I had heard this game described as "reverse engine building" where your options narrow as the game moves on, and that didn't sound interesting to me at all, but this recently showed up on BoardGameArena and now I'm super interested after watching your (always fantastic) tutorial/playthrough. The effects and combos that you can get on your station as you dismantle your ships seem super cool!
Very well done as usual. You do nice work, Jon... I was leaning towards this, but this playthrough confirmed. Now it's a race to see which comes in first, this or Ark Nova.
As always, thanks so much Jon for the clear and detail rules explanation - were excited to give this a shot tonight! I might have missed it in the video but if not I'd love to have a section at the start to state if the rules differ a lot for two player or not. There wouldn't be a need to go into specifics but knowing if a board game has a dummy player or special rules versus just different setup (i.e. less aliens) is helpful. Sometimes I learn the rules for a game like this with 3 players as the default example and then I find out I failed to realize there is a 2 player variant that I was also suppose to learn ahead of time. Other then that though, love the videos - keep up the great work!
I actualy completed this one 4 weeks ago, Rio Grande wanted me to wait until today to launch. This has been quite the week, the next couple won't be quite this full :P
I was surprised that this tutorial went up a week early. Anyway, I watched it in full, and it's a very interesting game indeed. Rio has been hitting the ball park for the last years years with their space-themed games. At least I can tell that the only randomness during the game are the dice rolls, and they stay true for their "games that make you think about your decisions" motto they have. Anyway, I look forward to the next tutorial you have for them, Dice Realms. I can say that Rio will be having a good spring season with Space Station Phoenix and Dice Realms both out for Spring 2022.
I like your style of teaching because you have more time for examples. It's clear you put a lot of time and concern into making this so helpful. But I also wish it were shorter, perhaps less than 45 minutes. It might help if you used on-screen text to highlight key points so you wouldn't have to repeat for emphasis. And I think your script could be more concise in general, so with fewer words you wouldn't have to accelerate the speech track.
I'm glad you found it helpful for teaching. I do want to point out that I never script these, and I have never sped up the speech track in any of my videos. I know they are on the longer side compared to other videos that are similar, but I think the repetition is crucial for the viewer being able to internalize the rules and how the mechanisms work together.
The iconography in this game feels really inconsistent. Why is the gem on the level 1 station gained during the income turn even though it doesn't have an income turn icon? Why not use that icon consistently? Lots and lots of arrows with different meanings....
I think I should have better pointed out that icons with a thick orange border around them are ones that activate during income. Essentially "orange" is the icon for income in the game.
@@JonGetsGames But for instance, on your Level 1 Pink station, the iconography that gives you +2 gems whenever you add a human, those gems are also outlined in orange. Do you gain those immediately when gaining a human, or as an additional bonus when gaining income? To be clear, not criticizing your instruction, I think the iconography itself is confusing.
@@dshannon23 I hear you. There's a lot of iconography. I've found most people don't have too much trouble with it once they start playing, but there is an extensive reference sheet that describes all station sector powers beyond the most basic ones in detail. I hope that helps overcome any fears people might have...
Looks amazing, love the theme and pieces Wonder how this will be distributed around here (Spain).. For the last space-y euro game Rio Grande published (Beyond the sun) it took quite a while to be in stores. And the price was ... interesting. And by that I mean quite expensive :(
As a general rule, I don't show setup during my tutorial videos. The idea behind these videos is to get the viewer into the actual play of the game as soon as possible, and there is often too much context the viewer won't understand when doing things like setup drafts.
@@JonGetsGames I appreciate your response and I do understand. Thanks either way for the great video. I have seen other videos where they do setup at the end so you can learn how to do setup or people can leave the video if they just want an idea of how to play. Have you considered putting it at the end?
Always makes me chuckle when you say next player clockwise and go to the left, when to me going clockwise would be to the right :D Obviously neither is right or wrong, just interesting how we are all different :) I understand how it can be either, when you are sitting at a table, going clockwise means going to the player on your left, but if you are looking down at the table from above, taken from the perspective of a clock hand moving from the centre, clockwise is going right. Great video anyway.
I actually listened to this video before watching. Boy did it sound really, really dry. I'll admit it looks better than it sounded. Don't know if that bumps it much for me.
I like what I see, but the diplomacy track worries me as it gives a lot of stuff to the people above. Is my fear justified somehow or am I being too paranoid? 😣.
The diplomacy tracks are very important, you can get a big advantage if no one contests you and you are higher than others on multiple tracks for sure. The key is to fight for the top position to stop that.
You missed something. The player on the left has a one point bonus per teal alien on their hub and another one point bonus per teal alien on their level 3 station sector, so effectively, they are worth 4 points each, rather than the normal 2 points. Nice combo green player!
Always the first stop when trying to learn a new semi-complex game. Now on to the rulebook. Thanks for the guide!
I had heard this game described as "reverse engine building" where your options narrow as the game moves on, and that didn't sound interesting to me at all, but this recently showed up on BoardGameArena and now I'm super interested after watching your (always fantastic) tutorial/playthrough. The effects and combos that you can get on your station as you dismantle your ships seem super cool!
Really well done vidéo as always ! Very clear, thanks from France . I receive my game today and thanks to you i'm quite ready to play !
a very interesting game and really fantastic guide as always Jon!
At 24:11, you note that you spent 6 gems instead of 8; you actually spent 7 gems, and your action was discounted by one, not two.
Love the video!
Clear and instructional as usual Jon!
Once again, 5 stars work Jon! Thanks
Level Two Teal Tiles! 😂 you did well with that tongue twister!
