Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
How Often Do You Think About the Roman Empire?
I love history. I love Roman history. I love tableau-building games. I love tech tracks. Mix these all together and you’re holding a key to my heart. So it’s no surprise that Quorum from Devir caught my eye, reminiscent of drafting staples such as 7 Wonders, Splendor, or Jaipur. Quorum puts you in the shoes (or rather robes) of senate members manipulating the glorious empire through various spheres of influence. However, this Senate session isn’t unified as only one Senator can claim the title of most powerful and influential. This card drafting, tableau building card game is designed by Raul Franco Jiménez and Fran Martínez Rosa with beautiful (and fun!) art by Bea Tormo.
I’ll Take the Caesar Point Salad, Please
Quorum unfolds over twelve turns, with players drafting a card from the market and playing a card from their hand each round. Once all twelve turns are complete, players score points based on their positions on the province tracks and the scoring criteria of their cards.
The game features six provinces, each representing a different region of the Roman Empire (Gallia, Macedonia, etc.), and each province corresponds to specific card types for scoring. Every time a player plays a card, they advance on the related province track. The player leading on a track will multiply their collected cards by that province’s influence value, while the second-place player scores at a slightly lower rate, and so on—until the influence value reaches zero.
The market offers a variety of card types, including military, trade, intrigue, agriculture, and god cards. God cards add an extra layer of strategy—they remain face-down when drafted, providing a one-time bump on any track while also adjusting the influence values of adjacent provinces. However, they can never be played, meaning they take up valuable space in a player’s hand, potentially clogging future turns. Meanwhile, individual tableaus score through various forms of set collection, rewarding players who carefully build synergistic combinations.
Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
Quorum has the potential to be a modern classic, following in the footsteps of 7 Wonders. The foundation is strong, with a compelling blend of card drafting, tableau building, and track management. However, the game feels compressed—twelve turns simply don’t provide enough time for its multiple systems to fully breathe. While the mechanics are engaging, the interplay between them can feel restrictive rather than rewarding.
A major challenge comes from the intentional misalignment between card scoring types and track progression. In theory, this adds a layer of strategic depth, forcing players to adapt rather than follow an obvious path. In practice, it often leads to frustrating situations where a player’s options feel dictated more by chance than by choice. The game encourages players to focus on one or two scoring avenues, but the way the cards appear doesn’t always support that strategy, leaving some rounds feeling like a scramble rather than a well-planned maneuver.
One player commented, “It’s very likely the person who just plays random cards will win.” He wasn’t entirely wrong. While careful play can certainly yield an advantage, the combination of a short game length, the unpredictable availability of cards, and the complexity of track scoring means that sometimes, playing opportunistically can be just as effective as a well-thought-out strategy. The god cards, meant to shake up the game state, offer minor shifts in track positions but don’t always provide enough of an incentive to be a meaningful strategic focus. Instead of feeling like powerful game-changers, they often function more as minor speed bumps in an already convoluted race.
Another issue is the difficulty of tracking opponents’ progress. With six different province tracks, each affecting scoring differently, it can be overwhelming to keep tabs on who is leading where and how that might affect endgame scoring. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to counterplay or pivot strategies effectively. In a game where positioning matters, not knowing where you stand—or what your opponents are working toward—dulls the competitive edge. Instead of a tense battle for control, it can feel like everyone is building in their own silo, with the final scores coming as more of a surprise than a culmination of visible progress.
The overall experience feels like a dish that’s been slightly over-seasoned—the core mechanics are solid, but too many ingredients have been added, making it harder to appreciate the best parts. The game is easy to teach, but the scoring system is convoluted enough that new players may struggle to fully grasp its nuances until after a playthrough or two. The mechanics are engaging on an individual level, but together, they create a system that sometimes feels more like a puzzle to be solved rather than a dynamic strategy game.
That said, Quorum is still an approachable and enjoyable experience, especially for players who enjoy games with multiple layers of decision-making. A streamlined version—perhaps one that reduces the province track mechanics or simplifies scoring—could make it more accessible, particularly for younger or more casual players. Ultimately, drafting and playing cards is inherently fun, especially when you manage to snatch a key card right before an opponent does. Fortunately, the twelve-turn limit keeps the game moving at a brisk pace, ensuring it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Some players will witness the rise of Rome, carefully managing their resources to victory, but for most, they’ll watch the empire collapse under the weight of its own ambitions.
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