Among the vast reaches of the galaxy lie planets teeming with precious resources waiting to be claimed by intrepid spacefarers. Soon, your players will have the chance to colonize these planets in Gaia Project, the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Terra Mystica! True to the foundations that made Terra Mystica a massive success, Gaia Project invites up to four players to boldly forge their own galactic empires. During the game, players command one of fourteen unique factions as they lay claim to new planets, increase their resource production, and develop new technologies to help them colonize distant planets before their rivals. Using an elegant array of interlocking systems, players oversee every aspect of their growing galactic empires while innovative rules for researching new technologies and upgrading structures help them unlock powerful abilities. Furthermore, each faction has its own environmental needs and special abilities that offer unique ways of playing the game. The wide range of possible actions in Gaia Project give players the freedom to choose their own path to galactic domination. Whether they focus on mining planets or developing their technology, it’s up to players to combine actions each round in a way that maximizes their growth and extends their reach further into the cosmos. ~ The Galaxy is Yours ~ You never know what you’re going to find as you traverse the far corners of the galaxy. It’s a big place that contains countless planets teeming with resources for the taking. To reflect this great diversity, Gaia Project features a modular board that players use to create a new galaxy every game. The ten space sector tiles included with the game allow players to experiment with their own board configurations and setups. Ultimately, though, galaxies are meant to be explored. In Gaia Project, the focus isn’t on conquering the galaxy through military might. Instead, players must manage the many aspects of their empire if they want to succeed. Over the course of the game, players lead their faction to new worlds, spending resources, knowledge, and credits to enhance their capabilities. The precise use of these resources offers a significant amount of strategic depth without becoming overly complex. Players earn a set income with every structure they build, and different structures create a more diverse economy. Beginning with placing mines on planets to claim them and generate ore, players can upgrade to trading stations, research labs, academies, and planetary institutes. Each structure provides its own benefits and opens new paths to victory. How players decide to allocate those resources will determine the future of their galactic empire. ~ Harness New Power ~ The difficulties of life in space are only matched by the harsh environments on the planets that players discover. Each faction is uniquely suited to a specific environment and chances are the planets they want to colonize do not meet their requirements. To overcome this challenge, terraforming planets plays a central role in Gaia Project. The requirements to terraform a planet change depending on how similar their conditions are to a faction’s home planet, so careful players will expand in the path of least resistance, claiming as many planets as they can while using as few resources as possible. The ability to terraform planets is miraculous, but it’s not the only advanced technology available to players in Gaia Project. Technology forms the backbone of a faction’s capabilities and investing in research can prove beneficial. Depending on what research they invest in, a player might boost their economy, increase their scientific output, or make important breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. But there simply isn’t enough time to invest in every area. Players are free to discover the scientific synergies that work best with their faction. ~ Alone in the Void ~ Colonizing the galaxy is heavy work, and it’s not always possible to assemble a group willing to take on the task. For this reason, Gaia Project includes a separate set of rules for solo play. During a solo game, players test their skills against the Automa, a devious artificial opponent. The Automa maintains the deep strategy of the game while not making things overly complex. Rather than being a completely new solitaire mode, the Automa is designed to mimic the interactions taking place between human players. During a solo game, the Automa makes decisions based on a deck of cards that dictate what actions it takes on a particular turn. These decision cards make the Automa an unpredictable opponent that can disrupt your plans in any number of ways. Additionally, the Automa retains the abilities of one of seven factions, resulting in a unique and challenging opponent in every solo game you play. ~ To The Stars ~ The galaxy waits to be claimed. Set your sights on the stars and reach them before your opponents in Gaia Project! |