Game: Sternenhimmel

Thread: Re: Nice filler, great components

Drew1365 — 2008-07-22T03:36:21+00:00

Psst. . . . I can set you up with one . . .

Thread: Re: Nice filler, great components

lesulm1 — 2008-07-22T02:45:27+00:00

mark.gamer wrote:
I enjoyed the game enough to go to the trouble to get a copy from Germany.

There is a thirteenth constellation that was a promotional item at Essen that has a few rules unique to it. It's always played as the last constellation, and its use really rewards end-game piece management since it takes 13 pieces to fill it. I imagine an image is on the site somewhere.

The library copy at BGGCon last year had the promo constellation. I made a copy and strongly prefer to include it when I play.

Here's the extra constellation:

Das Spiel mit der Schlange

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Special rules:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/file/info/8336

Thread: Re: Nice filler, great components

mark.gamer — 2008-07-21T18:17:16+00:00

I enjoyed the game enough to go to the trouble to get a copy from Germany.

There is a thirteenth constellation that was a promotional item at Essen that has a few rules unique to it. It's always played as the last constellation, and its use really rewards end-game piece management since it takes 13 pieces to fill it. I imagine an image is on the site somewhere.

The library copy at BGGCon last year had the promo constellation. I made a copy and strongly prefer to include it when I play.

Thread: Re: Nice filler, great components

jcurtis55 — 2008-07-21T18:09:38+00:00

That's only partially true, as players almost never have all their tokens in play, so you never know what might still be in their hand. In fact, you want to make sure you do not get all your tokens in play without closing out a constellation. Otherwise, you will be dependent on some one else to complete a constellation so you can get some tokens back.

Thread: Re: Nice filler, great components

Drew1365 — 2008-07-21T14:11:46+00:00

jcurtis55 wrote:
While many don't care for blind bidding, in this case only a portion of the tokens are face down. This adds a lot of uncertainty and makes this a bit of a bluffing game.

I haven't gotten this to the table yet, but your review will prompt me to bring it to our regular gathering this week). But the other thing that occurred to me is that you know all the values of the tokens. So by paying attention to all the face-up tokens, you have quite a bit of information about what the values of the face-down tokens could be.

Thread: Re: Nice filler, great components

jcurtis55 — 2008-07-21T13:33:55+00:00

Thanks Todd. I corrected that typo.

Thread: Re: Nice filler, great components

kusinohki — 2008-07-21T04:53:12+00:00

What this means is 2nd place can easily get more points from a constellation than 2nd place.
I think I know what you're getting at, but you might want to edit that sentence.

Good review Jeff! Makes me want to play it now, and I was shying away when it was compared to Ys (not a big fan of blind bidding).

Thread: Nice filler, great components

jcurtis55 — 2008-07-21T02:07:31+00:00

I had never heard of this game, and then a copy fell into the lap of a friend I game with regularly. It's an area control game with semi-blind bidding. The basic mechanics reminded me a bit of Ys, although Sternenhimmel is considerably simpler than Ys. The areas you compete for in the game are constellations. Each player has a set of star tokens. The location of stars in the constellation are the spots where players can place one of their star tokens.

Let's talk about the components. They are extremely nice. The star tokens are hard plastic with stickers but look really nice. The board is modular. Each constellation is depicted on a round piece of cardboard. The artwork for the pieces is quite nice too. My only complaint is the victory point chits. They only come in denominations of 1 and 2, yet scores can go as high as in the 40's or 50's. Some 5-point chits would have been nice, but it would be quite easy to substitute in poker chips and having only 1 and 2-point chits makes it tougher to know just how many points a player has. All in all: Great bits!

The game plays 3-5, and the number of constellations in play is equal to the number of players. Players have star tokens with values of 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 10. In addition, each player as 2 double stars and a black hole. The constellations have spots for as few as 4 stars and as many as 10. Printed on the constellation is too point values. Top value is equal to the number of stars in the constellation, while second place points is 2 less than the first place points. Additionally, the brighter stars in the constellation are large on the map boards. When the players place their tokens on the map, the token can be face down if placed on the larger, bright star location. On the small stars the token is placed face up. Players take turns placing star tokens one by one on the constellation boards. When the last location for a constellation is covered, that constellation is scored.

Before we get to the scoring, let me explain the two special types of tokens. First, a double star doubles the value of any token it is adjacent to. It does not matter if the token adjacent to the double star belongs to the same player, it still gets doubled. If a regular token is adjacent to two double stars it would be quadrupled, and so on. The other special token is the black hole. A black hole eliminates any star token it is adjacent to. However, if two black holes end up adjacent to each other, then its like matter and anti-matter, and the black holes are destroyed. The use of these special tokens is what really adds interesting strategy to the game.

