The Artemis Project: Galileo Pledge (Kickstarter Special) Grand Gamers Guild

Board Game Geek Rating: 5.57
Board Game Geek Avg Player Rating: 8.08
Players: 1 to 5
Published: 2019
Content Notes: Kickstarter “Galileo Pledge” Edition of The Artemis Project Board Game by Grand Gamers Guild. Includes core game, 30 metal coins, Alien Relic micro-expansion, recessed player boards, and all other unlocked stretch goals. Please note: unless otherwise stated paid add ons from the Kickstarter Campaign are not included.

Includes:
 🌐  Core game,
 🌐  30 metal coins,
 👽  Alien Relic micro-expansion,
 🌐  Recessed player boards, and
 🌐  All other unlocked stretch goals.

The year is 2348, and we have carved out a meager handhold on Europa, the frozen moon of Jupiter. Decades of effort have made air breathable and the temperatures survivable, but the real prize is the great living ocean hidden deep below the ice. The waters are warmed by volcanic action and are burgeoning with alien sea life. Food, minerals, energy, and living space are waiting for the team with the skills to harness them. The amazing art of Dominik Mayer brings both halves of this world to crackling life!

You are the head of a team of Stabilizers attempting to build the most successful colony before the game ends. The Artemis Project will challenge you to scratch out success in this hostile environment in the face of fierce competition with a gripping blend of gameplay elements:

Keep your eyes peeled for a Live Teach and Play-Through with Heavy Cardboard… the link below goes live on Tuesday Sept 25th at 9pm EST!

Gameplay is divided into six rounds, with each round divided into two main halves. 

• In the first half, take turns placing your dice into the various regions of the board. 
• In the second half, the regions of the board are resolved one by one, and you earn the benefits you are owed depending on how the dice placement ended up in each region. 

Let’s learn about the regions:

With clever placement and flexibility, you’ll gather the Minerals to build a better colony, the Energy to power it, and the Colonists to run it. Every round unfolds differently as supplies fluctuate, Expeditions change, and Events shake your expectations.

After six rounds, earn points in a variety of ways including your success on expeditions, your colony’s expansion, your team of colonists, and the powers of your Surface buildings. The Stabilizer with the most successful colony wins the game!

The Kickstarter Edition of The Artemis Project comes with everything described above, plus all stretch goals reached during the campaign!

Elements unique to the Kickstarter Edition include:

• Recessed player mats
• Spot UV finish to make the game box glimmer
• Silk-screened drawstring bag featuring the Artemis Project logo
• Stretch Goal: Snow Cat Mini!
• Stretch Goal: Colonial Embassy Mini!
• Stretch Goal: Enhanced-look Shakeship!
• Stretch Goal: “Alien Relic” Micro-Expansion!
• Stretch Goal: Stylized VP markers!
• Stretch Goal: Stylized Relief Track markers!

Europa, Jupiter’s moon. Deep beneath the crust, the oceans are teeming with alien sea life. Shellfish, plants, corals, arthropods, even strange fish and larger sea creatures populate a wide-ranging interconnected web of hidden seas. Volcanism is rampant, warming the mineral-rich waters and creating excellent conditions for energy-harvesting.

The largest cavern close to the surface is known as The Pocket. This is where the initial teams of Stabilizers built their first outposts, with the intent to establish long-term communities capable of surviving indefinitely. Aqua-farming is well established; food and other sundries are efficiently gathered. The Pocket has many deposits of minerals and crystals that can be mined and processed to create strong and versatile construction materials locally.

Colonists arrive at the Doorstep at regular intervals when the Threshold is opened. The arrivals are of four general types: Pioneers (who are tasked with exploring the changing surface of the moon and the labyrinth of seas beneath), Engineers (who develop and operate the machinery and structures needed to run the colonies), Marines (who defend the colonies from hostile sea life, unwanted intruders, and other colonies), and Stewards (overseers responsible for strategy and negotiation).

Colony development mostly occurs beneath the ice; this is where all of the moon’s resources are concentrated, so this is where the effort is best spent. To keep close to the surface, most colony structures are built clinging onto the underside of the ice crust. Surface structures will be built only once an undersea outpost is well established and beginning to thrive. In addition to construction and resource-gathering, colonies spend a lot of effort on exploring this new environment. The volcanic action and mineral-heavy waters make long-range scanning unreliable, so physical exploration is required to plumb the depths.

As the Pocket is explored and expanded, the established colonies have been making some unusual discoveries beneath the ice. Deep in the trenches, artifacts of non-human origin are starting to be found. The dark seas hide many secrets. Squads of mercenaries occasionally appear on the surface and beneath the sea, penetrating the Threshold somehow to carry out an unknown mission on the moon. These aspects are worrisome but can’t distract the colonies from their main goals.

It is still early in the Artemis project. A foothold on life here has been gained, but it will take tenacious effort from the competing colonies to reach the point where Europa is truly viable as a home.

The Artemis Project is a dice (dis)placement and engine building game that has you fighting the planet as well as the other players. Roll your dice and place them tactically to thwart the other colonists. Harvest energy and minerals. Bid for buildings. Work together to go on Expeditions to earn rewards. Train workers. Will your efforts be enough to survive?

— from the publisher

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