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Game Info
Year
2022
Collection
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Description
Stars of Akarios is a narrative-driven, cooperative campaign game set in the Akarios Galaxy. Throughout Stars of Akarios, you will fight in epic space battles, upgrade your ship, and explore the fringes of space. Stars of Akarios is built upon 4 core pillars of game play: Space Combat, World Exploration, Space Exploration, and Player Progression. Each pillar works together to create a unified and epic, sci-fi board game experience.
You and your fellow cadets are close to completing your Akarios Institute pilot training when an unknown enemy attacks your home planet of Medellia. You must fight back with the war hero Captain Soma and her ship, the Sparrow. You will need to step out of your fighters to explore hostile worlds and ships, putting your cunning to the test as you seek new home for your civilization. Use your pilots' skills to complete the challenges you encounter in the limited time available. Manage your ship’s resources as you explore new regions of space and embark on missions fighting to survive through the unknown. Even if you are out of resources you can continue exploring, but you risk starting your next encounter at a disadvantage. Your pilot's skills will grow as you test your grit against the enemies in Stars of Akarios. Upgrade you characters' unique abilities and skill trees, allowing you to customize your play experience.
The 200 page scenario book unfolds as a "choose-your-own-adventure." Each choice, success, and failure will shape your story. It will take multiple play-throughs to see all of the Akarios galaxy. 8 different pilots each come with their own unique progression pad and set of skills. The campaign starts with 4 available pilots and the others are unlocked through the choices you make. 10 pilot ships each come with their own set of abilities and class. The ship class will determine what type of upgrades the ship can equip. Equip a combination of upgrade and ability cards from over 55 weapon cards, 55 engine cards, 55 tech cards, many co-pilots, ship abilities, and pilot abilities. Slot in each upgrade in your dual-layered playerboard where everything has a home.
—description from the publisher
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Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 11
This page: 11
Sentiment:
pos 6 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–11 of 11
Video Lt-veI4tCyY
Hungry Gamer Interview at 41:59 sentiment: positive
video_pk 89320 · mention_pk 237011
Click to watch at 41:59 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- great tactical space combat
- table presence
- expanding library of good games
Cons
- production info scarce; unknown publisher/designer
Thematic elements
- space tactical combat; ship-to-ship action
- space exploration / combat
- narrative-driven, with battle cards
Comparison games
- Gloomhaven
- Gaia Project
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deck-building or hand-management — players build and play cards to attack and move
- map exploration — tiles/maps that you explore across the board
- tactical space combat — gridless movement and area effects
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Marvel Champions is a living card game by Fantasy Flight Games.
- it's the right amount of deck building because it's not very much deck building but at the same time the card play is so fun
- it's the game my wife and I started playing this new set and so I'm going at her pace for this one
- The Loop is very Tactical, super duper tactical
- Time Stories we did every mission of Time Stories
- Planet Unknown did an entire tournament on there
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video H6LmbyTlrok
Grant Lyon Top 10 List at 25:17 sentiment: positive
video_pk 85669 · mention_pk 220163
Click to watch at 25:17 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- immersive narrative and ongoing campaign structure
- detailed world-building and expansion of content in 1.5 version
Cons
- legacy-style sequencing may deter casual players
Thematic elements
- galactic exploration, ship upgrades, epic battles
- spacefaring, narrative-driven cooperative campaign
- campaign-driven, choose-your-own-adventure
Comparison games
- Gloomhaven (in space)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative campaign with progression — Players progress through a 200-page scenario book, upgrading and advancing the story.
- Narrative Choice — Story-driven chapters influence later play with upgrades and new lore.
- narrative dive and balance adjustments — Story-driven chapters influence later play with upgrades and new lore.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I am an optimistic person. So I think we will figure this out.
- Happy gaming out there. Grant with GrantsGameres.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video lLOqRLZ6Mro
Nights Around a Table Rules Teach at 0:07 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 85495 · mention_pk 219204
Click to watch at 0:07 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- world explorations
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action dice — Players use action dice to perform actions.
- Asteroid Fields — Environmental hazards present in the base game.
- Bolster Cards — Cards that can be added to a player's modifier deck.
- Campaign play — The base game features a campaign with acts and a timeline.
- Equipment slots — Player boards have equipment slots that can be blocked by drones.
- friendly fire — A rule that is generally in effect but can be overridden by certain drone actions.
- Modifier cards — Used to augment attacks.
- Moons — Celestial bodies that cause missiles to explode on impact.
- Nebula — Environmental elements that missiles can pass through.
