Finding a Way to Build Up from the Old Ruins of 51st State

Sep 14, 2023 | Sessions | 4 comments

Build a settlement from the ruins of a post-apocalyptic world where resources are a rare commodity in 51st State.

With nearly everything for Imperial Settlers in my collection, I never saw much of a reason to get into its technical predecessor, 51st State: Ultimate Edition. However, my husband was interested, so a copy has been sitting around for a bit! I brought it out of the proverbial ruins of a shadowy shelf to finally try out the different solo modes!

Game Overview

Game Name: 51st State: Ultimate Edition
Publication Year:
2023
Designers:
Joanna Kijanka and Ignacy Trzewiczek
Artists:
M. Bielski, G. Bobrowski, P. Foksowicz, M81 Studio
Publisher: Portal Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game

Various buildings fall into the areas of production, features, or actions. Resources must be converted into contact tokens to perform different activities, or turned into victory points. The solo opponent is quite difficult to match this unforgiving setting where winning is a rarity!

Preparing to Build in a Post-Apocalyptic World with 51st State
R

First Play

September 9, 2023

Complexity

3

Latest Play

September 10, 2023

Expansions

1

Setup Time

Almost None

Lifetime Plays

8

Play Time

25 Minutes

:

High Score

45

1

Game Area

38" x 20"

;

Low Score

26

Alphabetical, Again

Since there aren’t any decks associated with the factions, their real differences are on their board actions. So I started where I usually do… At the start of the alphabet!

The extra step to convert resources into contact tokens to take actions seemed a little less streamlined, although this wasn’t the end of the world. Turns needed more planning.

I also decided to start off with the standard solo variant before moving into the slightly more complex version.

My knowledge of Imperial Settlers certainly helped in learning this set of rules… The rulebook was not great.

Starting Out Alphabetically with the Appalachian Federation in 51st State

Settling the Ruins

So much fun! It was great to see this settlement take shape. I wasn’t a huge fan of the setting and dark artwork, yet it didn’t detract from gameplay in any way.

This standard solo variant was fairly predictable, so I had plenty of chances to develop ruins or hold off on building anything until I was in the clear later in the round.

With the race to 25 victory points, everything moved pretty quickly, too, with very little time to pause.

I saw interesting choices, although it seemed like the expansions might be where more variety could be found.

Recognizing the Design from Imperial Settlers in 51st State

Wrecked Tank Row

During my first play, I was pretty pleased when I got lucky and drew a whole bunch of wrecked tanks! With enough construct tokens and ruins to develop, this worked out.

This type wasn’t as common in the deck, so the solo opponent had a low chance of destroying them.

I enjoyed these plays, but felt like it was time to move onto the Borgo solo variant. That promised more variety and unpredictable turns with a more robust solo opponent.

Yet I wanted to try my hand at another settlement with the standard solo mode… Maybe with less wrecked tanks? Ha!

Lining Up a Whole Lot of Wrecked Tanks for Victory Points in 51st State

More Useful Actions

I bided my time during each round to try to build after the solo opponent attacked. Some buildings were still lost, yet I had a good chance of actually using each one first.

Action buildings focused on converting resources into victory points, which was very important. I had a nice engine rolling here, even when I lost a production card.

Still, it felt time to move on. I still preferred the gameplay from Imperial Settlers and didn’t see a lot of new ideas.

Expansions probably would have been the answer, yet I was underwhelmed with the extra resource conversion.

Watching a Settlement Take Shape in 51st State

Struggling with a Less Streamlined Design

I’ve made a lot of comparisons to Imperial Settlers, yet these systems are very similar. In fact, this one here was the original! There are lots of things to enjoy, yet it seems like one will be preferred over the other. An additional conversion step made this one feel a little clunkier in terms of its mechanics, although it wasn’t terrible.

In terms of the theme, I knew this post-apocalyptic setting wasn’t going to win out over creating civilizations with much cuter artwork. That’s just a personal preference! However, I still enjoyed some of the aspects here and felt like I was definitely in this world. But I think the least streamlined of all was the rulebook… Way too many ambiguities.

There are some more issues with it I’ll mention in a little bit, but the learning process wasn’t particularly enjoyable. I felt like the rulebook was inherently mad at me from the start. Ha ha! This strange pressure to memorize everything was kind of there, like some of the bad rules explanations I’ve sat through over the years. At least I got most of it right!

