2019 / Solo/cooperative dice game expansions / 1-2 players
Another Oniverse game that's heavily reliant on expansions for rounding out the experience, it recaptured the feeling from Onirim of delving to increasingly perilous depths, especially when you pile them on cumulatively. While you're always at the mercy of the dice, there are enough tricks to learn that make it winnable most of the time. It helped that I enjoy playing it so often.
The Flagship ****
A slight but essential complication, keep them coming. Having to finish another ship isn't a notable hassle, and the special abilities are probably overcompensation, but the rulebook recognises this and suggests hard modes for most of these, if that's a problem you're facing.
The Hourglasses ***
Another job to think about, but also lots more handy discard opportunities that again probably makes things easier. One idea across 36 cards isn't that interesting though, and this could have just been part of the base game.
The Stone Clouds ****
Quirkier than the boring Hourglasses, these fiddly tokens and annoying cards only seemed to make things harder at first, with no payoff – until I realised how they fit around the ship tokens and my comprehension similarly unlocked. The challenge is the point, and beating it is a buzz. It's slightly disappointing that each batch of birdies didn't get unique artwork though (see also the next two expansions).
The Piers ***
Getting yourself increasingly into debt for bad investments adds an unhealthy dose of relatable stress to your after-work activity, but like the Stone Clouds, it's extra satisfying to beat.
The Hammer Bird Eggs ***
These stubborn chicks initially just seemed to get in the way until I realised how handy they can be for swapping out dud cards (or trying to, at least). Potentially game-saving when you need a specific card to come up, potentially game-ending if they flood the display, though that hasn't come up yet.
The Hellkite ****
It took a few games of losing to the big bad to realise I should prioritise the offensive to break down the barriers and start getting the sweet rewards, but then some other appendage gets neglected instead. If you're mixing everything in, there are so many combinations and calculations to keep track of every roll that you're bound to miss some optimal actions when they come up, but it's good to have the options.
To the Stars!: Stellarion >
