Amazing Space VentureFirst off let me get a few things out of the way so you can figure out if you want to keep reading this review:
1) this is my first BGG review
2) this is based on all of ONE plays with myself, a friend, and the game designer at EuroQuest V (11/11/07)
3) I'm interested in board game design and possibly self publication and I took the opportunity to speak briefly with Mr. LaShay about his experiences
4) I did very much enjoy this game
So if you don't mind a novice reviewer taking a whack at giving the BGG public a little better glimpse into what this game is all about with an interest in the design process, then read on! If you're of the mind that ONE play isn't enough to form a proper opinion, or that playing with a designer biases an opinion - flame away. Luckily though, I have my hoard of Plasma Spores to back me up and the "help" of the illustrious Captain Rookie!
COMPONENTS
A good place to start with an independent game I feel is the components. Sure a guy might be able to imagine the best ruleset and get it down on paper, but you gotta be able to stomach looking at the game. The first thing that grabbed my eye from across the convention hall, was the board. Mr. LaShay had two demo boards set up next to his booth and I'd seen folks seeming to enjoy themselves. The board is *huge* and black. Really huge and black. At first glance it seems a little blank with only a few colorful planets about and the lively scoring track to one side, but it really is quite fitting and appropriate since it is in fact, space. More than that, you're going to be drawing tiles to cover up the board, so it makes aesthetic sense that you not have the board distracting you before you just cover it up anyway. The tiles and the cards are of impressive stock and the artwork is amazing. The artwork fits the 1950s sci fi setting perfectly and really helps immerse you into exploring the galaxy as imagined fifty years ago - complete with robots, flying saucers, and Captain Rookie himself. The cards look bright and clean, with even the font looking like it came out of the past. One small detail which I found impressive was the use of age marks on the cards to make them look kinda older. Even the title and box look like you could legitimately dig this out of your parent's attic and "remember" playing it all those years ago...
One thing I can't speak to because I've not had the time to check, is the rules' layout. Someone else on here described it as a wall of text. Mr. LaShay laid out the rules quickly and easily and we were playing with a pretty full grasp in about 8 or so minutes.
RULES
Can be thoroughly read on his website (www.amazingspaceventure.com) We just played the basic rules.
Comparison has already been made on this site to Carcassonne, and rightly so as the designer himself mentioned Carc being an initial inspiration but wanting it to be in space and having more to do. So I'll be comparing it liberally to Carc even though it's a surface similarity.
But here's the gist:
1) Draw 3 tiles and place them anywhere touching an already existing tile (tiles can include parts of deep space [like fields in Carc], galaxies [castles], space paths [roads], planets, one of four pieces of the sun, wormholes, black holes, and even secret missions)
I really liked drawing 3 as it provided you with opportunities to screw your opponent and further your own plan all in one turn. Plus you're less likely to have a crap draw with 3.
2) Do ONE of the following: place a new ship (you start with one and need it to discover a new planet card played from your hand), upgrade an existing ship, place one of 2 space stations [played and scored like monks in Carc], place one of two probes [knights], place one of two space pirates [robbers]
Always wanting to upgrade your ship (and get your second ship) comes at a steep price of not being able to get more points, but it's something you *have* to do to get anywhere in this galaxy! Also, the stations, probes and pirates feel right in that they are secondary to moving your ship and exploring new planets - which is just how it should be.
3) Move your ship (better ships move further) and discover a planet. If you moved your ship to a tile with a planet on it you can discover a planet card from your hand (worth points). Then you can play an environment and/or life forms to add points to your planets, but if you don't have one/either - your opponents can play negatively modifying environments/life forms.
Also, the board is divided up into 4 7x7 areas and you score more points for any planets you discover outside of that which thematically adds to the incentive to get your ships out there and explore! The flavor text on all the cards is also either funny or something that's actually scientifically true - cool!
4) With 10 card hands, you can only discard one if you want (you usually want to so you can get rid of something less useful to try to get a better card)
This was a big thing and I'm not sure without playing more how I like this aspect of ASV. Sometimes you feel frustrated that you don't have any planet cards or environment cards and the fastest way to get new cards is playing out of your hand, but if you dont draw planet tiles on your turn then you can't play any planets, environments, life forms, or explores. On the other hand, that's a turn when you try to maximize by finding a good spot for a space probe... errr... yeah. If anything, I wish there were some card abilities or something that maybe involved me discarding a card as a cost.
