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Empires of the Void II

Game ID: GID0113037
Collection Status
Description

The Kurross Empire emerged from the deep, endless pool of space, dark and undetectable. They crushed Earth’s paltry fleet within a week, and broke through the great planetary shield that protected the surface. Bright blue oceans turned to an irradiated wasteland as they bombarded the planet, shredding the remnants of thousands of years of human history. Markan, last captain of Earth’s forces, made a final, desperate attempt to survive, salvaging an abandoned Worldship from hundreds of years past. She took command and headed for the fringe of the galaxy, where there was a chance to gain a foothold, grow in strength, and find new allies for the fight against the Kurross. Earth’s long-time enemies, the Zun and Decima Empires, soon followed in their own Worldships, leaving behind decimated worlds and lost family, determined to stake their own claim of the fringe.

In Empires of the Void II, you have been given a mission to establish a foothold at the fringe of the galaxy for your galactic empire. The game begins when your massive Worldships reach the fringe, where you must explore, wage war, use diplomacy, and construct buildings to gain victory. The fringe is sparsely populated and the few local sentient species are struggling to survive, leaving huge regions of planets open for exploration and colonization. Many species are eager to ally themselves with a powerful empire to gain security and stability in a chaotic and difficult time.

As you explore and interact with planets, you will discover unfolding stories of the fringe. Each inhabited planet is home to a unique alien species, with their own goals, values, and problems. Will you give aid by fighting off pirates, transporting goods, and curing strange diseases? Or will you invade and rule with a cruel hand? This may be your last chance to prepare before the Kurross meet you again.

