The Two Heirs board game is a one or two-player tile-laying game that takes around 30-60 minutes to play. The box suggests an age range of 10-plus, which feels about right. Thematically you play as two heirs vying to take your father’s throne by proving you’re the better ruler. You do this by laying tiles into a shared area, attempting to score points from your placed tiles while cutting off opportunities for your opponent.

Related: Essen Spiel 2022: Reviews incoming

In the box, you’ll find 54 cardboard tiles, 18 cardboard chits, and a scorepad. The tile art is as nice as the rather ordinary theme will allow, and the iconography is clear. It looks nice if unspectacular on the table, and needs a little more space to play than the short component list might suggest. The tiles are 6x6cm and you have no idea in what shape your tile area may end up. Looking at comparison site Board Game Prices, you can find it for around £20 but unfortunately, it is not currently available in the UK. At £20, it offers pretty good value.

Teaching the Two Heirs board game

The Two Heirs is simple to teach. It has largely face-up information, so it is easy to step in with advice or clarifications and the few tiles a player may have in hand will always have been seen when picked up, so even then there’s there is no need to be secretive. Players take turns taking a tile (mandatory) before playing as many tiles as they like, or can, from their hand to the shared play area (the hand limit is three). Each game uses 27 tiles and ends when the available stock of six can no longer be replenished, as the draw pile is empty.

Twenty-seven tiles are shuffled into a draw deck, with one placed face down in the middle of the play area as starting tile (each tile has one of three terrain types on the back). Six tiles are placed face-up in a circle, along with the Royal Shield token. The shield represents the one point of ‘reach’ players are always guaranteed on the circle, while also being the start point from which a player can choose tiles (clockwise) around the circle.

Each player starts with two soldier tokens within the circle and one on the start tile. The two in the circle can be moved to empty tiles in the play area, and back to the circle, but the one out on the board must always stay there. Once one player has moved their soldier from the start spot, no two soldiers can ever be on the same tile again. Each of your soldiers can only be moved once per turn and a soldier can occupy any tile it can get to (each can move one space per turn).

making and placing tiles

To take a tile you count your soldiers in the circle, add one for the shield, and take a tile with that number clockwise from the shield. Remember, you can bring soldiers back from the table to the circle if required. To play tiles, you have two choices. You can play a tile face down for free, or pay a tile face up for its cost. This cost will be up to four resources. The resources available to you are those within reach in the circle, plus any on the board your soldiers occupy (tiles you’ve already placed may offer bonus resources). Again, you may be able to move unmoved soldiers to make up for any shortfall.

Tiles placed face-up need to face you, as most will score you points at the end of the game. all tiles must be placed orthogonally to at least one already on the board, but have no other matching requirements, even if they have roads on them. Most tiles score differently, with a large variety of options available. And any of your tiles with one of your soldiers on it at the end of the game will score double. The player with the most points wins.

The four sides

These are me, plus three fictitious players drawn from observing my friends and their respective quirks and play styles.

• The writer: Visually this is a hard game to love, due to the drab theme and overall beigeness. But it sets up fast, plays smoothly, and offers a lot more interesting choices than you’d expect. It builds tension nicely too, as you hope your opponent misses your master plan. It’s a shame scoring takes so long, but the scorepad helps. And it is worth it, as the game wouldn’t be as good without the variety that makes it such a pain to add up.
• The thinker: What looks quite simple is in fact quite the brain teaser. There are many moving parts for so few components. With just nine terrains of each colour, it is simple to keep track of what has and hasn’t appeared. Although parsing all the scoring opportunities can get a little much. A bad tile order early on can make for a tedious beginning to the game. But otherwise, I have very much enjoyed my plays of The Two Heirs.
• The trasher: It’s rare that a game tries to be both puzzley and interactive, but this one gets the mix just about right. Better still there is plenty of variety in the box, with six sets of nine tiles, and only half of the sets are used each game. some are actually viscous, allowing you to remove the opponent’s tiles. But even without those, you’re always having to think whether a block or a points play is going to work out for the best. A surprise hit.
• The dabbler: I quite enjoyed The Two Heirs board game but it took a whole game to win me over. While the tiles have pretty art, it’s so brown and boring looking. And the volume of icons is baffling at first. But, once we got going, I found myself enjoying it. That said, the boring theme and presentation meant I soon forgot about it. I’d happily play it some more.

