Beyond the Sun

BGA

Things I remember from the first play with 3 players -- simple worker placement, interesting technology tree mechanic, lots of end game scoring bonuses where almost everything scores points including leftover pieces, achievements, etc. It was a fun game but not my style. I'm not really sure what the game is really about other than scoring points in every way possible, so I feel like the point-salad scoring has a dissipating effect on the gameplay .

A generic sci fi game (yawn) with awful graphics, nice components, a race element, some area control, worker placement, and a major tech tree.

The game is generally themeless/generic with the goal of scoring the most points by game end. To say the artwork/graphic design is utilitarian would be complimentary, if the components weren't so high quality, you'd think it was a prototype. That said, the components are quite good, with very nice dice (which are not rolled by the way), good sized board, excellent dual layered player boards etc. You have one "worker" that you use to select an action from a main board and initially your options are limited. After your placement, you take income which can be ore, people, or in rare cases doing a trade, you may be able to score an achievement as well (rare, but also the "clock" for the game, when a certain number of achievements are scored the game enters the endgame).

As you take actions, some of those will open up more options/worker placement spots for you as half the game is the development of a mutually shared tech tree and this is where significant game variability can come into play. The actions are typically just better variations of the initial ones (except for the highest level tech, which can be big point scorers), and these actions can range from: doing more tech advancements, getting more resources, adding and/or moving ships on a sideboard (which is the other major part of the game, the area control aspect where you are vying to take over planets, getting their points and bonuses), improving your income etc.

Gameplay is pretty snappy, decisions are good, it scales well, it seems you can play hard tech tree, hard area control or a mix of both and while the achievements aren't that significant points wise, they're not insignificant and they give you something to try to focus on. I bought this on a whim, as even though it had good reviews, its not typically my type of theme and the graphic design was a turn off. Well I can say it was worth the purchase (and Rio Grande games are always good value) and I would recommend this to others. Very impressive especially considering it's a first time designer.

Own the [boardgame=378291]Leaders of the New Dawn[/boardgame] expansion and the [boardgame=337306]Sagittarius A and Beta Colony[/boardgame] promo cards.

It's really solid. I love how you can build the tech tree yourself as you move through. Nice balance between exploration and research -- research lets you shape the tech tree to your own strengths.

Update: Played, loved, bought, sold. It didn't help that I was introduced to this game on BGA which covers over a lot of the fiddly card draw and annoyances in this game. And, the promise of 'build your own tech tree' in practice turns into a game that feels very similar every time you play, no matter what you do. Tim still owns a copy so I'd happily play it and give it another chance. But, I have no need to own it.

Beyond the Sun is a VERY ugly-looking game! The design does not pair with the theme at all. However, the tech tree mechanics save it! It's lots of fun to progress and steadily gain more abilities.

i fucking love research please give me more

A sleek and streamlined Euro design that is a joy to play. The tech tree is more than a gimmick and gives a good feel of players carving out their own strategical niche. The worker placement on the tech tree is too open for my liking, but it is made up for by the rather tight area control board. Definitely keen to play more, as there is a promise of high variability. Sadly let down by the sterile art direction. Maybe I am too superficial, but plain text on white background without pictures is just dull.