Space Lions - The Twilight Imperium Documentary 

A game I have only ever admired from afar, perhaps one day my kids will indulge me and help me play.

I wanted to play for YEARS. Opportunities to play were like… once every few years. And something tragic kept me from playing for some six or seven years. Then I finally BOUGHT the game, studied the rules a month later, and then… roped five people into playing it. We all LOVED it. We played it again, the very next day. A week later I got a single mother who games a little, and her son to play with me, by saying: “play with me for an hour and a half- if you find it boring and want to stop playing, we’ll just stop, no questions asked.” Started playing at 11:00a, and the next thing we knew, it was 4:00p, and there was no question: we are absolutely finishing this game.

As a design and marketing student, this documentary is like watching an action thriller starring Bruce Willis.

Wow SU&SD you've really planted a unique flag in the board game industry, this is head and shoulders above anything else out there. Well done sirs.

This was very good and professional if you get what I mean, I kinda forgot that I was watching the same channel that got me into board games with silly cooking/review hybrid videos. Very interesting to see the process that goes into making these complex games, I didn't think watching people discussing box sizes in a board room would be so entertaining.

Excellent work guys! It was fascinating to see the progression of FFG through the lens of Twilight Imperium. We need more of this kind of insight into the people behind these games. Also, Matt, huge shout out to you! This kind of project is extremely time intensive, and the editor rarely gets the proper recognition (talk to Jonathan and Ben about that one...). You did a fantastic job.

This was fantastic. These days I have the attention span of an ADHD-riddled mayfly, but this was so well edited that I barely noticed nearly an hour had passed until the mini-doc ended. It would be a real shame if Matthew never got to make another long form video as he clearly has an incredible talent for it.

Astoundingly good job Matt, Paul and Quinns. If this is an example of the direction SU&SD is headed then sign me up

Watched the whole thing in one sitting and thought, "Aw, that was a little short." Then realized it was 47+ minutes long?! Time flew by. I guess I just wanted more! This was fantastic. Thanks for putting together such an excellent video! It sucked me in and I lost all reference of time!

Kudos to SU&SD for pivoting from their regular goofy (but still highly enjoyable) game reviews to a mature, well thought out documentary that still manages to entertain and inform viewers on board gaming topics. One of the few documentaries I've seen where I was not bored to tears - well done!

I clicked on this video to just see if I should watch the full thing later when it wasn't 2 in the morning... 50 minutes later all I can say is excellent documentary, completely sucked me in immediately. top shit lads

This may have taken months, but every day of it was worthwhile. Fascinating.

Fantastic work SUSD - I have never played the game but this documentary was fascinating. Production quality was top class - looking forward to the review.

I usually can't sit through a board game review cuz I get lost with all the rules but I loved this documentary. Watched it start to finish. Now I wanna find a group to play this!

As a movie fan and a boardgame fan, this video documentary was fantastic. The behind the scenes and the history of TI were fascinating and it made me appreciate this game a lot (even though it's one I will never play). I hope to see more documentaries from you all in the future that relate to the modern boardgame hobby. Thank you for all the hard work on this one.

I remember picking up the very first TI. Great game and I have purchased every version since and loved them all.

Wonderfully done. I didn't realize that TI was the backbone of FFG. Makes me want to learn more about the history of other board games and board game companies. Makes me a little sad that you guys don't plan on making more like it. Though I totally understand and appreciate the work that went into this. But excellent work!!!

Not sure why but I come back to this doc every year or so, however this year I finally bought TI4! Thanks to SUSD

I understand it was very hard, but it was worth it. It's hard to see this kind of thing working for games of smaller scales though. There's just not That Much Other Stuff going on in most other games coming together. But, as a developer looking at kickstarter it is super cool to hear thoughts about it from inside the industry, and choices made on principle rather than pragmatism.

Christian T. Peterson is my board game hero and TI is one of my favorite games. LOVED this documentary!

This is one of my all time favorite videos on the internet. Thanks for suffering through the nightmare, Matt.

"No gold hood! We need to do a red hood. Cuz people are gonna be really confused if they see a space game... with a lion in... and it doesn't have a red hood."

Not sure how I am watching this for the first time 4 years later but this is absolutely wonderful. Credit to the entire team but I could've watched an entire hour with just Brian, the man is hilarious!

"Was it hard?" "It was, a nightmare." What a great way to end it. Well done guys.

Fantastic job, fellows! All the hard work you put into this really shows. I think most of us would absolutely love to see more of this type of material, about more of the best games out there. And after seeing this, I'd bet that any games company you talk to will be completely on board with helping you out. Thanks for making this!

Brilliant. Thanks for doing this. I especially found the early history of the game and of FFG fascinating.

Great job. The months and months of hard work shows. Fascinating background story and interviews and very well paced. You should be very proud of the what you have produced and provided to to the gaming community.

Well now I'm rather sad that video had to end. Such a treat.

I've never been interested to play TI but this documentary has definitely piqued my interest to at least give it a go. It was really good to watch how honest this documentary is, detailing the ups and downs of birthing a new edition of a game with a cult following. Kudos to you Matt, well done.

