Andy's Industrial Opinion Factory #4 - The Expanse: Doors & Corners, Home Alone, and Millennium Blades

The factory floor is empty. The workers are off spending...

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Great article! I'm always happy to see another Millennium Blades convert.

edit- My first exposure to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was Rock Band. I played the hell out of that.

As someone who's also allergic to "anime bullshit", Millennium Blades simultaneously pays tribute to and transcends from its inspirations. Partially because it parodies everything it possibly can. Great game.

I enjoy opinioning, and this is good opinioning.

This is a Good Column

But more importantly, The Expanse.

No reviews on the site for it, and I don't feel like wading through the video BS on other sites of guys in dapper hats standing in front of walls of games.

How is it? You (Andy) indicate that it's complete with this (ahem) Expanse-sion, but I'd like to hear more about the nature of the game. What it does, how it works.

Good read by the way. I'm loving these drive-by shootings. I'm hoping to contribute a couple in the next week. I'd love to see more people contributing a couple of paragraphs on a game now and again, as it introduces me to titles I haven't even heard of in a palatable format.

Charlie has one worth reading, Sag, but obviously he publishes off site so I'm not disputing your point.

Sagrilarus wrote: But more importantly, The Expanse.

No reviews on the site for it, and I don't feel like wading through the video BS on other sites of guys in dapper hats standing in front of walls of games.

How is it? You (Andy) indicate that it's complete with this (ahem) Expanse-sion, but I'd like to hear more about the nature of the game. What it does, how it works.

Good read by the way. I'm loving these drive-by shootings. I'm hoping to contribute a couple in the next week. I'd love to see more people contributing a couple of paragraphs on a game now and again, as it introduces me to titles I haven't even heard of in a palatable format.

I would like to hear Andy's expanded thoughts on the base game as well.

IMO, you'd be fine not even looking at the other expansion modules Andy. They're OK if you get bored with the existing formula, but I doubt I'll ever use them again. The techs and Protomolecule are where it's at.

Charlie's reviews are a great way to get acquainted with the game, but here are my thoughts / truncated summary:

The Expanse takes GMT-style CDG card play and simplifies it for a multiplayer game with broader appeal. The fundamental decision making--play a card for its event or use it for more flexible action points--remains the struggle at the heart of the game. In addition, players don't have hands of cards, but instead have a shared, shifting market they play cards from (a la Pax Porfiriana or Through the Ages). Complicating this, the victory points you need to win are also the currency you use to pay for cards. This makes for a game full of tense, interesting decisions that is markedly easier to teach than even the simplest CDGs I've played.

When it's laid out on the table, it looks like a big fighty game, but is much more about area control / influence manipulation. Open conflict does happen, but it's rare and very exciting when it happens. There are some asymmetries built into the card play as well as some faction-specific tech powers that unlock as the game moves forward. The expansion leans into these asymmetries with its new techs, which really works for me.

I picked up the game because I'm a fan of the IP, but it's pretty great regardless of your familiarity with the source material. Even writing about it now has me itching to get it back to the table.

Glad you enjoyed Doors & Corners! Honestly, I hate designing expansions, but I was glad to be able to build on the basic system to give players more strategic and tactical options.

I would imagine modular expansions are difficult but satisfying to design. Being able to pick the best bits a la carte is my favorite way to handle add ons.