Review: Pax Pamir (2ª Ed.)

Introduction & Overview

In Pax Pamir, each player assumes the role of a nineteenth-century Afghan leader attempting to forge a new state following the collapse of the Durrani Empire. Western histories often refer to this period as “The Great Game” because of the role played by Europeans who tried to use Central Asia as a theater for their own rivalries. In this game, those empires are viewed strictly from the perspective of the Afghans who sought to manipulate the ferengi (foreign) intruders for their own purposes.

This is the premise behind Pax Pamir, designed by Cole Wehrle (Root, John Company). The game was first published in 2015 by Sierra Madre Games, while in 2019 a second edition arrived with substantial improvements by Wehrlegig Games, bringing Richard Wilkins (Renegade, Attercop) onto the design team to develop the bot. The artwork for this second edition was handled by Cole Wehrle himself.

It is published in Spanish by 2 Tomatoes Games (language dependency is significant on event cards, as most cards feature flavor text). It accommodates 1 to 5 players, with a recommended age of 13 and up, and an approximate running time between 45 and 120 minutes. The MSRP is €79.99. A review copy of the Spanish edition by 2 Tomatoes Games was used for this review.

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom), measuring 9.2×21.3×5.3 cm (a rectangular box similar to Root), we find the following items:

Map (cloth)
36 Coalition Blocks (12 per coalition) (clay)
55 Cylinders (11 per color) (wood)
36 Coins (cardboard)
Favored Suit Marker (clay)
142 Cards (63.5×88 mm):
16 Event Cards
4 Dominance Check Cards
100 Court Cards
24 Wakhan Cards
2 Wakhan Reference Cards
6 Ruler Tokens (wood)
5 Player Boards (cardboard)
5 Loyalty Dials (cardboard)
2 Player Reference Sheets
Rulebook

How to Play

Pax Pamir is set in the 19th century following the collapse of the Durrani Empire, where each player takes on the role of an Afghan leader striving to forge a new state by maneuvering between the foreign powers in the region. The game is played over a series of rounds in which players alternate turns. On each turn, the active player has two main actions, which can be spent purchasing cards from a central market by placing rupees on earlier cards, or playing cards from hand to their court (paying bribes if the region is ruled by another player). Playing cards deploys coalition blocks (armies or roads based on chosen loyalty) and personal cylinders (tribes on the map or spies on court cards). It also grants access to new card actions, such as moving units, taxing other players or the market, launching battles to eliminate enemy pieces, making gifts to increase influence, or betraying cards with spies to claim prizes and switch loyalties. Additionally, actions on cards belonging to the favored suit can be taken as bonus actions without consuming the turn limit. As the game progresses and cards are purchased from the market, Dominance Checks are resolved to assess the state of the region: if one coalition clearly dominates, players loyal to it score based on their accumulated influence (gifts, prizes, and patriots); if none dominates, players score based on their active cylinder infrastructure. The game ends immediately if someone gains a four-point lead after a check, or after resolving the fourth and final Dominance Check, with the player holding the most victory points declared the winner.

Key Concepts

Let us start with the Map, which features six regions (Transcaspia, Kabul, Punjab, Persia, Herat, and Kandahar) sharing borders with each other (each borders between two and four neighboring regions). Every region is identified by a symbol alongside its name. Surrounding the map is the victory point track numbered 1 through 23. On the right-hand margin are four colored symbols representing the four suits, used to track the favored suit.

This is tracked using the Favored Suit Marker. The game features four suits: economic (yellow), military (red), espionage (blue), and political (purple). The favored suit allows actions on cards belonging to that suit to be taken for free. Additionally, having military as the favored suit doubles the purchase cost of cards in the market.

Regions on the map can be ruled by players. For this purpose, the game provides Ruler Tokens, claimed by the player whose combined total of personal tribes and allied coalition armies strictly exceeds that of any other player, provided they have at least one tribe in the region (coalition armies alone are not enough). Ruling a region prevents other players from playing cards of that region freely, requiring them to pay a bribe unless the ruling player waives it. Crucially, a player who loses their last tribe in a region must discard all political cards of that region from their court, and vice versa—which will also cause them to forfeit rule over that region if they held it.

