I haven't forgotten about Exploration and I never will. After playing a few hundred other board games, I've come to the conclusion that Exploration is fixable.
Analyzing the fundamentals of game theory, Exploration in its current form is too open. Too many options to interact with game cause excessive complexity and lack of focus on the challenge. That's why I decided to completely redefine the game. We're still working on balance and writing the rulebook, but some changes are already irreversible and we can share them with you.
Setup
We're introducing an improvement that reduces decision paralysis in the game itself, while also saving a bit of space on the table. Namely, the idea is that spaceship cards will be selected at the beginning of the game and added to the player's hand. The most optimal method is still being tested.
Preparation Phase
This phase was divided into 3 moves:
Playing an action from the technology development tree, which de facto ceases to serve its purpose at that point...
Playing 1 card - Spaceship or Development taking into account the cost and technology level of the action you played this turn.
At the end you choose only 1 ship to fly on the space map. You'll be able to spend EXP for each additional ship you want to fly
Flight phase
Another gameplay element that was unintuitive was energy expenditure and flight types. That's why we're introducing a simplified system that may evolve as a result of testing.
Every time a ship moves it loses energy. Every time the ship moves it loses energy. Moving means flying in the direction of the spaceport, but you can decide how many locations you move.
You spend an additional 1 energy for each spaceship action.
The actions are: Change flight direction, Module drop, Attack, Obstacle.
The attack only takes place using turrets.
The Formation and Strike rules will be removed. If a ship ends its movement in an occupied square, it ends 1 square earlier, losing energy.
Trap - means the number of passes after which the ship will be completely destroyed
Summary
I have presented you with the most fundamental changes to the game, which will significantly facilitate the game's handling, reduce decision paralysis, eliminate the sense of grind and focus on the satisfying exploration of space.
The whole activity, however, requires a lot of work in terms of balance and testing. We will keep you informed about the progress, which will not be quick.
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