In the year 2021, after years of seclusion underground, humanity emerges onto the surface, propelled by the development of groundbreaking new technology. Decades of catastrophic fallout from a nuclear disaster during the Cold War have laid waste to the known world, compelling civilization to seek shelter beneath the earth. The pressing task now is the construction of regenerators, which will generate new habitats to facilitate the resurgence of life and the reclamation of the Earth. A world brimming with hope awaits aboveground.
Phoenix New Horizon is a Euro-style board game in which players assume control of a team of commandos tasked with the mission of recolonizing Earth. Throughout the game's four rounds, players accumulate victory points by constructing regenerators and buildings, bolstering the planet's population, and achieving diverse objectives that vary between playthroughs.
Players must adeptly allocate their commandos to various actions throughout the game while also specializing them to enable more potent abilities at the expenses of versatility. Fulfilling missions assigned by the governing authorities yields additional actions on a player's turn.
—description from the publisher
- Wonderful worker placement with novel mechanics
- Interesting post-apocalyptic setting
- Cartoony retro presentation
- Great game demonstration/teaching
- post-apocalypse
- rebuilding civilization
- Fallout-adjacent
- Fallout
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- life is too short to worry about games that don't work very well
- all of these games are really really cool in various ways
- Rich and deep and complex
- phenomenal
- no surprise that Designer artist Ryan Locket
References (from this video)
- Very fast loop: 12 turns per game, under 90 minutes with high engagement
- Rich depth for a mid-weight Euro: lots of meaningful decisions per turn
- Strong theme integration and flavorful components
- Excellent variability due to setup randomness and objective diversity
- Solo learning curve and occasional ambiguity around rules (noted in the subtitles corrections scene)
- Tracking and rule interactions can feel clipboard-heavy in practice
- Kraken AI can feel punishing or mechanically tricky in solo/multiplayer interactions
- Initial confusion around correct placement and rule interpretation in some turns
- Rebuilding civilization, resource scarcity, strategic competition, and inter-player dynamics
- Post-apocalyptic future where humanity emerges from fallout shelters to rebuild after nuclear Armageddon; Phoenix Initiative as a reconstruction program
- Narrative-forward Euro with a Fallout-inspired flavor; competitive but themed around rebuilding
- White Castle
- Earth (Big Crunchy Euros)
- Holler tole (Holler-tole)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric opposition (Kraken AI) — Kraken acts as an opposing player controlled by cards, simulating human competition and blocking/shaping your options
- Blue shortcuts and modular board — Blue shortcut paths and a modular action board provide varied routes to top-tier actions and diverse setups each game
- End-of-round and round progression — Rounds advance with income and card refreshes; the Kraken AI continues to push for advancement, influencing pace
- Objective cards and micro-objectives — A mix of global and personal objectives that drive choices and scoring with varied rewards
- Progress tracks and upgrades — Workers move up in levels to access higher-level actions; advancing tracks also impacts end-game scoring and income
- Resource management (fuel, energy, etc.) — Fuel is scarce and pivotal for builds; energy and other tokens drive progression and incentives
- worker placement — Players assign workers to actions; promoting/upgrading workers unlocks new action sets and alters available options
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I think it's one of the games of the year in my opinion
- speed speed speed
- the more I play this the more I fall in love with it
- it's so wonderfully done
- I love a Euro where we're building economic infrastructure