Good day, galactic citizens.

I was looking for some recommendations about VP track and which side to use.

We've played not so many games in TI4 (nevet with more than 4 players) and there is always a huge boost of points when someone grabs Mecatol Rex, so someone could win on turn 4 or 5 (the game could still last for 8+ hours).

Tomorrow we're planning to play the game with 5 players and I wonder if we should use 14 VP goal, so the game could last few more rounds?

What is your opinion? Which one do you prefer? Maybe you have some custom VP goals (12 or something)?

From a pure gameplay point of view I greatly prefer the 14-point game. I find 10-pointers often feel like they are ending as soon as they start to get interesting, whereas with 14 you get to play around a bit more with all of your faction's special tech and abilities (warsuns, anyone?)

With that said, I most often play on Tabletop Simulator a few turns a night, so game length doesn't really matter to me. I've never played an in-person game to 14, but I could see it going too long for some people. For me, though, I think I would still like it better. After all, if I'm already there for 8 hours why not make it 10? The extra points usually only add on an extra round or two anyway.

I would recommend the 10-point track if you need to fit the game into a single session or if one or more players has not played TI before. However, if your group is experienced and has no qualms about playing the game for as long as it takes, or if your group is available for two or more sessions with the game left set up between sessions, then I would recommend a 14-point game.

In either case, I would never recommend a 14-point game (or an 8-player game) if at least one person is playing TI for the first time.

(Me: "Some day I'll finally be able to play an 8-player 14-point game...........[sigh]..........Some day.")