SpaceCorp - New Game Thoughts

How I got Here

At the start of each new year, I take my Christmas money and find a high end game that I wouldn't normally get and go ahead and get it. Last year I went with Lacerda's Escape Plan, which was ok (I've only played it two player and would like to give it a shot with 3-4). 

This year I wasn't set on any one particular game of interest. I considered another Lacerda (Kanban EV), but wasn't set on getting  that by any means. While browsing through various post of folks selling games, the GMT SpaceCorp 2050-2300AD game (and expansion) caught my eye. I headed over to BGG to look for information and realized that at some point, I had already looked into this game before. In fact, I had read a review by Brian Bankler (whose tastes I trust) which had put me on the fence about this game and then I simply forgot all about the game.

His opinion was that this is a good game, marred by a few cards that can swing a long game. I do not mind long games that are enjoyable, but it frustrates me to play a long game and have one or two luck-of-the-draw cards/tiles/roll-of-the-dice/whatever suddenly destroy the last 2+ hours of clever puzzle solving and out maneuvering of your opponents. Twilight Struggle (which is an amazingly good game) has this issue with its Bear Trap (and the US mirror) cards. Dominant Species has this to some extent, in my opinion, where one or two of the cards can give players extra action pawns for the rest of the game (failing to get those actions is usually brutal). 

Of course, in both games you can mitigate the issue by simply excluding the card(s) and it doesn't significantly change anything or unbalance the game (in DS, it can actually help to reign in the length of the game). From what I had been reading, it wasn't one or two cards that throw things off in SpaceCorp - there are a number of those cards that might do that, so I've been hesitant. Until now. Initially when I had looked into the game, I was not interested in solo plays. With the way things are now with COVID, I'm trying to scratch that gaming itch a little with something solo. I have games I play solo now - Descent, Arkham Horror: TCG, Marvel Legendary, Marvel Champions, and Eldritch Horror - but nothing engine building or puzzle solving like this. And yes, any number of games I own have some kind of solo system, but GMT does an excellent job of putting together solo play for their games - it doesn't feel tacked on like most euro games that have some solo system often do. Also, weird random stuff is a lot less bothersome to me when playing something solo. 

So, I pulled the trigger. I was able to get that twice played copy and a new copy of the expansion for $70+shipping - the base game alone goes for over $80 on Amazon. I'm hoping it at least keeps me busy for a couple of plays solo and assuming I enjoy it, I'll probably be able to get it to the table at some point (someday) for real face-to-face play.

The Game Arrives

First thing to note, the box arrived and I picked it up - it felt like it had bricks in it. It was heavy. After unpacking the two boxes, I just should have known better. GMT game boxes are among the best made - they are super thick and sturdy (and gloriously glossy and great looking in a minimalist way). Their boxes are probably so decent, because they just don't skimp on the game stuff. People might look at pictures of the games and just see a bunch of chits and assume the components are crap. Their components are are not. 

I opened the box for SpaceCorp (leaving the Ventures expansion sealed) and found it mostly full - the game boards are nice and heavy and thick, the rules books are standard GMT fare (which is to say - thick paper rules). I believe Chad and Kai Jensen helped with game development and the rules, so I'm excited to dive into the rulebook (says nobody ever, but if the rules are as well as the Combat Commander rules, they should be good). 

One thing I was surprised at - the main box is deep and still it is FULL. Based on pictures I've seen, so is the expansion box. Fitting it all in one box is just not going to happen (no big deal). Based on the amount and quality of stuff, you can't say you aren't getting your money's worth from GMT games.

Spreading it out all over the table, the game looks reasonably minimalist despite this being rated almost right in the middle of GMT's complexity scale. The game is primarily a card driven game and there are well over 200 cards (220 to be exact) and they are printed on nice thick card material. There are also a couple small handfuls of cardboard tokens and a few wooden player bits. The player boards are nice and heavy with a glossy finish and the game boards are also thick, with a nice matte finish. There are also player cards on good yardstick and two sets of rules (solo and multiplayer). 

Getting Started Solo

How hard can this be right? Just read the rules and set things up... I started reading. But the light wasn't great in my room, so I went looking for the PDF of the rules to read on my iPad instead. GMT is great about posting rules and links on each of their games for which there are such things. Rules found. Oh look -  a link to a solo play session and files for a smaller side board (not sure what that means or why I might need it, but I might, sooooo). Smaller SpaceCorp Solo Sideboard Solution from Ones Upon a Game - not too much longer after that, I'm printing out the file onto full sticker sheets and looking for chipboard to mount it on. I mean - hey, these are awesome. **(After playing with the smaller board, I realize that my old eyes need the full sized cards to see, and I have the table space, so went back to what the game gives you). Did I mention I sleeved the cards too? I did. The cards are decent but the backs are black, so any wear is just going to be very obvious. Anyway... back to the rules.

Solo play look like they came up with a good way to drive what the opposition does. At the bottom of the cards is one simple thing that indicates the action that the other guys do. Clean, simple, and no extra materials needed just for solo. Cool. Maybe a little random, but it works. Pax Transhumanity does something like that - just use the cards themselves to drive solo play. 

