Red Raven Games Empires of The Void II, 13 years

I am a huge fan of Ryan Laukat's games; I've not found one that doesn't rank as one of my favorite games that I own. As I type this, and because of how great Empires of the Void II is, I am trying to find and buy a copy of the original Empires of the Void. So know this first, I personally don't think you can go wrong with any game from this publisher/designer; from Ancient World, Roam, Above and Below, and now especially Empires of the Void II. Even if this thrilling space adventure game isn't your thing, I can assure you some of the others would be excellent choices for you.For everyone else just take a look at all these amazing components in this game and take a moment to be impressed at how high quality this game production is. The artwork on the different planets, cards, and alien player boards is in Laukat fashion amazing of course, but look at those amazing ships! On my very first game even while I was in the middle of the learning curve and getting the hang of things the back of mind was racing with ideas of how to paint these great miniatures. Be ready for a visually stunning romp through space with this game, that being said, your trip will require a higher learning curve as the complexity level of this game is pretty high.The gameplay itself is highly engaging and interactive with little downtime, as it follows an "I pick you follow" turn progression. This means each player will select one of the easy to grasp actions on their turn such as move, or to play and action card, or recruit; once they decide how they will use that action each subsequent player may copy that identical action. Play then shifts to the next player who will select a new action from those left available with the previous turn's action being unavailable. Play continues around the table like this, and because what you do depends on what your opponents do everyone is constantly paying attention to gameplay. I'm very excited about this gameplay element and how well it works to keep what can be a longer game highly involved and interested from start to finish.Where more of the complexity arises is how each player will choose to use the followed action each turn. With a very sizeable player board full of random events, planets, individual player cards, and different alien species to interact with there is a huge amount of what you can experience and do with your turn. Twists and turns in the way of planetary events can suddenly change control of one area of the board or introduce an unexpected element into the game that will shift what you do next even more. Everything I've encountered in this game just works seamlessly, I haven't encountered any game play issues and considering the large amount of variable setup and options I think this is brilliantly done.I've been able to play this so far at the 2p and 4p counts and find both equally enjoyable. I can totally recommend this as a perfect game for couples who have even a slight interest in space games and enjoy some area control and fun battling. There are some great rules that keep the player board tight at this player count that are relaxed at the higher player counts but then of course you are dealing with more human players controlling and influencing planets around you. I really enjoyed seeing 4 of the ships moving around the board on some of our plays.This is a 5/5, 10/10, top game for me, the mechanics flow remarkably well once you get the hang of things and there are so many combinations of cards and events and choices that expanding your empire across the void will be unique and different each time you play. Cannot recommend this one enough and really hope more of you will check out this game that doesn't get near the attention and playtime that it deserves, this is a hidden gem.

Empires of the Void 2 is a reprint(?), or spiritual successor(?), to Empires of the Void, Mr. Laukats first foray into the epic space games. Like the original game, EOV II is mostly successful...but there are caveats.On the plus side, all of Redraven Games high points are on display. The production is top notch and Mr. Laukat's whimsical, unique art style are all over this game. The theme is waist deep and Empire of the Void looks beautiful sitting on the table! Even the retail version of the game is NOT terribly overshadowed by the KS version! And by and large, the game design is solid and works well. This version of EOV is completely different then the original. Empires of the Void II is much more streamlined, faster, and I'd say slightly 'lighter', version when compared to the original game. It's a 4x game (sorta') that can played in 2 hours.However, on the 'down side.' where Empire's would LOSE a star, is it's rules. For some reason, the game's mechanisms can (and will) come off as very wonky to hardcore 4x players. Many of the mechanisms, while they work fine, just seem out of place in this type of game. For example, there is a HIGH degree of RANDOMNESS in this game; more so then your typical 4x game. Many of your actions and abilities are dependent on card draw.(power cards, event cards, etc..). Some players may feel that there actions are too restricted and too luck dependent. This can hurt long term strategic planning. Another example is that Empire uses an action selection mechanic (like Puerto Rico, TI 3/4), but, except for one action, the main players gets no special version of the selected action, and the players who follow get no 'nerfed' version of said action. This is odd.In short, if you're expecting TI3/4, Eclipse, or even Exodus Proxima Centauri, you will mostly likely be disappointed! For the hardcore 4x player, Empires is a definite 'try before you buy.'But, if you're a Ryan Laukat fan, you will most likely love this game. I do. Every one of Ryan's games has won me over, even the ones with short comings (City or Iron, Above and Below). The theme and artwork just draw me in. But, I must confess that Empires does have some weird rules quirks-even by my Mr. Laukat's standards-and odd design choices that I'm not sure why they were changed from the original game. It almost seems as if Empires of the Void was rushed or nor fully play tested. Such (minor) rules glitches would normally cost Empires of the Void a whole star and drop my review to only 4-stars.However, if you play with the variants from the 'official variants sheet" (available from BGG), then it becomes a 5-star game! The "PLANETARY LIBERATION" rule alone changes the game from a 4-star game to a 5-star game in my book. That rule is now standard in all my games. It's strange that 2-3 simple fixes can (and will)ltotally change the dynamics of the game for the better. Why weren't they rules in the game from the beginning? It's genuinely baffling. Again, it seems to reinforce my belief that EOV II was rushed.Nevertheless, if you're a Laukat fan, get this game (AND the official variants sheet!)! You won't be disappointed. Non-fans should wait til one of their friends buys it and see if it's for you.

Fairly complicated to learn, takes a while to set up, but it plays fairly easy after that. The components are beautiful. Ryan Lauket always knocks it out of the park with aesthetic and art. Some of the rules and systems seem needlessly complicated, so this is definitely a game you play with the same people several times to get the strategy and ease of play. Game is 4 stars, shipping is maybe a 2 or 3, because one corner of the box is heavily damaged. It still closes fine, but one corner of the base box is completely ripped open.

Like most war games, this one has a horrific setup/tear down problem. But once it's set up, it's a beautiful game with first-rate components and really interesting mechanics. It definitely forces a lot more conflict than the average war game, but the penalty for loss is mild and there are lots of "action cards" that can be used to even the odds and make the game tense and exciting. There's even an interesting narrative element!Beware, though: like all Ryan Laukat games, there is a wild mix of game mechanics and a lot of special one-off rules. This makes the game a bit tougher to learn than the average area control game. Probably for veterans of the hobby only, I'm afraid...

This is a great space adventure game that me and my friends love to play. I have played Twilight imperium 3 many times and enjoy this game almost as much

Excellent game. I love the space exploration, expansion, and conflict the game provides. Then you get the added benefit of narratives and stories for each major planet from deadly fungus outbreaks to mediating conflicts between warring factions. Love the artwork as well.