Patrician: Towers of Influence Review

That’s cool box art, isn’t it? For a game about building buildings, I expect to see some awesome buildings on the box. I am both shamed and embarrassed that it has taken me close to year to get this game reviewed, but I am hoping to invoke the, “Better late than never” adage. Please don’t come for me, Chris!

Patrician: Towers of Influence, which I will shorten to simply “Patrician,” is a city-building, area majority, card game in which players are trying to become the best builder in Italy in the 1200s. The player who amasses the most influence (VP) at the end of the game will be crowned the greatest tower builder in all of Italy!

DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS.  -T

To setup, place the board of Italy on the table and place the color-matching discs with numbers at each location. There are setup cards in the main deck featuring a brownish star in the corner. Shuffle these and deal three star cards to each player. Then add the remainder of the star cards to the main deck and shuffle the entire deck thoroughly. From this deck place one card face-up on each city in the appropriate space provided. Players choose a color of tower floor pieces and takes all of these components. The game is now setup and ready to begin!

Patrician is played in turns, and each turn is divided into five steps. First, the active player chooses one of their three cards in hand to play. Each card has two icons on it. The top icon will always show a city you will be playing in this turn. The second icon could be a matching symbol, an art piece portrait, or the symbol for a special action. This leads us to the second action. For each city symbol, place one of the tower pieces onto one of the two spaces in the city (see the photo below). For the third action, the active player then takes into hand the face-up card showing at the city. If the card played shows a special action icon, the fourth step is to complete this action. Once the tower piece has been placed, the active player will invoke the special action to move the top tower piece on one of the stacks to the top of the other stack in ANY city and belonging to ANY player. This is helpful when determining majority in the city. Finally, draw a card from the deck to replace the card that was taken from the city.

Each city will allow a certain maximum number of tower floors shared between the two towers. The cities will allow five, seven, or nine total tower floors, as depicted on the city crest icon. Once tower heights hit this number, the city is scored. The player with the majority of tower pieces in the tallest tower will receive the larger numbered scoring disc placed out during setup. The player with the majority in the shortest tower will receive the smaller score disc. If there is a tie, the tied player with the tower piece closest to the very top of the tower breaks the tie.

Play continues in this way until all cards have been played. At game end each player adds up the total of scoring discs earned throughout the game. In addition, players score six points for each multiple of three icon symbols featuring art portraits. The player with the highest score is the winner of Patrician!

Components. Patrician features amazing components as is expected from Calliope Games. The board is laid out nicely, the icons are clear, and those tower pieces are just so much fun to play with. If you enjoy fidgeting with the Ticket to Ride trains, you’ll love this as well. I understand that this version is an update of a previous version of Patrician, but I have an issue. I really wish the game had either a different theme, or at least something a little more exciting going on with the art. There’s just so many games out there with this kind of beige/brown (and a lot of it), especially when featuring a theme of games set in the 1200-1750. It’s just sad that it looks a little meh in comparison with the otherwise excellent gameplay.

I suppose I just let my thoughts out about the game. This is a really really good game mechanically and I do enjoy playing it. The art is uninspiring and I think that is really the only thing that will hold this back. Perhaps a space theme? Something else that’s a bit more… well ok… different? Anthropomorphic mushrooms? Mushrooms seem to be the rage lately. Ultimately, the game is good, but a bit of an eyesore for me, and getting other people to try it with me is a bit more difficult because of all the beige. OH I KNOW! Families en el barrio! That could work. I don’t know. In any case, Purple Phoenix Games officially gives this one a 4 / 6. You should definitely play it and hopefully the theming doesn’t bother you as much as it apparently bothers me.