Twilight Inscription: Not the Average Roll-and-Write Game
Manage navigation, expansion, industry, and warfare in a bid to control Mecatol Rex with Twilight Inscription.
Although I’ve only played a handful of times within this well-known universe, I was still excited to play Twilight Inscription! This in-depth roll-and-write promised to do a whole lot… And with a few main game victories in my past, I figured it would be a great experience. I rolled up my sleeves, found some wet-erase markers, and got to writing!
Game Overview
Game Name: Twilight Inscription
Publication Year: 2022
Designer: James Kniffen
Artists: A. Finér, T. Jedruszek, A. Kim, and S. Somers
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
With lots to do, every roll offers many different choices about which sheet to mark during a round. Dice provide resources, while specialized dice can be unlocked to add more icons on a sheet. It all may look dizzying, yet the complex interactions provide endless strategies!
First Play
December 25, 2022
Complexity
4
Latest Play
December 26, 2022
Expansions
0
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
1 Hour & 15 Minutes
High Score
56
Game Area
36" x 22"
Low Score
55
A Mecatol Rex Race
Just like with Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition, the race to control Mecatol Rex is always an overarching objective.
Yet there were specific goals, too, each associated with 1 of the 4 sheets. At a glance, this definitely looks like a lot… And maybe even too much. Yet it breaks down nicely!
Granted, it took me a few times through the rules to start to wrap my head around how I could move ahead. The rules were straightforward, but the strategy? Not at all.
Still, this was billed as a challenge and I wasn’t under any other impression. I would have to work to do well here.
Beautiful Dice
My copy includes the special promo dice. The grey ones are shown here, as evidenced by the sparkly appearances.
These dice are huge and easy-to-read! Usually, only the grey dice may be used during a round. The specialized ones must be unlocked and applied individually to sheets.
I liked how easy the symbols were to pick out, but again, I was a bit on edge about whether this was the right sort of puzzle for me. There was a lot needed to score well.
As always, though, my first few attempts were just that… Attempts. No sense thinking I was going to be great!
The Wet-Erase Method
Bright orange chalk markers are included, although many know that I rarely use dry-erase markers. Too much dust, and I tend to accidentally erase all of my marks. Oops!
After a little research, I found these EXPO BrightSticks. Don’t be fooled: These are still chalk markers, only in the format of wet-erase markers. Very, very thick lines.
Yet the neon colors in this pack showed up amazingly well in my few tests. Highlighter yellow was my final choice.
Note that I didn’t use the included markers, so I don’t have an easy comparison. Yet. Someday!
Asymmetric Factions
The sheets themselves included unique configurations for a little variety, yet the factions brough out the different ways to strategize and play the game.
I drew the Universities of Jol-Nar as my faction. The normal ability provided me with a bonus for playing through the sheets in order, round by round. Made sense!
That provided me with a general goal, too. This was a diversified strategy, rather than a focused one.
Lastly, with these reference cards, I didn’t feel lost by the iconography. It honestly didn’t feel overwhelming.
Chalk Markers: Worth the Bold Appearance?
Now, I want to be clear that I haven’t yet tried out the included dry erase chalk markers. I went with wet-erase chalk markers, and found that they weren’t the perfect substitutes. The yellow really did stand out, as shown below. No complaints in that department! The other included colors looked like they could work just as well for contrast, too.
I smudged a few areas very rarely during my plays, but found myself constantly checking where I was putting my hand down. Then, there was the moment when I somehow got some bright yellow on my gaming mat. The horror! It came right out with a little soap and water, so no harm done. Yet that was quite the tense moment. Not my solo table!
Then came the cleanup process. This is always where I miss the simple dry erase process. I needed just the right amount of water to not douse the sheets. One important lesson: In almost every case, laminated components are laminated everywhere except for the edges… Which can allow water to leach inside and cause some warping or peeling.
