It's been a hot minute since I wrote about board games. Thank you @zakludick for the nudge :)

🌌 Gaia Project

This is an area control, non-combat, all-Euro space game that is also the "sequel" to Terra Mystica (which I've never actually played!)

Gaia happens over six rounds, relies on your engine building skills, and employs a very neat power-cycling mechanic which encourages mild forms of "cooperation."

🎲 Gameplay

There are loads of actions you can do on your turn, including a bunch of free actions (they don't take up your turn). Most things are limited by your supply of 💰 Money, ⛏️ Ore, or 👩‍🔬 Science. You might:

🏗️ Build a mine! (Pay its costs)
➕ Upgrade a building (Pay the costs, swap out a building)
Note: Any building/moving requires you to have sufficient "move" technology.
👩‍🔬 Research tech (costs 4 Science)
🌌 Gaiaform a planet (Stick a Gaiaformer on it and next round you can build on it. Requires... gaiaformers. Which require tech.)
👑 Create a Federation (connect your settlements via satellites to gain big points and nice bonus abilities)

Here's the player board. Every species comes with a cool rule-breaky ability:

Resource counters are along the top.

As you remove buildings from your board, your income / abilities improve. These space birds start off with one tech point on the orange track (upper righthand corner with the 🤝 symbol), and once they build that fat structure in the middle left, they're allowed some special trades (4 money for a green cube, 3 money for an ore, etc.).

That 🤚 under some of the resources means that I get stuff at the start of the next round. Income, basically.

👾 Power cycles

Those purple pucks in the upper area are the power cyclers. You start with some, you can gain 'em and lose 'em. If the pucks are in the III zone, they can be shunted back to the I zone for special free actions (e.g. 4 gets you a free green cube).

♻️ Whenever someone builds or upgrades within 2 space of one of your buildings, you:

Look at the power value of the building
Optionally cycle power equal to the value
Lose points equal to the cycle value minus 1
(Power must be cycles out of Zone I first before you can move it to Zone II)
(Or, permanently lose a Zone II power to cycle into Zone III at any time)

Gaiaforming also locks up power. If you Gaiaform, anywhere from 6 to 3 pucks get locked up in the green zone on the upper left. They pop back into Zone I at the start of the next round.

👩‍💻 Technology!

The tech track is a beast!

Six different tracks (with names I am going to invent on the spot). From left to right:

🌍 Terraforming: Reduces ore cost of terraforming. Occasionally drops free ore. Top of the track = free federation token!
🚀 Spaceflight: Improves your movement. Occasionally drops green cubes. Top of the track = Lost Planet token (counts as a mine + new planet type). Plus your move value = 4.
📗 Quantum intelligence: Drops nothing but pure sweet green cubes, also called Quantum Intelligence Cubes or something like that. These bois are rare currency that do badass things. Top of the track? 4 QICs.
🌌 Gaiaforming: Gives you access to Gaiaformers and reduces power cost. One spot gives you 3 power pucks. Top of the track: 4 points + 1 point for every Gaiaformed planet you've colonized.
📈 Economics: Improves your income. Might feel boring, but can be clutch. Top of the track: one-time delivery of 3 ore, 6 money, and 6 power cycles.
🔭 Science: Improves your science income specifically. Don't let someone run away with this one!! Top of the track: one-time delivery of 9 (nine!) science.

Also of note:

Going from level 3 to 4 tech always lets you cycle 3 power
To get to the TOP of any track, you need to have a flippable federation token
Tech tiles below each column are randomized each game. These are permanent upgrades / big one time bonuses. If you grab a tech tile (e.g. building certain buildings, spending 4 QICs), you may also go up the associated tech track. Three tech tiles along the bottom are "wild" (go up any track).
There are also Advanced Tech tiles up at the top of each track. We won't get into those. They are sweet though

🤔 Strategy

I feel like I've only touched on about half the game, but that's okay. These posts are usually high-level anyway.

In general though:

Pick your starting points wisely. You want to be close to planets that don't cost you too much to terraform. (Each race has different costs.) You also want to be close-ish to others to get the power cycle advantage.
Lean into your special power. In the example shown, the bird-aliens were economically focused. They got a head start on tech track 5 and can unlock big trading advantages, therefore maybe prioritize trade posts (they give you money).
Keep an eye on the round bonuses. I didn't take a picture of the round tracker... but there are points bonuses every round and two random competition conditions for points. You want to steer you engine towards hitting as many of these things as you can.
Tech is worth huge points. Level 4 tech = 4 points, L5 is 8, and the top (L6) is 12. If your engine isn't science friendly you'll struggle... so that sixth track can be a life saver sometimes.

SUSD review?

Usually I drop a nice video review from Shut Up and Sit Down here. But I think they just did a blog review!? It's chunkier and more in-depth (and funnier, damn it) than mine, so if you're curious, have a read :)

Until next time! 😁