【Board Game Miscellaneous】Go to heaven and earth, explore the future-where will the new stronghold of mankind be?
2021-05-09

Exploration is human instinct, which includes not only tracing the origin of the past, but also reveries about the ultimate in the future. The most important thing for the present, and what most humans care about most is the exploration of the future. After all, when the heavens and the earth are prosperous and everything is exhausted, what should human beings do then?

Among all the themes of exploring the future, human beings are most concerned about the question of where to find living space for survival. This is not only the scientific community exploring the future, but also a large amount of science fiction apocalyptic film and television literature has aroused the worries of ordinary people, and many board game works also put forward interesting hypotheses.

Although people have already set their sights on outer space for exploration, in fact, our understanding of the earth is not as deep as we imagined. At least our understanding of the ocean, which accounts for 71% of the earth's area, is like a drop in the ocean.

Exploring the deep sea is a very difficult task, and bringing the resources in the deep sea back to land is not much less difficult than exploring the moon. But it also means that the ocean has amazing potential.

In the board game "Underwater Cities", humans already have the ability to initially build colonies on the sea floor. The gradual depletion of resources on the surface and the distant space exploration plan also require players to place their hopes in the deep sea for the future, and an undersea revolution has begun. . The empty ocean floor is like a brand new canvas waiting for players to paint, technology and the deep sea interweave a unique flavor, and the long journey of construction begins.

The game mechanism is a classic combination of card driving + worker placement. The whole game has a total of 3 epochs, and each epoch is composed of three big rounds. In each round, all players make three worker placements. Both the position and the card have three colors of red, green and yellow. The player needs to play a card at the same time during the position. If the card color is the same as the position, the card effect can be settled.

Players can build cities, tunnels, farms, research institutes and other facilities on the sea floor, and when an era is over, they will produce corresponding types of materials, including points. Three productions are not too much, but not too much. How to make reasonable use of them to obtain points as much as possible while turning resources is a major core strategy point of this game.

Its core mechanism is relatively new, and the mathematical model is quite mature. The resource conversion system is simple to understand but it is difficult to directly comprehend the winning method from it.

The card system of the game has further enhanced the playability-players can not only use cards to obtain resources and accelerate infrastructure construction, but also can play cards with continuous effects to give advantages in future actions. Different strategies have different performances under different final scores and milestone cards, and the fun of exploration comes from them.

 

It's a typical game that looks mediocre at first glance, but has endless aftertastes when you get started. The only pity is that the existence of cards still makes the game inevitably a bit random. If you don't mind this, it is recommended to try one.

But if the earth is gone, where can humanity go? When looking for a second home, it is the general trend to transform aliens. Among the games that transform aliens, the games with Mars as the destination are the most popular. "Terraforming Mars" is undoubtedly one of the most popular members.

"Terraforming Mars" is an engine-built game with cards as its core driving element. As a sci-fi theme work, the game has made great efforts in the design of card details. Each card has different content and incorporates various science-based imaginations, such as detonating nuclear bombs to heat up and other cards that are fascinating.

The card design has indeed achieved a certain degree of enforceability on the basis of fantasy, full of tension. The specific effect of the card is often highly related to the card theme, and the strength is roughly maintained within the range framed by the model.

The rhythm is smooth, the theme fits, and the model is solid. It is only natural that "Terraforming Mars" can succeed. It has launched 5 expansions in the follow-up, each of which has its own characteristics. Some expand the scope of exploration, some speed up the pace of the game, and broaden the boundaries of the game. The richer elements also give its loyal fans a place to study.

However, for new players, the pressure to experience full expansion at the beginning will be too much, and it is recommended to start learning from the basic game. In addition, as a German-style game, its initial version of the game accessories is relatively simple, in the latest large box version of all accessories have a qualitative leap, interested players can start a wave of large box version.

Obsessed with Mars-"OM MARS"

"OM MARS" is a masterpiece launched by Vital Lacerda in 2020, and its excellent quality also makes it an annual German work. Although the theme of "Terraforming Mars" is the same as "Terraforming Mars", in addition to the same excellence, the two have not much in common.

"OM MARS" is more specific in the background setting than "Terraforming Mars", and the scope of transformation is also smaller, but the simulation of the actual Mars transformation process is much higher, all of which ultimately lead to a completely different game experience.

In "OM MARS", after the success of the unmanned rover mission on Earth, the Mars Development Organization was established immediately. The first settlers arrived on Mars in 2037. In the decades after the establishment of the Mars base camp, they began to build a self-sustaining settlement, and it was the lovely players who really set out to do this.

