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Description
Astro Knights is a cooperative deck building game where your deck is never shuffled. Your goal is to defeat the Boss before it destroys your team or the Homeworld you’re defending.
Each round, the players and the Boss will take turns in a random order. During a player’s turn, they will be able to acquire Fuel, Tech, and Weapons from the supply, equip and attack with those Weapons based on the number of slots they have, gain new slots, power up, and use their special ability. All four of the Bosses in this game have their own decks and abilities, and will require a different strategy to be defeated
Year Published
2023
Featured Videos
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 3
This page: 3
Sentiment:
pos 2 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–3 of 3
Video d8-wV81MG1A
Board Game Coffee rules teach at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 9585 · mention_pk 112813
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Cooperative boss-based challenge with modular boss difficulty
- Tense turn-order randomness adds replayability
- Clear, rules-described setup and teaching approach
- In-game economy emphasizes resource management and planning
Cons
- Complex setup and numerous tokens may intimidate new players
- No deck reshuffle makes late-game clogs possible if mismanaged
- Boss/minion interactions require careful sequencing and tracking
- Prototype components in video may differ from final version
Thematic elements
- Team-based deck-building, sci-fi combat against a boss, procedural difficulty
- Spacefaring teams defend a homeworld against a boss in a cooperative space-battle setting
- Boss-battle oriented with minions and artillery regime; procedural escalation via level tokens
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action economy (main/attack/draw phases) — A player's turn has three phases; you can attack with weapons during attack phase, perform multiple main actions, then draw and manage energy.
- Attack with multiple weapons — Equipped weapons can be used in sequence; some cards allow cross-player weapon usage; attacked damage reduces enemy health, or fills minion counters.
- Boss and minion system — The boss has a deck, level tokens, artillery tokens, and minions with health; cards resolve sequentially oldest to newest; level-ups add health and alter threats.
- boss battler — The boss has a deck, level tokens, artillery tokens, and minions with health; cards resolve sequentially oldest to newest; level-ups add health and alter threats.
- Cooperative deck-building — Players build their attack and support decks during setup and play; cards provide weapons, tech and fuel but decks do not shuffle; ongoing deck construction shapes strategy.
- Energy economy (fuel/tech/weapon) — Energy is generated by fuel cards and spent to buy new cards or power up abilities; energy does not carry over between turns.
- engine building — Energy is generated by fuel cards and spent to buy new cards or power up abilities; energy does not carry over between turns.
- Non-shuffle discard-based deck — Discard piles are not reshuffled, making discard order important; when cards are bought, effects may trigger immediately via 'buy' keywords.
- Power up and homeworld tracks — Power track charges for character abilities; homeworld track uses power to trigger global effects; management of tokens and slots is critical.
- Turn order deck (randomized turns) — Each round draw from a turn-order deck to decide who acts next; adds unpredictability and strategic risk.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The goal in Astronights is to work together to defeat the big bad boss before it destroys your homeworld or wipes out your entire team
- Your turn order is determined randomly each round with the turn order deck
- All accumulated energy you generate on your turn is there for you to spend until the end of your main phase; unspent energy is lost
- No shuffling your discard pile means the order you discard matters
- I hope you enjoy playing Astronights; see you next week
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video RDqFdxUPxnE
OFPG Voices general_discussion at 19:58 sentiment: positive
video_pk 9426 · mention_pk 27849
Click to watch at 19:58 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Turn order novelty adds unpredictability
- Beautiful art and streamlined deck-building
- Accessible entry point for Aeon's End fans
Cons
- Some players may find it challenging; not as fully polished as base systems
- Official publisher/designer details are less clear in this video
Thematic elements
- Heroes defending a city from a powerful foe
- Space-themed cooperative deck-building against a big bad
- cooperative, narrative-driven combat with modular villains
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative deck-building — Players collaborate to build their decks and defeat a big bad.
- Health and power tracking — Characters track health; power allows special moves when charged.
- turn order cards — Turn sequence is determined by order cards, adding unpredictability.
- Villain gauge and multi-level difficulty — Villains have levels with escalating effects; difficulty can be adjusted.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- our goal is to make this world a better place one board gamer at a time
- Caverna is a fantastic game it's one of my favorite games of all time
- The theme of the game is really about the Amsterdam Tulip Festival where people build colorful bouquets and give flowers to their friends
- Astro Knights will be up there as one of the best games
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Knm7xL39zRU
Waste Knights game_review at 0:17 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 2733 · mention_pk 94664
Click to watch at 0:17 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- strong writing and immersive world-building
- evocative art on cards and in the books that reinforces the setting
- story-driven design with replayability across multiple scenarios
- distinctive post-apocalyptic Australian setting that stands out in the genre
- varied character upgrades and encounters that add depth
Cons
- scenario timers are fast, which can make the game feel like a race
- pain cycles can be punishing, with recovery steps interrupting flow
- the skill use is heavily skewed toward guns and blades (roughly 90% of the time)
- difficulty is unforgiving for casual players, potentially limiting audience
Thematic elements
- survival, exploration, and story-driven conflict in a harsh frontier
- Post-apocalyptic Australia, outback wasteland with radiated monsters
- scenario-based with a storybook framework and encounter-driven storytelling
Comparison games
- Fallout
- Tainted Grail
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action economy — Each turn allows two actions, with a restriction that the same action cannot be taken twice
- Character and vehicle customization — Each player has a character with gear and a vehicle; XP unlocks skills and equipment for progression
- City actions and barter — City actions include drawing three broken gear cards for barter, free healing, and car repairs
- Combat structure (range and melee) — Range combat uses gun-related dice; melee uses blades; successful rolls yield XP and a random item
- Combat: Dice — Custom dice determine hits and complications, driving combat and action outcomes
- Dice-based conflict resolution — Custom dice determine hits and complications, driving combat and action outcomes
- Encounter flow and resolution — Encounters are revealed after actions; events are followed or combat is triggered depending on the card
- Endgame consequences and failures — Excessive damage or injuries can eliminate players, with scenario-driven win/lose conditions
- Explore and plot actions — Explore draws a card with a bonus; players can redraw up to their exploration score; Plot actions interact with the scenario and often lead to the storybook
- Hazard and injury system — Yellow hazard markers cause damage; accumulating injuries can knock a player out or lead to elimination
- Movement and terrain costs — Movement uses vehicle-based points; terrain costs vary (Highway 0, Desert 1, Forest/Mountains 2; Craters are impassable)
- Movement points — Movement uses vehicle-based points; terrain costs vary (Highway 0, Desert 1, Forest/Mountains 2; Craters are impassable)
- Narrative choice — Story elements and the storybook shape the pacing and experiences of different scenarios
- Narrative-driven progression — Story elements and the storybook shape the pacing and experiences of different scenarios
- Progression and XP — Experience points earned from encounters and combat as a driver for accessing new skills and equipment
- Resource management — Three core resources: Ammo, Medicine, and Fuel; Medicine heals points, Wounds cost 1, Contamination 2, Radiation 3; Repair skills fix broken gear
- Track advancement — Experience points earned from encounters and combat as a driver for accessing new skills and equipment
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The best thing about this game is the writing; it's legitimately good
- Post-apocalyptic Australia for a change, which is the true home of the genre
- The world building is great with evocative art in the books and on the cards and the stories fit into the world perfectly
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
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