Space Empires 4X

Last updated
Space Empires 4X
Designers Jim Krohn
Illustrators Rodger B. MacGowan, Mark Simonitch
Publishers GMT Games
Publication2011
Genres science fiction wargame
LanguagesEnglish
Players2-4
Playing time180 minutes
Age range12+
Skills required Strategic thought
Website Official website for the 4th printing

Space Empires 4X is a 4X science fiction board wargame developed by Jim Krohn and published by GMT Games in 2011. It has received two expansions: Close Encounters (2012) and Replicators (2018), with a third one, All Good Things, in development.

Contents

Gameplay

In Space Empires 4X, up to 4 players engage in space exploration, colonization and combat, while developing technologies to design new ships or improve their existing ones. The game is played on a hexagonal map of space, and ships are represented by cardboard chits. The size of the map, victory conditions, and starting resources depend on the number of players and on the scenario players choose at game start. In addition to seven scenarios for two players and scenarios for bigger groups, there are four single-player scenarios with two distinct opponent factions. Multiplayer scenarios can optionally be played in teams. Outside of these teams, there is no in-game cooperation or trade between players, ships and fleets of players who don't belong to the same team will fight whenever there is an encounter. Combat is resolved with dice rolling. As it is a wargame, almost all technologies are focused on improving the combat abilities of their ships, often in the form of modifiers to the dice rolls. The game includes the fog-of-war mechanic, as players usually cannot know the precise information about the forces of their opponents. [1]

Reception

Cody Carlson, reviewing the game in 2013 for Deseret News, concluded that the game deserves a spot in his Top 5 list. [1] Simon Kriese, reviewing from Spieletest, was also complimentary to the game, praising its strategy, simple rules, engagement, and solo variants, but criticised the component quality. [2] The game has also been consistently ranked in around top 50 board games at BoardGameGeek . [3] [ unreliable source? ] It was also a nominee for the 2011 Golden Geek Best Wargame award, and the winner of the Charles S. Roberts Best Science-Fiction or Fantasy Board Wargame award. [4] [5]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Carlson, Cody (2013-01-10). "Game review: Space Empires 4x". Deseret News. Retrieved 2021-10-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ Kriese, Simon. "Space Empires 4X". www.spieletest.at (in German). Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  3. ↑ "Space Empires 4X". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  4. ↑ "2011 Golden Geek Best Wargame Nominee | Board Game Honor | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  5. ↑ "CSR Award winners by year". CSR website. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
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