Pros

The fanfare probably hits one of the highest notes with the 7 new alien races, so your group of 6 can just all play something brand spanking new. These are actually quite weird in their asymmetry, like if you felt like TI4 wasn’t asymmetric enough for you, these might start filling it that void.

There’s space dragons called Cabal, which want to rampage by capturing opponents units when they win a fight, and then produce a copy of that for free. Or how their Space Docks are literally also Gravity Rifts!? More quick examples: Argent Flight birds always vote first with politics. Titans specialize in Planetary Defense Systems. And there’s leathery skin Empyreans who can let others move through their own ships.

A key mechanical change for every single faction is the introduction of Leaders, which each player gets 3 of. These cement the asymmetry of each faction, as well as give players something cool to work towards, as 2/3 need to be unlocked. Most importantly, they give you MORE crucial decisions, like dropping a once per game is NO small feat, and when you got something BIG that relates to your faction specifically, it feels all the more thematic and satisfying.

The addition of Mechs aren’t just adding strong ground troops either—they’re loaded with unique faction abilities! These give a lot more nuance to ground fighting, instead of just spamming a standard Infantry flag like before. The abilities are straight insane: like stopping combat (Gene-Sorcerers), stopping Action Cards (Empyrean), or sustaining damage with your ships (Nomads).

What’s more, is that the negotiation is really raised with Relics on the board to explore, then to trade with players. Or how Objectives have been slightly reworked to account for everyone’s bumped power level, asking for players to do more interactive quests and be more creative. Or how you can share leader abilities through new Alliance Notes.

The world of TI is just so well fleshed out with this giant box. There’s legendary planets with abilities, more life for the old factions, and vastly more replayability. Stories feel more momentous with Leaders being the face of factions, and more abilities start twisting this space map as you hold once-per-games to your opponents’ throats. If you thought you were good at TI4 before, this lets you get even better.

Nitpicks

There is nothing really bad about this expansion! Like sure, this game is way bigger now on the table, or how the Titan faction is slightly overpowered. But that’s not a big deal at all, and if you know TI well, you know that politics plays a crucial role in even-ing out players anyways.

Final Thoughts

One look at this box, for all of its awesomeness, can scare away those who were already struggling to get TI4 to the table. This is gonna make it even harder to start with newcomers. The higher highs in Prophecy of Kings may not feel fitting if you really enjoy how streamlined TI4 is, and Prophecy of Kings feels like a call back to TI3, with expansions, but just way more polished.

TI4 is already an amazing game, a 10/10 game, and if you want to jump in a heavier direction, PoK is a 10/10 too.