Summary
A game for 2 – 6 players
Play time is 20 to 40 minutes
Publisher is Hobby World
Introduction
In Age of Wonders: Planetfall, you step into the role of a Commander, leading one of six surviving factions on a daring mission to reclaim the lost territories of the Star Union. As you explore seven mysterious and resource-rich planets, you’ll uncover forgotten technologies, engage in intense battles against hostile forces, and claim strategic landmarks. The stakes are high: can you rebuild a new empire from the shattered remnants of the old, or will your expedition be lost to the stars? The future of the galaxy is in your hands!
Let’s get it on the table
Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a strategic game that expertly blends exploration, resource management, and tactical decision-making across seven exciting rounds. Each round, players explore a new planet and engage in five distinct phases that build up to an intense, competitive experience. Here’s an overview of how each phase plays out, making the game an enjoyable and highly replayable experience.
Phase 1: Discovery
The game kicks off each round with the Discovery Phase, where players reveal new planet cards based on the round number and the number of players. These cards represent the different sectors and opportunities available on the planet. The revealed cards are placed in rows next to the Operations board, setting the stage for what’s available to explore. This phase brings a fresh sense of discovery, offering new strategic possibilities with every round.
Phase 2: Income
Next is the Income Phase, where players gain resources based on the sectors they’ve annexed and activate any abilities or effects tied to their technology cards or commanders. This phase is particularly important for setting up your strategy for future rounds, as it gives players the means to expand and strengthen their position. Depending on the cards and sectors you control, this phase can give you a significant advantage moving into the exploration phases.
Phase 3: Exploration Part I
In the first Exploration Phase, players take turns selecting one of the available Planet cards or Operations slots by placing their ship on the chosen action. Here, players engage in core activities such as fighting units, studying technology, claiming landmarks, and running operations. The actions are resolved in a specific order, from left to right and top to bottom, creating a tactical challenge as players must carefully choose when and where to act. This is the heart of the game, where strategic choices truly come into play.
Phase 4: Exploration Part II
The second Exploration Phase follows a similar structure but with a twist: the available Planet cards are not refilled. Players must now work with fewer options, creating a sense of urgency and competition. The turn order becomes even more critical as players navigate through the remaining resources and opportunities, forcing them to adapt and react to their opponents’ moves. This phase intensifies the decision-making, as fewer choices mean more direct competition.
Phase 5: Migration
After both Exploration Phases, the Migration Phase clears the unclaimed Planet cards from the board, and the game moves forward. This phase keeps the game dynamic, ensuring that each round feels fresh and that players don’t linger too long on missed opportunities. By the end of the game’s seventh round, this phase is replaced with the scoring process, bringing the competition to its final conclusion.
Game ends
Once the seventh round is complete, players score points based on their success in fulfilling objectives laid out on the Goal sheet, as well as certain technology cards they’ve claimed and the players score for:
1) Meeting the conditions from the current Goal sheet;
2) Meeting the conditions of certain Technology cards (claimed
on the planets 5–7).
The player with the most is declared the winner. In case of a tie, the tied player with the ship located higher on the turn order track is the winner.
Conclusion & final score
Difficulty: 2.17/ 5
Re-playability: 8
Our score: 7 out of 10 dice
Age of Wonders: Planetfall offers a good balance of tactical decisions, resource management and exploration in its organized phases. Each phase serves a clear purpose, from the excitement of discovering new planets to the intense tactical choices during exploration. The phased gameplay keeps players engaged and thinking several steps ahead, providing a rewarding experience every time.
With its variety of strategic options and thoughtful pacing, Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a game that invites players to come back again and again and discover new ways to dominate the galaxy each time. Whether you prefer to fight, explore or battle your way to victory, the game offers a rich and varied collection of tools to determine your path to success.
The artwork just looks really cool! It’s nice that if for once there are no cards lying around that you want, you can also perform another action and thus get some more. The rules of the game are clear, everything is well explained using various examples. Because the game plays quickly, has clear rules but is still challenging, this is a perfect filler for in between games. The replayability is high, cards will be located somewhere else every game and not all cards from every planet will join every game.
Thanks to Publisher for this review copy and the opportunity to write about it.
