Beyond the Sun

Beyond the Sun has that rare quality: even when I set it up to teach someone new, it never feels as though it is doing me a favour. The teaching game went smoothly and won over another convert, while I was left with the rather comforting proof that its early appeal was not just the flush of a first encounter.

The shape of the game changes noticeably with the corporations in use. The basic set provides a clean route into it, but the advanced boards are now the way I prefer to play: they put more character into the choices and give me more reason to watch what the person beside me is building.

The tech market variant is still something I want to try, though the game rarely stays off the table long enough for the occasion to arise. Online, the lack of advanced boards makes for a distinctly thinner experience; the implementation is otherwise a serious piece of work, but it is missing the very layer that makes the game feel complete.

This is not merely a game that survived its first few plays. It keeps asking for a place on the table, and it remains one I think belongs in every collection.

Updated session

The later plays did not revise my opinion; they settled it. Beyond the Sun remains high among our favourites, with one meaningful shift: the advanced corporations have become my obvious preference, and their absence online explains why we return there less often.