5) Draw up to 10 (decks are separated so one is completely ship upgrades).
Very smart and likely came out in play testing, but keeping the ship upgrade cards separate from everything else gives you the option of how much you want to focus on that and that's great I think. By allowing you to choose, you get to focus on what strategy you need to focus on at that point. Earlier in the game you can draw more upgrades (faster ships, lasers, computers) when you need them and then back off later.
And that's it. Of course you score points for just about everything, so it's a matter of what to use your actions on to get you the most!
There are also scads of special action cards too, like the TROIKA SUMMIT which I played to keep my friend from getting to a high scoring planet by moving one of my ships and one from each opponent to a discovered planet. Fantastic!
I really liked the discovery part and having opponents play a POISION GAS environment or DINOSAURS life form on my nice new planet felt like Munchkin, but in a good way since the bonuses range from probably +2 to -2 and the planets are worth from between 1 to 4. So it's good to have a balance of cards in your hand. Even if you only have the +0 PLASMA SPORES, it's good to keep them to play so you don't get screwed by your opponents. Also there are explores you can play for bigger bonuses to discovery and these get used in the advanced rules for role playing. Even though I haven't played the advanced rules, I really do like that even after enjoying the basic game for a while, I can kick it up notch and make it a little more like a vast space exploration.
The game played pretty quickly and we were talking and laughing over the cards a bit too - our 3 player game probably lasted 60-75 minutes including rules. By the end of the game I I wanted to keep exploring and go just one more round, but for me this is a better feeling than a game outlasting its welcome. Nothing worse than a once fun game winding down to misery as you just want it to be over. Nay - this one leaves you wanting to play another. And we probably would have but I wanted to talk with Steven and it was late and he was about to head out.
THE DESIGNER - Steven LaShay
As an aspiring board game designer myself, I was interested in asking about how the game came into being and how his self production went. Well, it seems that this was the first time the game was open to the public to buy and had been in design since about 2002 (though he said it was done and went off to the printer in 2006, I think). My first impression of Mr. LaShay was that he had a genuine love of games and the science fiction material on which he'd based his latest game. He also mentioned that he'd put out a baseball simulation game a long time ago (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/11030). It was clear that his game had been tested, broken, fixed, tested, etc many times and he said that's basically what took up all the time between his idea to take Carcassonne further (and into space). No longer can you field up to four ships (which he deemed too busy and confusing), but two is more than enough to try to keep up with.
OVERALL
Steven also told me about how he'd shopped the game around to various publishers and gotten really good feedback, but no real takers. He decided to try publishing it himself because he believed in ASV (and rightly so) and thought others would like playing it. Bravo, good sir, bravo! This game is a great heavier middle-weight and the advanced rules look like they'll take it even further. You really have the options available to add as much complexity as you want. The combination of tiles and tons of card options really opens up a lot of replayability, which is always a good thing. I asked about the actual manufacturing and found out from him that he decided to go with the more expensive route of getting everything done right here in the US of A. The benefit being easier communication, but at a higher price than, say, China. This was one thing that really convinced me that this was a man who was concerned with quality. Not only had he spent 4 years breaking down and building up his rules, but wanted to be as sure as he could that the physical outcome would be of the highest quality. The components easily could be from any DOW or Mayfair game (though only cardboard stand ups - no plastic figures). This game is much better and original than the cursory comparison to Carcassonne allows, and I think those looking for a space game with a great combination of euro mechanics and mess with your opponent opportunities all presented cleanly by an independent designer with an apparent passion for games – then check out Amazing Space Venture.
There is tons of great era humor packed into this game, too. I am a huge sci fi fan, but usually not so much the 1950s variety. Actually, I didn't know it was a retro-esque setting when I sat down, but found out as we got into it. That said, this game strikes a wonderful balance of a modern spin and presentation of older sci fi pulp. All in all, I'd definitely put this as a solid 9 and look forward to getting my copy though my FLGS.
Hopefully some folks found this preliminary review of the game useful since it’s still relatively new to the scene and lacks the “street cred” of a large game publisher. Rest assured that I’ll be back to update or validate my opinion after a few more plays.
Posted Thu Nov 15,2007 08:43 pm