When a constellation fills up, it is scored immediately. All face down tokens are flipped over. First you eliminate any tokens adjacent to black holes, or the two black holes if they are adjacent. Then you add up the values of the tokens for each player, doubling those adjacent to a double star. If only two players placed on the constellation then first and second get the points as printed on the constellation. If more than two players placed tokens on the constellation, then any player who was not first or second in points get one point for each star token, included double stars and black holes. The catch is those sinlge points awarded are subtracted from the points the player with the most influence gets. What this means is 2nd place can easily get more points from a constellation than first place. If there is a tie for first place, then the player with the most tokens, including double stars and black holes, gets first. If its still a tie then everyone just gets one point per token on the constellation. Ties for second are resolved the same way. After scoring, the players get back all the tokens that were on that constellation and a new constellation card is drawn. When all twelve constellations have been completed the game is over.

This is a fun game that takes about 30 minutes to play. I would say that is just about the right length. It would not hold up to an hour or more of play. While the artwork and tokens are nice, its' still pretty much an abstract. While many don't care for blind bidding, in this case only a portion of the tokens are face down. This adds a lot of uncertainty and makes this a bit of a bluffing game. You're especially trying to guess where opponents may have double stars or black holes face down. If you have two tokens on the map with a space in between, you will be lucky if someone doesn't put a black hole there before you get the opportunity to drop in a doubler. If a player places a token face down but then does not put other tokens adjacent to it, you might start to guess its a black hole. Maybe it is, maybe it is not. It's this bluffing and mind-reading aspect that add some spice to the game. The game can be taught in 5 minutes and most kids could get the hang of it just fine. Unfortunately for some of us, it's very difficult to locate in the USA, but if you get a chance to play it, give it a try. It makes a nice filler, and won't tax the brain cells too much if you're looking for a game to finish out an evening of heavy games.

Thread: Re: Comment re: 13th Constellation

One Fat Pug — 2008-06-26T22:07:19+00:00

Just to point people wandering into this thread in the right direction...

The 13th tile is a separate game entry here.

Thread: Re: Comment re: 13th Constellation

ixnay66 — 2007-11-21T20:21:01+00:00

I played it at BGG.CON last weekend. I didn't realize it had special rules though and we played it just like the other constellations.

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GeoMan — 2007-05-11T20:43:07+00:00

Close up

Thread: Re: Comment re: 13th Constellation

shawn_low — 2006-08-17T08:15:51+00:00

Does anyone have an english translation of the rules for this expansion?

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GeoMan — 2006-07-17T21:48:19+00:00

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beckerc — 2006-02-20T23:35:36+00:00

The Snake: Additional constellation with special rules, back of tile with the rules

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beckerc — 2006-02-20T23:33:07+00:00

The Snake: Additional constellation with special rules, signed by the author

Thread: Reouble Double Star Question

ensor — 2005-04-16T23:59:07+00:00

I found it clarified in the Examples section of the rules (which I had failed to see last time):

"Here a Value 6 Star Token has its value doubled to 12 and then again to 24."

Thread: Double Double Star Question

ensor — 2005-04-13T13:07:00+00:00

This situation came up last night more than once, and I couldn't find the answer in the rules (I have the english translation from here):

When a numbered Star Token (say 5) is bordered by two Double Star tokens, how is that number doubled? We could see three answers:

Once - 5 becomes 10, all Double Star Tokens count as one.

Twice - 5 become 20 (5 x 2 x 2).

In-between - 5 becomes 15, as each adds an additional 5.

Is there a concensus out there? Thanks for the help!

Thread: Session Report

Kevin_Whitmore — 2005-04-06T17:51:15+00:00

TNG Session Report – April 10, 2001

STERNENHIMMEL

With an hour left, and five players present, I asked if folks were willing to try this slightly older game I recently added to my collection. Sternenhimmel roughly translates as "Starry Heavens".

One wonders how the theme was selected, as this is very much an abstract game. The game board is substituted for by 12 mini-boards, depicting the 12 Astrological Constellations. We had some additional amusement in trying to identify what each constellation was, as none of us are conversant in the German names used.

Each player is given a set of tokens comprised of the following: a 10, a 7, a 6, a 5, a 3, a 1, a Black Hole, and two Binary Stars. Each constellation shows the configuration of the stars. Two types of stars are shown, big ones and little ones.

