EVE: This is a pretty cool space based war/area control/economic game. It has a couple really cool mechanics that I haven’t seen used in this way. First there are three phases each player plays, with each phase allowing for certain actions. The cool thing is that the order of these phases changes as the game goes on and each player has some measure of control on how they change for them individually. The game is played on a calendar and each player has the ability to “schedule” their next phase a number of months in the future. Generally the longer you wait the greater the production value so the player has to decide if they want a few units/resources now or do they want to wait a little longer to get much more. Factored into those decisions is where your opponents will be coming up in that move order so it can get a little complicated. The combat system is interesting having two bags of dice 5 offensive, 5 defensive, and 5 more versatile but less reliable. Players have the opportunity to decide how many of each dice type they want based off the amount of “ships” involved in combat. Also, there is an “intelligence” factor in combat where the person with the superior position gets to ask their opponent how many of one dice type they are going to roll and then base their own selections off that information. Combat is such that conflict between two sectors will not necessarily be decided in one encounter. The map/board is very abstract and a bit confusing at first glance. A person with familiarity with the map will definitely have an advantage. However a game with players who have a good handle on the mechanics will create some awesome tactical situations. The pieces are of good quality but again lend to the abstract feel of the game. For those who don’t know this game is based off a really cool Si-Fi MMORPG. Though it is marketed as a Si-Fi war game really it plays like a good four player abstract strategy game. If you have played the videogame or even just know a bit about it based of other talking about it, incessantly…, all day…, every day…, it helps to immerse you a bit in what is going on. Outside of that the Si-Fi theming of the game seems a little pasted on. I don’t think that takes too much away from the game. I just mean to say that it would be really easy to change the packaging to this game using all the same mechanics and still come away with a fun game of a different theme. All in all I really like this game. In saying that, you should understand that I also really like abstract strategy as a genre. Though there is only one way to win, there are several different ways to get there. The game did not only stay close, the 4+ hour game had the lead changing constantly with a final result of a four way tie (Which I feel would not be common though a shared victory may be). If you are not a fan of the possibility for sharing a victory there are alternate game endings conditions that can pretty much ensure that doesn’t happen. If I have on major criticism for the game it is the level of player interaction leaves a little to be wanted though that might have something to do with the way we played it as well. I would like to see this game played with three aggressive players who are patient and don’t mind some heavy analysis in their games. This is a good game. I wouldn’t mind owning it though I don’t know how often it would hit the table as it might be a challenge to find other who like it as much.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 16:07:28 +0000
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