Beyond the Horizon

I was eagerly awaiting Beyond the Horizon, precisely because Beyond the Sun is such a beloved game. And yet, I struggle to find the brilliance that defined that earlier design here. Rather than a meaningful evolution, I got a dry copy of its core ideas, with a few additions that feel as though they exist merely to justify a new title.

At its core, the game rests on Beyond the Sun’s basic mechanisms: your choices and progress are organized around technologies. But the technologies here feel more broken, while the leaders add even more instability. Where I expected the previous game’s careful, tight construction of decisions, I found a system that lets its balance fall apart much more easily.

The biggest change is that the constrained space map gives way to open land exploration, alongside a construction theme. On paper, that sounds like differentiation; in practice, the construction theme did not convince me. And when one player, through a random play, managed to take two level III technologies as bonus actions without the necessary prerequisites, it did not feel like a clever opportunity. It was more the moment when you look at the board and wonder who decided this needed to survive playtesting.

As if that were not enough, the game serves up a poor manual, production problems, and artwork that can lead to significant mistakes. It does not play badly, and if I had not played Beyond the Sun, perhaps I too would have said, “wow, what a game.” But with it as a point of reference, I cannot recommend this one. I am sure there are people who will love it; I, however, would rather return to the game that got these things right.