During your turn you may place a star token on top of one of the star positions. The number of constellations in play is equal to the number of players, so we had five up at all times. You may place your tokens upside down if you are placing on a big star. Otherwise place tokens right side up.

A scoring round occurs when the last star of a constellation is covered. Scoring is relatively simple, adding up the value of your tokens. Two variables will modify your total. The black star will destroy every token directly connected to its position in the constellation. However two or more connected Black Holes destroy each other and leave all other stars unaffected. The Binary Stars double all directly connected Star tokens adjacent. (Even the other players…)

Each Constellation has a first place and second place payout marked on them. An interesting wrinkle is that 3rd, 4th and 5th place players, if present, get "1" for each star token they have present – AND THEIR PAYOFF COMES OUT OF THE WINNERS SHARE! This frequently makes coming in second more desirable. The payoffs marked on each constellation vary with its size. The biggest one offers 10 for first and 8 for second. The smallest constellation offered 4 for first and 2 for second.

As you play it is possible to participate in many different constellations. However you only have nine playing pieces, and so you will wish to score a constellation just to get your better pieces back in hand. Timing becomes important. Will your opponent fill in that constellation, or can you wait?

I found this game to move right along. We learned the rules and completed play in less than an hour. Since some tokens are placed face down, you are forced to guess what your opponent’s intentions are. But there are some clues… If they place a high value piece face up next to a face down piece of theirs, you can safely assume that the face down token isn’t their Black Hole. In fact I’d wager it is one of their Binary Stars.

Overall I found enough strategy in this game to give it merit, especially for the 30 minute playing time. I think it is a stronger game than many others I own that play in the same period of time.

Chris claimed the victory by three over Dianne. Michael was one point back from Dianne, and I one further.

Ratings:

Dianne: Excellent

Michael, Chris, and Kevin: Good

Bonnie 3 stars (OK)

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gonzo104 — 2004-08-09T03:17:56+00:00

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gonzo104 — 2004-08-09T03:17:55+00:00

Thread: Comment re: 13th Constellation

PatK — 2003-12-17T19:25:49+00:00

There was a 13th Constellation (a snake) available in limited quantities at Essen in 1995. It appears to be quite rare.

Thread: User Review

Eggo — 2002-09-05T13:03:42+00:00

Sternenhimmel

This “majority in areas” scoring principle takes an almost freeform approach in this game, as circles of star signs are randomly placed until all have been scored (meaning: all players have placed a numbered token – or “star” - on each space of the star sign). As star signs go, some of them are longish affairs (like the “snake” or the “scorpion”), some of them consist only of four spaces (“libra”). The larger the sign, the more points it will bring upon it’s “completion” – the player who owns the majority gets the most points, but has to “pay” all other players who didn’t make 1st or 2nd place (one per placed token). This makes 2nd place the most interesting prospect, as it usually only gives 2 points less than the leader gets – without having to pay the others!
Spaces on the signs come in two groups: “secret” (value of token is hidden) and “open”. Each player has a selection of tokens, mostly numbers (the highest being 10), two doublers (doubling the value of all surrounding tokens) and “black holes” (destroying all surrounding counters). The latter two are mostly placed on the secret spaces – If a player starts to surround a “secret” token with numbered tokens you can be pretty sure he has a doubler placed there. And other players can profit as well! The design of the starsigns makes for different tactical situations, “node” points become more important than “line” – points etc.
But the problem is the “freeform” aspect – it can happen (it did happen to me) that you invest in star signs that will not be “cleared” by other players (usually it is desireable to place the LAST token on each sign, as this gives the most control of the scoring) – they simply place their tokens on other signs. This means your tokens are not freed for other uses - as long as the sign is not totally occupied the tokens remain on the board. If the group - and this is simple “peer pressure” - decides to let a player “hunger” on a sign, they can block him out for several rounds. Of course in our game this was partly my own fault, as I placed too powerful combinations (apparently) that didn’t make it attractive for other players to “invest”.
The bigger problem though is the simple repetitiveness of it all: place a “secret” token – it is either a black hole or a doubler (mostly).or place an open number token. That’s all. With more convoluted star signs the outcome is totally random, as you can never really be sure who places what on the secret spaces. And then you feel slightly bored by the strange use of the “star” theme (and attractive playing materials) for a totally abstract game with little strategy.
Not a winner....

