Stellaris: Infinite Legacy board game details easy drop-in, drop-out and clean storage between sessions
As Kickstarter exceeds $1.3m.
Stellaris: Infinite Legacy recently launched a Kickstarter - already light-years beyond its initial crowdfunding goal at $1.37 million - and its creators have revealed more information about all the galactic plastic goodies inside the upcoming board game’s box.
Academy Games previously announced that its adaptation of the popular 4X strategy video game will hew as close to the original experience as possible. It also advertised a legacy title that won’t ask players to destroy or indelibly mark any physical components. Given new details in the body of the ongoing Kickstarter campaign, the studio seems to be sticking to those proclamations.
Stellaris: Infinite Legacy’s gameplay promises a multiplayer 4X board game that supports cooperative or competitive playstyles but ultimately wants to tell an emergent story that changes based on the decisions of each player’s spacefaring species. Colonise the stars as an expansive imperialist, form coalitions among the dozens of NPC cultures encountered throughout the galaxy or crush everyone you meet with the might of your battllecruiser fleets - each session will alter the power balance and introduce new threats that might force players set aside their own goals.
Among the impressive board spreads and pledge level layouts was a note about allowing players to effortlessly join and leave games. The video game - published by Paradox Interactive - also allows for this, automating an individual’s civilisation according to set directives when they aren’t at the controls. Stellaris: Infinite Legacy boasts quick, two-hour session lengths, so switching out happens between games but has been designed such that a group won’t need to start from scratch if a real-life emergency keeps someone away on the weekly game night.
Additionally, new players who feel as if their first - or fourth - session just isn’t gelling with expectations can abandon their current civilisation and start again. The old interstellar species becomes an NPC-controlled “Fallen Empire” that still exists in the shared universe while allowing players to travel a different path.
Complementing the short session times are smart designs for displaying and storing components. As with many expansive strategy games, Stellaris: Infinite Legacy packs a ton of plastic miniatures, tokens, pips and clips into its box. Each player will have a segmented storage tray with attached “multi-layer player screens” with slots for cards detailing a civilisation’s race, traits, scientific advances and other information. Once a group completes a session or decides to call it quits, most of the game state can be stored inside the tray and preserved for next time, making setup between sessions relatively painless.
Academy Games includes two expansions on the campaign page - Empires and Frontiers - as boxed versions of unlocked stretch goals. The Kickstarter campaign for Stellaris: Infinite Legacy will run through April 5th, with boxes expected to make their way to backers in April 2022.