Description
This 4X (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) boardgame is rather new, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and say it’s very promising. By no means a simple game, Hyperborea does manage to capture the 4X spirit in a short game (30 minutes per player, approximately) with a rather short and clean set of rules.
The board seems somewhat small, typically consisting of seven randomly chosen hexes, plus three per player. There’s enough to do, fortunately. The unexplored center boasts ruins and cities, all ready for the taking. After you kill the resident ghosts, that is–or the resident opponents.
What makes Hyperborea unique is its action selection method: each turn, you draw three cubes out of a pouch, with each cube being of one of seven different colours. Each colour allows a certain kind of action. Red for fighting, green for movement, blue for science et cetera. You can influence and add to the contents of your pouch, emphasising certain kinds of actions. Sciences add to the possible actions you can take.
Hyperborea offers great value: all six player races have their own miniatures, and there’s different ways of playing the game. Both the game board and the available sciences are randomised each game, further increasing replayability. Add to that that the different strategies all seem viable. A red combat rampage works well, but you can also sit at your home city and just generate science and victory points. 4X away!
- New but renowned tabletop game
- Unique action selection method
- Up to six players
