Eclipse, 4x at it's best

We got to play one of my all time favorite games, last night (early morning)



This is a must have game for anyone interested in 4x space games. It is a game of galactic conquest, and such games can get bogged down, this one is so well designed that it truly allows players to pursue a variety of strategic plans. At the same time you do not feel overwhelmed by all the choices.

Each player has their own board that records their star empires stats. It is an extremely intuitive design, that allows the players to easily track the current status of their empire, without having to resort to constantly counting up their stellar assets on the board.

  The board is made up of a number of large hexes, that contain planets and warp points.

The size and composition of your fleet is limited by the number of pieces, no plastic disks to represent additional ships. This keeps the megalomania down, and helps keep the game fun. However players are free to build what type of ship they want, within the limits of their tech level, and so long as they have spaces available in their ships and the power to use whatever upgrades they have installed.

Ship systems for upgrading your basic ships

 Technology advancements are paid for through research (pink cubes), ships are built with resources (brown cubes) and you need to have a steady source of income (orange cubes) Again your sheet guides you through all these calculations, and the development of your planets (by placing cubes of your nation on pink, brown or orange planets) provide the means to achieve your goals.

Tech is developed by expending the research points you acquire from your pink cubes. For tech that belongs to the sane track, you will recieve a bonus, so focusing on one line of development will aid you in achieving more of that tech, and will grant victory points too!

Tech chart of available developments

To sum up, this is a great game. Easy to learn, but offers so many different approaches to winning that it is never dull. As one of the other players commented and I agree, it is nice to play a game where you are unable to get everything you want. The challenge becomes figuring out what is the priority, how it will help you to achieve you goals, but also keeping an eye on your opponents to see what you need to thwart their ambitions or at very least protect what you have.