You may not have heard of Merv as a city… but once, it was the most thriving metropolis in the world. Now Merv sits in ruins, faded away due to the destruction of its great dam after a Mongol invasion. But in Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road, 1–4 players compete during the 12th century, in the city’s heyday. You’re vying for wealth and power in this gateway city between the east and the west. Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road is one of the latest designs from Osprey Games and Fabio Lopiano. (Sound familiar? Lopiano’s also designed other superb Euro-style games such as Calimala, and Rugusa.) Merv too, is a medium-weight Euro-style strategy game, and it’s interactive as it is pretty. Ian O’Toole’s artwork oozes class, as we’ve come to expect. In Merv, your turn consists of moving around the city’s 5x5 grid, and picking to activate a tile along that row/column. You can construct permanent buildings in this location, acting as a game-long investments. Because later on, if you – or, fingers crossed, your opponents – trigger the row/column with your building in it, this tile pays out again! There’s lots of things to chase. Gaining Favours helps you spend them to score points in the Palace. Placing servants in the Palace itself strengthens this! Deploying Soldiers helps you gain influence in the city, fulfil better contracts, and collect more spices. Claiming Caravansary cards aids towards set collection. Claiming scrolls in the Library provide unique boons. You can buy goods in the Marketplace. Donating goods to the Mosque provides additional boons. But, instead, you might want to build a wall around the city… At the end of the second and third round of the game, the Mongols invade Merv! And that’s bad news if there are no walls to prevent them entering. You don’t want to lose any of your precious buildings! Will you thrive within the glorious city of Merv? Or will these invaders tear down the businesses you worked hard to create?