Imperial Miners: Aztecs vs. Weirdlings Expansion Review
I freaking loved Imperial Miners. So did Tony. We both found it to be a great, quick playing, engine-building card game. Unlike Tony, I did not mind that it was multiplayer solitaire. In fact, while I enjoyed Imperial Settlers and Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North, I did not like the attacking you could do to other players. I was very excited I could play Imperial Miners and not worry about your mine collapsing due to your opponent’s nefarious plans.
Unsurprisingly, Portal has published an expansion for Imperial Miners. Titled Imperial Miners – Aztecs vs. Weirdlings, the expansion adds the two titular factions to the mix. Is that enough content to warrant a purchase? I’ll let you decide, but it is a conditional yes for me.
This small expansion includes two new factions: the Aztecs and the Weirdlings. Aztec effects are more potent based on the cards in your hand or on the cards you discard. The Weirdlings are a little more complex. Each card effect is split into two—one based on if it is Day, and one if it is Night. The new Day/Night cycle is tracked by a surprisingly hefty poker chip. Whenever a card with a Day/Night symbol is resolved, you flip the chip to its opposite side.
To integrate the two new factions, you must remove two of the older factions, except for Egypt. The removed factions are considered Lost Factions. Per the Publisher (ick – stupid work email habits creeping into my reviews), Egypt cannot be selected as a Lost Faction because they have the most cards, and advancing on the Progress tracks is mostly driven by this faction. Note that you can also play with only one of the new factions by removing only one of the older factions (more on this later). To assist with randomizing which factions to play with, seven cards representing every faction, except Egypt, are included in the expansion. Simply draw two cards.
Finally, the expansion includes an updated Shepards card to replace the one from the base game.
What made me want to belt out “Hi Ho,
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