Development of Master of Orion: The Board Game started in November 2013. We were playing a lot of different card games at that time, particularly Race for the Galaxy and Warhammer: Invasion. The latter we played on a tournament level, which helped us gain the understanding of how to apply various card mechanics. For our game we chose to feature a common deck, a resource engine, and the ability to attack your opponents. It was very important to us that this game be both engaging for experienced players and accessible for novice players.

We had a vision of a game in which each player had resource tracks and the in-game possibilities for each player depended on the number of resources they had. Players would play cards one over another to create ‘Systems’ and only the top card of each System would have an active effect. We divided each resource track into three parts. In very early versions, it allowed players to activate only certain cards. Later, it limited the number of cards that could be in a player’s hand. In the final version, the three parts of the resource tracks became an indicator of the number of available actions.

We crafted the first prototype, blending a card game and a Eurogame. We then contacted Hobby World, the largest board games publisher in Russia. Thankfully, they were very interested in our prototype and all further development was a joint effort.

The choice of Master of Orion as the IP for our game was made to coincide with the relaunch of the groundbreaking 4X strategy video game, first released in 1993. As a genre, 4X strategy games are difficult to create due to the complicated mechanics, which include developing technologies, taking over territories, and attacking other players. In the case of 4X tabletop games, there is traditionally a large number of components, such as game boards for all the players and miniatures to represent units. There have been several classic 4X strategy board games released: Twilight Imperium, Eclipse, and Space Empires, among others. While they are great games, we chose to make a fast-paced game experience with a minimal number of components, while still maintaining the feeling of a sprawling, complex game. The world of Master of Orion fits seamlessly with this idea to create an atypical 4X strategy game.

In Master of Orion: The Board Game, you manage one of the races from the Master of Orion universe. You develop, build up, defend, and advance the technological level of your civilization largely by playing Structure Cards, which require the payment of certain resources. Played cards form stacks called Systems (representing planetary systems). A player can either build upon current Systems or create new ones, thereby expanding their capabilities.

Cards in players hands represent the Structures available to be built for their civilizations. To gain more cards, you need to perform a Research Action. Some races are smarter than others, a fact reflected in their abilities. For example, Meklar cyborgs at a given moment have access to more Structure Cards than other races, while Psilons, as outstanding scientists, can gain more Structure Cards per Research Action. In general, while working on the features of the races and Structure Cards we tried to keep the names and abilities as faithful as possible to the original Master of Orion video game.

Each planetary System brings you resources that can be spent to construct Structures and Attack opponents. There are two main ways to acquire resources: gaining them from your Systems in the beginning of a round or an Exploitation action, which involves discarding a card from your hand to gain the resources indicated on the card.

Developing the Attack mechanics was a painstaking process. Conceptually, we wanted to make a game in which player turns took the shortest amount of time possible. Complicated battle gameplay often results in two players fighting, while everyone else sits around feeling bored. That’s why we created simple (and fast) Attack mechanics. We decided to track Morale, with it decreasing by 1 whenever a player has to defend against an Attack. This makes attacking minimally harmful for the Defender while remaining a key part of gameplay.

In real life, war is fought to build a country’s prestige or gain resources, so we thought the same thing should be true here. In our game, prestige is measured by Victory Points. Players gain Victory Points for each Attack, as well as the construction of Structures. Moreover, since fighting a war requires a lot of resources, even the most militant race will lose its advantage without well-developed Systems that have numerous Structures.

We feel that Master of Orion: The Board Game captures the essence of the original video game in a strategic card game that brings to life the challenges of developing a civilization in space.

Igor Sklyuev was born on May 20, 1987, in Bratsh (Irkutsk region). He moved to Novosibirsk in 2004 for studies and graduated with a MA in "IT" and computing, and currently works in 2Gi's company as a programmer. Igor began developing board games in 2012. Ekaterina Gorn was born on April 16, 1990, in Novosibirsk. She studied graphic design at The Institute of Arts, and currently works at A.Studio branding agency as a deigner and illustrator. She began her venture into board game development in 2012.