As you roam the land of Alula, you’re sure to find secrets, meet citizens, and discover wonders. As you meet the inhabitants, they’ll grant you fame if you can fulfill their needs. And, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to experience meteorite season in Alula, which can change the land in interesting ways!
What Is It?
🎯The Goal of the game is to have the most points
⚙️Expansion – Under Starry Skies is an expansion for the Faraway base game that adds new region cards which allow players to leave cards face-up during scoring, which can help them with their goals. Some cards also have new requirements, such as discarding sanctuary cards in order to score
Who Is It For?
👥4 to 6 Players – I think it works at any count, but when adding in so few expansion cards, I like 4-6 so there’s a better chance at seeing the new cards
👥Ages 10 & Up – I think you definitely need some gaming experience. It’s not a heavy game, but understanding flipping cards and scoring can be a little confusing the first time or two
👥Fans of card games with set collection, hand management, tableau building, and end game bonuses. This expansion is, of course, for fans of the base game who want the potential to keep cards face-up at game end
PROS
🟢Aesthetics – Nice art. I like the color scheme of the new cards; they are also well-labelled in case you want to separate them out
🟢Rules are short and sweet so it’s easy to add into the base game
🟢Adds a fun new layer to the strategy and opens up opportunities for more scoring
CONS
🔴Luck of the draw – you may see a lot of the new cards at once, or potentially not see some of them, especially at lower player counts
🔴I think the game itself is very “samey” play to play, even with this, though it helps
Final Thoughts
Faraway isn’t my favorite game, but I have played it a bunch because I know a lot of people who really like it, and I still enjoy it from time to time. I think this expansion adds a nice layer to the strategy of the game which overall made it more interesting to me, so it’s something I’d add in for all my personal plays. If you already like the game, it’s worth checking this expansion out!
Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 7/10
Designers – Johannes Goupy, Corentin Lebrat
Artist – Maxime Morin
Publisher – Pandasaurus Games
MSRP – $9.95
Website
*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*
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