I heard about this game on the 4xgaming subreddit and it sounded like something that I would really enjoy; text-based strategy where I could make various decisions? Sign me up! After playing it a couple of times, though, I was irritated and not having a good time at all.

The gameplay is fairly simple, which wouldn't be a problem if my "various" choices felt like actual scheming instead of filling out a questionnaire. I made similar decisions in both playthroughs with slight variations, expecting consistent outcomes. 

In the first game, I made a seemingly "good" (for me) choice early in the game that could prove to be interesting later on. What happened instead was instant death without a clear explanation. It felt like I was looking at a YOU LOSE screen out of nowhere.

The second time around I felt like my loss was out of left field again.  One moment I'm choosing between influence and recruit for the hundredth time when suddenly, despite being in a strong position (full health, lots of magic), I immediately lose after declining an offer from another villain-type. I'm taking on the role of a Sauron-like character and you expect me to bend the knee to this upstart? Oh, look, the upstart killed me...

If either loss had felt like it had been led up to, had made for good story telling, or just made sense from a gameplay perspective, that would have been fine. As it was the experience lacked clear feedback or narrative logic and the time I spent on this was not rewarding in the slightest.