Rio Grande Games, the publisher behind titles like Roll for the Galaxy or Race for the Galaxy, has announced another board game with a sci-fi setting: Beyond the Sun. The work by Dennis K. Chan with illustrations by Frank Vohwinkel is due to appear this year, probably in October, according to the publisher.
Rio Grande Games not only published a brief announcement about "Beyond the Sun", but also a trailer for the new space board game. It includes a brief look at the material. Dennis K. Chan makes his debut as a designer with Beyond the Sun, supported by illustrations by Franz Vohwinkel, who works on Klong! in space or Puerto Rico. The board game is aimed at two to four players and lasts between 90 and 120 minutes per game.
Players looking for a new home
The story behind the new board game from Rio Grande Games is obvious: The earth is used up and shabby, so mankind is looking for a new home that can then be run down and exploited in the coming millennia. Players take on the roles of faction leaders, entrusted with the task of colonizing new planets.
The course of the game finds its place, among other things, on a technology tableau. Research can unlock additional skills and create opportunities to use resources more efficiently. Improving the movement of spaceships and discovering other useful technologies are also on the agenda. The following applies: Each of the players develops their own, individual technology tree. So if you want to use an improvement, you must have activated it yourself.
Rio Grande Games announces "dozens of technologies" for Beyond the Sun that will be available as cards in the board game. This shows that individual games can be played in different ways because access to technologies can always be different. Players also have to steer economic fortunes.
Rio Grande Games speaks of an "economic cycle" in which decisions are repeatedly required: For example, players must choose whether to invest money to strengthen the economy or increase the availability of food to increase the population.
The game is limited by a kind of success system. So with Beyond the Sun you have to complete a certain number of challenges in order to collect points. Rio Grande Games states that there should be different ways to win. Players can either concentrate on technological developments or win through military supremacy.
Beyond the Sun is slated for release in October 2020 at a price of around $ 75.
