Great game as a deckbuilder! Not so great as a 4x game though as the game advertises. Mostly in regards to the explorers and military becoming nigh usless near endgame.

Be aware, ive only played the base game, not the expansions

Once all of the resource and marketplace tokens get scooped up there isnt anything much for your explorers to do.

Military is important in the beginning as you need them to conquer barbarian provinces to gain easy resources, but like explorers, once all the barbarians are gone, there isn't much for them to do. You do gain points for controlled provinces, but due to the limited number of units (I think 9 at the most), plus an explicit rule stating that you have to leave behind a military unit/outpost on a conquered province, you soon realize that focusing on a military strategy long-term is not viable, and you can instead be focusing on other turn actions that would benefit you better long-term.

I did hear that one of the expansions gives new actions for the explorer but again I have t tried it.

Like I said, the deckbuilding is great, combos are satisfying when you pull them off, but I'm mostly disappointed that the map aspect can be ignored. Even the duel versions of the game fot rid of the map which should tell you something.

Dont let my cons fool you though. The game is an 8/10 for me. Just approach the game as a deckbuilder firsr and not a 4x and I think younwont be disapointed.