Welcome to my review, where I bravely played Byzantium with my friends—and lived to tell the tale (with only minor arguments and one threatened friendship break). This game shook up our group by making us root for two different factions, guess everyone’s sneaky plans, and negotiate like our snacks depended on it. If you want a game that’s skill-heavy, complex, and full of scheming, keep reading. But I’ll warn you—this isn’t the easiest game to teach at game night, unless your friends enjoy reading rules more than eating chips.
How It Plays
Setting up
Lay out the big Byzantium board, shuffle the cards, and hand out player mats. Each person picks their color, grabs their cubes, leaders, and money. Put the cities, Byzantine, Arab, and Persian armies on their starting spots. Trust me, make sure you have table space—or clear away last night’s pizza boxes first!
Gameplay
Every round, each player secretly chooses which of the three empires to help (and maybe sabotage others—sorry, not sorry, Dave). Then, you take turns moving armies, fighting battles, and trying to grab city control. The twist is, you score points for two empires out of three. Planning is key, but expect some wild swings when Mark forgets how support works (again).
Winning the game
After a set number of rounds, add up your scores for your two chosen empires (but only your weakest score counts!). Whoever has the highest low score wins. Yes, it’s like gym class all over again—your best score doesn’t matter if you totally botched the other!
Want to know more? Read our extensive strategy guide for Byzantium.
Unique Dual-Faction System: Outwitting Yourself and Others in Byzantium
Here’s one thing you have to know if you even glance at Byzantium – you can’t just pick a side and stubbornly wave their flag until the game ends. Nope! This game says, “You like purple? Too bad, you’re playing orange too.” Every player runs two factions at the same time. It’s like being your own worst enemy, but also your own sneaky best friend. My group found this wild. Imagine rooting for both Real Madrid and Barcelona, and then trying to win La Liga with both… at once. My buddy Paul almost broke his brain trying to decide whether to sack a city with Byzantines or save it for the Arabs.
This system changes everything. You don’t just wage war—sometimes you’re swinging at your own army because, hey, if one of your factions wins a fight, you still win. The double-faction play makes betrayal and clever maneuvers a constant thrill. Alliances are weird and wobbly. During our second game, Tina basically sabotaged herself in the name of a bigger plan—nobody saw it coming. You always have to think three steps ahead, and you can’t just blame bad luck or a single faction getting squashed. The result is a game where you feel like a mastermind or, occasionally, a supervillain with short-term memory loss.
If you wanted to, you could probably spend a night arguing which faction you’re really loyal to, but the game’s double duty keeps you thinking the whole time. Next up, let’s talk about how tricky it is for new folks to go from “huh?” to “aha!” in Byzantium.
Complexity & Learning Curve: Is Byzantium Newbie-Friendly or Headache-Inducing?
Alright, let’s talk about Byzantium and whether you’ll need to sell your soul to the rulebook before you can enjoy it. From my own experience corralling my gaming group for a first play, I can safely say this: Byzantium does not pull its punches on complexity. If your idea of a good time is Uno or Ticket to Ride, brace yourself. There’s a lot going on, and the rules explanation had the same effect as my dad reading IKEA instructions out loud: glazed eyes and mild panic.
The hardest part for us was the action system—there’s bidding, moving, fighting, and city-building, all at the same time. I felt like I should’ve worn a toga and hired a scribe just to keep track. Also, because players have to manage two factions at once, you can’t just pick a side and coast. My friend Dave kept forgetting which color he was supposed to be helping and ended up attacking his own army. (We still remind him.)
Still, after a couple of rounds, it started to click. It helps if you play with forgiving friends, have snacks ready, and accept that your first game will feel like herding cats—if the cats were also Byzantine generals. If you’re willing to stick with it, Byzantium rewards persistence, but it is a slog at first.
Next, I’ll reveal whether all that effort pays off, or if fate (a.k.a. dice) has the last laugh when it comes to skill versus luck!
Skill vs. Luck: Who’s Really Pulling Strings in Byzantium?
If you’ve ever heard someone complain, “the dice ruined my whole plan,” chances are they never played Byzantium. Let’s get this straight: Byzantium says NOPE to random, wild swings of luck. Instead, the game dances around your cunning and your mistakes like a polite but very competitive waltz partner.
Every turn in Byzantium involves choosing, scheming, and plotting. There are so many options—should you boost your army, try to charm a city, or maybe mess up someone’s plans just because they stole your lunch last round? The best part: most of your “luck” comes from reading other people and making clever moves, not just from rolling dice and wishing the board would look different. That’s right, you can’t blame the cardboard if things go sideways. (Well, you can, but your friends will laugh at you.)
Does luck pop up at all? Sure! Sometimes, a random event or a surprise decision throws a small wrench into your perfect scheme. But honestly, in my games, skill bulldozed luck most of the time, so tears about bad fortune are best saved for Monopoly.
If you’re a gamer who likes to feel in control and schemes without praying to the dice gods, Byzantium shines. Its balance definitely tips toward skill, and that feels sweet as honey if you hate unfair swings. Just don’t expect to win by accident unless ‘accident’ means you’re secretly a genius strategist.
Next up, let’s move from mental gymnastics to full-on table drama: how much backstabbing, wheeling, and dealing can you expect in Byzantium? Get ready to become frenemies!
How Byzantium Turns Friends Into Frenemies: Negotiation and Player Shenanigans
Listen, if you think Byzantium is a chill game where you can kick back and let others do their thing, you’re in for a rude awakening. This is a game that takes player interaction and cranks it up until you end up plotting against the person who drove you here. One minute you’re sharing snacks, the next you’re arguing over who gets to sack Baghdad. That really happened when I played. Sorry, Sam, those chips were never really yours.
Negotiation is everywhere in Byzantium. Forming alliances, breaking them, or just straight-up bluffing—it’s encouraged, and honestly, half the fun comes from convincing people to chase your enemies while you sip tea and act innocent. My buddy tried to sweet-talk us into ganging up on the Byzantines, only to snatch the win while we bickered. Classic.
There are no formal rules for negotiation, which is great if you love talking your way through a game. But if you’re shy or hate confrontation, Byzantium might get your palms sweaty. If you enjoy manipulating friends and then pretending it was ‘just a game,’ you’ll fit right in. Diplomacy, trash talk, and the odd fake alliance are all fair game. It’s like Thanksgiving with fewer dishes to wash.
Is Byzantium worth it? For folks who enjoy a healthy dose of betrayal and wheeling and dealing, I say absolutely. Grab some snacks (and maybe an apology card) and give it a go. If you hate negotiating, maybe stick to solitaire. I recommend it—for devious schemers and lovers of deep interaction, this one’s a winner.
Conclusion
So, that’s it for my Byzantium review! If you want a board game where your brain gets a workout and you can’t blame the dice for losing, this one is a gem. The double-faction twist still blows my mind, even after a few plays. Yes, the learning curve is as steep as my hill in winter, so don’t expect to wow your friends on your first go. But if you like deep strategy, wild negotiation, and feeling clever (or sneaky), Byzantium delivers. Just bring your best thinking cap—and maybe some snacks, because you’ll be at the table a while! This game wins 4 out of 5 stars from me. Now, where did I leave my Byzantine empire…?