- Planets — Celestial bodies that cause missiles to explode on impact.
- Shields — A defensive attribute that can be affected by certain drone actions.
- Stress Mechanic — A mechanic that can be applied to enemies via the 'hack' effect.
- World exploration — The base game involves world explorations.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- You know what? This game needs robots.
- Each drone takes over a certain section of your player board.
- So, I haven't played Stars of Aarios yet, you can hold off on drones until you're just past the prologue.
- If you're thinking nuts to all that, and you just want to add drones to your game, well, you can do that, too.
- Hooray! New terrible things to worry about.
- No one's going to stop you. Not even Disney.
- Well, that's one slippery ghost.
- So you can, for example, find a weak enemy ship with one hull point left and drive it into an asteroid field to blow it up.
- But only if you're insane.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video FfEjSA3qw6M
Meet Me At The Table Top List at 12:51 sentiment: positive
video_pk 83794 · mention_pk 211892
Click to watch at 12:51 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Positive
Pros
- Surprising and tactical space combat
- Engaging story and character progression
- Meaningful choices for ship and character upgrades
- Visually appealing with new terrain expansions
Cons
- Incomplete campaign due to expansion release
Thematic elements
- Ship battling and planet exploration
- Space
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Character progression — Characters progress and gain new abilities.
- planet exploration — The game features planet exploration.
- Ship and Character Upgrades — Choices made to your ship and characters, including choosing upgrade cards, make a difference in performance.
- ship combat — A ship battling game with exciting and tactical space combat.
- Story Events — Story events can change how the story progresses.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I love campaign games that uh I haven't finished and I need to finish these.
- Isoparian Guard is a game that involves exploration with a compelling story.
- This is Stars of Aarios. This is a ship battling game, and it works really well.
- Aon Trespass Odyssey is the game for you.
- The boss fights are epic.
- Number one on the list is Madara.
- There's so many things that make this game a mustplay that it tops my list of campaign games that I need to complete.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video GoLygHCLGv8
Rob's Tabletop World Discussion at 38:02 sentiment: negative
video_pk 83255 · mention_pk 209429
Click to watch at 38:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
none
Cons
- New version (1.5) made the old version useless.
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- So, baseball highlights 20 45. So, I kind of want to start testing some things and I think I'm going to try something real simple like a nice little playthrough with this game and um because you could play it solo and you know each game takes about four to seven minutes to play.
- And, you know, not the most high high high high quality game in the world, but as far as fun, I mean, isn't that what it's all about?
- I'll tell you, Stonemaier Games. Dear God, that guy just he's special. He really is. Really is special. Special dude. Just knows what he's doing.
- I can't even get rid of Star of Aaros because that piece of garbage is You got to have the 1.5. You know, they ruined they ruin any value of the the old game. If you ever want to get rid of the old game, it's it's completely useless because they had to come out with 1.5 version.
- All I want is just one more championship to make up for that because they were robbed with the Steelers which was the what they which they call the most crooked game ever.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video x92cZSjQ3tg
Rob's Tabletop World Discussion at 13:15
video_pk 82224 · mention_pk 206556
Click to watch at 13:15 · YouTube ↗
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Undaunted 2200 which is a very good game. Tactics II, very very good.
- I've got all the Killforths.
- Nemo's War, great game.
- Defenders of the Realm, love that game. Love it.
- I got some BattleTech on painting. Going to start painting again.
- Ogre, great game.
- We're going to be back in business, folks. We're going to be back in business.
- We're going to be back to full strength again. Just like the old days.
- People that want to work with me, great. People that don't want to work with me, great. Don't care.
- Getting hacked, man. It was very It took a lot of wind out of my sails.
- I'll get us there. All right, we got the other cable coming within the next month or so. Uh, they're going to be running that up here, so we're going to have fiber.
- I got 10 videos I got to get done. I got more stuff coming.
- We're turning the old game around.
- I don't think I've ever been this busy. And I'm pretty happy about it.
- We'll come back and uh, next week we'll start we'll start doing nice little short live play. Maybe we'll do uh, Val Petra.
- Everything feels better. You know, everything feels good.
- It is your old pal Earl.
- This has been a long time coming and it's showing the subscriptions have gone up.
- It's been a rough 2 days. But don't worry about it. I'll shake it off. I'll come back stronger than ever.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 9gHbM1GupXA
Rob's Tabletop World Analysis at 2:05
video_pk 80150 · mention_pk 194605
Click to watch at 2:05 · YouTube ↗
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It's about survival now.
