The graphical design of the game certainly is outstandingly unusual, but more importantly the small gamebox actually contains a quite interesting game which challenges the players to equip and expand their space agencies. Each player contains an identical set of action cards of several values, and at the beginning of a round the players secretly chose one action card each, with the cards being performed in order of the actions and depending on the card values. The actions are Propaganda, Technological Research, the expansion of the Space Program and the discovery of a Breakthrough. All playing cards in the game belong to these four categories, and so the playing of an action card allows a player to take a matching card from the common display (the "universe") and add it to the open cardrow of their space agency.

However, the playing of an action card does not only allow to claim a card, but actually it gives the player an opportunity to activate the card abilities of cards of the same category located in the player's agency. So, the player now can chose to activate permanent or one-time abilities of his cards, and these abilities open up a broader range of actions. So, the players may be allowed to draw new cards from the deck to their hand, reclaim the use of one-time abilities, take additional cards for their agency or place some hand-cards into their laboratories. All cards in the laboratory will count as victory points at the end of the game, but there are also additional possibilities for the players to use these cards otherwise, most prominent to add them to their space agency.

In summary, the game offers a finely interwoven set of possibilities for actions, and here the players have to aim to create momentum for their space programme by using windfall effects when using specific actions. In addition, the game also features an element of timing and estimation in form of the card values of the action cards, since the Universe will only receive fresh cards at the end of the round, and so the player order is important when it comes to taking cards. This are just a few examples for the intricacies which can be found in the game, and this list could be continued with special card actions, end game bonuses from Breakthrough cards and more. And to finish the positive artistic impression, the game even includes a small wooden rocket as a tiebreaker token, reminding me a bit of the vehicle used in Tintin on the Moon

Jan Soukal has really created a cool space game which is quite far-away from the more typical 4x-type of games. When the convention is over the game certainly will hit my table quickly because I want to explore the action and scoring mechanisms with more detail, but for today this was the perfect way to start my convention day. And, as Jan told me there will even be a Kickstarter in November for an expansion set which features a new faction (China) as well as additional cards and mechanisms, so you might like to check out the upcoming Campaign Page!

Jan Soukal for President!