Each player is aligned with one of the three coalitions in the game: Russian, British, or Afghan. Each participant receives a Loyalty Dial to select their alignment at the start of the game. Players may change coalitions later on, though doing so forfeits all standing influence with the previous coalition. These dials also track gifts given to coalitions (marked with a diamond symbol). Each gift grants one point of influence with that coalition during Dominance Checks. Influence points are likewise earned through prizes and patriots. If a player gains an influence point with a coalition other than their current one, they immediately switch loyalty, discarding all prizes, gifts, and patriots associated with their former faction.

Throughout the match, players place Coalition Blocks onto the map. Each coalition has a set of twelve blocks that can be placed horizontally on a border as a road or standing upright inside a region as an army. Roads permit armies to move between regions, while armies allow players aligned with that coalition to vie for rule over the region.

A player’s physical presence, both on the map and across cards, is represented by Cylinders. A cylinder placed in a region represents a tribe, used to contest rule over that area, whereas a cylinder on a card represents a spy, which obstructs card actions and enables betray actions to discard the card. Tribes cannot move once deployed, but spies can maneuver from card to card, even into rival courts. Furthermore, cylinders can be pledged as gifts on the loyalty dial.

To organize cylinder reserves, each player has a Player Board with spaces numbered 1 through 10. The board also provides a concise summary of suit effects and Dominance Check resolutions. The highest visible number uncovered on the board shows the player’s active cylinder count, a critical value whenever a Dominance Check is unsuccessful.

The cornerstone of the game is the Court Cards. These represent various figures and factions that players recruit into their tableau. Each card displays in its upper left corner one of four suits along with a rank of one to three stars, which determines its strength when taking certain actions or applying suit perks. The top banner indicates the associated region, while the upper right corner shows the impact icons deployed upon playing the card (tribes, spies, roads, or armies) in that region or onto cards associated with it, whether in one’s own court or an opponent’s. Certain cards depict a scales icon, introducing new rupees into circulation. The upper half features artwork above the card’s title, which can have a neutral white background or display the color of a coalition (making it a patriot of that faction). The lower banner displays the actions unlocked by the card once played, alongside historical flavor text. Some cards also show a boxed ability, granting a persistent effect as long as the card remains in play.

These cards are drafted from a central market consisting of two rows of six cards with ascending costs printed on the Market Board. Players begin with no cards and must purchase them from this display. Whenever a player takes a card, they must pay its cost by placing coins on preceding cards in that row, which prevents buying any card where they have already placed a coin this turn. When purchasing a card that already holds coins, the player claims those coins as well.

The fundamental currency of the game is Coins (rupees). The game begins with 4 coins per player, and these represent the initial pool in circulation; coins are always held by players or sitting on cards in the market. Certain cards increase this money supply when played, though discarding them requires returning those funds to the bank. When coins are spent on actions, they are placed back into the market onto the highest-cost available spaces.

Two additional card types appear in the deck. First are Event Cards, which players can purchase to trigger the beneficial effect shown on the bottom half. If an unpurchased event card reaches the 0-cost column of the market at the end of a turn, it activates automatically, triggering the top event effect instead.

The second type is Dominance Check Cards. These trigger when purchased by a player or when two of them sit simultaneously in the market. When resolved, players assess whether any coalition holds dominance (counting only coalition blocks on the map). Dominance is achieved if one coalition has at least 4 more blocks than each rival faction individually, scoring victory points for players loyal to that winning coalition. Otherwise, players score points based on their active cylinder count. On the fourth and final Dominance Check, all awarded victory points are doubled.

The ultimate goal is to hold the most victory points when the game ends after the fourth Dominance Check, though an early victory occurs immediately if any player opens up a lead of 4 or more points over the runner-up.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

Set aside the event cards and Dominance Check cards, then assemble the court deck. Shuffle these court cards and deal out six piles containing 5 cards plus 1 additional card per player in the game. Return all remaining court cards to the box. Next, shuffle one Dominance Check card and one event card into each of the bottom four piles, and shuffle two event cards into the second pile. Keep each pile separate while shuffling. Stack the four Dominance Check piles on the bottom, place the two-event pile above them, and top the deck with the pile containing no event cards.
Unfold the market board and deal cards from the draw deck to fill the display column by column from left to right.
Lay out the map and place the favored suit marker on the political suit icon.
Place the ruler tokens beside their corresponding regions.
Form a general supply with the coalition blocks and coins.
Each player selects a color and receives a player board, 11 cylinders placed onto their board’s numbered spaces, 4 coins, 1 score marker placed on the start space of the score track, and a loyalty dial.
Choose a first player at random. Beginning with the player to their left and proceeding clockwise, each player selects an initial coalition and sets their loyalty dial accordingly (with no restrictions).

