In the distant galaxy Ilumeïa live eleven alien civilizations, each with its own prophecies, messages to be read in the stars of the night sky. Players take on the role of deities who interpret the stars of Ilumeïa. They want to shape it in such a way that as many of the galaxy's inhabitants as possible will follow them, since the stars show exactly what has been said there throughout the ages. The deity who succeeds best will be chosen over Ilumeïa at the end of the game. rule.
Eleven different civilizations live in Ilumeïa, each with its own unique understanding of the stars in the night sky. Some are thrilled simply to recognize anything in the sky that can be identified as a complete, self-contained structure. Others are captivated by the particularly bright flame stars, the many patterns within a constellation, or have very specific ideas about particular elements within the constellations. The deities must reconcile all these different perspectives as effectively as possible.
Constellation building made easy
A true deity doesn't need much to create impressive constellations. In Ilumeïa, all it takes are cards depicting the stars. The power required to plan and create these constellations is represented by action dice, and using them is quite simple. Each of the three possible main actions costs one of these dice.
Before handling these dice, however, there is a preparation phase in each of the four ages. The star card display is replenished with eight new cards, and the top prophecy is revealed for each of the five civilizations, which offer variable conditions. The first player to fulfill a prophecy's condition in a round receives the card, granting valuable one-time or ongoing effects, victory point conditions for the end of the game, or simply instant victory points. Once fulfilled, the prophecies for that civilization remain hidden until the start of the next round.
All deities receive four new cards in addition to any cards they may have carried over from the previous round, and must then discard two cards to draw one face-up card from the display.
Finally, you have the option to choose one of the two prediction cards dealt at the start of the game. The sooner you do this, the more points you will receive if you fulfill its conditions.
Why is there always exactly one action die missing at the end of a round?
Once the preparation phase is complete, you can finally begin creating constellations. To establish the necessary foundation, you can discard one action die to draw one face-up or three face-down cards. If you have the right cards in your hand, you can also play a constellation card for one action die.
The cards are played in a row next to each other. They may be rotated 180°, but otherwise they must be played side by side and may not overlap.
A constellation must be complete on both sides, and all connections within the constellation must be properly linked so that no open connections remain. Once a constellation has been correctly laid out, you check which prophecies you have fulfilled. In addition to the five variable prophecies, there are six fixed ones. From Suzur, you simply always receive one point (later perhaps more) for each constellation played. If the constellation contains enough cards, you receive the "Klotzzz von Lotzzz," which is an additional action die. However, you can also lose this die if another deity creates a constellation with more cards.
In Amp-R and Vvibon, you move up the tracks step by step throughout all rounds, but you can only move to the next adjacent space, even if you have fulfilled the conditions of more distant spaces. Amp-R is particularly important here, as you receive new action stones there.
You can get a particularly large number of victory points from Primos and B'neph if you fulfill the corresponding prophecies exactly. To get these victory points, you then have to permanently place an available action die there.
Once you have no more action dice, you must discard all remaining cards in your hand (you can keep up to two based on your Vvibon progress) and then take turns without energy until everyone has used up their action dice. During these turns, you simply draw one face-down card from the draw pile. If everyone has had the same number of turns, the current round ends.
The game ends after the fourth round. There aren't many additional points to be awarded at that point. In addition to the points collected throughout the game, there are points awarded for the chosen prophecy, provided the condition is met, and potentially points for prophecies fulfilled during the game. The player with the most points at the end is the most powerful deity of Ilumeïa.
Information about Stars of Ilumeïa
| Number of people: 1 to 4 people Age: from 12 years Playing time: 60 to 120 minutes Difficulty: expert game Long-term motivation: very good Mechanics: Set Collection Game concept: Christian Peter Schäfer-Scheidtweiler, Stefan Scheidtweiler Illustrations: Lars Besten Publisher: Ornament Games Official Website: Stars of Ilumeïa Year of publication: 2025 Language: German Cost: 60 Euro |
Conclusion
A Trip to Ilumeia as a Deity offers high-quality gameplay for experienced gamers. The fantastic gaming experience begins with the beautiful and imaginative illustrations, which also conceal a few little Easter eggs. Overall, the game's design is outstanding. All 216 unique star cards feature small pictograms in their corners, ensuring that the constellations remain easy to navigate even with up to 11 cards in hand. To achieve this, the corner radius of the cards has even been reduced compared to standard dimensions, ensuring nothing obstructs the view. The game has also been adapted as much as possible for players with color vision deficiencies.
The instructions are also exemplary in their writing and very clearly laid out, so that no questions remain after studying the rules. The highly intuitive icons have been supplemented with text on the prophecies to leave no doubt about their meaning.
The attention to detail is complemented by small scientific excursions into constellations, their history, and extraterrestrial life.
The gameplay is very easy to grasp. You either draw cards or play them. The question is always whether to fulfill individual prophecies as quickly as possible or try to create the most effective, larger constellation, risking that other deities will fulfill their prophecies first. The interaction works very well at this point.
For evaluating the constellations, more is not automatically better; rather, one must carefully consider when to focus on which aspects of the constellations. This creates an exciting yet quite relaxed gameplay experience.
The only negative aspect of the gameplay for me is the significant time difference between the turns in which you draw cards and the turns in which you play constellations. However, this point doesn't matter too much over the course of a game, because everyone takes turns playing constellations several times in a row, making the others "wait," and then drawing cards several times in a row themselves at a later point.
The playing time is very good for what the game offers. The stated playing time on the box might seem a bit long for a simple strategy game, but it's the realistic playing time and not, as with so many other games, a fantasy figure (e.g., Wingspan with four players, let alone five, is impossible to complete in the maximum 70 minutes stated on the box). Any number of players works well. Even with two players, you can get quite far with the extensive deck of star cards. With four players, everyone should be fairly quick-footed, otherwise the game can drag on a bit.
Stars of Ilumeïa also offers a great variant for solo players. Here, you compete against Obzqurion, who builds up to three constellations simultaneously. To do this, he simply draws X cards (X based on the difficulty level) on each of his turns and tries to place them appropriately next to the existing cards. Once a constellation is completed, it is scored according to the usual procedure. However, Obzqurion has special spaces on some of the tracks with different effects than those available to solo players.
The moves in Obzqurion are impressively easy to control, yet in combination with your own moves they offer a playing experience that comes very close to that of a multiplayer game.
Stars of Ilumeïa offers a fantastic overall package that not only impresses with its gameplay but also demonstrates a great deal of attention to detail. It provides a very pleasant blend of relaxed gameplay and constellation puzzles.
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