Westpark-Gamers-score: 4.6

Thread: Session Report

Deleted User 1 — 2002-08-11T04:04:04+00:00

William and Wyatt had to go, so we were now left with four players. Joe wanted to try Sternenhimmel – thinking that the newbies (Chester, Wes and Wyatt) would probably like the game. Only Joe and I had played it before.

It wasn’t too long before the newbies got the hang of it. Wes made one particularly good play, scoring one constellation all to himself and propelling himself into a final first place only one point ahead of me. I recounted the scores five or six times just to make sure, but it appears that he did win by just one point (Doh!).

Score:

*Wes* - 39
Rick – 38
Joe – 33
Chester - 22

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2002-06-17T22:52:37+00:00

We were expecting the arrival of both Tom and Keith shortly, so we opted for
a fairly quick game to occupy the time. Willerd, Jim, Michael and I soared
to the stars in a game of Sternenhimmel. Michael is a HUGE fan of this
game, while most of us find it just so-so. The bluffing element is fairly
substantial and, as most folks know, is not a mechanism that generates much
excitement with me.

The match was fairly close, with all of us finishing the game within 8
points of each other. Michael managed to grab just enough solar system
points to capture a narrow victory.

Finals: Michael 41, Greg 37, Jim 36, Willerd 33

Ratings: Michael 8.5, Jim 6.5, Willerd 6, Greg 6

Thread: Session Report

Dan Bosley — 2002-05-15T15:54:50+00:00

After Medici and Web of Power, the groups split up and rearranged. William, Patrick, Toby and Andrew played Sternen Himmel. Not a lot of notes were taken in this starry game, but there was a memorable quote from Patrick:

“You are the master of going right where I want to go right before I go there!” I believe the quote was made during the game, and not during a washroom break....

Final scores:
Andrew - *49*
Toby - 40
Patrick - 30
William - 22

Ratings
Toby - 8
Patrick - 7
William - 6
Andrew - 6

Thread: Session Report

Dan Bosley — 2002-05-02T17:47:10+00:00

Next up was Sternen Himmel, with Patrick, David, Joe, and I playing.

You know how black holes suck in all matter around them? Well, I really black hole at this game. Let me tell you, I spent the whole game lost in space. Every time I thought I was getting somewhere - WHAM - I got black holed.

The game is not hard to play. The rules are pretty simple. But I just sort of drift aimlessly from constellation to constellation, getting wiped out here, getting wiped out there...

Joe and David were fighting it out for the lead the whole game. Patrick was doing a little better than me, but he got snagged on some space debris.

In the last constellation, I put down a double star which at that point served to double Joe’s 10 point star. With the other 1-star he had showing, this apparently gave him 21 points. I had 20 points showing. I wasn’t doing this to make Joe win. I was really trying to accomplish 1 of 2 things - either lure in a black hole from another player, or else ensure that I came 2nd and not first, since it’s often better to come in second in each constellation - 1st place must pay out 3rd place’s winnings, whereas 2nd place gets to keep all his - so sometimes 2nd place actually ends up doing better than 1st place because of what 1st place has to pay out to 3rd place. With me so far?

Anyhow, the whole universe blew up at that point.

The scores:

*David* ... 46
Joe - 44
Patrick - 25
Dan - 20 (how humiliating). Where’s Honeybears in Space?

We didn’t rate the game. I was too embarrassed.

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2002-04-30T18:51:58+00:00

Michael has become enamored with this older Gold Sieber release and
corralled Joe, Keith and Tom into a game. I figured Tom would enjoy it,
but feared it may be a bit too 'light' for Joe's tastes. Sure enough,
the ratings ultimately confirmed my predictions.

Sadly, no detailed notes were taken, but the game played relatively
quickly, with Keith emerging with a narrow 1 point victory over Tom.

Finals: Keith 45, Tom 44, Joe 36, Michael 36

Ratings: Michael 8.5, Keith 7, Tom 6, Joe 5

Thread: Session Report

Deleted User 1 — 2002-04-25T12:45:06+00:00

This is a recent favorite of mine that everybody else seems to like. In this game, the players were William, Patrick, Shari and Wyatt.

Score:

*Shari* - 47
Wyatt – 39
Patrick - 30
William – 29

Ratings:

Shari – 7
Wyatt – 7
Patrick – 8
William – 8

Thread: Session Report

Deleted User 1 — 2002-04-12T03:39:17+00:00

It’s another Monday night session for the Terminal City Gamers.

To start, the group consists of Jeff, Corwin, Rick (me), Dan, William, Patrick, David and James. Dan, Patrick, David and I go for a game of Sternenhimmel, the rest go for Through the Desert.

