Voidfall vs Fractal Beyond the Void- which one is for you? comparison 

Hey Hendrick! Thank you very much I'm glad you liked it 😊, Crossing fingers Fractal will arrive to you as soon as possible! 🤞🏽🤞🏽 Please share with me your thoughts after your first game(s) 😊

Thank you! I'm very happy you found it helpful 😊

The pleasure is all mine 😊 Once I have a few more games and explore Fractal more I'll do a review for Fractal aswell, since I feel there's much more than meets the eye in this one..

Thank you! Very happy you enjoyed 😊

Sure thing Robert! And what did you decide? Are you going to have both?

The more I play Fractal, the more I understand that both of them are Indeed very different. Although I do understand why people would like to see a comparison between the two of them. I'm not sure I agree that there's more to think about in Fractal because I found myself thinking more in Voidfall trying to optimize the whole Cycle and maybe actually the whole game :) In Voidfall almost every action takes out resources, so if you haven't invested in your Guilds, you won't have a lot of resources. But that depends on your house as well.. As someone who already played Voidfall more than a few times I have to say that maybe the setup is getting less annoying, but it's probably the game with the longest setup in my collection. You still need to bring out the right sectors (need to check both sides), need to find the right broken houses, the right Starting Agenda cards, the right technologies... I mean come on haha it's not the easiest :) But I appreciate the comment and I'm always up for a discussion and finding out what others might think so thank you for this 😊

Oh wow!! Thank you for the compliment ❤ To be honest I wanted to include Empires of the Void 2 aswell but didn't want the video to be too long. It is a tough question. I think I'd prefer Fractal for the cleaner and better designed. Rulebook is better is Empires. Gameplay..... I'd have to play Empires again to be certain. Can I get back to you on that..? 😅😊

Absolutely I am looking forward to it. When I saw Fractal it was love from first sight 😂, however I bought the Empires of the Void 2 several months ago but unfortunately didn't have time so far to play it. And now I am wondering is it even worth it to invest time and money in Fractal if there is no big difference.. anyway I will be happy to hear your comparison between those 2. Cheers and keep up with the great videos you make.

I think that Fractal will give you a bigger experience. The different modes, the campaign etc.. But unless it's urgent for you, I'd suggest to wait with Fractal. In my opinion the second hand market prices will go down. Just my estimation 😊

Ohhh I totally agree with you! I'd say that each game will depend on your house and the technology that is being offered. Some games require a blitz every time you can, other games you just need to go on strong economy. But in general, I try to invade atleast one sector and secure the others. Glad you liked the game! It's in my top 5 for 2023 (two videos ago I mentioned it..) Are you playing Voidfall only solo? What did you think of the competitive game?

Only solo for the moment. I’ve been looking for an epic solo 3.5x space experience for a while. This is just perfect 👍

@@Grindfrank I agree.. What did you think of the new Kickstarter of E.V.E?

I think that the first or even second time you'll do setup or play it will take more time than you expect. But the learning curve is smoother here even if you need to check the rules from time to time. I suggest for you to try with the smaller map rather than the large one. If there's anything I can help with while you play- feel free to drop a comment or contact me via Facebook 😊

Sure thing 😊 You're more than welcome to come over and play any one of these games 😉

Not to tell you what to do, but you should buy the game 😂😂😂

Lol!! Always on point Mike 😍😍

First of all, I'm very happy to hear that you liked my recommendations! 😊 My collection will never pass the 100 games. The more I play Voidfall and Fractal, the more I get that they are VERY different. Now, if you're more into crunchy games Euro style- take Voidfall. I absolutely LOVE this game. About Fractal, I haven't played it enough inorder to recommend one way or the other.

@@ezbgames interesting! Given the playtime seems similar to uprising, would you choose voidfal to tablel over uprising?

