Master of Orion: Ad Astra Review - Only One Of You Can Make It To Orion

[@roynoyes8696]

Alex, thank you for this overview and in general the excellent service you provide the board game community. One of the mechanics you explained here helped me solve an issue I was having with my 4X game.

[@borgcolect]

I love the realistic reviews you always have. Calling out prototype issues when you get a prototype is the perfect time to give that feedback :) Too many people want to give a good review instead of being honest so issues can be fixed :)

[@carrickrichards2457]

A genre crowded with successful offerings eg. TI4, Eclipse, ARCS, Andromeda's edge, SpaceEmpires 4X, Voidfall (many others). The game community needs your reviews. Thanks and please keep up the good work.

[@jonathana6298]

Agree. I’m all-in with Eclipse. I’m sure some others are great, but I only need one for my collection and Eclipse does a lot of things right for me. These crowd funding pages and reviews would be much better highlighting the things they do differently from existing games.

[@PsiNorm]

It sounds like you just described Eclipse Second Dawn. Does this add enough to replace it? Eclipse is ranked pretty highly on BGG.

[@Toadbabe]

It’s looks similar to Eclipse 2nd Dawn in that it’s a 4X space game that takes half the time of TI4. However, there are many differences most notably to me was the cards/drafting, movement and game economy. I don’t think it replaces Eclipse as it is not a sequel and quite different. I already can tell I prefer Eclipse, but which one you prefer is up to you. I am concerned there seemed to be too many issues in the prototype, especially the rule book. Eclipse is already on it’s second edition so it very polished.

[@shockwavesix]

"A good 4X board game, that gives tribute to the video game, and does it justice..." Exactly what I was hoping to hear....

[@namewithheld8115]

The original MOO was an awesome game, that really helped establish the space 4X genre.

[@OPMDK]

I also have hundreds of hours into MOOII and also not a big 4E gamer, so having someone review it who also understands what made the pc game great is a significant consideration when considering a reviews feedback. I don’t have E2 or TI4 and of course love MOOII so if this is a great game I’m inclined to invest into it

[@Tmisp2209]

Thanks for everything, Alex! Your vids have been great over this holiday season, BUT Where is the Wondrous Creatures review?!

[@BoardGameCo]

It will be coming soon :)

[@Tmisp2209]

@ :0000

[@jonathantomlinson1598]

It's 1-4 player right now. It will have a solo mode.

[@AresSon0fZeus]

2 add-ons are announced to go 1-6 players, each adding 1 max. plus one add-on planed for solo / co-op.

[@bryanyoung9966]

I’m pretty excited for this one and your review didn’t do anything to change that. Overall fairly positive and I’m excited to see the campaign. Edit: to be clear, didn’t mean to imply you gave a negative review. A 4.0 is great. You always just worry a game that sounds great may not be that great when you start a video!

[@gaming4ever75]

Thx for this review! Can't wait to get this game

[@horus7732]

Good review, I love the overview you gave in the first 10 minutes. As far as conclusion, I agree with most of your points. Asymetry always puts balance at risk, as long as all factions have a chance to win, that works for me. The color issue is so basic, I can’t believe they didn’t see it coming. Lastly, the diplomatic mecanism seems the most unique compared to other 4x games, you probably need to experience it at 4 players a couple of games to fully grasp how it affects the game and how to play it properly. But to your point: hard to explain based on rulebook alone

[@wallyiam1]

Archon games..no way! i was one of the unlucky backers of the AvP kickstarter they "ran" ..the company was known as PRODOS games back then.

[@BoardGameCo]

They were definitely a nightmare back then...but they are very different now

[@OPMDK]

How does the board game tackle species setup at the beginning? I always used to run a custom psilon and the card draw system sounds contrary to the fixed nature of species inherent benefits and limitation. Also, how does finding Orion and defeating the guardian feel in comparison to the game? What about defeating the chaotic neutral encounters like the space worm? It was always around gauss cannons that I could finally tackle those lol

[@BoardGameCo]

Those things are definitely different....this doesn't feel like the video game, rather it feels like it has a lot of familiar parts to the video game.

[@OPMDK]

@ hmm… very curious to hear more of your thoughts on it; thanks for the time 🙏

[@szymon_archon3514]

Custom races are available with the 3rd Expansion, Antarans' Revenge. Psilons are still able to absolutely cheat the technology system, if that's what you mean :)

[@5k_gamingofficial289]

If you havent played thr most recent master of orion release, this uses that skin and graphic design but doesn't try too hard to adapt every mechanic over. Looks pretty good to me. Ive played the original MOO as well and it seems pretty well adapted

[@BoardGameCo]

I haven't played the most recent one

[@A.E.Konietzky]

I remember playing the PC game. looks like Twilight Imperium had a baby with the PC game.

[@Kogakaze]

Why are the action cards so dang small? It would be nice if they were at least normal playing card size. Voidfall uses large action cards. Those feel great, easy to read, and plenty of artwork.

[@Luke_L]

Hm, I almost wish they didn’t use the MOO IP as MOO2 is one of my favorite games of all time. So there’s no way this implementation can live up to my nostalgic memories. Plus, I loved playing against the AI, either solo or with friends. To be fair, I have yet to play a 4X board game that has held a candle to MOO2. I appreciated that Voidfall had a co-op mode, but the game as a whole had too high of a work to fun ratio for my tastes. I’ll probably have to stick with digital games for a good co-op 4X game.

[@jcdc9437]

First, a big thank you for sharing. 43x68 cards with informations on it in a heavy game. ❌ 63x88 plz Player boards with plenty of things written on. ❌ Fun > Complexity Let’s see the campaign.

[@mithrandir510]

2 to 4 players ? On the kickstarter it's 1 to 4, so solo or not ?

[@jonathantomlinson1598]

Yes it has solo.

[@rikhavok]

Loved MOO2. I am pretty sure that this is my most played video game of all time. Loved it! Moo3 bored me.