Imperial is a game by Rio Grande/Eggert-Spiele in which players represent investors who shrewdly manipulate the fates of the Great Nations of pre-WWI Europe in order to increase their personal wealth.

The event will consist of two preliminary heats advancing the top 16 players to a semi-final round. Any heat winners above 16 will be eliminated using the standard HMW criteria. It is possible that alternates who did not win any heat may advance to the semi-final round. These will be ranked using the standard HMW criteria, with the tie-breaker going to the players who had the highest percentage of the winner's score, and all second-place finishers ranking above third-place finishers, etc.

The advanced setup will be used in all games unless all players in the game agree to use the basic setup. The Investor Card will be used in all games.

ADVANCEMENT TIE-BREAKERS: In Multiple Entry, Single Elimination events for multi-player games, players possibly qualify for Single Elimination play in the second round by winning any of up to four preliminary Heats. Occasionally, players may advance wihout winning a heat. Players can enter one or more Heats without limit. All events for most multi-player games consist of three rounds; an opening Round consisting of two to four Preliminary Heats, a semi-final and a Final. The sem-ifinal round will advance a predesignated optimum number of players to fill the second round; i.e., 25 players for a five-player game, 16 players for a four-player game, etc. but in all cases will advance no more than half of all players which participated in the Preliminaries. If insufficient players advance to warrant a semi-final round, the scheduled semi-final will instead become the Final.

Heats: Most Wins (HMW) - Standard tiebreakers used to trim the field or identify alternates to complete the field, as listed below in the following order: 1. Most Wins (e.g., total in all heats entered);
2. Win in first Heat entered;
3. Win in second Heat entered;
4. GM specific tie-breaker, highest % of the winner's score;
5. Average finish in all heats entered (e.g., a 2nd and two 3rds = 2.67 and beats two 2nds and two 4ths = 3); and
6. High dice roll.