Week 35:
Among the Stars
I really like Among the Stars. It scales nicely to
accommodate a decent size group of players (once the expansions are added), it
has gorgeous art direction, it can be as simple or as complex as desired, and
it has a great tactile components. ATS is a card drafting game, where the
cards represent the rooms and components of a massive space station.
Points are awarded for strategically placing rooms in certain locations.
The goal is to construct a space station that operates with synergy based on
certain characteristics. Weapons systems and the fighter launch bay may
not work best next to the intergalactic shopping mall, for example.
Players also have to maintain a certain level of energy reactors to run their
operations. Aside from denying opponents certain card during the draft
phase, “attacking” other opponents is optional. There are cards that
allow the game to be more confrontational, but they are not a necessary
requirement.
We played one session of ATS this week, and it was quite
fun. One student thought getting a monopoly on reactors would secure a
win, but he ignored the goal of constructing a viable station. The two
who finished first and second really did well. They grabbed the strategy
right away, and had a blast. This will definitely hit the table next
year.
Magic: The Gathering
For Friday's Open Gaming session, we featured Magic: The Gathering. To describe the session, I wrote a special post for just the occasion. Check it out here.
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