Iliad

The Trojan War has begun, and both sides of the conflict pursue every advantage they can get. Two opposing heroes – Hector of the Trojans and Achilles of the Greeks – seek the favour of the gods to gain their support and tip the scales of fate. Only one side will emerge victorious, and its hero will become the legend of the Iliad.

Iliad is a tile-placement strategy game for two players by Reiner Knizia. On your turn, you choose one of two tiles from your hand and place it on the game board next to an opponent's tile. Both players have symmetrical pools of tiles with strengths ranging from 1-5, along with the Dolos tile, which copies the opponent's adjacent tiles. The key to victory lies in the relentless tension of where and when to place your tiles. When you place a tile, you may also activate its ability, which can turn the tide of the war.

When a row or column is full, the player with the highest total strength in that line earns the right to choose one of the two success tiles at the end of that row or column; the other tile goes to the opponent. Success tiles can give you the favour of the gods, and they can earn (or cost you) points. At the end of the game, the winner is the player who has gained the favour of all five gods. If both players – or neither – meet this condition, the player who has earned the most points wins. Players therefore face hard tactical trade-offs, as they must decide whether to compete for the exclusive favour of the gods or for the most points – and then steer the outcome of the game towards their intended advantage.