The best Tech Tree implementation

Have you tried Beyond the Sun? Hearing the recent announcement of an expansion for it made us realize we haven’t played in a long time, even though it is incredible. So it was high time to get it back to the table!

At the heart of it all is a unique tech-tree system that is developed by the players as the game goes on, so it will be different every game. The level-I techs are always the same, but it branches out from that to level II, III and IV techs. Multiple players can research the same technology, but the first player to branch out gets to decide what card to place out. 🧐

You interact with the game mainly through worker placement, using your single token - which you need to place on a different spot every turn. There are certain action spots on the game board, but many additional ones will come with the technology cards - you can only use these if you have researched them though. 🧪

I really love the player boards. 😍 Everyone has a bunch of dice which are never rolled, instead they are used as tokens. Either as supply cubes on your board, or as population or spaceships to use. I think these make the game really seamless to play, as you unlock dice each turn, and get them back as you spend them so you can gain them again later. It has a fun rhythm to it. There are also discs on your tracks you get to place down during the game, that makes production ramp up. 📈

There is also a big area control element on a side board. ⚔️ This works superbly too, even with 2 players. Constructed spaceships get placed and moved around here with certain effects. Whenever you take control of a planet, you can place one of the aforementioned discs down, and it could also provide a bonus. If you manage to colonize a planet, you get its card for end game scoring, but also lose the spaceships on it, so control and military strength will keep changing throughout the game.

The art of the game might be a bit lacking, as many things are just white with black letters on them. It kind of fits though and we grew to like it. 🙂 The gameplay is unique and variable, with only very little down time, as actions are really snappy! 🥰
So it’s a clear recommendation from us!