I don't know how I ended up here but I'm so happy I did. I haven't played the game since 01 or 02 but me and my brother bought the first ed and all the expansions that came out with it. Use to play it all the time it was a game that the group we played with had to build up to. First was Diplomacy then it was Risk and Axis and Allies and finally Twilight. I miss those days.

You guys seriously need to do more of this sort of thing. This is amazing.

Great job, Matt and Quinns! I edited documentary projects in school, so I have a small idea of how much work and passion it took to make a beast like this. Love your work; I've watched about 75% of SU&SD's content and started a moderate board game collection (tripled in size since i found your channel). Looking forward to finishing the rest of the videos on your channel and continuing to grow my collection!

Haha I love the concept artist, as a Game Artist myself I get exactly how he feels. A lot of concepting is, if you enjoy a design, trying to see if you can sneak it in if it meets opposition haha, because sometimes the people saying "Yes!" to the design aren't artists themselves, so they want something familiar when you wanna push for something more creative. Sometimes it works! Sometimes you purposely make something "bad looking" expecting them to want the old design back, but uh... then they love it... and youre more mad at yourself haha. Concept is a struggle haha.

Fantastic Vid, shame you won't do more of these long-style documentaries. Absolutely loved the content.

This was fantastic guys, thanks for all your hard work.

you guys probably won't care, but this might be the best thing you ever put together. well done.

wow, what an insight in the game and company history!! Now we want one about SU&SD itself! :)

So cool to see you guys take on a project like this. Steller work Matt!

After watching the first few minutes: Wow, humble beginings, FFG! I tip my hat to you, sirs. Good job with the production too, SUSD! Sssusd....ssudsds. -- A few more minutes in: This is SO good. Man, we need more of these. -- Alright, boyos (and by boyos I mean Matt and Quinns and Paul), the thing is, it might have been a nightmare to you guys, but it is AWESOME, and you need to do more of these!!

Please do this again. Seeing the process which goes on to create a board game , especially one with this legacy, was fascinating.

Played this for the first time recently. Took 4 of us 7 hours and it was absolutely hilarious with hardly a dull moment.

This is so good, I had to give some money. Thank you for giving an insight into TI History and Board Game Making in general. Btw also thank you for lots of reviews, in particular for Undaunted, what an intelligent and lovely review. May you prosper.

This was so good that I feel like I'm going to have to get a copy of TI just for those that worked on it! Both FFG on the game and SUSD on the doc! 🙌🏼

Great to see the process of making this fantastic game! Love the history of the company and seeing the different versions and the thoughts that went into designing the rules and art of the first 3 editions and how that impacted the 4th edition. Great work!

Amazing documentary, wasn't especting this to be THIS good. Certainly great, you guys have great content, but this looks like straight out of the history channel XD

I didn't expect a full fledged documentary like this, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Definitely sharing this with my other gaming friends.

I can't believe the quality of this video. Thanks Shut Up and Sit Down.

Your hard work is evident in every second of footage. You made me watch a documentary on a game I wasn't interested in. Now, if only I had enough game playing friends.

Thanks for this. I was on the fence on this game, but now its clear I need this game. Very professional documentary. Seeing the history and the people behind the game is very interesting. Great job!

Just arrived at the SU&SD enlightenment and it’s all been amazing. This though, from a business/design/ux/relationship perspective has everything! Exceptional work.

WOW! I've been with TI since "first" edition. this was so good! thanks for making this.

"The space looks great! Thank you for finally getting it!" I feel your pain, buddy. I feel your pain.

I seriously enjoyed this documentary. The pace was good and the visuals were all spot on. Fantastic work, well done sir.

I've yet to play Twilight Imperium but this just hyped the game even more for me. Well done, lads!

Really great documentary! Thanks for making!

This ... was ...brilliant! Well done guys *insert slowclap gif*

That truly was great. All those nightmarish hours spent filming editing turned into a terrific watch.

Amazing job guys!!!! I love TI! Thanx for making this!!!!

It might have been a nightmare to make, but it was a joy to watch. Thank you so much for an excellent look behind the scenes.

This was absolutely incredible! Really enjoyed seeing the creative tension behind re-imagining the game for its 4th edition.

Amazing job. Great insight into , not only the company, and its processes but on game design in general. Worthy of greater distribution. Thank you. SUSD has taken an interesting step with this kind of production.

That was a great behind the scenes look at a game evolution. Definitely a very promising start for a new content type that the SU&SD crew can scale up in the future.

Man, this was really cool! Awesome work Matt! Sad that it sounds like you guys wont be doing more, but understandable. Seriously good job!

Played it for the first time today with some neighbors at a friend's house. I ran Federation of Sol, and managed to score the win on the second to the last round. 7 hours of pure, intense and immersive fun!

SUSD - Thank you for the amazing cinematography and content for this behind the "curtains" story. It will be shared and watched again and again. FFG - Thank y'all for this peek into the labor and love y'all will be bringing into my house and onto my table. Rest assured that it will be appreciated and loved for years to come. SUSD/FFG - HOME RUN GENTLEMEN... HOME RUN!

