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Description
Twilight Imperium (Fourth Edition) is a game of galactic conquest in which three to six players take on the role of one of seventeen factions vying for galactic domination through military might, political maneuvering, and economic bargaining. Every faction offers a completely different play experience, from the wormhole-hopping Ghosts of Creuss to the Emirates of Hacan, masters of trade and economics. These seventeen races are offered many paths to victory, but only one may sit upon the throne of Mecatol Rex as the new masters of the galaxy.
No two games of Twilight Imperium are ever identical. At the start of each galactic age, the game board is uniquely and strategically constructed using 51 galaxy tiles that feature everything from lush new planets and supernovas to asteroid fields and gravity rifts. Players are dealt a hand of these tiles and take turns creating the galaxy around Mecatol Rex, the capital planet seated in the center of the board. An ion storm may block your race from progressing through the galaxy while a fortuitously placed gravity rift may protect you from your closest foes. The galaxy is yours to both craft and dominate.
A round of Twilight Imperium begins with players selecting one of eight strategy cards that both determine player order and give their owner a unique strategic action for that round. These may do anything from providing additional command tokens to allowing a player to control trade throughout the galaxy. After these roles are selected, players take turns moving their fleets from system to system, claiming new planets for their empire, and engaging in warfare and trade with other factions. At the end of a turn, players gather in a grand council to pass new laws and agendas, shaking up the game in unpredictable ways.
After every player has passed their turn, players move up the victory track by checking to see whether they have completed any objectives throughout the turn and scoring them. Objectives are determined by setting up ten public objective cards at the start of each game, then gradually revealing them with every round. Every player also chooses between two random secret objectives at the start of the game, providing victory points achievable only by the holder of that objective. These objectives can be anything from researching new technologies to taking your neighbor's home system. At the end of every turn, a player can claim one public objective and one secret objective. As play continues, more of these objectives are revealed and more secret objectives are dealt out, giving players dynamically changing goals throughout the game. Play continues until a player reaches ten victory points.
Payment & Security
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Refund Policy
Updates are listed in magenta text. Last update: August 3rd, 2026.
Cancellations versus Returns: An order is considered in process and not yet completed up until the product is available to the customer, which includes as soon as an order is ready for pickup. Once an order is completed, it can no longer be cancelled and refund policies will apply.
Returns: For the majority of our products, they can be returned for either exchange or refund assuming they fulfill the following criteria:
- The product is fully sealed and unopened
- If a product has had its shrink wrap removed but the contents are otherwise still sealed, a return may still be possible, but a 15% restocking fee will be applied
- There is a proof of purchase, be it a receipt or purchased under a customer file
- It is within four weeks of purchase
Exceptions:
If the purchase of a product has earned the customer bonus points, product or value, those will need to be returned as well. If they cannot (such as if they'd be used already or gifted elsewhere), the value of the return will be reduced by an appropriate amount.
Used Games: Used games can only be returned within three days. We ask that you use those three days to confirm all the components are there. After those three days, the sale is final.
Some products cannot be returned:
- Collectible blind packs: HeroClix, D&D Icons of the Realms, Magic: the Gathering, etc. Because of the unknown contents of these products, once the product is purchased and removed from our sight, we can no longer assure that the contents are factory sealed and not somehow scanned or otherwise determined.
- Games Workshop battletomes and codexes: These products include a code for a digital redemption, and we have no way of verifying whether this code has been redeemed or not once a book has been removed from its shrink wrap.
- Clearance product: Any item on clearance is considered a final sale, and cannot be returned.
- Collectible singles: Magic singles and similar product cannot be returned. However, we are often able to purchase them again as second-hand product trade in, such as how we buy Magic cards.
- Bits and Mortar: Once you have received a code for a digital copy of a purchased RPG book eligible for the Bits and Mortar program, you may no longer return that book for a refund.
- Food stuffs and drinks: for obvious reasons.
- Entry fees: Unless cancelled before the day of the event in question, entry fees cannot be refunded. If prior to the day of the event, a refund can be given in store credit.
Shipping
If your product is eligible for return and you do not live in Winnipeg, you should mail your product to: GameKnight Games and Cool Stuff, 519 Osborne Street, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, R3L2A9
You will be responsible for the cost of return shipping. Shipping costs are non-refundable.
Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you may vary.
If you are shipping a valuable item, you should consider using a trackable shipping service or purchasing shipping insurance. We don’t guarantee that we will receive your returned item.
Abandoned Orders
If an order is not picked up within 60 days of it being ready, the pre-tax value of the order, minus a 15% restocking fee will be returned to the buyer in the form of a webstore gift card, and the items returned to our stock.
Individual collectible products such as Magic: the Gathering singles will instead have either the aforementioned value OR the current buylist value, whichever is lowest, returned to the buyer in the form of a webstore gift card, and the items returned to our stock.
Missed Events
If you sign up for an event but do not show up for it, we reserve the right to sell your spot to someone that is waiting to play. You will not be eligible for a refund.
If circumstances prevent you from attending an event to which you are registered, please notify us as soon as you can so we can make arrangements.
We will always give a small grace period to latecomers, but it helps immensely if you notify us ahead of time if you're running late. Otherwise, it is at our discretion when we deem you are absent and provide your spot to someone else. Again, no refund will be possible.
Any product used during an event is only available to those that actually attend the event.
This game is epic. A perfect combination of strategy, combat and negotiations. The base game has 17 playable faction, and the expansion another 7. Each feels unique and has different interactions with the others. Each game has a unique combination of goals to achieve, making every game feel fresh.
You can't just sit down and start playing, the game is too long and complex for that. If everyone reads the "Learn to Play" and is prepared for a day long game, though, it's the best experience you can have in a board game.
The rules are (mostly) elegantly simple for such a complex game, and while it takes all day to play, it feels like only about half that.
Best game there is.
