#Empire Dread
A group of friends plans to get together over the nCQ@few weekends in order to
play some three-human Empire. The problem is, each has been playing
repeatedly, obsessively, against the less-than-invincible AI. Each has been
crushing the AI. Each has built up a self-image as a pretty-darned-capable
player.
I dread that when they meet each other, only one shall emerge the victor. What
of the other two, who will suffer their first loss in Empire, ever? Will they
smile bravely? Complain about cheating? ("You must have peeked when it was my
turn!") Fail to invite the winner to parties?
Unlike, say, Marble Madness, where the game may be repeated several times an
hour, Empire requires the players to make major investments of time and can be
played only once in an evening. The players can't say "two out of three?" with
any sort of conviction; who has time for three Empire games?