Centurion

The flanking mechanic finally gave me a way to beat my brother, who's been crushing me at abstracts for years. We played three rounds in one sitting and the rules clicked within ten minutes.

My husband usually wins our abstract strategy games, so beating him twice in one night with the expansion rules felt like an actual conquest. The flanking moves add just enough pressure without slowing the game down.

We've played it twice as a standalone and the Caesar theme actually fits the abstract movement well, which I didn't expect. Games run quick enough that nobody's stuck waiting, and the tug-of-war over the center stays tense the whole way.