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Pax Pamir unfolds over an indeterminate series of turns taken by players (starting with the first player and continuing clockwise) until an end-game condition is triggered.

On their turn, the active player may take up to two actions from the available options (repeats allowed):

Purchase Card. The player selects a card from the market and adds it to their hand. They must pay the printed column cost by placing one coin on each preceding card in that row. If an earlier column space is empty because a card was drafted previously, the coin goes onto the corresponding slot in the alternate row. A player cannot purchase a card onto which they placed a coin during that same turn. If the military suit is favored, all card purchase costs are doubled.
Play Card. The player places a card from hand into their court, positioning it at either the far left or far right edge of their tableau (cards cannot be rearranged once placed). If the card belongs to a region ruled by an opponent, the player must ask permission to play it freely. If permission is denied, they must pay a bribe equal to the ruler’s tribes in that region (or an agreed-upon lesser sum). After the card enters play, its impact icons resolve, placing any indicated tribes, spies, roads, or armies. If the card displays a leverage icon, the player takes two coins from the bank. Finally, if the card features a suit icon that differs from the current favored suit, shift the marker to the new favored suit.
Activate Card. The player selects an action on a card in their court and executes it (each card action can only be activated once per turn, so it is helpful to slide activated court cards down slightly). If an opponent holds more spies on that card than anyone else, the court’s owner cannot activate its actions without paying that opponent a bribe of one coin per spy present (unless the spy master waives the fee). The actions available on cards are:
- Tax: The player collects one to three coins (based on the active card’s rank) from market cards or from players holding court cards matching regions ruled by the active player (funds can be drawn from multiple sources). Economic stars protect an equal number of coins in a player’s personal supply.
- Gift: The player places 2/4/6 coins from their supply onto the market and moves a cylinder to the matching gift slot on their loyalty dial.
- Build: The player places 2/4/6 coins from their supply onto the market to deploy 1/2/3 blocks of their allied coalition (as roads or armies) in regions they rule.
- Move: The player gains movement points equal to the card’s rank. Each point allows moving an army between regions across an allied road or moving a spy to an adjacent court card (the outer edges of all player courts wrap around as a continuous loop, allowing spies to cross into neighboring tableaus).
- Betray: The player places 2 coins from their supply onto the market and targets a court card where they have at least one spy. That card is discarded and any cylinders on it return to their owners. If the card offers a prize, the player may claim it (keeping in mind that claiming a rival faction’s prize triggers a loyalty shift).
- Battle: The player targets a region containing an allied block or a court card where they hold at least one spy. They eliminate enemy armies, roads, tribes (in a region), or rival spies (on a card) up to the action’s rank or their own local strength. Friendly coalition blocks and tribes of allied players cannot be targeted.

Keep the following rules in mind:

Actions on cards matching the favored suit do not count against the two-action turn limit, and the favored suit can change mid-turn.
Playing a patriot or claiming a prize from a different coalition triggers an immediate loyalty change. The player must discard all prizes, patriots, and gifts from their previous faction and update their loyalty dial.
Losing all political cards of a ruled region forces the immediate removal of all personal tribes from that region on the map. Conversely, losing one’s last tribe in a region forces the discard of all political cards tied to that region.

Once the active player has resolved their two actions, check whether an event card sits in the 0-cost column of the market. If present, resolve its top event effect and discard it (any coins on the card remain in that market slot). Slide remaining market cards to the left into empty spaces, carrying any coins resting on them (coins abandoned in the 0-cost slot by discarded cards are placed onto incoming shifted cards). Finally, draw cards from the deck to refill the market from left to right, top row before bottom row.

The player must then check their personal limits:

Court Limit: A player may hold three cards in their court, plus one additional card per star on their political cards. Any excess cards must be discarded, returning any spies on them to their owners. Discarding a card that previously provided leverage requires returning 2 coins to the bank. If a player lacks sufficient funds, they must discard one card from hand or court for each unreturned coin. No further penalties apply if they run out of cards.
Hand Limit: A player may hold two cards in hand, plus one additional card per star on their espionage cards. Any excess cards must be discarded.