- Quite a huge hole here for for Lord of the Rings fans or people that love RPGs.
- Everything that you need have some fun with some Blade Runner.
- This is a great great box and should not be overlooked.
- Drums of War, nice little solo game.
- Hunted is a great system.
- Dungeon World, wonderful book, wonderful wonderful system. Works it's just really really fantastic.
- Battle Cryer, which is a great game.
- Just tons of great stuff in this one.
- instant comic collection at lot number nine.
- At least $600-$700 of stuff in that box.
- bid smart and bid well
- We need the room. We need the money especially.
- bid with your hearts and help us in any way you can.
- I'd rather give you something and get something back.
- We're just looking to get to August and then we'll deal with that from there.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video fI242OmQpvM
Rules Teach at 0:05 sentiment: positive
video_pk 70371 · mention_pk 167309
Click to watch at 0:05 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Story-driven cooperative campaign
- Upgrading ship and pilot with new engines, weapons, skills, and abilities
- Navigating multiple tech trees
- Making important story choices
- Exploring dangerous alien worlds
- Engaging in space combat and dogfights
- Hiring co-pilots and unlocking new ships and characters
Cons
- High stress and trauma levels can occur
Thematic elements
- fledgling pilots under attack, upgrading ships and pilots
- prestigious Accarios Institute, outer space
- story-driven campaign
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players assign dice to specific action slots on their player board or ability cards.
- Campaign play — The game is a campaign game with a story that unfolds over multiple scenarios.
- Character progression — Players upgrade their ship and pilot with new abilities, skills, and stats.
- Combat Effects — Various effects like stealth, stun, slow, and hull breach can be applied to ships during combat.
- cooperative play — Players work together as a team to complete scenario objectives.
- Deck Building (Modifier Deck) — Players can add or remove cards from their modifier deck throughout the game, affecting combat outcomes.
- Dice Rolling — Players roll action dice which are assigned to various actions like move, rotate, and attack.
- Hand Management — Players manage a modifier deck, drawing cards to determine attack success and damage.
- Modular Board — Scenarios are set up on a main board with various tokens and enemy placements.
- Set Collection (Upgrades) — Players can collect weapon, engine, and tech upgrade cards.
- Skill checks — Used in world exploration, requiring dice results to match attribute requirements.
- Stress/Trauma Tracking — Players track stress and trauma levels, which can lead to negative consequences.
- Tech Trees — Players navigate multiple tech trees to upgrade their ship and pilot.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Stress kills, but so does Spaceship Gunfire.
- Mr. Dingles, bogey on your six.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video enR1CfAS5zo
The Dungeon Dive Discussion at 2:29 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 61311 · mention_pk 153984
Click to watch at 2:29 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Well-organized components with compact storage and standees as an alternative to minis
- Interesting exploration concept across multiple star systems and planetary sectors
- Potential for a substantial narrative campaign for players who enjoy deep, story-driven games
Cons
- Heavy card deck management and a potentially dry mechanical feel for some players
- Narrative focus may not align with current gaming preferences for the reviewer
- Learning curve could be intimidating despite a relatively slim rulebook for a large campaign
Thematic elements
- Exploration, discovery, and evolving story through a branching narrative
- Galaxy-spanning cooperative campaign in space
- Sprawling, player-driven narrative with branching choices and long-form progression
Comparison games
- Gloomhaven
- Madara
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Combat: Deck/Hand — Combat encounters are governed by a deck of enemy AI and specific enemy combat cards dictating behavior.
- Cooperative campaign — Players work together across multiple acts and scenarios to shape a shared story.
- Deck Building — Modifier and upgrade cards for pilots, co-pilots, engines, and weapons are added/removed to influence capabilities.
- deck-building / card management — Modifier and upgrade cards for pilots, co-pilots, engines, and weapons are added/removed to influence capabilities.
- Dice augmentation — Dice rolls augment card-based actions, adding an element of luck to outcomes.
- Dice Rolling — Dice rolls augment card-based actions, adding an element of luck to outcomes.
- Enemy AI / combat cards — Combat encounters are governed by a deck of enemy AI and specific enemy combat cards dictating behavior.
- Exploration and campaign progression — Galaxy map exploration guides scenario selection; planetary systems and nebulae provide exploration opportunities.
- Miniatures / standees — Hero ships and some enemies are represented by minis or standees for combat and map presence.
- modular hex map — A three-fold hex map board supports planetary exploration and system layout with modular tiles.
- Resource Management — Cubes/tokens and dedicated boxes keep track of ship resources, actions, and campaign progress.
