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Game Info
Year
2022
Collection
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Description
Welcome to 581.
On this distant planet, four factions battle for control of alien artifacts left behind by an advanced and ancient civilization. The warring factions are Terra Corps, Scion Imperium, Neo Human Republic, and Feng. With Earth in near ruins, 581 provides the chance for a second Earth, but who will rule? Who will be the first to build a Wormgate and transport their armies through it to conquer the dust of 581?
During the invasions of 581, the factions built large, interstellar bases to house, control, and deploy troops. These bases are known as Hives. As a player, you take on the role of a commander of one of these Hives, from which you deploy your forces in the fight for control of the ancient alien artifacts and dominance over 581 itself.
Lost Empires is a head-to-head, card-driven area control game with a focus on tactical movement and deck design. Each player chooses a faction to play, and using the cards available to that faction, constructs an 18-card deck with which you do battle. You earn artifacts by controlling objectives and destroying elite enemy units augmented with alien technology. Once you have collected sufficient artifacts, you use them to construct a Wormgate. The first person to build a Wormgate, wins the war for the new sun.
—description from the publisher
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Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 2
This page: 2
Sentiment:
pos 2 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–2 of 2
Video rrDmrbP5830
Meeple University Playthrough at 3:28 sentiment: positive
video_pk 90477 · mention_pk 291396
Click to watch at 3:28 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- fast-paced two-player duel with clear rules
- variety of factions and deck options
- live explanation of rules and decisions during play
- production elements (custom dice, green screen) enhance presentation
- in-stream giveaway incentivizes viewer participation
Cons
- rule explanations can become tangled or confusing during live play
- prototype status and upcoming expansions may introduce changes
- live play reveals some ambiguous interactions or card effects
Thematic elements
- space empire warfare with artifacts and gate fragments
- two-player battlefield with hives, outer/center objectives, artifacts, gate fragments, and faction variants
- rule-driven tactical play with live commentary and rule elaboration
Comparison games
- Sorcerer
- Hero Realms
- Star Realms
- Seven Wonders Duel
- Santorini
- Magic: The Gathering
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Points — each turn provides four command points and one supply point used to deploy, move, and attack
- action points (command and supply) — each turn provides four command points and one supply point used to deploy, move, and attack
- Combat: Dice — combat uses custom d10 dice with mapped values to resolve battles; outcomes depend on die results
- Compound Scoring — control of outer objectives yields artifacts; center objective yields more artifacts when controlled
- deck structure and drafting — starting deck is 18 cards; players select starting factions and build from available cards
- Dice-based combat — combat uses custom d10 dice with mapped values to resolve battles; outcomes depend on die results
- drained units — units that take damage become drained, affecting their control value and future capabilities
- frontline deployment — frontline units can engage and influence battles, with specific deployment rules described during play
- gate fragments and victory condition — collect four gate fragments to win the game
- Hidden Victory Points — collect four gate fragments to win the game
- objective control scoring — control of outer objectives yields artifacts; center objective yields more artifacts when controlled
- round end draw and refresh — after evaluating control, players draw and refresh as the round ends
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Lost Empires it is a two-player battle card game.
- the game is played with an 18 card deck but it comes with four um yeah 436 card decks i think so you only ever take 18 to start the game
- outer objectives gains one artifact and center objective gains two
- the expansion is coming to Kickstarter
- the password wormgate
- we're playing Lost Empires War for the New Sun
- it's a quick game we go through our deck of 18
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 4PbvlxDrBi8
Before You Play Rules Teach at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 90 · mention_pk 207
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Strong two-player focus with clear asymmetry between factions
- High replayability due to faction decks and deck customization
- Well-defined phase structure supports strategic planning and pacing
- Engaging blend of hand management, area control, and push-your-luck combat
- Center objective being more valuable creates central tension and strategic decisions
- Gate/token dynamic provides a tangible victory path and endgame urgency
Cons
- Prototype copy noted as subject to change; production may differ
- Limited to two players, which restricts audience and playgroup flexibility
- Deck-building depth may overwhelm new players who prefer simpler runs
- Discarded cards are not shuffled back, which can reduce long-term hand quality and variety
Thematic elements
- Faction warfare to secure a worm gate, deploy troops, and contest central and outer objectives
- Far into the future after Earth's destruction, colonists seek a second home on planet 581 to establish a new strategic stronghold.
- Sci-fi military frontier with asymmetric factions and deck-based play
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Points — On a turn you can deploy, play a support card, or activate a unit. Activating costs action points and enables move/attack/activate abilities; not all actions are available every turn.
- Activation system — On a turn you can deploy, play a support card, or activate a unit. Activating costs action points and enables move/attack/activate abilities; not all actions are available every turn.
- Area Control — Three objectives on the central board (center and two outer) determine control and grant artifact resources based on who has the controlling units with damage markers considered.
- Combat: Dice — Attack and defense use a ten-sided die, mapped to 1-4 production values for combat resolution. Critical results can add extra damage and there are rules around tying and nullifying attacks.
- Deck customization — Four factions exist with color-coordinated decks; players typically use 18 cards, with the option to craft customized decks for advanced play.
- Dice-based combat — Attack and defense use a ten-sided die, mapped to 1-4 production values for combat resolution. Critical results can add extra damage and there are rules around tying and nullifying attacks.
- Gate and artifact economy — Artifact tokens are earned by controlling objectives and are traded in four at a time for a gate token; the gate token is a round-specific win condition.
- Hand Management — Each player starts with a 18-card deck; cards used are discarded and do not reshuffle back into the hand for the round, making card economy critical.
- Phased turn structure — Each round has five phases: order, activation/deployment; control phase to award artifacts; gate phase to convert artifacts; casualty phase to remove heavily damaged units; wrap-up with refreshes and card draw.
- Token economy — Command tokens and a supply token are spent to deploy and activate units; tokens refresh at the end of the round, shaping turn decisions.
- Variable Phase Order — Each round has five phases: order, activation/deployment; control phase to award artifacts; gate phase to convert artifacts; casualty phase to remove heavily damaged units; wrap-up with refreshes and card draw.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the first one who opens their gate wins the game
- center objective is more lucrative than these outer objectives
- anytime a card says the word drain on it
- no hand limit but again these cards do not refresh
- turn in four artifact tokens for one gate token
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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