Play then passes to the next player clockwise.

Whenever a player purchases a Dominance Check card, or when two Dominance Check cards sit revealed in the market after a refill, resolve a Dominance Check immediately:

A check is successful if one coalition has at least 4 more blocks on the map than each rival coalition individually. Players loyal to that dominant coalition compare their influence (sum of patriots, gifts, and prizes). The player with the most influence earns 5 points, second place earns 3 points, and third place earns 1 point. All coalition blocks are subsequently cleared from the board.
If the check is unsuccessful, players score based on their active cylinders. The player with the most active cylinders scores 3 points, while second place scores 1 point.

In either outcome, ties are handled by summing the points for the tied ranks and dividing them equally among tied players, rounded down.

Dominance Check cards are discarded once resolved.

Game End

The game concludes after the fourth Dominance Check. The player with the most victory points wins. In the event of a tie, the tied player with the most red stars on military cards in their court claims victory. If the tie persists, whoever among them holds the most coins wins. Should a tie still remain, victory is shared.

A game can also end abruptly if, following any Dominance Check, the leader establishes an advantage of 4 or more points over the second-place player, claiming an immediate victory.

Variants

Wakhan. This automated opponent can be introduced into games, either for solo play or to increase the player count. Driven by a dedicated card deck, Wakhan acts as if loyal to all coalitions at once, accumulating patriots and prizes across multiple factions, though its current allegiance shifts dynamically according to its cards. These cards also dictate its market purchases and board maneuvers.

Personal Opinion

Today we turn our attention to the second release in Sierra Madre Games’ Pax series, which began with the renowned Pax Porfiriana (read the tocho-review here) and later continued with Pax Renaissance (read the tocho-review here), Pax Emancipation, and Pax Transhumanity (as of the writing of this tocho-review). We are looking at Pax Pamir, which stands out as the only entry among those mentioned not to feature an Eklund as its lead designer (though Phil Eklund served as developer on the first edition).

The creative force behind the game before us today is Cole Wehrle, who achieved widespread acclaim with the smash hit Root (read the tocho-review here). Enjoying significant creative independence, Wehrle was able to reclaim his design and reissue it under his own imprint in the deluxe edition showcased throughout these photographs. This release introduced extensive mechanical refinements and brought in Richard Wilkins to develop a dedicated solo bot that can also scale up multiplayer counts. Let us dive in and see what this second edition of Pax Pamir delivers.

For those unfamiliar with the Pax series, these titles explore specific historical eras through card drafting and tableau building, driven by an escalating cost market where cards enter at premium prices and slide down as vacancies open (or get discarded when triggered directly from the display).

Despite their reputation for daunting complexity, their underlying mechanical loop is surprisingly straightforward: the bulk of your turns boil down to purchasing cards and subsequently playing them. The true weight lies in what those cards unlock and the intricate restrictions governing their actions.

What distinguishes each title are the nuances born of the historical period it seeks to simulate. Here we are plunged into a lesser-known chapter of history: the emergence of a new Afghan state following the fall of the Durrani Empire. Reading the historical notes on the cards might tempt some to delve deeper into the real-world events (Pax Porfiriana sent me down that rabbit hole, though this title did not quite spark that same historical digging). Nevertheless, historical expertise is entirely unnecessary to appreciate the design.

Three distinct coalitions pull the strings in an attempt to dominate this nascent Afghan state: the British, the Russians, and the Afghans themselves. At the start of the game (typically after sizing up the opening market), each player must decide which faction to ally with. As cards are deployed and actions resolve, coalition blocks enter the map to establish control over transit routes and territorial regions.

Players jockey for position to ensure their chosen coalition maintains a commanding footprint across the board. When ruling regions, marching armies, and waging battles, allied coalition pieces behave essentially as your own. That said, allegiances are notoriously fluid; anyone can switch loyalties on a dime, jumping onto a winning bandwagon as critical inflection points draw near.

This brings us to another defining hallmark of the Pax system: climactic pivot points triggered by special cards in the market that assess game conditions. Here, that takes the form of evaluating whether any single coalition holds a decisive military edge over its two rivals, handsomely rewarding its loyal supporters. If no faction achieves supremacy, players score based on their individual cylinder development instead.