- tech tree upgrades — Tech upgrade cards expand capabilities and drive long-term progression of ships and crews.
- Tech Trees — Tech upgrade cards expand capabilities and drive long-term progression of ships and crews.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- shorthand is gloomhaven in space
- i bit off more than i can chew
- the rulebook was only about 35 pages
- this is a pretty hefty box
- hopefully it's an easy game to get into
- i'm pretty positive that a lot of people are going to be super into this game
- the setup is probably a lot faster than gloomhaven
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 28x1MMdOUhs
Meet Me at the Table Playthrough at 0:08 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10471 · mention_pk 110515
Click to watch at 0:08 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Engaging and tactile dice-placement combat with multiple tactical avenues
- Campaign structure and squad progression provide long-term engagement
- Aesthetics and miniature painting details (turbo shift paints) enhance immersion
Cons
- Relies on a relatively complex setup and learning curve for new players
- Heavy component management may overwhelm casual players
Thematic elements
- squad-based space battles, planetary exploration, and campaign progression
- Space exploration and combat across a galactic map with a mothership-based crew
- story-driven prelude with learn-to-play briefing and ongoing campaign narrative
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck Manipulation — cards are drawn and applied to modify outcomes of attacks and actions, and the deck is shuffled after certain events
- deck manipulation (modifier deck) — cards are drawn and applied to modify outcomes of attacks and actions, and the deck is shuffled after certain events
- Dice Placement — dice are allocated to ship actions (movement, attack, rotate) to execute actions
- dice-placement — dice are allocated to ship actions (movement, attack, rotate) to execute actions
- movement/attack patterns and flank mechanics — ship positioning (front/side/back) influences attack advantage and damage outcomes
- ship upgrade system (weapons/engines) — players select upgrades that affect attack power, range, and special effects using dice slots
- Simultaneous Actions — players can act in flexible order or simultaneously, facilitating dynamic space combat
- simultaneous turns — players can act in flexible order or simultaneously, facilitating dynamic space combat
- supply and stress cubes — cubes track resources, damage mitigation, and pilot stress with potential trauma consequences
- terrain and hazards — asteroids and nebulas affect hull/shields and move/attack options
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is going to be an epic adventure game in space
- this game is a super cool and i've been waiting for a while to play through it
- this is the cool thing about this game is it can be played simultaneously as well as long as you're not moving through the same area or attacking the same type of character
- look at these turbo shift type paints so it's like you got this really cool metallic purple look to it which is pretty sweet
- i can't wait to show you how this works
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video qYTWbSLLgC4
Meet Me At The Table Discussion at 0:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3658 · mention_pk 10799
Click to watch at 0:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Massive amount of content and components
- Distinct ships and characters with unique abilities
- Campaign-driven, playable solo or cooperatively
- Strong hobby aspects like painting and display-worthy miniatures
- App and community features that augment play and engagement
- Extensive upgrade and modifier options for deeper customization
Cons
- High complexity and potential time investment to master
- Large number of components and tokens could be daunting to store
- Potential sleeve/organizational fit issues for cards
- Spoiler risk in unboxing and preview content
Thematic elements
- exploration, crewed spacecraft, cosmic adventure
- Space opera setting with a solo/co-op campaign spanning space battles, planetary exploration, and ship-to-ship combat across a modular universe
- campaign-driven, evolving storyline with persistent progression
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Campaign progression — Persistent decisions influence future sessions and outcomes
- Card-based planetary exploration — Planet exploration uses a dedicated card system in addition to other components
- Combat: Deck/Hand — Trauma cards introduce penalties when stressed or defeated
- Deck-based progression — Modifier decks and upgrade cards customize ships and pilots over the campaign
- Dice Placement — Dice results drive actions, with modifiers influencing outcomes
- Hex-based space combat — Combat on a hex grid with ships, maneuvers, and combat tokens
- Hexagon Grid — Combat on a hex grid with ships, maneuvers, and combat tokens
- Multi-Use Cards — Planet exploration uses a dedicated card system in addition to other components
- Resource and status tracking — Tokens and pads track hull, shields, stress, and other ship statuses
- Resource Management — Tokens and pads track hull, shields, stress, and other ship statuses
- Trauma deck — Trauma cards introduce penalties when stressed or defeated
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is packed above the lid with content it is absolutely out of control it's super cool
- Stars of aquarios i think is going to be a complete winner
- i am super pumped to be able to get this game to the table as fast as i can
- look at these ships these are fantastic
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–11 of 11