Wow.. that's a tough question.. It really depends on the mood 😅 Oh my god this is tough! I'll go with Voidfall just because this is what I'm feeling now, but I got to say that's a really tough call

@@ezbgames :o interesting. I was not expecting that

Ah yes..? Tell me what did you think I will choose..? 😊

Oh my God yes! We totally agree.. Word for word it's what I think aswell for the things you've added. Cool!! I just feel that Fractal has the potential to be better than what it is for me right now. Just that integrating the different modes is always something that is very challenging for me. It's like I prefer to learn more rules in the beginning and not adding them later on.. you know what I mean? 😅

@@ezbgames I am with you entirely in regard to implementing modes and modules at a later point. Especially when they don't become a fixed static element, as for example in a campaign setting. Modules that can be added or left out as desired, I find to be difficult elements for me personally. It's either all of them or none of them. Both in regard to learning but also playing. I am not good at establishing modules as individual entities (and all the impacts and effects that result from adding or leaving out) in my head and have them readily available from memory. At some point I just want to be done with the rulebook and enjoy the flow of the game and not being forced to look up and reference some specific thing that isn't a fixture but a possible variable within my regular gameplay. Of course this is a highly personal preference and I am sure other people don't struggle in that regard. I do and that is a lesson I had learn the hard way. Now modes are less problematic to me in the above regard although they come with problems of their own. For one, developers should generally stick to less and do that really well. More modes usually impact the quality and refinement of some of them / all of them and it is a horrible experience to come from a well working, fun mode just to find yourself in a mess with the next one. Fun usually is the first victim. Again, personal opinion. I will take 20 hours of an immersive, excellent campaign for 300€ any day over mediocre, repetitive 100 hours for 200€.

Couldn't have said better myself.. 100% agree!! I wish creators will work more like that. I will do the effort with the modules that I find best, but after that I'm done and whatever modules that didn't "enter" this game at that point will probably stay forever outside. And that will ve the game for me. I will give it a chance and hope it will not be too much. Super happy to have this discussion 😊

i think in voidfall it is not a live combat, but it feels like a "conquest action". But for me it feels like a combat, but a very planed one. Especially the technologies feels very thematic in my opinion and most of them do what you can imagine (shields for example)

Yeah, I mean because in Voidfall you can see the outcome of the battle before you do the Invade action, it feels a bit less of a combat than in Fractal. I love tue technologies in Voidfall but also I like how the technologies integrate with the Tactic cards in Fractal. I think that I will always prefer a bit of unknown when entering a combat (which feels more real) than the deterministic system

I'll absolutely try it and actually super excited to discover this mode. If this actually works it will be an amazing improvement! I remember seeing also a module for Empires of the Void 2 that actually makes the eXploration part very exciting and thinking "why it wasn't just integrated as the base game?" Lol So definitely I will try it and later I will do a serious review for this game. As I said, Fractal came to me just recently so I still have much to explore in it. Thank you so much for this comment! 😊😊

@@ezbgamesHopefully the mode is enjoyable! I'm very interested in seeing how much "Deep Space" and the other 10 or so modules improve Fractal. I've had the game for two months now, and have played 11 games, but I feel like I'm still just scratching the surface (I'm 2 scenarios into the campaign and I haven't tried the Automata or any modules yet). Thank you for your coverage of the game. I've enjoyed hearing your thoughts about it.

I agree that Fractal has many options! Just sometimes I wished games would already integrate more modules to the base game. Every time adding more modules and adding more rules can be a bit tiring. But I think Fractal has a lot of potential! I'm setting up a 4 player game as we speak haha I'm realy flattered that you enjoyed it. It means the world to me 🤩

First of all an excellent video helping demonstrate the differences between the two, I do feel fractal's KS campaign suffered from being in voidfall's shadow despite being a completely different game. I was actually going to mention the deep modules too but someone beat me to it. Also I guess the modules do increase the replayability of the game so would be a plus in that category. I believe the campaign has some map variations too which I guess could be utilised in future non-campaign games. I suppose one thing you could do is shuffle some of the variable tiles and put them face down so you dont know exactly what they might be. Re: learning the game, one beauty of is if you have played root, ti4, eclipse and Kemet (as in all 4) you will be able to pick up the game mechanics pretty quickly. However its biggest hurdle is learning the card and faction interactions in certain circumstances. Thankfully a lot of the answers are on the discord and a few fan made errata guides have helped resolve some of the issues as they have arisen.