The game reaches its natural conclusion after the fourth Dominance Check (where all victory points are doubled), awarding the win to whoever has amassed the highest score. A sudden-death victory can also occur if the frontrunner establishes a four-point cushion over second place following any check, ending the contest immediately.

Throughout this back-and-forth, players trade turns drafting and fielding cards to leverage their board presence and abilities. This is where a major divergence from sister designs emerges: strict limits on tableau size. Cards fall into four distinct suits: political, espionage, economic, and military. Each card carries a star rank governing a specific mechanical threshold.

Political cards dictate your court limit, with each star expanding your allowed tableau capacity by one. Espionage cards operate similarly, raising your baseline hand limit of two cards. Economic stars act as an insurance policy against rival taxation, while military stars govern action strength and settle end-game ties.

Grasping these tableau and hand limits is vital to understanding the game’s flow. Because limits are checked exclusively at the end of a turn, an intriguing dynamic unfolds that sets this game apart from other Pax titles: players frequently play cards solely for their immediate placement impacts, willingly discarding cards—even the one just played—during end-of-turn cleanup.

This dual-layered card management is a masterstroke, frequently forcing excruciating choices over what to purge; every card holds value. Harrowing dilemmas arise when a card that seems mechanically expendable happens to be shielding your coins—a scarce and vital lifeline.

That scarcity highlights another defining feature of the design. Where Pax Porfiriana and Pax Renaissance allow participants to assemble runaway economic engines and amass fortunes, Pax Pamir operates under a strictly capped money supply from turn one.

Each participant starts with four coins, and that initial sum circulates closed-loop via the market: purchasing cards drops wealth onto the board, and subsequent buyers scoop it back up. Runaway wealth accumulation is practically impossible, preventing anyone from hoarding a windfall to sweep up key cards at will. Every expenditure demands careful thought, factoring in opponents’ reserves and turn order.

The action economy follows a familiar template: players get two actions per turn, spent on purchasing cards, playing cards, or activating court abilities.

Where the game truly shines is in the opportunity to chain free bonus actions, tied once again to the clever suit framework. Much like a trump suit in a trick-taking card game, one suit remains “favored” at any given moment, granting its associated actions free of charge without spending precious turn actions.

This mechanism enables explosive turns. A player can pivot the favored suit midway through their turn by playing a fresh card, chaining actions across two different suits in a single sweep. Keeping an eye on opponents who are milking a favored suit is critical; you must be ready to shift the suit to break their stride or eliminate their key cards outright.

Card removal is handled primarily through spies, leading us into another essential component: cylinders. Their function shifts dramatically based on where they land. Deployed to the board, they serve as tribes to seize territorial rule; placed onto cards, they become spies capable of executing betray actions to purge targets; placed on loyalty dials, they represent diplomatic gifts pledged to your current faction.

Building out your cylinder network is vital. When Dominance Checks arise, coalitions frequently fail to establish a commanding margin, shifting the scoring criteria entirely toward player infrastructure.

Spies are also the linchpin of the classic “strawman” gambit common across Pax designs: playing a card into your court specifically to assassinate it yourself and claim its prize. Keeping a spy primed on an opposing card bearing a foreign faction’s prize provides a built-in escape hatch whenever an emergency allegiance switch becomes necessary.

This spy mechanic shares clear DNA with the bishops in Pax Renaissance, silencing card actions while paving the way for targeted eliminations. What stands out here, however, is lateral movement. Once deployed to a card, spies can travel sideways across tableaus, even crossing over into opposing courts since the table forms one continuous loop.

At higher player counts, this spatial puzzle becomes fascinating. If a rival is eyeing your card—perhaps hunting a prize matching their faction—you will want to deploy it as far along the edge from their spies as possible. Alternatively, you can use newly drafted cards as buffer shields, forcing enemy agents to trek across extra cards to reach high-value targets. Remember, too, that freshly deployed spies can drop straight onto any card matching their home region.

Given the reality of hand and court limits, you must exercise caution when investing spies. A shrewd opponent can intentionally discard cards during cleanup, wiping away your hard-earned infiltration in a single stroke.

