G@mebox author Ralf Togler writes about the game:

Three years ago CRANIO CREATIONS released Lorenzo il Magnifico. It was this great worker placement game that catapulted the Italian publisher in the centre of the established publishers. While most of their former games were all a little bit crazy and not too complex (although I loved those games just because of these two facts), Lorenzo il Magnifico became high rated among the tacticians. And it is still a very good game.

So, I hadn't to think twice, when I was asked to playtest the prototype of the digital edition of the game. A word and a blow. I got my steam key soon after and was confronted with the one or other (minor) problem before I was finally able to play the game. Although Steam was not unfamiliar to me, I hadn't come in contact with the platform in the last 10 years. Much has changed since then. First of all I had to register (I don't remember if I had registered before) and after that I had to download the steam engine. You must know that my computers aren't the newest ones, but my anxious fears that the software would refuse my installing efforts did not come true.

And indeed, after installing Steam and the logging process I was able to download the prototype of Lorenzo il Magnifico, digital edition. Soon after I could start the game. And although the game suggests the lowest resolutions for my computer, I don't have to complain. The graphics are good and the game plays fluently...

Now, in this review, I won't describe the game mechanics and the gameplay itself. If you want to learn more about the game, you can read my detailed review about Lorenzo il Magnifico. Instead, let us have a closer look on the digital edition of the game: from what I saw in the prototype, every detail is transposed more or less 1:1 from the original board game. You not only have the core game, you can also add the leaders.

The prototype already worked nearly perfect. I didn't have a single crash. Moreover I didn't find any mistake. The digital edition comes with a good introduction to learn the rules. I can recommend this introduction not only for players of the digital edition, It's good for everyone, who wants to play the board game, but who does not want to read the rules. The only point of criticism I have with the digital edition is the fact that I had to scroll from time to time to reach all available elements of the game. But that mainly has to do with the small resolution of my old notebooks. You definitely should use a bigger screen for the game.

Of course the digital edition can either be played alone against computer opponents or against players far away using the internet. I was not able to test the second possibility, but I played several games against the computer. The opponent in this prototype version plays well, but I think it is not the strongest opponent. I was able to beat the computer opponent already in my second game, although it is some time ago I last played the analogue board game (but maybe I am just good, who knows). Perhaps that still changes in the final version. And for learning the game or to play against friends far away, I can already entrust the game to any fan of the original boardgame.

By the way, I left the rating of the game as for the boardgame, because the game mechanics and all details are the same. It is only a matter of taste whether you prefer the board game variant or (maybe only in special occasions) the digital edition.

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Copyright © 2019 Ralf Togler & Frank Schulte-Kulkmann, Essen, Germany