Looks like that band of mercenaries – the Moonrakers – are looking for a new leader … think you could make the cut? Remember, all’s fair in shipbuilding and contract fulfillment, so while you might need a helping hand along the way, no one can ever fully be trusted on your way to the top. Make temporary alliances, and do whatever it takes to negotiate your way to success!

What Is It?

Negotiation – Players will primarily be trying to fulfill contract requirements throughout the game in order to earn prestige, credits, and bonus cards. However, it will be difficult to do so alone. Players will negotiate with potential allies, offering up some of the rewards in exchange for assistance.

Deck-building – In order to improve their chances of succeeding at contracts, players will add more cards to their deck throughout the game. They can purchase Crew Cards to put directly into their deck, which have unique abilities when played. Players can also upgrade their ship with various parts which also grant unique abilities which trigger at various times, and add more basic cards to their decks.

Action Points – Player start with only 1 action point in the execution phase of completing a contract, so they must play cards and perhaps choose ship parts wisely, to ensure they have enough action points to play the cards they need in order to succeed at contracts.

Who Is It For?

  • Ages 12+
  • 3 – 5 Players – It does have a solo mode, and 2-Player variant, but the game is best with more. Starts working well at 3, and shines at 4 or 5.
  • Fans of negotiation, first and foremost
    • Also being a fan of deck-building won’t hurt!

Variants

Solo / 2-Player – These involve a mercenary deck which players can use cards from by bartering certain rewards on the contracts, just like you would with allies; they “spend” prestige to use crew cards and credits to use other cards.

Both variants fell a little flat for me. As a heavy negotiation game, it never really makes sense for 2 players to negotiate, because you never want to help the only other player advance. I thought that the mercenary deck, for one thing, was a little too much upkeep; it refreshes after every turn in solo, or after both players have a turn in 2P, and you have to replace the crew cards with new ones instead of discarding them when you remove them from the lineup. And even with that deck, I felt like the game just went too slowly with the lower player count. It was harder to do larger contracts, so you just had to grind to get points from smaller ones, and from objective cards, and it just made the game a bit of a “slow burn,” when it seemed like it should be more exciting (and was, with more players!)

PROS

  • Negotiation style makes everyone feel invested in every turn; turns feel exciting and interesting
  • High quality components all around, the metal coins are my favorite
  • Aesthetically pleasing; looks great on the table, and the art and graphic design are really nice
  • Cool that ship parts add cards to your deck plus give you an additional ability
  • Rules are very well-organized and easy to read through and learn from
  • The box/insert holds everything perfectly

CONS

  • Staying at base is a nice alternative turn if you feel like you can’t do a contract on your turn, but can be a very slow grind to advance if you try to do it too much to maybe avoid working with others
  • Seemed weird to me that you couldn’t negotiate with things (mainly credits) that you already had, and could only use things on the contract itself
  • Length of the game can be inconsistent, really comes down to how long it takes you to negotiate contracts, unless you set a time limit for negotiations beforehand
  • Not strong with less than 3 players

Final Thoughts

I went into this game thinking that it would first and foremost be a deck-building game, which I’m often a big fan of. While deck-building elements were in there, it definitely isn’t the main mechanism. Negotiation is what keeps this game in motion and what keeps it interesting; there’s a reason to pay attention on every turn and try to get in on any contract you can, even for a small piece of the reward, just to help yourself inch your way to a win.

I’m not usually big on negotiation in games, but this one falls into a sweet spot and just really works. If you’re shy about negotiating, you may have a difficult time at first, but the game self-regulates in a way because if you have a necessary card that no one else needs, you’ll be able to get in on contracts easily.

And, as I’ve already pointed out, I don’t feel like the game is worth playing with less than 3, so keep that in mind before going into it; a group of 4 or 5 is the best option. Overall, the game looks great, plays smoothly, and it’s a lot of fun!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating: 7.5/10 (Contingent on more than 2 players)
Designers – Austin Harrison, Max Anderson, & Zac Dixon
Artist – Lunar Saloon
Publisher – IV Games
MSRP – $65.00
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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