Eclipse (board game)
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| Game data | |
| author | Touko Tahkokallio |
| graphic | Ossi Hiekkala Sampo Sikiö |
| publishing company | Lautapelit.fi |
| Publishing year | 2011 |
| Art | 4X Strategy |
| Teammates | 2 - 6 (Up to 9 with the |
| Duration | 2 - 8 hours at least 30 minutes per player |
| Age | 14+ |
Eclipse - New Dawn for the Galaxy is a board and strategy game by the Finnish game designer Touko Tahkokallio . The game was published for two to nine players, ages 14 and up, in 2011 in English, French and a multilingual version in Polish, German and Italian by the game publisher Lautapelit.fi .
Playing style and equipment
Eclipse is one of the so-called 4X games (English for "eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate"); the game is about conquest, research, expansion and resource management. In Eclipse you play one of many different races in space. The players have the task of colonizing planets, mining resources there, researching technologies, building spaceships and space bases and using these to conquer areas and score victory points. You start with a populated solar system and a ship, with which you can develop your own civilization. In order to discover new systems, the galaxy has to be explored, fought against "the elders" (an ancient hostile alien race) or against fellow players, technologies have to be researched and civilization has to be expanded. The expansion is carried out using three resources: knowledge, material and money. Every colonized planet offers one of these resources that must be used and defended.
Game material
The game material consists of the game instructions, some of which are in multiple languages:
- 84 spaceships in three sizes
- 24 room bases
- 264 wooden cubes in different colors
- 96 wooden influence tokens
- 18 ambassador tiles
- 44 sector fields
- 6 player boards
- 1 supply board
- 96 technology tokens
- 154 ship fittings
- 21 discovery tiles
- 22 colony ships
- 21 Elder Tech Pieces
- 32 reputation tokens
- 22 orbital and monolith plates
- 6 overview maps
- 1 traitor card
- 4 information cards
- 18 dice in three colors: yellow, orange, red
- 18 wooden markers
- 12 wooden damage tokens
- 1 starting player pawn
- 1 round marker
- 2 fabric bags
Preparations
At the beginning of the game, each player places his dice and discs on his board. Then each player selects actions from the action pool, as long as he can pay for them, and carries them out. In the course of the game, the players dynamically set up the playing field using planetary hex fields on which the spaceships move and act through wormholes. A new playing field is always created.
Course of the game
Each round played consists of the action, combat, maintenance and cleanup phase. In the action phase six different actions are available to the player, which he can also carry out several times. Each player carries out an action, after which it is the turn of the next player in clockwise order, until none of the players want to carry out any more actions. The first player to pass becomes the starting player for the next round.
Possible actions:
- Explore: Explore an adjacent sector space.
- Influence: Take possession of a free space sector.
- Research: Research an exposed technology.
- Upgrade: Install upgrades such as weapons, shields, hulls, drives, reactors or target computers in the ships.
- Build : Build ships, space stations, monoliths or orbitals.
- Movement: move spaceships through wormholes.
- Combat: When ships meet, there is fighting.
The game ends after nine rounds. Whoever has the most victory points wins the game.
extension
Three major expansions have been released for the game:
- Eclipse: Rise of the Ancients (2012)
- Eclipse: Ship Pack One (2013)
- Eclipse: Shadow of the Rift (2015)
There are also numerous smaller extensions.
- Eclipse: Supernova Expansion
- Eclipse: Nebula Expansion
- Eclipse: Black Hole Expansion
- Eclipse: Pulsar Expansion
Electronic versions
An iOS version of the game as an app was released in 2013, an Android and Steam version were released in 2016.
reception
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reviews
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With its different races, the dynamic playing field and the ever new alliances, Eclipse offers a replay value that is as high as the learning curve up to the first victory. The quality of the game material is good to very good, and the amount is almost overwhelming.
Awards and honors
- Charles S. Roberts Best Science-Fiction or Fantasy Board Wargame Nominee (2011)
- Jogo do Ano Nominee (2011)
- Golden Geek Best Board Game Artwork / Presentation Nominee (2012)
- Golden Geek Best Innovative Board Game Nominee (2012)
- Golden Geek Best Strategy Board Game Nominee (2012)
- Golden Geek Best Thematic Board Game Nominee (2012)
- Golden Geek Best Wargame Nominee (2012)
- Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Winner (2012)
- Golden Geek Golden Geek Best Strategy Board Game Winner (2012)
- International Gamers Award - General Strategy: Multi-player Nominee
- JoTa Best Gamer Game Audience Award (2012)
- JoTa Best Gamer Game Nominee (2012)
- JUG Game of the Year Winner (2012)
- Ludoteca Ideale Winner (2012)
- Lys Passioné Finalist (2012)
- Lys Passioné Winner (2012)
- Tric Trac Nominee (2012)