I have played Sternenhimmel once before and quite enjoyed it. The rest of the guys were newbies. After a fairly short learning interval, we got started.

After scoring the few constellations, Patrick and I started to pull into the lead. However, David started to fight back and by the end of the game won the game over Patrick by only one point. I was only two points behind Patrick. Close game!

Score:

*David* – 43
Patrick – 42
Rick – 40
Dan – 28

Ratings:

David – 8
Patrick - 9
Rick – 8
Dan – 8

Quotes:

David – “Peaceful game.”
Patrick - “Very cool game.”
Dan – “I was blinded by a comet.”

We all liked the game quite a bit. The mechanics are simple, but work very well together. When scoring constellations, the idea of the third and fourth place players getting their points from the first place player make being first all the time not necessarily the best idea. And the bluffing element of the face-down star tokens keep everyone guessing. Very cool game.

Thread: Session Report

Deleted User 1 — 2002-03-28T15:50:05+00:00

This is Rick now reporting for the Terminal City Gamers session on March 25, 2002. Dan described most of the games, I’ll take over the reins for the other games that we played. First up is Sternen Himmel - Joe, Shari, Corwin and I played this while the rest of the group was busy with El Grande.

Sternen Himmel is a recent acquisition of mine. When I first heard the premise – putting star tokens on constellations – it sounded strange but interesting. Basically, a set of four constellations set out and each has a number of large and small stars – a pile of other constellation is put aside in a stack. Each player takes turns putting one of their star tokens on a star – face up on the small stars, face down on the large stars. Most of the star tokens have numbers on them, and there special double star tokens that double the value of neighboring stars. There are also black hole star tokens which swallow any surrounding star tokens.

When all the stars in a constellation have star tokens, that constellation is scored (a number of points for the player with the highest value of stars and slightly less for the second player, and much less for third and so on). That constellation is put aside and another is chosen from the stack. When all the constellations have been scored the player with the most points wins the game.

The game is fairly similar to other in the ‘influence’ genre. It is very interesting, the choices between which star tokens to play where, whether they should be face up and face down, etc. It can be agonizing to figure out where is the best place to put a star, and trying to second guess other players who have put stars face down. Are they high number stars or low number stars? Or even worse, are they black holes?

The game went well, even though we were all newbies. There were many groans as we agonized over our decisions and revealed people’s face-down stars when scoring. In the end, Joe and I tied for the win and Shari and Corwin tied for second!

Score:

*Joe* - 46
*Rick* - 46
Shari - 31
Corwin - 31

Ratings:

Rick - 9
Joe - 9
Shari - 6
Corwin - 8

Shari thought the game was somewhat dull, but the rest of us liked it a lot. It’s more cerebral – sort of like Samurai – but great fun with lots of interaction.

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2002-03-01T23:47:44+00:00

Fresh from their Russian Civil War experiment, Willerd, Jerry and Darren opted for a 3-player game of Sternenhimmel.

Darren wrote a few notes, most of them describing the mechanics of the game. He did comment that it was a particularly brutal game, with black holes sucking up many adjacent stars and drastically altering the scoring outcome for various star systems. According to Darren, everyone enjoyed the game and the finals were extremely close between Jerry and Willerd.

Finals: Jerry 59, Willerd 58, Darren 37

Ratings: Darren 8, Jerry 6, Willerd 6

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Warning: There are two games with the name Sternenhimmel. One is the one described, with constellations and tactics. The other, from Ravensburger, is a game for 2-4 children of age 3-7. Not suited for adults. I got the wrong one when I ordered the game. Also make sure you get the right rules if you look for translations...

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2001-11-28T01:06:19+00:00

Steven arrived at the conclusion of our Samurai game, so we opted for a game of Sternenhimmel. We were just about to begin when Darren and Ashton arrived, so I gave up my seat so they could both play.

Darren took an early lead, but Steven scored huge amounts of points late in two different star systems, giving him an impressive victory.