The core mechanism that drives the game is worker placement, but the work placement is divided into two sides according to the nature of the action-settlements and space stations. Each round includes an action phase and a shuttle phase. In the action phase, each player performs a corresponding action according to their location, and the player in the shuttle phase can shuttle between the two positions.

The core point of the game is still resource conversion, but the complexity is high. The existence of various resources are interdependent, and once there are shortcomings, their own development will be difficult. This also puts forward high requirements on the player's long-term planning ability. It is almost hard to understand if you only play it once. Only after many attempts will the hidden German fragrance come out.

Of course, if you don’t have much contact with strategy games, "OM Mars" may not be able to give you a good gaming experience. Before new players get started, you might as well get in touch with some low-strategy games step by step.


The future is in Europa-"The Artemis Project"

Although Mars is the most likely planet in the solar system to become the second home for mankind, it is not completely without competitors, such as Europa-this does not refer to Europe, but Europa.

"The Artemis Project" sets the background on this planet that is not particularly famous, but is covered by a deep layer of ice and has a liquid ocean beneath it. It is also one of the most promising places for life in the solar system, and the possibility of success in exploring this planet from underwater is not small.

The core mechanism of the game is the placement of dice. After each round, the player throws his dice and places it out like a worker. This is not a new mechanism, but through the focus on interactivity, a very good gameplay has been obtained. Because most of the actual settlement effect of the work placement will be affected by other players.

The unique "Exposure" system is used when allocating resources. On the basis of a limited total, small points are taken first, and large points are taken later; the auction mechanism is used to obtain buildings and perform exploration tasks, and only the player who pays the most can win. The ubiquitous interaction makes the experience of the game quite unique and has become its biggest business card.

The basic rules are not complicated, but the upper limit of the strategy is very high. The high interactivity makes the decision-making difficulty of the game increase as the level of the game players increases. It will be a good advanced game for novice players, and experienced players can also explore the depth of its strategy.

The future has no boundaries-"High Frontier"

Through science and imagination, game designers have allowed people to experience striding meteors on the planet in the future. However, perhaps due to the limitations of the human perspective, most of these games will only lock the stage on the same planet. If you are looking for a game that can simulate the pace of human exploration in the universe from a global perspective, it may only be "High Frontier".

In this game, the player plays the role of a country's aerospace department, raising funds and organizing space exploration activities over a long period of time. Players can explore the territory of the entire solar system, from Mercury, which is the closest to the solar system, to Pluto at the edge of the solar system, various planets, dwarf planets, and moons in the entire region... as long as they are worth exploring. Players can customize their own space journey with a very high degree of freedom.

As a heavy mouth game with a severity of 4.75, the complexity of "High Frontier" lies in its extraordinary simulation of space exploration. Players need to collect patents step by step, and assemble specific spaceships according to the planets they want to explore and the goals they want to achieve.

In the game, the flight setting of the aircraft is very scientific. The smaller the spacecraft, the lighter it is to operate, but it is also difficult to establish a base on an alien. If you want to return to the earth or continue to explore, you must further consider the supply of resources or carry fuel at a high price. Without careful consideration, it is difficult to plan a passable plan, and looking for the light forward in the cracks is also the fun of the game.

The pace of this game is quite slow, and the specific performance is that there are very few things players can do in each round, and it is extremely difficult to play combo. Whether it is preparation before take-off to subsequent further development, a lot of preparation is required.

Of course, a well-planned space exploration journey is by no means foolproof. Radiation in the universe or some adventurous actions may still ruin years of hard work. It is also common for spaceships accumulated over a dozen rounds to be scrapped directly during landing on Mars. All these unfriendly settings allow players to truly experience the boring and inexplicable setbacks in aerospace work, which is very real.

This is an indispensable game for players who love space exploration. A complete epic experience brought by "High Frontier" can be regarded as unique among the vast sea of board games. But please be mentally prepared before the game. The severity of 4.75 has fallen out of the acceptable range for ordinary players. Many senior players may turn the table up because of lack of patience, but if you can stick to it, you will find a different future.

summary

There are actually many board games with the theme of creating new living spaces. The main gameplay of many German-style games is to slowly build your own castle from a barrenness. This is a natural fit with this theme.

But for now, the development of this theme is not enough for board games. As long as there is enough imagination, whether it is underground or more distant outer space, it should be able to become a new base of mankind in the board game. As a board game player, I very much hope to see more of these games appear in the public's field of vision.

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