This was really great !! Thanks for making it !!!

Guys, that was really excellent! I kept forgetting it was a SUSD documentary. It felt like something I might discover on Netflix. Great job!

Got into board games during the pandemic, found out about Twilight Imperium and that it's produced by a company that is only 3 miles away from my home! And that gigantic games center! Unfortunately I'm moving away soon, but might just buy a copy as a memento about being in the same hometown as Fantasy Flight Games. Thanks for the documentary.

Its here! I watched it and my initial impression was that I don't normal expect something this professional from board game videos! Excellent stuff guys.

Wonderful. I’m just sad it took me this long to find it. Thanks. :-)

Fantastic work! If I didn't know that this was a SUSD production and just watched it, I would have assumed that Paul and Matt just happened to be there when a regular TV crew shot the documentary. Stunning!

I'll most likely never get to play the game, but this was very well done. I wish there were more documentaries like this.

Damn you guys are so good at this.

What a great video. Thank you very much for doing this!

Wow. I have no real interest in TI, it's always been too big for me and nothing in this has changed my mind, but what a great piece of film-making. I think you guys are really funny, but I think that might have overshadowed the quality of your videos for me - this was super impressive - I hope you're really pleased with how it's turned out. I can see that this sort of thing is really tricky to make, both in time and finding the right subject, but (if you can) please do more of these, it was fascinating and so well made

Fantastic documentary, well done. Please do more. I have never played TI but I am slowly becoming obsessed with it .

This was great! Sorry Matt, we'll keep giving you money so you make another one!! On the documentary itself I am amazed by how long it took them to figure out how much it would cost them to do all of these bits and pieces and that they had to basically rethink the whole thing! Like what, 5-6 months?

Rewatching after an 8 player game of TI4 and POK yesterday. Such a good piece... FFG misses Christian though. They used to make boardgames, now they just mass produce card games.

Very very good, and I wish that more people would find this video. The editing is SUPER good. Pacing was well maintained. Keep it up!

This is the kind of content that I come to RU-vid for!

Brilliant. Thanks so much for your hard work Matt. So glad I got to see this story told. I hope other content creators and film makers will see this and want to make board game related documentaries.

WE NEED MORE OF THESE TYPE OF VIDEOS! AWESOME!

Great documentary! I played Twilight Imperium for the second time yesterday, and I'm loving this game!

Very professionally made and great production. You truly are number 1 boardgame site on tube.

This was amazing! So very amazing. Very similar to No Clip's doc work in the video game realm. I hope to find and see more intimate looks into this small and wonderful industry. It all looked very nice. Thank you

That was such great work guys. I'm having my first game of TI 3 in October, pretty much sold me on getting TI 4

Excellent documentary. So good to see the process and thoughts. And how much work goes into this. Appreciate it. Keep up the good work buddies

That was fantastic to watch. I imagine it was an epic amount of work and rework but in my humble uninformed opinion that is a documentary worth the effort (certainly to watch, I hope it was to make).

Great doc Mat, really well done. Would love to see you guys do more of this type of thing. After buying FFG products for years it was really interesting to have a glimpse into their internal workings.

Amazingly well done documentary, loved to see a bit of background/insight into the development of this game. I have not yet played Twilight Imperium, but this makes me feel like giving it a go at some point!

Guys that was a really good watch, thank you so much for putting that together.

Great documentary SU&SD! Glad to see you expanding and trying new things. Looking forward to more (should you decide to continue down the documentary route).

Great edited video for a great game. Loved it. Thanks.

I won't lie. I live in Minnesota and have been to Fantasy Flight a bunch of times (I even had my birthday party there this year) and have seen TI on the walls and on the shelves and I've seen it at other local game stores. I've never wanted to play it. Not ever. This video has made me want to play it. A lot.

I really enjoyed this documentary, i live in scandinavia and will never be able to visit the FFG-center or meet some of the designers on an convent, so this was a joy for me to watch and get some insight in FFG. please do more videos like this :)

Amazing docu. I watch it at least once a week, lol. But I think the only thing they could have done with the specific plastic units for each race is one and simple: Fix unique-only flagships for each race. The other ones are just unfeasable.

For years I've admired TI from the distance but this documentary and your review are making me buying it. Thanks for the great video guys, you are the best!

Please don't feel discouraged. This was top shelf content. Because of the labour of it though maybe stick to the big names? Things that changed how we look at games or games with a massive impact - so games like Pandemic or Catan. You could also maybe do one that looks at just how hard game design is by looking at loved but buggy games (Betrayal; House on Haunted Hill with it's amazing core design but questionable execution could be a good example). Also; you nailed the exact right amount of talk about sexy turtle people to establish an engaging running joke. Who knew that talk about sexy turtles would be so engaging? The conversation was... not the notion of sexy turtles.

Watching exceptional work like this and what Danny O'Dwyer is doing with his NoClip documentaries has been amazing. Although I'm scared the pure stress of these projects may see a premature end to Matt's beautiful hair - more of this please!!

Great video guys!!!! Thank you for the time you put into it, worth ever second you spent on it.