Very well done as usual. You do nice work, Jon... I was leaning towards this, but this playthrough confirmed. Now it's a race to see which comes in first, this or Ark Nova.
As always, thanks so much Jon for the clear and detail rules explanation - were excited to give this a shot tonight! I might have missed it in the video but if not I'd love to have a section at the start to state if the rules differ a lot for two player or not. There wouldn't be a need to go into specifics but knowing if a board game has a dummy player or special rules versus just different setup (i.e. less aliens) is helpful. Sometimes I learn the rules for a game like this with 3 players as the default example and then I find out I failed to realize there is a 2 player variant that I was also suppose to learn ahead of time.
Other then that though, love the videos - keep up the great work!
yes I've been waiting for this. very excited!!
You've been a busy man. I love seeing all these uploads.
I actualy completed this one 4 weeks ago, Rio Grande wanted me to wait until today to launch. This has been quite the week, the next couple won't be quite this full :P
I was surprised that this tutorial went up a week early.
Anyway, I watched it in full, and it's a very interesting game indeed. Rio has been hitting the ball park for the last years years with their space-themed games. At least I can tell that the only randomness during the game are the dice rolls, and they stay true for their "games that make you think about your decisions" motto they have.
Anyway, I look forward to the next tutorial you have for them, Dice Realms. I can say that Rio will be having a good spring season with Space Station Phoenix and Dice Realms both out for Spring 2022.
The original timing was next week but Rio Grande moved the timing up and I was more than happy to release it early :) Glad you enjoyed this one.
great stuff as usual, thanks for playthroughs
I like your style of teaching because you have more time for examples. It's clear you put a lot of time and concern into making this so helpful. But I also wish it were shorter, perhaps less than 45 minutes. It might help if you used on-screen text to highlight key points so you wouldn't have to repeat for emphasis. And I think your script could be more concise in general, so with fewer words you wouldn't have to accelerate the speech track.
I'm glad you found it helpful for teaching. I do want to point out that I never script these, and I have never sped up the speech track in any of my videos. I know they are on the longer side compared to other videos that are similar, but I think the repetition is crucial for the viewer being able to internalize the rules and how the mechanisms work together.
@@JonGetsGames I'm sorry, I made some assumptions and I didn't mean for them to be negative. Thank you again.
The iconography in this game feels really inconsistent. Why is the gem on the level 1 station gained during the income turn even though it doesn't have an income turn icon? Why not use that icon consistently? Lots and lots of arrows with different meanings....
I think I should have better pointed out that icons with a thick orange border around them are ones that activate during income. Essentially "orange" is the icon for income in the game.
@@JonGetsGames But for instance, on your Level 1 Pink station, the iconography that gives you +2 gems whenever you add a human, those gems are also outlined in orange. Do you gain those immediately when gaining a human, or as an additional bonus when gaining income?
To be clear, not criticizing your instruction, I think the iconography itself is confusing.
@@dshannon23 I hear you. There's a lot of iconography. I've found most people don't have too much trouble with it once they start playing, but there is an extensive reference sheet that describes all station sector powers beyond the most basic ones in detail. I hope that helps overcome any fears people might have...
What a great tutorial!
Thanks Rainer :)
Looks amazing, love the theme and pieces
Wonder how this will be distributed around here (Spain)..
For the last space-y euro game Rio Grande published (Beyond the sun) it took quite a while to be in stores.
And the price was ... interesting. And by that I mean quite expensive :(
11:06 Therefore, there are 8 C 5 = 56 ways for them to choose those dice! 😀
Wow!
I really wish you showed the drafting for setup. This was an EXCELLENT teach, but it is incomplete due to that
As a general rule, I don't show setup during my tutorial videos. The idea behind these videos is to get the viewer into the actual play of the game as soon as possible, and there is often too much context the viewer won't understand when doing things like setup drafts.
@@JonGetsGames I appreciate your response and I do understand. Thanks either way for the great video.
I have seen other videos where they do setup at the end so you can learn how to do setup or people can leave the video if they just want an idea of how to play. Have you considered putting it at the end?
Always makes me chuckle when you say next player clockwise and go to the left, when to me going clockwise would be to the right :D Obviously neither is right or wrong, just interesting how we are all different :)
I understand how it can be either, when you are sitting at a table, going clockwise means going to the player on your left, but if you are looking down at the table from above, taken from the perspective of a clock hand moving from the centre, clockwise is going right.
Great video anyway.
I actually listened to this video before watching. Boy did it sound really, really dry. I'll admit it looks better than it sounded. Don't know if that bumps it much for me.
I like what I see, but the diplomacy track worries me as it gives a lot of stuff to the people above. Is my fear justified somehow or am I being too paranoid? 😣.
The diplomacy tracks are very important, you can get a big advantage if no one contests you and you are higher than others on multiple tracks for sure. The key is to fight for the top position to stop that.
42:16 How do you know that it is one point for every TEAL alien? Thanks.
The teal triangle on the alien icon's forehead.
You make me spend to much money lol . Eastern empires . Circadians. Tiny epic viklop. Crusaders thy will. I've lost count. Now I want this lol.
Since section B on the player board is clearly a robot French Maid floozie, section A must be Bender...
56:26 each teal alien is worth two points, not four, unless I missed something
You missed something. The player on the left has a one point bonus per teal alien on their hub and another one point bonus per teal alien on their level 3 station sector, so effectively, they are worth 4 points each, rather than the normal 2 points. Nice combo green player!