Thebai
Dark times loom over the kingdom of Thebes. The blind, old king Oedipus left the throne in disgrace and asked his sons Polynices and Eteocles to rule the city together. But power corrupts and ancient feuds call for new blood to be spilled. Soon, Polynices finds himself leading an army from the rival city of Argos against his own brother. The Theban nobles support Eteocles as he maintains his precarious rule over Thebes. The young king calls for defenders to man the seven gates of the city, while the invaders' seven champions lead the attack on the gates. Meanwhile, the famous citadel of Thebes, the Cadmea, lies in disarray. It is as if the Fates themselves have lined everything up against the current rulers of Thebes!
While the common folks prepare for war, the noble families whisper among themselves that the time for new leadership has come, and the time to rebuild the Cadmea is now!
This sets the stage for Board & Dice's ambitious eurogame design. Thebai demands much from you. Players assume the role of influential leaders from noble families during the tumultuous late Bronze Age. Throughout the game, you rebuild the Cadmea while restoring exports, praying to gods and protecting citizens as grand heroes spill each other's blood outside the gates. The game runs for ten rounds, split between Action and Fate phases. You use one Citizen die per turn, moving your Archon across the Cadmea. Fate phases offer additional scoring opportunities based on accomplishments and gate protection. Final victory points crown your winner.
Complexity defines this experience. Thebai draws you in immediately with its central city board and tangible tile-laying mechanics. Your engagement stays high throughout because every decision pulls double duty. Yet that same interconnectedness becomes its burden...
Board & Dice earn praise for ambitious designs but Thebai pushes this tendency past the tipping point. The rules feel hyper-complex. Over four separate plays, our group kept forgetting or missing elements. One session required three clarifications mid-game. Another saw us restart the Fate phase twice because nobody remembered the scoring sequence properly. This isn't criticism without foundation. Even now, I find myself struggling to recall whether Hoplite dice tick up or down during specific Archon movements.
The central board creates genuine engagement. Players cluster around it constantly, debating placements and watching opponents advance their pieces. However, this concentration breeds analysis paralysis (AP). Your opponents wait as you calculate cascading effects from a single tile placement. Fourteen turns of planning stretch into 40 minutes of silent staring. The interconnectedness works against you here...
Every player I surveyed enjoyed the experience overall. Yet each expressed frustration with the depth required. Too much sits in your working memory at any moment. One player put it plainly: 'It's sort of an anti-modern euro because it eschews many small turns for 10 big turns. It does still rely heavily on combo chaining, however. That makes planning extremely difficult.' Another echoed this sentiment: 'I think the game does some interesting things, and I would be willing to play it again, but I like it less than Turczi's other games. There's just a bit too much to hold in my brain at once.' Interconnectedness represents designer Dávid Turczi's hallmark, yet it reaches an all-time high here. You construct turns from two to four highly complex steps affecting each other simultaneously. One participant confessed this brought their brain to a halt. They noted they would struggle imagining gameplay with anyone suffering from AP tendencies.
The dice mechanic deserves genuine praise. Your Citizens and Hoplites rank up through play, gaining capabilities as you progress. This creates satisfying progression without requiring physical components beyond the dice themselves. However, reading the pips becomes frustrating. Sometimes you squint at worn surfaces trying to determine whether your Hoplite counts as a Strategos or remains a defender. Clarity suffers for aesthetic minimalism.
In Thebai, players build their large Cadmea tiles from their player boards onto the main board in order to create places where they can place their Citizen dice, move their Archon and defend the city with Hoplite dice. Each turn, players place one of their Citizen dice either on their player board to perform the associated action or between two tiles on the main board to perform an action associated with one of them. Tiles being removed from the player board open up more and stronger action spots. Then, the player moves their Archon on the main board to any tile, but any opponents' dice moved over tick up, any of that player's dice tick down, and any gaps passed over incur a cost.
Hoplite dice function similarly, counting toward defence when placed on the main board. These dice also tick up from Archon movement and other actions. Once Citizen dice exceed their maximum value they are removed and placed on a board providing end-game multipliers. If Hoplite dice exceed their max they become Strategos tiles to permanently defend that row and also grant the use of a Commander which provides an ongoing bonus. It's hard to put my finger on why, but this one felt a bit tedious to me. I wish the interaction on the main board was a bit more pronounced. Battles happen mechanically while you optimise elsewhere.
Here lies Thebai's fundamental problem. Interesting mechanisms exist beneath layers of unnecessary complication. You gain points through battle, end-game objectives, set collections with deliveries, and numerous other avenues. Maximising points requires constant calculation across multiple systems. Sometimes you succeed brilliantly. Often you lose track mid-turn and realise you've wasted precious resources. That all said, nobody has rejected this game outright. Every player said they would play again. Nobody actively disliked what happened at the table. The enjoyment remained genuine. The issue stems from execution rather than vision.
For collectors seeking dense eurogame experiences, Thebai delivers substance. For those prioritising smooth gameplay and elegant design, it falls short. For me, the core loop remains compelling enough to warrant revisiting but not enough to justify permanent shelf space alongside simpler alternatives.
The game proves Board & Dice continue pushing boundaries. Whether that serves their audience depends on tolerance for friction. Some players relish the cognitive challenge. Others find it exhausting rather than invigorating. Our group landed squarely in the middle camp. We respected what Thebai attempted while wishing it trusted itself more. Simplicity could have elevated strong ideas further. Instead, complexity buries them slightly. Final assessment: engaging, complex and occasionally fun, but ultimately over-designed for its own good.
(Review by David Breaker)
