I've been thinking of buying this game for a long time. The $80 price is making it tough. Is it a great game for the $$$, great replay value? Whats the best thing about the game?

I've played TI2.

Thanks.

I played one of the older editions of TI that a friend owned (not sure if it was 1 or 2) and was suitably impressed with its scope. I saw TI3 on the shelf many years later and absolutely had to have it. I remembered what great fun it was and saw that the new edition had nice bright tiles and shiny bits all over the place. I must admit I'm a sucker for games with bits, and FFG seems to love pumping those out.

I think TI3 has tremendous replayability. Not that each game is different or anything, but the experience is just one which doesn't get old very quickly. If you're familiar with TI2 then you've probably got an idea for how long it takes to play, which is really the only drawback in my opinion. That and table space, this beast does require a fair bit of real estate. =)

The best thing about the game to me is all the little plastic ships. My only complaint with the older edition I played was that all the ships were tokens, which I found took me out of the game. The plastic ships and the colourful artwork on the race sheets pulls me right into the game every time, and makes everything more vital.

Also, the veritable trove of homebrew content (most of which can be found on ti3wiki.org) keeps the game alive and pulsating for me, even years after the initial purchase. I know this game ain't cheap, but I think its definitely worth the moolah.

One thing to keep in mind though is:

Do you have friends willing to spend the huge amount of time this game requires??

This is key to figuring if it is worth it or not. To draw a parallel, I used to play Warhammer miniatures once, and I ended up getting stuck with loads of stuff that had cost me a lot of money, and I had none to play with as my friends lost interest. Also I am from a small town were there were no other people to play with either.

This game requires loads of time invested in reading rules, eratas and so on. I would not recommend it unless you know you have someone to play it with who are just as enthusiastic as you. Although if you do it is totally worth it.

Good luck

If you buy the game, you should probably consider the expansion too, it really rounds out the game and improves a few wonky aspects of the game that snuck into T3.

I definitely recommend the game, of course I go to college so I have the benefit of knowing a lot of nerds who love this sort of think which means I never have problems getting a full table to play.

If you are seeking the most comprehensive space epic experience available in board gaming, this is the game. All other games of this genre use this as the base line to assess any other game. If you have the crew and time to play it, this game is the ultimate must-have. Most other games of this type cut away stuff and see their game as "Twilight Imperium Lite".

If you've got this plus Shattered Empires, you don't need any other game. There is years and years of gaming is this one game. If you want more spice, there is a plethora of new rules and races to download in BoardGameGeek. This game is huge!!!

Geting the game to table can be difficult. Also, consider playing at ti3wiki.org. I have only played around 5 times in real life, but dozens online.

It is not for everyone as games can take awhile. But it scratches my itch.

Bill

As mentioned by others you really need to consider if you will have the player interest and numbers to make it worth while. Sessions tend to be pretty long but also really rewarding with a good group (the strategy plus player interaction and politics is awsome).

Money wise the price of the game plus the expansion is pretty steep, but I would consider it one essential package. The expansion simply adds so much to the experience as well as rebalancing the victory point system that I could not consider playing without it.

Without the expensansion it is a decent game, with it its a fantastic game (and very expensive game).