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Game Info
Year
2024
Collection
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Description
Saxony's energy revolution was so impactful that everyone wanted to start using Nucleums in their regions. Australia's huge deposits of uranium were ripe for the taking, leading to visionaries — lured by the vast number of possibilities — visiting the continent and changing it into a new global power. Here, these entrepreneurs have to face new challenges presented by the sheer size of the continent. Fortunately, the clever use of shipping lanes will help them transport resources more efficiently than by rail and even gain access to the nearby island of Tasmania, where a mad scientist conducting his own experiments managed to replicate Elsa's invention, which is now proudly presented as an experimental power plant in the island's capital of Hobart.
Nucleum: Australia comes with a new map that introduces several new concepts and rule changes to the Nucleum base game. Use shipping lanes to expand your networks, build your own coal mines, and try the expert variant with bidding for the experiments.
—description from the publisher
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All mentions
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 HZpjlRnHjfE
Watch It Played News Roundup at 7:45 sentiment: positive
video_pk 88135 · mention_pk 336422
Click to watch at 7:45 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- new map and concepts
- extended depth to Nucleum
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- expansion to an economic Euro game
- Australia map expansion to Nucleum
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- expansion content — new map and concepts expanding the base game
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The Witcher brings so much to the game a rich fancy setting a unique Heroes and some of the best villains unmatched has ever seen
- each hero is represented by a unique deck designed to evoke their style and Legend tactical movement and no luck combat resolution create a play experience that rewards expertise
- this looks charming and puzzly two things the board game world seems to just really enjoy
- River Valley Glass Works a tall placement game for one to five players from design team Adam Hill Ben Pinchback and Matt riddle
- puzzly flip and roll and write games featuring the habitat of wildlife of the Pacific Northwest
References (from this video)
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Video PTwB4hCDVgk
Board Of It Discussion at 5:05 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 80646 · mention_pk 322645
Click to watch at 5:05 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Nice expansion that ups the level of route building.
- Makes map more accessible with shipping lanes.
- Harder to block players than the original map.
- Introduces its own complexities which is fun.
- Nice way to shake things up if bored of the base map.
- Coal mines are a nice little element.
Cons
- Less circular than the original board with some one-way areas.
- Does not feature a city like Prague that doubled points.
- Shipping lanes are not always interacted with by players.
- Not an expansion one 'has to go out and get'.
- It is really just a different map.
- Depends on how much issues from the base game bother you.
Thematic elements
- Map featuring Australia
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Coal Mines — Can be built via the industrialize action, providing one coal every time you energize for free per mine, provided it's connected.
- Extended Game Length — Changes the number of end-game conditions for three or four players, as the original was sometimes criticized for ending too early. Generally extends the game by needing more contracts or victory points for triggers.
- New Map — Provides a new board featuring Australia.
- One-way Routes — Introduces one-way areas on the map, increasing complexity.
- Shipping Lanes — Connections that all players can be present in, increasing accessibility but at a cost. Makes it harder to block players.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Think of it like Brass and Barrage had a baby, but that baby is radioactive.
- Nucleum feels very much like its own game with a wonderful action selection system, but it also feels like a homage to energy and industrial board games that have come before, notably Barrage and the Brass series.
- The crunch point of when you're going to give them up to put them on the board and lose them permanently, but you might still get to activate them once. There's a lot of fun in that.
- I guess some might argue if you ignore it and other people are going there, you might be leaving points on on the table, but it just depends.
- MG Research Institute is essentially just an absolutely ridiculous number of new experiments.
- it's just another thing to fight over, I think, if you kind of underline what it's doing.
References (from this video)
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Video nHgN0dBfGpA
Board Of It Review at 1:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 29961 · mention_pk 87937
Click to watch at 1:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Introduces a thematically cohesive Australia map with realistic geographic constraints
- Coal mines create a compelling new energy-angling path and a strong early engine option
- Shipping lanes add a meaningful long-distance transport choice that complements existing networks
Cons
- Setup and map switching between base map and Australia map can be tedious or error-prone
- For some players, the expansion feels less engaging than the core game after multiple plays
Thematic elements
- resource management and energy production within a geopolitical-inspired economic network
- Australia map with coastal cities, inland coal mines, and the island of Tasmania shaping strategic considerations
- real-world geography driving economic and energy optimization
Comparison games
- Nucleum base game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- coal mines control — own coal mines to receive a free energy boon with energized actions, creating a free-energy engine option
- island energization — one power plant starts on an island; buildings on that island can be energized by that plant, creating regional planning considerations
- map-specific setup and interaction — requires integrating a new map while maintaining base-game rules, with action tiles and contracts sometimes needing adjustment when switching maps
- sea lanes — new routing network for shipping that differs from rail; energy cannot travel via sea lanes, introducing a trade-off between material transport and energy access
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Australia adds a new map of Australia and it also adds some new mechanisms on this map.
- we really enjoyed playing around with the new mechanism of the coal mines and made it a CO Park strategy as it gives you free energy at the low cost of one worker to initially take it over.
- the shipping lanes are fine; it is a quite interesting tradeoff to be able to ship the materials longer distances but not the energy.
- Court of progress fits on top nicely and it just adds another element.
- it's not mandatory but it's the type of expansion... once it's included in the base game it's never coming out
References (from this video)
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