GAME REVIEW: Age of Wonders: Planetfall (Board Game)

Title: Age of Wonders: Planetfall
Manufacturer: Arcane Wonders Games
Medium: Tabletop (Physical)
Ages: 12+
Players: 2-6
Game Length: 20-40 minutes
Price: $44.99

Do you have a thirst for adventure? For those who grew up dreaming of the stars, imagining untold worlds, Age of Wonders: Planetfall allows players to take that chance.

In the wake of the Collapse, planets isolated from the rest of the empire must rebuild civilization and rediscover lost technology. When these surviving groups meet in the aftermath of the Star Union’s fall, players must discover who is worthy of succeeding the great power of the Empire.

Pick your commander. Lead your faction. Build your new world.

Disclosure: Boss Rush Network received a free copy of Age of Wonders: Planetfall. Neither Arcane Wonders nor Hobby World made any stipulations upon this review, and neither read it prior to publication.

Analysis

Players explore a new planet each round. Over seven rounds, they must defeat Units, study Technology, claim Landmarks, and run operations to gain Empire Points. At the end of the seventh round, further Empire Points may be achieved for meeting certain goals listed on their individual Goal Sheet. Whoever scores the most wins.

Limited by the number of available commanders, between two to six people can play. With only seven rounds, it isn’t difficult to stay under the forty minute mark, making this a quick game once you know how to play.

What’s Included and Basic Mechanics

Each box of Age of Wonders: Planetfall includes:

1 Operations Board
6 Double-sided Commander Sheets
8 Goal Sheets
1 Restrain Token
6 +50/=100 Tokens
98 Planet Cards
30 Wooden Pieces (6 space ships and 4 color tokens per Commander)
1 Rulebook

The 98 Planet Cards are split among seven planets, marking the seven rounds. Each round, new cards are laid out in the three levels of the Operations Board with the ship tokens for each player’s Commander being placed in the their turn order on the right side of the board. The first player moves their token to the card of their choice on any level or to an Operations section. Then the second player goes and so forth.

^{Action Order (Image Credit: Arcane Wonders)}

Depending on which card is selected, the turn order shifts, and each card has differing values depending on the Operation Level it was in. After resolving the Planet Cards based on the order of Operation starting with Level One, the ship tokens return to the side of the board in their new order, and a second round of Exploration begins. Any cards remaining after this second round of Exploration are returned to the deck, and players move to their next planet.

This continues until the end of the seventh round where players then count up their Empire Points, which includes reviewing and resolving their Goal Sheets, and the person with the highest number wins.

Commanders

The Commanders are basically the players’ character sheets. They each come with a unique ability which effects how they either interact with the Planet Cards, other players, or the order of Operations.

In addition to a special ability, each Commander has three stats: strength, energy and experience. Strength is spent when battling neutral units. Energy can be spent when studying technology or claiming landmarks. Unlike the other two, Experience does not decrease, and it helps commanders during battles with neutral units. Compared to the art, the markers and ship token look a bit unpolished, but they do the job well enough.

^{Commander Berhane Katla (Image Credit: Arcane Wonders)}

Each Commander has an A side and a B side. Their B side generally have more complicated mechanics, including Yuriy Frankov who starts out with a higher Experience but cannot progress Experience either. Whether A or B side, each Commander’s unique ability can either be countered by another Commander, undermined by an unlucky Goal Sheet, or transformed from a boon in the first few rounds to a bane in the later ones.

Ultimately, one of the best advantages which can give a player the head start they need to push ahead in the game isn’t stat based but turn order. A lower Initiative puts a player ahead of the curve.

Goal Sheets

There are eight Goal Sheets in each game set. After the final round, players reference their Goal Sheets, gaining additional Empire Points for meeting any of the three conditions presented on them. The conditions ranged from gaining an extra Empire Point for every count of Strength remaining at the end of the game to earning an extra seven Empire Points by ending the game with ten Experience.

While Goal Sheets can completely change the tide of the game, especially with fewer players, certain combinations of Commanders and Goal Sheets can work against the player. If Frankov’s B Side Experience advantage in the beginning wasn’t already shot in the foot by his limit to being incapable of rising above four, the two in eight odds of drawing a Goal Sheet which has a condition requiring higher Experience finishes the job.

Gameplay

Gameplay is simple. New players can quickly pick up the process, and as most games last less than an hour, fitting in multiple goes in a single night is easy.

The fewer the players, the faster the rounds, and when playing with just two, this game went incredibly quickly. Starting in second left a whole slew of cards open, especially if the person going first in Initiative wanted to keep their slot. With two to three players, jumping between levels to get the best cards has clear advantages. Movement between rounds isn’t as important, and the numbers of cards available puts greater importance on a keen understanding of cost/benefit analysis.

^{Age of Wonders: Planetfall (Image Credit: Arcane Wonders)}

When playing with four or more, gameplay became heavily biased toward whoever was first in Initiative. The turn play system and the set up of the exploration phases proved convoluted and heavily biased the game toward whoever went first at the start. Gameplay makes it senseless for anyone going first to shift levels for a card due to the risk of being pushed down in the order. However, a high risk / high reward play to push up in the initiative order at a key time could turn the tide of the game if taken at an opportune time, but the player would need to be extremely lucky and hoard Energy to ensure they could pay for something that either those higher in the turn order than them couldn’t afford or didn’t want.

Final Score (3.5 out of 5 Stars)

Some have argued that the game has nothing in common with its video game inspiration outside of the artwork, but this stripped down version, while it has some issues, offers incredible artwork and easy gameplay.

Could it have used a bit more card variety? Of course.

Is the playing strategy almost identical regardless of Commander? Yes, but as a light game that can be picked up quickly, Planetfall offers some simple science fiction fun.

Is it worth the price? That’s were things get dicey. If you’re the type who doesn’t find predictable gameplay boring, Age of Wonders: Planetfall could easily stick in your game night rotation, but for some, it’ll get old fast, and you’ll have spent almost fifty dollars to have another well-designed box gathering dust on your shelf. While definitely a game worth playing, it’s not one you need to rush out to buy, so waiting for a sale would be advised.

Do you agree with our rating? Is there something you think we missed? Share your thoughts in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.

Featured Image: Arcane Wonders

The Boss Rush Podcast: The Flagship Podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network

The Boss Rush Podcast – The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, Stephanie, LeRon, and their friends from around the internet come together with other creators, developers, and industry veterans to talk about games they’ve been playing, discuss video game and entertainment based topics, and answer questions solicited on social media and the community Discord.

New episodes of the Boss Rush Podcast release every Monday morning on YouTube and all major podcast applications like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Patreon supporters gain one week early access.