More than that, though, was the extreme amount of neon yellow everywhere! I had to scrub 5 sheets, and each one took about 2-3 half-sheets of paper towels. That’s me trying to be thrifty, too, using every possible edge, folding and refolding, and attempting to clear off every bit of chalk marker. Look at the rest of the photos. There was so much!
I plan to try out the included dry erase chalk markers sometime. That may be better, although for those reading, keep in mind that the erasers should rarely be used. I’ve seen some ruined markers because erasers look like they should come in handy. But the chalk will clog these ones up. More paper towels! Maybe, one day, there will be printable sheets…
Connecting Systems
As I started to make my first decisions, everything came together pretty quickly. I could see the basics of how each sheet interacted, and I was off to explore the galaxy!
The first dice roll was lucky and allowed me to claim a planet. I needed that to move onto the expansion sheet next, where I would cross off resources for assets.
It all seemed very clever, but then again, too clever is often cleverer than I am. Ha ha!
Don’t get me wrong: I do love complex games, yet I’ve come to understand that they’re often not my forte.
Building Up Assets
Ta-da! The round’s event gave me a good start on crossing out some resources, and the dice were even kinder. I went up on the vote track and generated a population.
That’s another neat part of the strategy: Only a single sheet may be used during the round, and the set icons on the event must be used before rolling… A bit of luck there!
With Jol-Nar, I was also looping around the sheets in a fixed pattern, but this wasn’t at all a requirement.
Things looked decent enough, even as the randomized timing of votes and conflicts came out. I was doing alright!
Not Quite Up to Snuff
Well… I needed around 20-25 victory points per sheet to really pull off a decent victory. These numbers should speak for themselves. Amateur. Ha ha! What went wrong?
I was actually gearing up for a great warfare round, but the final conflict came before I could put out my fleet.
That wouldn’t have made much of a difference, but -1 looked quite bad. Whoops! My expansion was also severely lacking as I opted for too many random options.
Although mildly embarrassing for a first outing, I actually enjoyed the puzzle and different options quite a lot!
A Clear Solo Opponent
I wasn’t only chasing after some higher scoring tiers, though. There was a solo opponent that fought in conflicts and raced to complete various objectives.
This was a very clear mechanic: I simply marked off spaces based on the colorful dice rolls each round. Very straightforward and a little random with minimal rules!
When the solo opponent completed an objective first, that automatically reduced the victory points I could earn.
So there were some logical races, while I tried not to go for the objectives I was least likely to complete first.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 and 2
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level
Outcome: 55 and 56 (2 Losses)
I reset and played again with almost identical conditions. Does that count as an improvement? Ha! I’m absolutely horrible at figuring out the best ways to score, but I will say that I generally enjoyed the experience. A heavy roll-and-write that lasts over an hour isn’t something I thought would come out… Yet, here we are! There are a lot of factions to try, and maybe I’ll get a good score one day!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
5
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- There are many moving parts and different strategies, yet the overall rules are pretty easy to pick up and learn.
- Each faction provides a very unique way to move ahead and make the most of various aspects of gameplay.
- Deciding on an active sheet before rolling the dice is a clever way to take a chance, although specialized dice help.
- Although the 4 sheets operate independently, there are indirect connections that can be very useful.
- The solo opponent provides some opposition and blocks some objectives, but is extremely easy to operate.
- Rounds move rather quickly, with the majority of time spent on making careful decisions to earn victory points.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Chalk markers are a little bit of an acquired taste, but can be rather messy compared to simple pens and pencils.
- There isn’t a lot of variety in the events, and each age has a fairly small amount of cards to randomize.
- Piecing together the puzzle is fun, yet the theme doesn’t come through despite the setting being well-known.
- Play time doesn’t drag on, but it feels a little lengthy for the ultimate outcome of marking off spaces on sheets.
Victory Conditions
Score 80+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 0%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 60 points.
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What are your thoughts about Twilight Inscription? Are there any other solo flip-and-write games that surprised you? Not only does this one take a long time to play, but it has a very high production value. It almost seems like it went against every standard convention, and found a way to work! I just need to figure out a way to… Win. Ha ha!
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