A Confusing Rulebook

This might be one of my least favorite rulebooks for a variety of reasons. There is a random smattering of swearing and almost hostile banter against the reader.

When learning the rules, I don’t want to get distracted with a quip in the middle of the section I need to know. That’s where flavor text or sidebars can come in.

There were also plenty of ambiguities. The Borgo solo variant seemed pretty easy, but what of this statement?

I had to go on a wild goose chase to confirm that Borgo also earned victory points from buildings, as I suspected.

A Very Obnoxious and Unclear Rulebook for 51st State

Ruins Into More Ruins

The Borgo solo variant changed things up a lot, making gameplay a lot more difficult! I struggled to get anything built in my settlement, as everything was destroyed.

There was an interesting moment when Borgo attacked my school. Out of those ruins, I developed a ruined library. Rather fitting and thematic, if not a little depressing.

Each play ended after about 3-5 rounds, which really put the pressure on me to do the most with what I had.

A lot of it came down to finding the right cards, though, and I wasn’t particularly thrilled with losing my buildings.

Bits of Storytelling with Developing Ruins in 51st State

Session Overview

Play Number: 1-8
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Standard Solo Variant and Borgo Solo Variant
Outcome: 2 Wins & 6 Losses

Even switching over to making more deals didn’t give me the edge against Borgo. I kept losing! Sometimes, I was within a few victory points, but other times were just embarrassing. I know that I have all of the expansions and might want to explore them, yet I had enough issues to convince me that Imperial Settlers is the iteration I’ll continue to enjoy a lot more. Pre-apocalyptic, I guess. Ha!

A Major Struggle to Build Anything and Earn Victory Points in 51st State

%

1 Play

Affordability

Price & Value

5

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

9

Originality

Design & Theme

5

Quality

Components & Rules

6

Reusability

Achievement & Enjoyment

4

Variability

Distinctness & Randomness

7

+ Pros (Positives)

  • Gameplay moves very quickly and ends after a handful of rounds, which makes the play time fly right on by.
  • There are interesting decisions to make about how to use a card as a building, a deal, or the razed spoils.
  • Component quality is excellent in this special edition with wooden tokens that look a little aged to fit the theme.
  • Although the setting may not be particularly cheerful, there are a variety of cards that make it interesting.
  • Most of the solo opponent’s rules are easy to follow so that there is a limited amount of downtime each round.
  • Some duplicates exist in the deck, yet there is often a very different assortment of cards present in each play.

– Cons (Negatives)

  • The rulebook has flavor text with swearing mixed in with the actual rules, making the learning process a little odd.
  • It can be too easy to predict the standard solo opponent’s moves, but the Borgo solo opponent is very aggressive.
  • Converting resources into contact tokens adds another step to performing actions, which can feel a little arbitrary.
  • Factions all use the same deck, so the differences in how they play can be rather subtle with limited unique actions.

More 51st State

Explore related posts about 51st State!

Victory Conditions

Score the Most Points

  • Overall Goal Progress 67% 67%

Goals and Milestones

R

Win at least 1 game against the standard solo opponent.

R

Win at least 1 game as the Appalachian Federation.

Q

Win at least 1 game against the Borgo solo opponent.

Continue the Conversation

What are your thoughts about 51st State: Ultimate Edition? Have you succeeded against Borgo, or found some of the expansions to be excellent? I don’t know if I’ll find what I’m looking for in the rest of the content, although I’ll likely play again at some point! If anything, though, this session made me even more interested in Imperial Settlers. Ha!

4 Comments

  1. You would think that the rulebook would be polished to perfection by the time of the “Ultimate Edition”

    Reply
    • I had hoped so, too! The tone is what made it really jarring for me, yet there were enough questions that forced me to look elsewhere for answers. Always a shame when a rulebook doesn’t quite cover everything clearly… Particularly for a special edition like this!

      Reply
      • As much as I love Imperial Settlers, I never had any interest in researching 51 state. It came before and has a theme that is not quite attracting to me.

        I should get imperial Settlers back to the table though!

        Reply
        • This edition is supposed to be the most streamlined, and maybe that comes through with the expansions. I’m with you, though: Bring on some more Imperial Settlers! My copy is watching me from the shelf, knowing that it’s about time to bring it back. Just need to get through a few more new arrivals and try to reduce the number of unplayed solo games around here!

          Reply

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