4X or not 4X?

Philosophical impression time! 😅
Yesterday I said Voidfall is not a 4X, as the “most interesting part” (exploration) is missing. This brought tears to many eyes (at least figuratively 😂) but I wanted to reiterate some things.
Voidfall is not what you’d expect when you see it or open it up for the first time. ☝️

Our first impressions after 3 playthroughs are very “layered”. Wanting this game was a no-brainer, because of Mindclash Games as a publisher, the designer duo, the expected production quality and of course the theme. 🥰
There are certain expectations of such grand 4X space strategy type games.
Seeing the two designers and reading their ideas added other expectations - vastly different from those you’d expect in a 4X, so we were very intrigued about what will come out of it.
Now we have this dissonance in us, as the 2 worlds collide.

You anticipate this sandbox-y space 4X gameplay, with all these beautiful hexes and miniatures, but you get a super tight beige-type euro experience, where every decision is essential.

You think you will roll dice as spaceships clash in deep space, but instead battles are completely deterministic. On one hand it might seem a bit dull, but on the other hand you just never lose due to a bad roll - the excitement just shifts from the battles to the build up, maneuvering of forces and anticipation of the (possible) combat.

We have some ambivalent feelings, as we like and dislike some things at the same time. Ultimately as euro fans we can’t help but be enamored by Voidfall. It’s beautiful, complex, and so fun! 🤤 Planning your turns is engaging, and delightfully excruciating. But all of these features also make Voidfall a bastion of analysis paralysis. ⏱️ There is so much to mull over each turn, and calculating potential battle outcomes only adds to this.

It’s hard to summarize Voidfall for now - we need and most importantly WANT to play it a lot more. 🙂
It is undoubtedly a spectacular game. It’s hard to fit every impression (positive and negative) into a post, and I don’t want to give you the wrong picture.
Your mileage may and will vary depending on what aspects of the game you perceive as cons, and which as pros.