In the end, the AI isn't really AI. It simply does the best it can to simulate what other players might end up doing. It's random and unpredictable of course, but it does a really great job of simulating the flow. Sure, you can't predict which cards it will take/remove from the display. You can't plan on where The Competition will move nor when they will be able to build. But if I was playing a multiplayer game and not paying attention to the other players, but just took in the situation on my turns, it would likely be spot on (except for maybe how fast The Competition can reach the far end of the system you are in). 

Oh, and I got destroyed. I probably played a rule or two incorrectly, but that was mostly my not understanding or forgetting something. Overall, the rules are good. My biggest quibble to the rules was finding things I thought I had read. I was usually right on, but couldn't always find that elusive sentence easily. Otherwise, there are examples and things are clearly explained. The logic for when The Competition explores and builds took a minute to understand, but I finally worked it out.

Solo Play

As for the game - the first era is fast. It gives you that quick taste of things to come. The game design is amazingly good in that when you move to the next era, the rules then explain the handful of new things that are being introduced. It is like adding a small expansion to a game you know. It is perfectly executed.

The second era is more expansive and exciting and longer - there is just more stuff. It is still the same game of tactics and slowly improving your abilities, just more so than the first era. And when you are in the heat of it all, suddenly the era ends and you are pushed into the vastness of the galaxy and the final era. And just like before, the rules layer on a few more things that are easily absorbed. One more expansion to the game. Also just as before, the final era feel much more expansive. And yeah, the mechanics match the theme. It takes a lot of effort to move between the stars and even when you reach a star system, it takes a minute or three before you can do anything. Of course, we aren't just visiting an asteroid or a moon in one system, we are visiting a whole star system with multiple places to explore (which you do all at once), so the gains are also that much grander.

It is really amazing how well done this space exploration game matches the theme given that there is no real "tech tree" like most games of this kind. Tech levels are handled by the era cards and "just advance" as you move into the next era. It is also not really an engine game. You do improve your infrastructure and can gain breakthroughs/advances (special abilities that give you small advantages), but that isn't the meat of the game by any means. This is about discovering things to increase your income.

This is almost a 4X game, but you aren't really conquering and "territory" doesn't really mean anything beyond nabbing a contract (goal) or two for profit. It is more like a 2.5X game - explore, exploit, kind of expand. That doesn't make it a bad game at all, you just have to recognize it for what it is. This is a race to the stars to exploit the universe for profits! And the theme here really ties in. Heck, lots of games cover early technology from horse travel to the modern era and the revolutions of technology in-between. This is the same sort of thing, but the "landscape" isn't the earth, it is what is out there beyond our world. 

Ventures Expansion

After my first play, I figured I might as well bust out the expansion for my next go round. Opening this (heavy) box revealed a stack of player boards and a small set of cards. There is one replacement card and a couple (literally) new cards to add into the era decks). There are also new contracts for each era that will get randomly selected to add a little new variability to the game. The meat of this though is the new player boards. Each board hosts a unique faction that has different abilities and handicaps giving players some asynchronous direction to playing. For solo play, The Competition also follows suite with unique challenges. My first play with the expansion stuff pitted me against D.P. Roberts (if you get that reference, you probably inferred that they are indeed pirates). I love that this sort of in-joke is awaiting you.

Now, much like how each era added just a small (yet important) layer of changes/additions to the game, the Ventures expansion does the same with the player boards. Everything in the expansion is top notch (thick, glossy boards, same quality cards, etc), but it almost feels like this is how the game should have been out of the box. Based on what I've read, fans of the game seem to universally like this expansion and wouldn't play without it. I don't think the game is so overly complex that first time players couldn't jump in here either. That being said, the retail on the pair is a hefty $132 - I got a deal on the pair, but I'm not sure I'd have been willing to pay full retail. You certainly get a lot (especially by weight) and the game is fun (I'm looking forward to playing multiplayer). There are certainly a lot of other games out there in this price range that I wouldn't want to slog through, but this game hits the mark for theme and exploring the galaxy (a little at a time). I imagine that multiplayer keeps you involved the whole time, because each player's turn is one simple action that rarely takes much time nor effort to complete. A first play may take a little while to work through, but subsequent plays should pick up the pace considerably.

On the GMT scale, this is just below "medium complexity" and I think that's spot on. In multiplayer, I can see the complexity being pretty much based on figuring out your competition as much as anything. This is right at the top of their scale for solo play and it was obviously designed that way. An entirely separate rule book for solo (a good rule book) and a system that is easy to learn makes handling The Competition simple and not distracting in the least. Again, the company's rating is spot on. The thing is - solo isn't just easy to do, its interesting. A lot of games have a solo mode, but it becomes and efficiency exercise. This probably has some level of that, but it doesn't feel scripted in any way. The scripted-efficiency puzzle is what I really dislike in solo experiences, so SpaceCorp gets a huge thumbs up from me for solo play.