Mark Maxwell’s art alone was enough to hook us when we walked by the table at PAX, but the gameplay is what keeps it coming to the table. The components, the colors, even the storage all work together in this worker (dice) placement/ resource management/ area control game. Buckle up!
2nd – (2 player rating) The board itself does a great job of clearly defining the adaptations for the 2 player variant. There are small tiles that cover up little bits and spaces that would be used in 3-4 player games. That said, I think that the idea of area control becomes more interesting in the 3-4 player games. Still a strong 2 player game but it does lose a little of the competitive edge. 🌟🌟🌟 3/5
S – (setup, takedown, instructions) Honestly, I’ve never seen a game that was this cleverly organized. With small card style boxes to hold all the colonies, dice, scoring markers for each person by color. It makes this so simple and it is so much better than dealing with those teeny ziploc bags. I wish other designers would take note. This is, by far, more appealing. The instructions can be a little overwhelming, just because of the sheer number of choices there are during the game. But they are clear and well written. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5
T – (tactile, components, artwork, etc) The artwork, and let’s be honest here, the colonies, are what originally drew us to this game. The mid-century sci-fi theme is just fantastically done. And the pieces, oh those colonies! Just look at them on the board. All the tech cards and additional pieces follow the theme extremely well. It’s just fun to look at. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5
A – (action, mechanics, general gameplay) – The beginning can feel a little slow, as with any resource collecting game, but the game picks up quickly as you colonize the area. The scoreboard is not static -if you lose control of an area your marker moves back down. So time your battles wisely. It makes for a game where the lead can change drastically in just a few turns. Good balance of luck/skill. Dice are “ships” that are place on the various spaces around the board to collect resources or advance progress. The catch? You leave them there until your next turn. This means that other players cannot use those spots until you’ve moved your ships. There’s enough stealing and blocking to keep everyone on they’re toes no matter what you roll on any given turn. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5
R – (replay factor) Does this get a lot of time on the table? I wish it got more. There are some nice expansions that we haven’t used yet. You will see different tech cards (extra abilities) with each game but essentially the game remains the same. That said, it’s a lot of fun and the artwork makes it very appealing to guests browsing the shelves and looking to learn a game. It’s easy to teach, fun to play and it’s usually a close, competitive game. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5
Final thoughts: This game should be getting more table time than it does. 2nd Star to the Right score 🌟🌟🌟🌟.2 4.2/5
2-4 players. Ages 13+. 60-90 min.
Publisher Clever Mojo Games, Game Salute. Artwork: Mark Maxwell. Game design: Tory Nieman.