However, I’m not comfortable with dismissing SOLIUM INFERNUM because I actually do think that there’s a good game here, and one that can be very rewarding in the right circumstances—particularly if you can play it with other people and if you intend to play the game with others, then I think there’s a good bit of fun and some interesting gameplay that would justify the $30 price tag. You really should look the solo game as nothing more than a way to learn the rules.
Despite the hesitant and perfunctory AI that seems to exist solely to include solo gamers on its spec sheet, the game is clearly intended as a multiplayer play-by-email game and a lot of my grievances against it start to fade away in that setting. In a play-by-email game, the turn processing doesn’t really occur while you’re waiting for your next turn to come up, and even though a full PBEM game would likely take days, weeks, or even months to complete, the pace of the game and the level of complexity makes a lot more sense.
There’s more time to consider, and the weight of decisions changes and becomes something much greater. And more significantly, all of those great player interaction ideas become pronounced to the point where, like in any great diplomatic game, they become more important to the game than the rules or mechanics themselves. There is a “hot seat” option available, but again, you really want this to be the kind of game you play for 10 or 15 minutes a day outside of any backroom email scheming and “table talk”.
The irony is that SOLIUM INFERNUM is a very complex multiplayer board game that would be practically unplayable as a tabletop game. It’s not quite on the level of DOMINIONS III or DWARF FORTRESS (or MAGIC REALM or ADVANCED SQUAD LEADER), but there’s a lot to take in that I’m not sure really adds much to the overall gameplay experience. I found myself actually wishing that the game were “edited” to the point that it would actually be playable as a face-to-face board game with all of its great ideas brought into a more intimate setting and refined into something more manageable and immediate. In the final judgment, SOLIUM INFERNUM pushes the “digital board game” idea perhaps a little too far past its frontier whereas ARMAGEDDON EMPIRES pushed both mediums toward an agreeable compromise. I admire the game for its ambition and in some ways I think it’s more forward-thinking and innovative than a lot of print board games I’ve played lately. Just don’t play it alone, whatever you do.