Key observations

Unfortunately, The Two Heirs board game made nary a ripple at Essen 2022. A the time of writing it has just 36 ratings on Board Game Geek and only 13 comments. Publisher Albi is only now making inroads into the hobby market, which isn’t good news for the game. And I can only hope it somehow manages to get a bit of a push, as I feel it deserves one. Sure, the market for bland-looking two-player tile-laying games probably isn’t huge. But it is certainly bigger than the reach it has managed so far. I agree with the few comments it does have. Lots of interesting choices in a constantly shifting arena, only really let down by some slightly suspect production and symbology.

As for the solo version, it adds a whole other layer to the puzzle. You play a two-player game against a basic AI opponent. However, its simplicity means you can think about what move the AI will do depending on the tile you take, and where you place it. This is hugely AP-inducing, but as that’s what a lot of solo gamers want I can see it being a big hit. If you like solo puzzle games, I’d certainly suggest you take a look.

Conclusion: The Two Heirs board game

The Two Heirs is an excellent two-player abstract puzzle game with an impressive solo variant. It is highly competitive, either passively or also aggressively depending on which tiles you use. Highly recommended and a definite keeper.

• Thanks to Albi for providing a copy for review.
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It was a very different Essen Spiel 2022 for me this year. I didn’t pitch any games or have a single meeting. I worked a couple of short shifts on the Surprised Stare booth (which was fun) and went in not really looking forward to a particular game. And it was all going swimmingly until I got ill on Saturday. I thought it was con crud but no, it was COVID. I’m clear now, but still feel terrible. But at least I got three good days at the show.

Generally, it felt as if Essen was back to normal. The numbers seemed a little down, but that may have been helped by my relaxed attitude. It’s a very different show when you’re trying to rush between meetings and there are thousands of browsers in your way. The look and feel of the show were completely back, though. Everything was in its place.

I had a pretty bad hit rate on the 13 games I’d earmarked in my Essen Spiel 2022 games preview. Four came home with me, including both ‘must haves’. I guess you could say that’s perfect, seeing as I said I was only coming home with five games. But we all know that was never going to happen. I was good, I swear. I only came home with 10, spending a grand total of 60 euros in the process.

Essen Spiel 2022 reviews

These are done – the list of what’s still to come is at the bottom of the post.

• Amsterdam: A 2-4 player Feld euro, reimagining Macao.
• Electropolis: Puzzley tile-layer for 2-4 players.
• Space Expatriate: A twist on Race for the Galaxy for 2-4 players.
• Triggs: A light mathsy 2-4-player small box card game.
• The Two Heirs: Two-player tile-laying board game.

The tale of my Essen Spiel 2022 list

I grabbed my must-haves, Starship Captains and 1998 ISS, on Thursday, along with two-player target The Two Heirs. Of the other two I’d looked at, Laniakea was a little too basic and uninvolving after playing a bit of a game of it at their booth. While I decided Sarah probably wouldn’t enjoy Violet and the Grumpy Niss, I did hear good things about it from people who picked it up. Worth checking out for two-player trick-takers.

Of the cheaper games, a miscommunication meant I missed out on Moesteiro – I’m still hopeful of getting hold of a copy. And I’ve been promised Overbooking post-show. We played Maui at the show and while it was fine, again it just didn’t stand out. It’s a nice, light family game but there’s nothing there for gamers.

I picked up Pessoa, but they’d run out of Findorff by the time I got to the 2fSpiel stand. And Tribes of the Wind will be out in the UK in June with a release at UK Games Expo, so I’ll follow that up then. It was on sale, but I’m happy to wait. Pilgrim didn’t make it, I’m following up on Sabika, and I passed on Revive and Discordia. I had both on the back burner but had enough games in my suitcase before I got back to them. I’m looking forward to hearing more about both, though.

My extra pickups from Essen Spiel 2022

Any regulars here will know I love me a bit of Stefan Feld, and I was lucky that Armageddon publisher Queen is working closely with him right now. I managed to pick up review copies of his new offering Marakesh, alongside the reprint of one of my faves Macao, now rebranded and updated as Amsterdam. NSV tends to be generous with the press, and this year was no different, with a copy of the little card game Triggs falling into my lap.

