Are you ready to rule the galaxies by commanding a fleet of starships? Prove your worth in Homeworlds! You’ll need to plan your moves carefully, as you only gain access to certain abilities when you have the right ships, or are at the right types of stars. Can you overtake your opponent’s Homeworld without abandoning yours? Let’s find out!
What Is It?
A perfect information abstract strategy game where players are trying to outwit their opponent and either eliminate the opposing Homeworld, or force the opponent to abandon their Homeworld. They will need to build a fleet of starships of different types in order to gain and hold access to all of their abilities – making more ships, movement, trading for different ships, and taking control of opponent ships. Players only have 1 action per turn, but can sacrifice their own ships for additional actions, or cause catastrophes to try and wipe out more of their opponent’s ships. The strategies to victory are limitless!
Who Is It For?
- Fans of (very) abstract games / strategy games
- Ages 15+ – I found it on the trickier side
- Fans of honing a strategy through many plays
- Those who lean toward heavier games – it may be small, but it’s a brain buster!
Components + Quality
The game is mostly pyramids, which are all nice quality and come in appealing translucent colors. There’s a small board included for the bank of pieces, which is unneeded, but it’s nice that it’s in there; average board quality. The rules are very detailed and hefty, which makes sense because there’s a lot here for such a small game! Finally, the box is small, but everything fits inside it well.
PROS
- Easy set up / clean up
- A lot of options turn to turn and various paths to victory
- No randomness
- Easily portable
- Doesn’t need a lot of table space
CONS
- It was a little too abstract for me; made it hard to wrap my head around the rules / strategies
- Requires many plays to really get the hang of
Final Thoughts
While I thought it was neat that this was a “big” game (a fair amount of strategy and depth) that utilized minimal components (just pyramids in 4 colors and 3 sizes), it felt a little too far removed from me. Because all the pieces are so similar, the abstract nature was hard for me to work with, which made the game a bit difficult and frustrating for me. If you have a mind for abstract strategy, and like working with minimalism, I’m sure this would be a great choice for you!
My Final Ratings:
Overall Game – 4/10
Aesthetics – 5/10
Difficulty – 8/10
Replay Value – 2/10 (7/10 for those who enjoy it, because there’s so many options)
*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*
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Cuc
Nice short review, and thank you for posting a short version on BoardGameGeek. That’s how I found the link to your website. I left a comment on BoardGameGeek (see https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/2553502/article/36492036#36492036).
Steph
Thanks for checking it out 🙂