Year Published
2018
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 6
This page: 6
Sentiment: pos 5 · mix 1 · neu 0 · neg 0
Mentions per page
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Showing 1–6 of 6
Video cF_b0HZsrR4 Dungeon Master's Ludus general_discussion at 4:44 sentiment: positive
video_pk 12831 · mention_pk 37457
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Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Event-driven world changes deepen the sense of a living universe
  • Varied planet mechanics create rich thematic experiences
  • High visual and thematic integration enhances immersion
Cons
  • Complex to learn for newcomers
  • Thematic emphasis may overshadow tight engine balance for some players
Thematic elements
  • Exploration, conquest, interstellar politics
  • Space opera / galaxy-spanning empire-building
  • World-building with evolving planetary culture and events
Comparison games
  • Above and Below
  • Near and Far
  • Robinson Crusoe
  • Charterstone
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Character tiles with unique art and flavor — Diverse character visuals energize storytelling and immersion
  • Event cards that affect the universe — Planet-specific events shape gameplay over time
  • Multiple planets with distinct cultures and goals — Different planets react to events and influence strategy
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • when I'm in the game I want to feel like the game itself has a mind of its own and it is operating like its own organism
  • experience is one of the most important things to me about any game no matter what it is
  • these event cards don't poke you with a stick directly but what they do is they create some sort of event that is going on in the universe based on that planet
  • the game feel alive
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video GrajuEsakUw The Broken Meeple top_list at 22:07 sentiment: positive
video_pk 11539 · mention_pk 33932
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Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • one of the best board game covers ever
  • gorgeous board with beautiful tiles
  • allows play style choice (combat vs diplomatic)
  • clever action sequence system
  • minimal downtime
  • plays in 2-hour window once you know rules
  • good combat dice mechanic with mitigation
  • thematically sound space game
  • looks gorgeous for photos
  • nice variety from missions and deliveries
  • random alien encounters each game
Cons
  • hasn't had many plays recently
  • larger game harder to get to table
  • no solo mode
  • front-loaded teach
Thematic elements
  • space exploration
  • aliens
  • spacefaring
  • planets
  • diplomacy and warfare
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • all these factors that go into this list and the games that I enjoy at any particular time
  • I like deck builders, it's a good fun mechanic
  • watch their brains click and then you're like yes got you hook line and singer
  • it's only a game
  • these people should not touch card games - hate those people
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video mkIkS0GiwnY The Broken Meatball top_10_list at 10:44 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8467 · mention_pk 24900
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Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Tells excellent space exploration stories
  • Events create dynamic narrative moments
  • Beautiful artwork by Ryan Locket
  • Gorgeous visual presentation
  • Works with different player counts (best at 3-4)
  • Two-player version still works well
Cons
  • Rulebook could be better in places
  • Some FAQ clarity needed
Thematic elements
  • Space exploration, alien diplomacy and conquest
  • Space exploration and alien encounters
  • Story-driven through random events and player choices
Comparison games
  • Twilight Imperium
  • Exodus
  • Proxima Centauri
  • Legends of a Drift
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Action timing — Choose when to perform actions and piggyback off opponents' actions
  • Befriend vs Conquer — Choose to befriend races for allied bonuses or conquer them
  • Building and technology — Build three different building types and research six different technologies
  • Event deck — Events dictate various happenings like satellites revealing hands or monsters destroying planets
  • Race selection — Different alien races with unique powers
  • Resource management — Manage three different resources
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • It's the lower end of middle weight but I still think it's a solid game
  • Medium and heavy weight doesn't mean that it has to be the most complicated fiddly thing to get through
  • I love it when a game is just smooth streamlined gorgeousness
  • This is a fantastic laugh out loud euro game
  • This is definitely my definitive space game
  • How dare you not play this game sooner
  • The variety in this game is off the friggin scale
  • This game just ticks all the boxes for me
  • It seems like this game was designed for me
  • Regardless of what's light medium or heavy as long as you're playing at the right stage for you it's only a game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video y2BOlQmTrmY The Broken Meeple top_10_list at 25:12 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8197 · mention_pk 24072
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Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • strong space theme with varied strategic options
  • solid solo mode with AI-like competition
  • lots of replayability via different factions and routes
Cons
  • heavy rules and lengthy playtime
  • complex to learn, not ideal for casual pickup
Thematic elements
  • 4X-style empire building in a compact board game
  • space opera with factional galactic empires
  • galactic storytelling with multiple victory paths
Comparison games
  • Legends of the Drift System
  • Twilight Imperium
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • multi-path victory conditions — choose from several routes to scoring and end-game triggers
  • space conquest and diplomacy — build fleets, negotiate or wage war with neighbors
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • the daddy of the sandbox genre
  • you basically drop into the middle of this Galaxy with a ship and go do what you like
  • it's a sandbox Euro that a lot of people are aware of
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video jsVkwdoTLtY The Broken Meeple top_10_list at 5:02 sentiment: positive
video_pk 5964 · mention_pk 17689
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Click to watch at 5:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Living, breathing world with dynamic events
  • Random mission cards create unique stories each play
  • Good solo and multiplayer experience
  • Immersive space setting
Cons
  • Only one major space game on the list - limited availability of immersive space games
Thematic elements
  • Building a space empire through exploration and diplomacy
  • Space exploration, colonial expansion
  • Emergent narrative through player decisions and random events
Comparison games
  • Twilight Imperium
  • Eclipse
  • ISS Vanguard
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Dynamic events — Event cards shuffled into deck and drawn randomly, affecting gameplay unpredictably
  • mission cards — Pull random missions that create emergent stories (deliveries, battles, diplomatic negotiations)
  • Planetary exploration — Players explore planets with different species and can befriend or attack them
  • resource collection — Gather resources from planets and alliances
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • good mechanics will make a game good but a good theme will bring me back for the second play
  • Luke's law: theme makes a game a lot better for me
  • immersion is not just a case of oh the game has a good theme but it's how immersed in the world am I
  • there is a little bit of a difference between the two [thematic and immersive]
  • it doesn't matter how rich that story you make it would still suck as a game
  • I feel like I'm just basically telling my own MCU movie
  • the world feels alive and therefore I'm going to get immersed in it
  • when I'm playing the game I don't feel like I'm just playing a bunch of mechanics I feel like I'm telling my character story
  • I am invested in what people are doing I am role playing my character
  • this is a very dark game okay and not for the fainthearted not for the easily triggered
  • I have never sweated in a card game so much before
  • you will be sucked into this world and you will care about the characters
  • the king of all campaign story driven games that I know of
  • some of the best writing I have seen in any campaign game to date
  • regardless of what kind of world you'd find yourself immersed in remember to come back to reality at some point and still remember it's only a game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video A0imhcncc1Y Foster the Meeple general_discussion at 7:01 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 3330 · mention_pk 9840
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Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
  • Space empire building
  • Space
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • unknown — not specified in transcript
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • We've hit a thousand. Do we go back and start again?
  • There is not a chance that we could play all of these games
  • If you're here for that where's the fun
  • I would play that
  • That sounds like Pirates of the Caribbean
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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