I have a confession. I have loved Space Opera as a genre ever since I read Space Viking (available for free here) growing up. I also love space-based 4X strategy games (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate). Over the years, I have owned and played a laundry list of them including: Imperium Galactium (old SSI game), Imperium Galactica, Galactic Civilizations, at least two versions of Space Empires and another I can't remember the name of (but never Master of Orion). Needless to say I have been watching all of the tweets, blog posts, YouTube videos, etc. about a board game called Eclipse for a while. Like many others I have hoped it would be played on TableTop so I could see it get even more exposure. Unfortunately, I don't know many people who play it nor do I have hours to go out and play it myself. Enter Big Daddy's Creations and the long awaited release of Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy for iPad last week.
Eclipse the board game is a space empire building and conquest game. You take control of a human or alien species and explore the galaxy one tile at a time until the universe is built out. At that point you have come in contact with the other species (up to 6 players in total) in the game (or the neutral Ancients) and begin the real work of deciding who will reign supreme. All of the aspects you might like in a detailed strategy game are there: researching technologies, modifying ships, managing resources, moving ships around to attack undefended planets are all there. Luckily, I can report that every aspect of the board game has been brilliantly transferred into Eclipse on iOS.
Eclipse the board game can take hours to play due to the complexity of the game and the number of pieces. On iOS, Eclipse has been designed to be sleek and fluid allowing you to play asynchronously with human opponents online or against AI opponents (3 difficulty levels). Learning how to play has been simplified with a tutorial (a full game against the AI) that exposes you to the game mechanics and controls. A one on one game against the AI will take about 30 - 45 minutes after you complete the tutorial. Everything about this game should be complex (and is) but it is presented in a way that simplifies the interface (all of the key areas of Research, ship modification, etc. are kept in trays that slide in and out of the side of the screen). The game is also quick because of the mechanics put in place to limit how much you can do on any one of the nine rounds in a game.
Don't worry those trays slide away to give you good view of the map
Each action you take in Eclipse from exploring to moving ships will cost you influence. You need money to pay the upkeep on the influence you have expended each turn. Additionally you have to gain science and materials to research and build ships. This means you can never do everything you want in a turn and have to carefully choose what you go after. Combat is handled at the end of each round when ships are together in the same system tile. Ships face off against eachother and depending on who has initiative they fire one at a time until one side retreats or is destroyed. How you have equipped your ships will determine how well you do against your opponent. Victory is achieved based on who has accumulated the most Victory Points which are earned through combat or controlling different sector tiles at the end of the game. It's not easy (see below) and you will need to learn quickly to take on some of the alien species controlled by the AI.
There are a couple little tweaks and things needed but nothing that seems to be a consistent bug. The developers are very active on Touch Arcade, Twitter and their own website and respond quickly to user comments. They are also planning an expansion (the board game has one) and some additional features in the future. Plus this is about the best looking game on iOS.
I can't say enough good things about this game. It is, as the man says in Christmas Vacation, "A real quality item, Clark". You should download this immediately - why haven't you already? Eclipse is $6.99 on iTunes and very easily rated 5 Mick Happies. Now if only I could figure out how to win.
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