mean it takes a play or two before everything feels natural. Expect a slower teach and a game that can stretch past two hours with four players, though it flows much faster once everyone understands how things connect.

The learning curve comes from the way each part, trade, governance, defence, and palace influence, feeds into the others. It can feel like juggling at first, but once it clicks, the structure makes perfect sense.

The rulebook is well written and neatly organised, walking you through setup and the round structure step by step, with clear diagrams and examples. The reference pages at the back are especially helpful, listing buildings and bonuses so you rarely need to look things up online.

Final Thoughts

Tianxia does not try to reinvent the eurogame, but it connects its ideas in a way that feels smart and satisfying. Governance, trade, and defence all feed into one another, creating a system that feels alive without being chaotic. The shared wall defence adds genuine interaction, and the palace tracks tie everything together with a sense of long-term progression.

The Warring States theme fits perfectly. This is not a game that tells stories, but one that creates an atmosphere through balance and pressure. It is about finding order in the middle of conflict, and that tension gives it a calm but steady pulse.

Tianxia suits players who enjoy deep strategy, limited luck, and patient planning. It rewards people who think ahead and appreciate when every part of a design connects. It is more about cohesion than novelty, but that is exactly what makes it satisfying. Everything feels deliberate and well considered.

The game plays well at two but really comes alive with three or four, where the shared walls and crowded barges make every round feel interactive. It is not a fast game, and the teach takes a while, but once it flows, it is a pleasure to play.

In Tianxia, stability is hard won, walls do not build themselves, and prestige comes to those who plan ahead.

👉 If you are heading to Spiel later this month, you can find Tianxia at the Board & Dice booth in Hall 3, stand 3G200.

📝 We received a review copy from Board&Dice.