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Richard Johnson
United States
Seattle
Washington
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This review is part of our series of reviews written specifically to address games that my wife and I find enjoyable as two-player games. We especially like games that can be played with multiple players but still play well with only the two of us. Rather than focus on the rules, which many reviews already cover thoroughly, we are going to focus on the two player aspects of the game and how it plays out. One thing to keep in mind is that we are both avid gamers, so the purpose of the review is not to find “gateway” games to get your significant other playing games, but to find interesting games that are originally designed to be multi-player games but scale down well for two players.
Components
The components are a mix of both excellent and poor quality. There have been numerous debates on this, but the major complaints are in the poor box quality, lack of an insert which lets everything shift around in the box, areas being too small on the board for both colonies and the scoring track, and for some, the plastic miniatures are hard to tell apart. The biggest complaint we’ve heard is in the difficulty in telling the various pieces apart, but after our second game, we’ve had no trouble at all. Below are photos showing the commonly mixed-up pieces which are the merchant and settler, and the soldier and captain. We find that announcing what you are placing eliminates a lot of the confusion, and, once you can tell everything apart, we find the sculpted minis enhance the theme and make the game a more enjoyable experience.
Merchant
Settler
Soldier
Captain
On a positive note about the components - we find the board is quite beautiful, and the various tiles and pieces are both attractive and functional. As noted already, we find the plastic minis add to the game and it would be a shame if they were replaced with boring wooden cubes. (My wife’s favorite sculpted miniatures are the ships.)
Theme
The theme of Age of Empires is in the various European nations’ discovery and exploitation of the New World, and is engaging, though from the name of the game (and for those who have played the computer game namesake), some might be surprised at the almost non-existent warfare. While warfare only plays a very small role in game play, confrontation is a big part of the game in the acquisition of various roles and resources.
Game play
The majority of the game is in placing settlers and specialists (merchants, soldiers, and captains) in various roles to acquire various resources and further settling of the New World. Points are scored from settling the New World, and from obtaining valuable buildings that help in purchasing, settling, or acquiring more specialists (giving the player more options for acquiring resources, etc.). In a two-player game, each player gets more choices of roles to be used per round than when playing with more players, which allows for a bit more ease following a long-term. Some might find this a little more boring, and, while we think it plays best with more players, it is still a very viable game with only two players. In a two-player game, depriving your opponent of points is just as good, if not better than scoring points for yourself. Once players realize this, it really makes the game directly confrontational as you can’t leave your opponent alone to dominate any one area of the game. We find two-player games come out much closer in point values, often ending within 5-10 points of each other (and sometimes even fewer), where in 4-5 player games, the point spread will often be 30-35 points from first place to last place.
Conclusion
While Age of Empires does play best with more players to truly give it an epic feel, two-player games are also enjoyable, and, as a bonus, play really fast once both players know the rules and the general strategies that can be employed to maximize the points scored. We can easily finish a complete game in 40-60 minutes, which is about half the time it takes to play with larger groups. The game itself is almost satisfyingly confrontational without becoming abusive. There are multiple strategies that can be employed during the game, but, even in a two-player game, the need to adjust around another player and around the available options is ultimately what will lead you to victory.
Final Rating
Richard: Age of Empires is one of my absolute favorite games right now. With two players, I rate it an 8 and with 4-5 players a solid 10.
Zontziry: I waver between really liking this game, and finding it too repetitive with two players. (We’ve played this A LOT.) This is one game I really do prefer with more than two players, but, for a quick strategy-needing fix, that includes a bit of confrontation and constant adapting to the circumstances, this works well. I currently rate this a 7 for two players, and an 8 for more players.
Our Rating: 7.5/10 for two players. 9/10 for more.
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All Hail Knucklebeard!
Australia
Wodonga
Victoria
BorderCon 101 - Bring the fun, bring a smile, grab a game from the pile. Place the Meeple, play a card, swing your sword and kill the guard! So make the trip, don't be docile, look for details on my profile!
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Hey Cuzzle,
Just wanted to say nice work on the 'Couples Reviews'. I like the different approach you are taking to reviewing and it is one that I find interesting as I'm always on the look out for games that play well with 2. I particularly like reading Zontziry's viewpoint at the end.
Is the main body of the review a joint collaboration or is it mostly your take on the game?
Keep up the good work. 
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Chris Askew
United Kingdom
Pelaw, Gateshead
Tyne & Wear
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Can I just second the above sentiments. I too often purchase games that can scale down to two, in the hope that my fiance will be interested in them. Reviews like this specifically aimed at couples can often be the make or break for a purchase.
Keep up the good work and thanks again!
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Stephen Waits
United States
San Diego
California
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Thirded and tipped!
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Richard Johnson
United States
Seattle
Washington
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They are completely co-written. In fact if it sounds good it's probably Zoey writing it
 I'm glad you're enjoying them we certainly have fun putting them together.
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Armin Brueckner
United States
Apple Valley
Minnesota
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We played our first 2 player game and while it's a better game with 4-5, it still works really well for 2 people.
I'm sorry I waited so long to try AOE with my wife, she ended up winning by 2 points after a few great moves.
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