Fans of card drafting games are probably familiar with the space station building game Among the Stars. In this card game, players are building out rooms on their space station, all while trying to acquire the most victory pints. It’s a really fun game and stands only just below 7 Wonders in my opinion. Well Artipia Games is back with their newest offering in the Among the Stars universe. New Dawn is being built as a thematic sequel to Among the Stars. It shares the same “universe”, but has its own mechanics and does not require Among the Stars to play. So what’s this game about? Read on!
New Dawn is the thematic sequel of Among the Stars. In New Dawn, players take the role of Alliance officials, belonging to different races, sent on a mission to explore and revive a part of the Galaxy. Each game lasts 5 rounds during which, players can explore regions, establish bases, seize control of facilities, send ambassadors, produce resources and send aid to the Alliance.
At the beginning of each round, in clockwise order, the players get resources from their established bases and draw new Facility cards. They use them to explore new regions by placing them on the board and performing the action written on them.
After all players have explored new Facilities, they have the chance to acquire new Technologies from their race deck…In the Action Phase, each player performs 3 actions which are done one-at-a-time in clockwise order. In this phase players can establish new Bases on Facilities by paying credits, seize control of facilities through combat, use Ambassadors for various actions and buy new MHQ to improve their power and expandability. By placing a base on a Facility through the Establish Base or the Seize Control action, a player will score Victory points at the end of the game He can also acquire additional benefits based on the orientation he chooses. At the end of each round, players have the chance to send aid to the Alliance, by dispatching large cargo ships filled with resources that will score them additional victory points at the end of the game.
If you want more information on the game, you can download the rules from the New Dawn campaign page. Currently there are no reviews, but there are placeholders for two of them. However with less than a week left in the campaign, I’m a bit curious as to why they haven’t been posted yet. Regardless, if the game is even half as fun as Among the Stars, I’ll be eager to try it. If you’d like to become a backer, a $65 pledge will get you a copy of the game and all applicable stretch goals. New Dawn is scheduled to be in backers hands in November of 2014 and you have until Thursday, July 31st to become a backer. So head over today and check it out.
If you don’t have either game, which would be a good first buy? Among the Stars or New Dawn?
It depends really. Among the Stars you’ll be able to get in August from Stronghold Games. New Dawn you’ll have to wait for the end of the year. Among the Stars is a Card drafting game (like 7 Wonders), so if that appeals to you, I’d go that route.
Thanks for the reply!