The Expanse Boardgame: Doors and Corners

I liked the original The Expanse a lot: it is a COIN-Lite game with a clever choice among several cards. After two plays, though, we felt Protogen was noticeably behind. When I opened Doors and Corners, the nearly empty box and the one-page rules sheet immediately made me feel as though someone was trying to sell me thin air.

At its core, it remains the same enjoyable area-control and area-influence game. Choosing among several cards leaves room for decisions and for different paths of development, without losing the immediacy of the base game.

Doors and Corners adds five small options that do not meaningfully burden the game with extra complexity, yet radically change how the struggle for influence develops. Players now have more strategies and combinations to pursue, while Protogen no longer feels as if it begins from a disadvantaged position.

In the end, that sparse-looking content hides a lot of work. These additions lift the package close to a ten and solve the balance problem without making the rules unwieldy. They should have been released with the base game—it is hard not to think the original was deliberately kept more stripped down to be easier for the audience of the series and of Catan. Fans of area control and area influence: get it yesterday. Yesterday.