Crews of Eridanus - Choose your crews wisely! A Quick How to Play Board Game

[Music] hi everyone it's taryn and stella here from meeple university thanks for joining us today we'll show you a quick how to play or overview for crews of aerodynamics stay tuned if you find value from this video later please hit the like button subscribe to us hit the bell and leave your feedback in the comments now let's get to the game cruiser of eridanus is a broad and immersive space exploration game it was designed by stedman watson and published by dakota ridge games the game plays two to six players in 90 to 180 minutes with a solo mode and is of medium complexity crews of aerodynas is a competitive space faring adventure players command corvette class ships around the galaxy trying to build up the strongest ship and crew they will gain victory points as they defeat other ships in combat both those controlled by the game's pirates and their opponents with more points on offer as they boost the morale of their crew but beneath this space fairing is the threat a rogue ai responsible for the decline of the galaxy after 12 16 or 20 rounds depending on your preferred game length the ai mothership enters play the player with the most victory points after the ais destruction wins the game but be warned the players will all lose together if the ai is not defeated cruz of eridanus is played in rounds each player takes one turn per round and takes three actions per turn one of those can be spent to move a distance of up to four hexes which can be broken up by taking other actions and can be boosted by some features of space or hindered by other obstacles other actions can be spent attacking enemies healing your crew or repairing your ship of damage exploring derelict ships for upgrades mining in the asteroid belt for supplies which you'll need to later spend for many of your actions or transacting at space stations much of your income can be derived from acting as couriers between space stations either in cargo purchasing from one place and selling to another who wants it or in passengers usually for lesser money but a boost in morale however it is you come by your credits you can spend it at a space station to hire new crew into your ship and in crews of aerodynas your crew is everything each player begins with a basic ship a captain and a cadet and through the game you'll seek to strengthen it with a well-balanced crew the overall statistics of your ship derive from the capabilities of your crew with these symbols representing your capabilities in combat mining navigation repairs or healing some also come with straight victory points or special abilities the morale of your crew which is boosted by your successors or depressed by your failures can be converted to victory points in every fifth round a key element of the game combat is also significant and for an action you can initiate it against an adjacent ship whether that be from another player or a non-player character depending on the type of enemy one or more combat pattern cards are chosen paired then revealed your pattern card will show you which opposing card type you'll hit and which opposing card types will hit you if you get a matching pair then you score a hit and you'll do damage based on the combined tactical strength advantage of your ship and crew patton foxtrot is special it represents a boarding attempt on the enemy ship this is resolved as a melee attack between the crews with the damage done to the crew members winning combats can win you supplies points or morale depending on the opponent through all of this building players do need to watch out for the non-player characters as they can cause some havoc in particular if the pirate face is active then the pirates will move towards the players and attack and players need to keep an eye on the common goal defeating the rogue ai to avoid collected defeat one of three outcomes must be achieved a player must find the secret base and then board it with the software key and computer virus or successfully board the mothership with the computer virus or destroy the mothership in combat whoever does so triggers the end with the handy points bonus it brings and the player with the highest score wins but if the mothership draws adjacent to any space station then the game ends immediately and all players lose cruz of eridanus has all the hallmarks of a classic exploration and adventure game giving players myriad options to hunt for the best upgrades to make their ships as strong as possible and combining it with a neat movement mechanic which takes the luck out of travel the unique crew building mechanism gives players flexibility to play the game which suits their strategy best while there's also a morale penalty for firing crew which counterbalances the benefit a player may gain by pivoting strategy mid game and this gives a keenly strategic experience suited to both experienced and casual gamers there's also no player elimination and a player whose ship is destroyed misses a turn before returning to play with a new ship and that's our quick how to play of cruise of eridanus hopefully it's been useful we are using prototype copy here of the game and so the rules and components may not be final and do check out the project page for the game we'll put a link to that in the description below and if you enjoy this video or find it useful help us by hitting the like button subscribe to us you can also hit the bell in the corner to do that and hit the bell icon so you'll know when we have new videos you can also follow me on instagram for my board games journey and if you have any questions comments or feedback please leave them in the comments section below see you next time