A final spy dynamic worth highlighting is the bribe system. While spies silence card actions whenever an opponent holds numerical superiority, that lockdown can be bypassed by paying a bribe to the controlling player. A similar toll applies when entering cards tied to a ruled region, requiring tribute to the sitting governor unless waived.

Crucially, collecting these bribes is entirely discretionary. While rarely forgiven in head-to-head duels, shared coalition loyalties in multiplayer games create room for mutually beneficial deals. A regional ruler might waive a fee to let an ally deploy reinforcements, or a spy master might let an action slide if the blow lands on a mutual adversary.

This weaves organic, table-driven negotiation into the proceedings without relying on amorphous “anything goes” trading rules that leave too much on the players’ shoulders. The baseline rule is strict: you must pay up, unless the gatekeeper decides to show mercy.

That captures the primary mechanics and the general table feel. What makes this design so compelling compared to Pax Renaissance or Pax Porfiriana is that it delivers an engaging experience right out of the box, without requiring a seasoned veteran at the table to field rules edge cases.

Put simply, the conceptual overhead in Pax Pamir is substantially lower than in Pax Porfiriana, and a fraction of the labyrinth that is Pax Renaissance. While this naturally streamlines the strategic sandbox, it yields a far smoother, more enjoyable onboarding process that avoids overwhelming new players (I always advocate learning through play, as absorbing every nuance upfront is an exercise in futility).

As a result, Pax Pamir manages to capture the idiosyncratic essence of the Pax family while standing out as the most accessible and entertaining entry of the lot. The historical backdrop might feel dry on paper, but the real draw is the fierce table interaction and opportunistic market maneuvering.

If you enjoy highly tactical games demanding constant reassessment of hand, court, and market conditions—and, above all, table talk aimed at pitting rivals against one another while you reap the rewards—Pax Pamir will hit the mark. Naturally, if you dislike volatile board states and opportunistic betrayals, steer clear. For those curious about the Pax genre, this is easily the finest gateway available, offering brisk play and lively table dynamics without bloated rules teach.

Its primary shortcoming lies in player count scaling. At two players, the game can feel somewhat distorted; a single slip-up can trigger a sudden blowout that ends the contest prematurely, all while stripping away the circular adjacency of tableaus. At three players, especially when each player backs a different faction, the board erupts into dynamic maneuvers and multi-sided backstabbing. At four or five players, the game hits its stride: multiple players inevitably share coalitions, turning loyalty shifts into a tense, unpredictable dance.

Replayability is exceptional, thanks to substantial portions of the deck remaining in the box each session. You are forced to adapt on the fly to whatever card distribution emerges. If political cards run dry, tableau expansion grinds to a halt; if military cards are scarce, battles become rare, shifting the dynamics of coalition dominance dramatically.

Turning to production, this deluxe crowdfunding release is remarkable. The sculpted clay coalition blocks and cloth map board immediately stand out, giving the game a striking, tactile presence on the table. The wooden components are dependable, and the cards feature heavy cardstock with a smooth finish and solid snap (given how frequently cards are handled, sleeving is well worth considering). The rulebook is logically organized, although the Spanish edition could have adhered closer to literal phrasing in a few spots to eliminate ambiguity.

Regarding comparisons to the first edition, I cannot offer first-hand analysis as I never played the original release. The second edition clearly irons out mechanical rough edges, though whether those rules can be back-ported to the more budget-friendly original box is something I cannot verify.

Visually, this second edition of Pax Pamir is handsomely executed. Card layouts are clean, cohesive, and driven by clear, intuitive iconography, complemented by tasteful period artwork that grounds the theme well. The cover opts for understated minimalism, sporting a simple title logo over a moody purple silhouette of mountain peaks.

And let’s wrap this up. Pax Pamir is a brilliant design that marries an escalating card market with shifting alliances and tense area control. Its tight, closed-loop economy, relentless coalition majorities, and opportunistic bonus actions yield deeply dynamic sessions. The high-stakes drama of Dominance Checks coupled with the disruption of spies and bribes keeps everyone on their toes. Players seeking long-term strategic engine-building may find the volatile board state jarring, and the historical setting will not appeal to everyone. Nevertheless, its streamlined rules overhead and brisk pacing make it an absolute triumph for lovers of tactical maneuvering, fragile pacts, and well-timed betrayals. For all these reasons, I award it a…