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Was 2008 A Good Year For Science Fiction Games?
- Harkonnen13
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Battlestar Galactica
Mecanisburgo
Android
another version of Neuroshima Hex (the components and rules are better than the last one) and an expansion for it
Kriegbot
Starcraft
6 games isn't really a glut when compared to the horror games and fantasy games but that's a fair selection, especially since most of those hit in the last quarter of the year. Maybe just the last part of the year was good. If there were more new SF boardgames I would be doing a lot less wargaming. Yeah there's some old SF classics (I'm proud to own a sandworm cover edition of Dune) but I can't spend my life tracking down OOP boardgames. We need more SF games released every year.
Was this a better than average year for science fiction games? Is this the start of a cool new trend?
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- Sagrilarus
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I like SF themes, but like in Science Fiction writing, the writing has to come first. The theme adds a nice layer of frosting but the cake is what's driving the show. That said, one good SF game a year is sufficient to declare success in my opinion, and BSG cleared that hurdle with some room to spare.
Sag.
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- Sagrilarus
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still waiting for a sci-fi war game really. of those, the only one that i have any inclination to play is BSG.
Moonbase: Warriors of God is excellent.
Longbows kick ass on the moon.
Sag.
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- Harkonnen13
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The new edition of Cosmic Encounter made it in 2008, too.
One more for the list.
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- Notahandle
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Sagrilarus wrote:
"Moonbase: Warriors of God is excellent.
Longbows kick ass on the moon."
Just forget about trying to hit anything with the Trebuchets. I mean, really, what were they thinking with those rules?
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http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2008/12/board-game-review-supernova.html
This one wasn't on my radar at all, but I'll have to look into it a bit more closely as it sounds wunderbar.
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- Harkonnen13
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Since I bought Neuroshima Hex in 2007 I don't count that one, which leaves Kriegbot as the only one of interest from your list (which I bought a few weeks ago). I'm not sure about Cosmic Encounter: do I really need yet another copy of that game?!
I tried Kreigbot with 2. I think it will be much better with 4.
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- Notahandle
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"I just read a kickass Matt Drake review for Supernova ... This one wasn't on my radar at all, but I'll have to look into it a bit more closely as it sounds wunderbar."
I lost interest when I realised the astronomy was nonsensical. Euros generally have a tissue thin theme; this is worse.
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I did get to peruse the rules and a prototype at length, and I like. It is a very Twilight Imperium-ish game, but with fewer units, a smaller board and ramp up period, and diceless.
Diceless is of course the worrying part. It looks as if there is enough randomness in other parts of the game to keep the game from becoming overly programmed.
www.jklmgames.co.uk/gamessin.php?game=421
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- Michael Barnes
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SF definitely was the "hot" theme this year after a ridiculous drought of space games. Hell, I remember Robert Martin trying to convince me that ANDROMEDA (yes, the space ashtray game) was "pretty good" just because it was about the only SF game out there. Most of them weren't great, but between BSG, SPACE ALERT, GALAXY TRUCKER, and the CE reissue there's a nice range out there right now.
Still haven't played KRIEGBOT, but I was happy to see that it's all academic and based on fact like Sierra Madre's games always are. And it comes with a plastic bug, which makes it awesome by default.
MECANISBURGO sucked. Can't say it enough. $80 wasted.
I really, really hope that ANDROID inspires somebody to continue the idea of doing a more serious SF themed game that veers from the usual space opera/hardware wars style.
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Ad Astra. okay but nothing special
Duck Trader. Enough said
Planet Steam
The point is of course that these games have pasted on themes rather than being real SF.
But BSG and Starcraft (not a 2008 release) have lit up this year.
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Planet Steam is a fairly abstract business / resource game. The thing is, it is M.U.L.E.-themed as opposed to space themed. M.U.L.E. really could have been set in a Midwest Prairie.
Duck Dealer....is at its heart a pick up and deliver space trading game. The mold was set by Empire Builder and all of the crayon rails games. Duck Dealer does include jumpgates, which keeps it from being a straight train game. It does have practically zero luck, and a nifty tactical-plan-5-moves-ahead-puzzle-thing going. Which means I'll like it, ATers will hate it, and most of the Euro crowd will declare it tedious and brain-burning.
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