Solar 175

Solar 175 was the Kickstarter I could not quite leave alone. The theme and the legacy pitch were enough to overcome my previous disappointments with the company behind it, and the first play at least gave me no reason to regret the decision.

At its starting point, this is a fairly simple area-majority game. You contest regions, watch where everyone else is spreading, and try not to donate too much space to them. The confrontation is plain and visible. No clever disguises yet.

The campaign adds regions and rules in stages, with each new element arriving through its own scenario. It has the shape of a souls-like ARPG tutorial: here is the new toy, now play a scenario to learn the new toy, then wait for the next one. The legacy layer is light so far, although there is already enough in the basic framework to make the prospect of rule bloat worth watching.

It is far too early for a final judgement. For now, it is a decent and straightforward opening to a campaign that wants to grow, and I want to know whether that growth will amount to something or merely cover the table in more stuff.

Updated session

A second play confirmed the initial feeling rather than changing it. The slow, tutorial-like delivery of new material has not become tedious, but it has not yet proved that Solar 175 will reward the patience it asks for either. I am still in for the campaign, but the central question remains: will the game open up, or drown in its own additions?