I love these videos. Why do most big name game designers stay so quiet and behind the scenes. The way you’ve approached this business with such transparency is very appreciated. Keep it going, dude!
Thanks! While I do love hearing designers talk about games (and they do, just not always as publicly as I do), I get that many designers just want to focus their time on design, not content creation like this. :)
My favorite mechanism in sidereal confluence is upgrading converters that can be done only by using converters or planets so that you can shift the focus of your economy making it more efficient by sacrificing versatility
Those were exactly my thoughts as I played the game: Brilliant design, that blew my mind. Played it on the Dice Tower Cruise in January for the first time. My friend who played with us was hesitant at the beginning, because she doesn't enjoy long games. So we set up the game, one of the players explained the rules, we played the first round, and midway through the second round we knew something was off. We noticed, that we did a pretty big setup mistake, so the game was broken at that point. Our rules explainer told us, that we had to start over, so we reseted the game and now I was starting to worry. We were 90 minutes into a game, now starting over from the beginning. I looked to my friend on the other side of the table, and she didn't make I contact with me. Neither she nor I wanted to tell anybody, that this game was probably going too long for her taste. But I could see it. Or at least I thought I could see her impatience. So once we started over and we had everything back to the start, we briefly went over the correct rules again and now the first new real-time trading phase began. And the first player at the table who said anything, who engaged in trading was my friend. With a firm voice she yelled (You have to talk a little louder in this game, is what we noticed): "Soo, I have to yellow cubes and I need browns or blues. Does anyone maybe also have greens?" She was immediately drawn into the trading thing, seeing how her cards and her production could evolve with the help of the other players ressources. In this moment I was super happy. This is what made this game night super special for me. What is essentially the spirit of social boardgaming for me, we just forgot the time, our normal perimiters and embraced the game. This was one of the best game sessions I've ever had.
This is one of the 3 most recent board game purchases I made (the other 2 actually being Stonemaier games: Viticulture EE and Charterstone) and I am very excited for it! It is one that I put a lot of research into buying, as I don't make many purchases, but it hit all the marks I was looking for. It allows for a wide range of players by allowing 4 to 9 players (my group ranges anywhere from 4-8), has very little-to-no player downtime, has high player interaction, is easy to learn/teach (it comes with a teaching guide that is only 1 double-sided page!), is hard to master, and it plays in 2 hours or less regardless of player count (though I expect our first game to go slightly over that). I also suggest, if you want to have an even greater appreciation for the game, that you go read Tauceti's more in-depth descriptions of each alien race, the history behind them, and how he applied those to the game. There is a nice thread on Board Game Geek where he outlines the depth of the theme (which, unfortunately, didn't come through very much in the production) and explains a lot of the artwork that probably would otherwise probably be ignored by the players. Tauceti did a ton of universe-building with this game and it made me appreciate this purchase way more than I already did.
It is one of the only games I can think of that isn't players doing their own thing simultaneously (such as with many roll and writes), that is highly interactive and where having more players doesn't add significant length to the game. That makes it quite remarkable. I love the binding deals. It really opens the game up to really excel at the trading aspects. It really forces you to consider the deal and future deal and insure you will make good on it eventually. Unlike something like Bohnanza, where the deal making is tenuous at best (it depends on the players.). I wish more games with trading mechanisms found a way to make those deals binding. When I first played the game, I couldn't stop thinking about it, either. I definitely need to get my copy of the game to the table soon! I love that the technology is mutually beneficial, and you have resources you produce that you have to figure out how to trade, because you will be forced to give them away eventually. It really creates a dynamic flow that I've never seen in any other game, making Sidereal Confliuence the purest trading game out there!
I loved this game for the no downtime aspect and for its replay value! Changing from what species are in game, to how many people play 3 to 9 , what research team are available , what planets can be colonized , what trade are made , which cards are upgraded , etc.
My favourite thing is the upgrading technologies thingy, when you use a card to upgrade another card. Also the confluence sharing of discovered technologies is kinda cool. It gives the player discovering the technology VP and yet helps others by giving that card to all of the players to use.
Sidereal confluence is always playing and that is amazing! There is no Down time e watching other people doing their stuff . And that is really usefull if you have some really slow player because they cannot drag the game.
A suggestion for Wingspan. Add more end of round bonuses., ie., combine two types of nests, birds that lay less than 2 eggs, birds that only eat rodents, birds that can live in any environment. Also, have an expansion that has Birds of South America,
I will be ordering this game in a few days. Not too much because of its mechanism. My main gaming group can reach 5+ participants sometimes and as I understand from the reviews, SC seems to give a good experience with that high number of players. Moreover, I am very excited for your Civ game in development as I started modern gaming with the original civilization game.
It scales incredibly well with any player count since it takes the same amount of time since it's all simultanous. Think 7 Wonders -like, you know. Amazing game, you won't be disappointed.
I really like how this game feels like we are all working together (we have not played with the aggressive species). I really don't like how unpronounceable they made each of the species. They might as well not have names because nobody cares to remember them.
I usally nickname them , space wasp , caylon( that name is fine) , nationalist lizards, faderan or as I prefer gambling swedish guys, im dril unity, eni et ( banking whales), yengi and the mafia.
Hey Jamey! I also normally enjoy trading/diplomacy mechanisms in games. But, there are 2 things that seem to come with it: Downtime, as you say (because some players tend to want to optimize every little thing, and so trades can go on forever) or, plotting against other people, particularly the ones on the lead (depriving those players from trades can be frustrating if you are the one who built your lead). For the latter problem, a typical solution is just to hide the score as best as possible; Is this the case on Sidereal Confluence? Do you tend do like when the players themselves balance the game? How can this be controlled during playtest and with non-experienced players? Thank you! Cheers.
Indeed, your score tokens are face down and behind a shield in this game. Also, you can decide in advance that each trading round will take X minutes to prevent it from dragging on (if you perceive that to be a problem in your group). I like it when designers do their best to balance a game--I don't think that's the responsibility of the players. Though I think in games that feature direct interaction, it's not so much about balance as it is about creating interesting, meaningful interactions. For playtesting, I actually think it's really helpful to have a mix of experienced and non-experienced playtesters so you can make sure the game is accessible and fun for both.
