Unknown Planets published by Pendragon Game Studio, invites us to colonize new worlds to secure humanity’s future. Although the incipit may seem obvious to fans of space colonization games, the gameplay offers a breath of fresh air. We had the opportunity to try the game at Modena Play, along with five other players. Despite the number of participants, the match ended in about 60 minutes.
The Game Mechanics of Unknown Planets
The objective of the game is to compete with others to colonize and develop the most prosperous planet once Earth is abandoned. The centerpiece of the game is the rotating space station (SUSAN), positioned in the center of the table. From here, players can pick up tiles to place synchronously on their planets.
At each turn, the player in question decides how to rotate the station, forcing everyone else to pick up and place one of the tiles in front of them on their planet.
Interaction between players is further encouraged by random challenges assigned to each pair of players at the start of the match. The game ends when a player has no more space to place tiles on his planet or when the tiles on one side of the space station are exhausted.
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Experiences and Game Strategy at Modena Play 2024
During our match, it was interesting to observe how each player adopted different tactics in the development of their planet. Some focused on developing technologies, others on upgrading rovers to remove meteorites and collect escape pods, while still others sought to complete their planet as quickly as possible or hinder their opponents by depriving them of desired tiles.
The synchronous gaming system significantly reduces waiting times, making games quick and engaging. However, when playing with many participants, it can be difficult to keep track of everyone’s moves and can complicate jamming strategies or planning future turns, as the game proceeds without pauses. This problem is drastically reduced with fewer players.
The quality of the game’s components seemed excellent to us and the replayability is potentially high, thanks also to the possibility of flipping the planetary maps to have completely different planets, each with unique construction and development mechanics.
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