[cfarrell]

About my only remaining complaint about the game is that it has the classic "sharp corners" that I sometimes find in indie game designs, where an outside developer could have removed a little complexity without any gameplay loss.

I've discovered this game recently and like it a lot. While I do agree it doesn't seem quite as "tight" a game as Race for the Galaxy or San Juan, I've found Glory to Rome to be a remarkable game for a small publisher, and I personally find it has very few pointy edges. Having played a bit of Martin Wallace's Brass recently, which I think has more exceptions than actual rules, I think Glory to Rome does well even by the standards of established companies. I'm sure Hans im Glück, alea, or Kosmos could have turned the screws on it a bit, but I'm not sure many other developers would have done a better job than what you get in the box currently.

For me I think the main reason Glory to Rome doesn't feel quite as streamlined as San Juan or Race for the Galaxy is just length. I wish the game were just a touch shorter, maybe even just 15, maybe 20 minutes on average. The playing time feels a touch high given that there is a significant element of chaos to the game. But setting that aside, the pacing and arc of the game itself is great, and overall this has been one of my favorite recent games.