Thanks for the comment Alan! Yes I agree you can put the sectors face down, which is something that is possible in Empires of the Void 2. Not sure why not to integrate it already in the base game. Would have made more sense to me in the 4X category. Also, as weitten before, I prefer a heavier game to begin with rather than a game that you put a lot of modules into it. But that's totally a personal preference becauae it's harder for me to add new sets of rules. I do think that with time Fractal will see my table more and more- it has a lot of potential! I wasn't around yet when Fractal and Voidfall's campaigns were live. I got both through the pledge manager. You might be right.. it makes a lot of sense. I will continue playing Fractal and after I explore more aspects of it, I'll try to do a serious review. Thanks a lot for this comment! I absolutely love the discussions in our community 😊

Yeah, the setup is... rough!! I do exactly like you the night before lol! So happy to know I'm not the only one 🤣

In all honesty I haven't gotten to it yet.. I just found a good trade (I gave Perseverance deluxe edition and received Tsukuyumi All In). But I'll get to it very soon and I'm super curious about it. You have it aswell?

Yes. I have only played it once and really enjoyed it. Don't see any coverage of it and feel it is a game that deserves more attention.

@@johncorrigan268 I'm on it my friend. I have a few small projects to finish and then I'll dive right in. It's a promise I should have kept a long time ago .

There's an older video where I'm talking about 4X games, but in any case I will do another one very soon 😊

I wish I could say that, but the problem.is that the rules in Fractal are not allowing it. I found myself going many times to the rulebook in Fractal looking for answers for things that are suppose to be more intuitive/easy to understand. That actually makes Voidfall more complex but easier to understand, if that makes sense 😅 I do feel that a better rulebook and a better player aid would have made Fractal much more streamlined.

@@ezbgames that makes sense. I got fractal last week, but I think today I might have a chance to play it and I'm a bit nervous because some parts could be easy to forget.

Please let me know what did you think of it. I'm very curious! 😊

Haha good question.. The more I play, the more I understand how different they are. For now, since the time difference between the two gameplays is not different, I'll go for Voidfall

You mean "doesn't exist"..? I don't know to be honest. I'll let you find out and keep me posted 😇 I hope at least you enjoyed the rest of the video

🤣🤣 Rule #1 know your audience 😜

​@@ezbgames 😂😂😂

I completely agree about the need for the rulebook during the play for Voidfall. I was super intimidated by the game, but after the tutorial, I only needed the rules once to play the first competitive game. Super intuitive.

Yes!!! Exactly that.. I think that writing a rulebook is an art of its own

Hello! First of all, thank you so much for joining the EZ community and welcome aboard! I think Voidfall is exciting in a way that you have a limited amount of turns and you have to make the absolutely best out of it! But I also get why other might not like it. I actually feels that Voidfall is not as complex as it might seem in the beginning. Yes, there is a steep lurning curve, but once you get it with the help of a video or two- it gets much easier! Please let me know what did you think of Fractal after you've played it 😊😊

Yes! 100% agree.. Jumping many times to the rules :/

It sounds like you played with my group our first game of Fractal!! 🤣🤣 I think that Voidfall at 3.5 hours is a good time for 4 players. I think that Fractal, after a few games will be less than 3 hours. It's all a question of how well you know the rules. And with Fractal it's going to be a tough mission. But try to remember your first Voidfall game.. for sure it was more than 4 hours! In Fractal you have less choices, and rounds are suppose to be quicker. I will be happy to review my review in a few weeks again 😅

@@ezbgames Voidfall is usually around 45 minutes a player now. Our first 3 player game was 3h15m after watching tutorial video. For Fractal we will definatelly play the compact map in 3-4 players :)

Then you play a lot faster than our group. I find 45 minutes per player in Voidfall to be very quick. That's an average of 3 minutes per card. It's cool! I'm a bit jealous.. In Fractal we played the large map for 4 players. Yeah.. it took a while but I think because of slow(er) players than usual and because we looked a lot in the rules.

@@ezbgamesIt all depends on the players. I have quite a lot of people around to play these games with. With some it's faster, but I have some AP guys around as well :) They can make the game really long.

Yeah, I hear you 🤣

Well, I'm not at all in disagreement with you.. But I had some requests and also that was kind of the 'thing' because both of them came out +/- at the same time so it was like 'what should I get'? But to the question "should I have them both in the collection" I think that there is some room to sort of compare (or maybe another word that I just can find due to my poor English) and ask 'which one would suit me better'. What do you think? 😊