Hegemonic

Gameplay Overview

The game proceeds over a number of turns until the galaxy is fully explored. Each turn consists of an exploration phase followed by three action phases and lastly an arbitration phase. All players move through each phase collectively, resulting in a fast paced and engaging gameplay experience.

During the exploration phase, all players simultaneously collect income, explore sectors of the galaxy by drafting sector tiles from a pool and adding them to the galaxy boards. Last, players discover new technologies by managing a hand of Resolution/Technology cards. Players must carefully guide the exploration of the galaxy to their own advantage while minimizing the benefits to their opponents.

During each of the three action phases per turn, players secretly select one of seven action cards allowing them to expand their industrial, political, and martial capabilities; sabotaging, subverting, and blocking their opponent’s efforts through conflict; or conducting further discoveries. All players reveal their action cards simultaneously, which are then resolved in a particular order, determined by the action card number and player order. Players must carefully sequence their own actions while anticipating their opponent’s moves to fully execute their plans.

In the arbitration phase, players position themselves to become the Arbiter for the next turn, allowing them to manipulate player order and the action sequence to their advantage. Additionally, excess wealth and income is absorbed by their empire, with larger empires consuming more resources, forcing players to balance the growth and power of their empire with a sustainable resource flow.

Each player balances their hand of dual-purpose Resolution/Technology cards, which are used to influence success in conflict or can be played as a permanent technology benefit for your empire. Players must decide carefully how and when to use these cards as there is a tradeoff between saving high power cards for their resolution power and using them for their technological advantages. These dual-purpose cards ensure that each one can serve a strategic purpose in expanding your reign while greatly mitigating the luck of the draw.

The game ends when the galaxy is fully explored by having a sector tile placed on every galaxy board location, typically 7 to 9 turns. Final scores are based on the total power of each player’s empire as well as the distribution of that power across the galaxy. This scoring mechanism forces critical decisions throughout the game as you must continually balance the amount of power your bases provide and its location relative to other players. The player able to extend their power and influence the most strategically across the galaxy will establish the new dominant hegemony and win the game!

Components

• Galaxy Boards
  • 1 Galactic core board
  • 6 Large galaxy boards
  • 6 Smal boards
• 60 Sector hex tiles
• 6 Starting sector hex tiles
• Player base and unit tokens in six colors:
  • 15 Industrial complexes
  • 9 Political embassies
  • 12 Military bases
  • 3 Fleets
  • 3 Agents
  • 3 Quantum gate pairs
• CAP (capacity) tokens
• 6 Player boards
• 42 actionc cards (six sets of 7, 1 set per player)
• 60 Resolution/Technology cards
• 1 Arbiter Token

Status
Hegemonic is currently under development and is in the final stages of playtesting.