Finals: Steven 51, Keith 32, Darren 26, Ashton 19, Jerry 16

Ratings: Darren 8, Keith 7, Ashton 7, Steven 6, Jerry 5

Thread: Session Report

BoardGameGeek — 2001-09-04T23:25:35+00:00

After a break to go the store to buy Allergy medicine with Stephan as a hostage we started Sternenhimmel. Meghan sat this one out so we played with four. This is a gorgeous game with 12 discs with constellations on them. The stars are large and small with lines between them as you would see in a zodiac. I do not know how accurate they were though. Each player has beautiful star markers in the dominations of 1,3,5,6,7, and 10 plus three special counters. 1 counter called a black hole eliminates all counters connected to it unless it is another black hole, then they just eliminate each other. There are also 2 counters that double the worth of all connected counters. As many star disks are placed out as there are players in the game. Each player places one counter on a star space each turn. These are placed face down on a large star and face up on the more numerous small stars. When a constellation is filled all counters are turned over and after dealing and removing counters caused by black holes all counters are counted. Whoever has the most points wins points according to the printed value on the consultation. There is also a second place payout which is 2 points less then the first place. All other players receive 1 point per counter they have on the disk from the first place players winnings. On the larger constellations this can mean second place nets more then first. Once a disk is scored it is replaced by a new disc until all 12 have been scored. Scoring a disc is also the only way to get your counters back. To me this game is light years better the Alladins Dragons. It is much simpler and I felt much more strategic. Marianna won with 43 points, Stephan had 41, Karen had 38 and I came in last with 33. I actually started the game with the strategy of always having some counters on the disk to get a few points and knock down the leader but that was not working, as is evident by the scores, as the leader was still raking in a lot on the big disks.

Ratings...
Marianna 6 (but I think she liked it better then Aladins Dragons also), Stephan 7, Karen 8, David 8 (and my favorite game of the day) for an average of 7.25

Thread: Session Report

gschloesser — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

With the arrival of Dave and Joey, we split into two groups. I introduced our table to Sternenhimmel, an older Gold Sieber release by Tom Schoeps. Does he have any other game designs to his credit?

I last played Sternenhimmel at my very first Gathering of Friends get-together way back in 1998. I wasn't enamored with it, so never made an effort to secure a copy. However, the game was available at a discount from Magnus Spielt in Germany, so I included a copy on our last order.

The game is pretty much as I remembered it. The game does use a bit of 'hidden placement', a mechanism with which I'm not overly fond. Still, most pieces are placed face-up, so there is a bit more control than in other games which rely more heavily on that mechanism.

Since the game doesn't receive much publicity on various discussion boards, a brief description is in order. A number of constellations equal to the number of players is set onto the table. These constellations are actually round mini-boards, each depicting a number of stars, most of which are connected by lines to adjacent stars. Further, each constellation has two values printed on it, with these values ultimately going to the players who capture majority or secondary status in this system. The idea is for players to place their star tokens (which look like children's erasers) onto these constellations, attempting to capture a
majority or secondary position in as many constellations as possible. Once a constellation's stars are completely occupied by star tokens, winners are determined, points are awarded, and a new constellation takes this completed one's place on the table. This continues until all twelve constellations have been completed, at which point the victor is determined.

Each player receives a set of star tokens with values of 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 & 10. Plus, each player possesses two 'double star' tokens and one dreaded 'black hole' token. When inverted, all of a player's tokens are identical.

Players take turns placing star tokens, one at a time, onto the various constellations. If a token is placed onto a small star, it must be placed face-up. If, however, a token is placed onto a large star, it may be placed face-down. These face-down tokens are only revealed once every star in a constellation has been occupied, at which point the double-star and black hole tokens take effect. Double star tokens double the value of any adjacent stars (which are connected to it by a line), while Black Hole tokens absorb adjacent star tokens, removing them from the board before the scores are calculated. Since these tokens tend to
be powerful, they are usually placed face-down so opponents must guess as to their identity.

After the effects of these tokens are rectified, the remaining token values are totaled. The player with the greatest total receives victory point chits equal to the high value printed on the constellation, while the second place player receives the second value. In an interesting twist, any other player who has star tokens present in the system receives a number of victory point chits equal to the number of tokens they have present in the system. However, these chits are taken from the player who captured first
place in that system! Often, it is wiser to capture second place so that chits will not be taken from you.

Once a constellation has been scored, all star tokens from that system are returned to their respective owners. The game continues in this fashion until all twelve constellations have been scored. The player with the highest total of victory point chits is victorious.

The game is fairly light, possesses a modicum of strategy and plays quite quickly (30 - 45 minutes). As such, it really isn't a bad 'filler' of sorts. It might just stick around for awhile in that capacity.

I managed to avoid most 'black hole' traps and consistently acquired victory point chits with nearly every constellation. Still, Dave scored big on the final few constellations to make the final tally very close.

Finals: Greg 36, Dave 33, Joey 29, Spouey 26, Keith 25

Ratings: Dave 7, everyone else 6

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2000-08-07T00:40:47+00:00