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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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
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)
- 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
- Relies on a relatively complex setup and learning curve for new players
- Heavy component management may overwhelm casual players
- 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
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
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)
- 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
- 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
- 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
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
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