I grabbed Fantasy Pub from Looping Games (1998 ISS), which is a reprint of a light game that looks nice. I had a compelling pitch from the designer of Space Expatriate, which looks to have some Race for the Galaxy elements to it (sold!). And rounding things off with the 2019 release Electropolis, which we played in the halls and I instantly fell in love with.

You can expect reviews of all these in the coming months – bookmark this page if you’re interested, and I’ll link them below as I do them. And add anything that comes in late. And as always, do feel free to ask anything you like about anything Essen-related.

Essen Spiel 2022 reviews incoming

• 1998 ISS
• Fantasy Pub
• Marakesh
• Pessoa
• Starship Captains

Paris: La Cité de la Lumière is a gorgeous two-player-only tile-laying game, released in 2019 (and reviewed by me in 2022 – linked above), that plays in 20-30 minutes.

It’s a game of two distinct halves, with the players essentially building the board with tiles in the first half – while also taking polyominoes they will try to use in the second half of the game. In part two, you try to place them while also claiming special actions that can enhance your position, or mess with your opponent’s plans.

I’m a big fan of the original, as it packs a lot of meaningful decisions into a short play time and a small box, while also looking great on the table. It’s simple to teach, but the fact you build the board – and use just eight of the twelve special actions each game, keeps each play feeling different. And while the rules are simple, playing well is anything but.

What does the Paris Eiffel Expansion bring to the party?

While the expansion comes in a box that’s the same size as the original, it contains very much less. It comes with eight new special action postcards, five cardboard pieces and two wooden ones to go with them, plus a nicely illustrated scorepad (something lacking in the original).

In terms of gameplay, things remain exactly the same. All you do is mix in – in any way you choose – the eight new special actions. So you can choose to use just the new set, choose the exact ones you want for each game, or randomise by shuffling the postcards and randomly picking eight. And that’s all she wrote.

How much does it change the game?

There are no new systems or changes to the rules with the introduction of Paris: Eiffel. Seven of the new action postcards have a piece you place onto the board, while one (Quartiers Pauvres) is purely a scoring card giving bonus points (1,2,4,8) for each edge of the board your buildings are touching.

The two wooden pieces (Notre Dame and The Catacombs) let you score off one of the other player’s buildings, while the Louxor, Louvre, Hotel des Invalides score points in various ways for the person who played them. Tour Eiffel scores (by colour) for the four spaces below, which can’t have buildings on them – while streetlights below it count double. Finally, the Arc de Triomphe acts as a bridge between your buildings, increasing the size of your largest area accordingly.

Essentially though, nothing changes. None of the new cards change any fundamentals, or make you play differently. As before, each action postcard either messes with your opponent or mitigates when they mess with you – or when you just plain mess up. However, you do suddenly have a genuinely different setup each time you play. And who doesn’t want more options? All of the new actions play well. Although the size of the Eiffel and Triomphe pieces will annoy some, as it can be hard to see the rest of the board once they’re in play.

Is the Paris Eiffel Expansion value for money?

According to Board Game Prices (at time of writing), you can get the Paris Eiffel expansion for around £15 including delivery. Purely on what you get in the box, this doesn’t feel good value at all. In terms of cardboard, perhaps it is. The pieces are lovely and chunky and fit perfectly with the original game. So physically, perhaps it is enough to justify the price tag. But mechanically? I don’t think so.

Is the Paris Eiffel Expansion essential?

Certainly not. If you’re an occasional player of Paris: La Cité de la Lumière and haven’t felt the need to add anything, there’s no reason to seek this one out. However, regular players who love the original will certainly find plenty to make them smile here. As mentioned, it doesn’t really feel value for money. But it’s so lovely to look at, if you can justify it, then it’s a great addition to the base game. If something isn’t going to be value for money, having it at such a low price point certainly helps! I’ll certainly be keeping it and am happy to have it. It makes a really good game better.

… and does it fit in the original Paris: La Cité de la Lumière box?

Just! Kind of. I think that if you methodically manoeuvred (I so wanted to make a ‘Louvre’d pun there…) every piece with surgical precision, the box lid might lay flat. But instead you’ll probably end up with a lid that won’t quite close. C’est la vie.

* Thank you to Kosmos UK for providing a copy for review.