#empiresofthevoid2

Have you ever traveled the Void? #empiresofthevoid2 #boardgamesofinstagram #familybordgames (at Ellenton, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/CaivpuYrXaf/?utm_medium=tumblr

Empires of the Void II. I somehow had never played any of Ryan Laukat’s games (Above & Below, Near & Far mainly) although I was curious about them. EotVII was actually better than I expected, and I kind of enjoyed it, but it definitely has the auteur-wannabe feel of too many ideas chasing too little gamespace. You’ve got exploration, trading, tech, infrastructure development, combat, missions, diplomacy ... computer RPGs can do all this stuff because they are huge and players don’t have to read and communicate all the rules for everything, but a 2h board game has to make some choices here about what the game is about and what is peripheral. EotVII has a *lot* of peripheral stuff which doesn’t add up to much. When we finished after about 3 hours (with rules) we felt like the game could have gone longer to allow things to develop more, but in retrospect I don’t think not playing enough was the problem - I think it’s just that what you do doesn’t add up to much narratively so it’s a bit unsatisfying just due to a lack of depth. This has all the hallmarks of amateur game design - unfocused, derivative, undeveloped. Despite all this it does still have fun elements so I might play it again, but I hope in the future Laukat can find some collaborators who can give him some perspective. #bgg #boardgames #boardgamegeek #empiresofthevoid2

Played #EmpiresOfTheVoid2 twice, and it is amazing. Some of #RyanLaukat's finest work. It is mechanically sound, thematically cool and endlessly engaging. Just need to fix the 20 minute setup time with an insert. #tabletop #tabletopgames #boardgames