Factions of Sol

Factions of Sol is a space exploration game that’s launching a Kickstarter campaign on September 13, the publisher was so kind to provide us with a prototype copy to try out.

1-4 players, ages 12+
Playing time: 90-120 minutes
Designer: Elam Blackwell
Artwork: Samara Malik & Roxanne Panas

Publisher: Mark IV Games
https://factionsofsol.com/

Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/markivgames/factions-of-sol

In Factions of Sol, each player takes control over one of the eight factions who compete to take over the gigantic Megacore empire, a powerful company that spreads through the different regions of our solar system.
During the game, you’re spending energy to travel from planet to planet. However, your energy capacity is limited so you have to be careful not to run out of it.
Each planet allows you to do a different action: for example, on Mercury you can recharge your battery to get energy, on Mars you can upgrade your ship, Saturn allows you to gain secret objectives and on Jupiter you can gain exoplanets which you’ll need to explore to gain victory points.
If players cannot or do not want to do any more actions, they can pass, and when every player has passed, the round ends. After 3 rounds the game ends, and players receive points for their remaining resources, upgrades, machines, secret objectives and explored exoplanets.
Whoever has the most points inherits the Megacore empire!

Factions of Sol is a medium weight eurogame, easy to learn and it plays pretty fast once you get used to what actions you can do on which planet.
This prototype already has excellent components, I am just not a fan of the artwork on the cards and player boards which could perhaps be better.
There’s a good balance of mechanisms that work very well together, with variable player powers, resource management and set collection. Each play presents you with a puzzle which you’ll have to solve in the best possible way.
Factions of Sol combines a refreshing mix of mechanisms with a fascinating theme in an excellent way, I feel like traveling through space has never been so much fun!