/pic1118869.jpg)
The Master of Orion video game is being transformed into a 2-4 player, 40-60 min. board game by @HobbyWorldInt. —WEM pic.twitter.com/UAHIjwXEHg
— BoardGameGeek (@BoardGameGeek) January 30, 2016
Many people were thrilled by this announcement, but they jumped on the short playing time as cause for concern given the nature of the original video game that inspired the design of Master of Orion: The Board Game from Ekaterina Gorn and Igor Sklyuev. Me, I had never played the video game, so I had no idea what might be missing. (I sometimes feel like I should investigate what's happening in the video game industry, but I can't even keep up with everything related to board and card games, so why would I divide my time on something else? Give me all the info!)
Thankfully, in the run-up to the game's worldwide debut at SPIEL 2016 in October, publisher Hobby World offered to send me an advance copy of the game for previewing in this space, so now those who have already mastered Orion in other venues can see how this new game compares to the original. Let's lead with a component shot, followed by an overview video based on three playings of the game:
:strip_icc()/pic3179868.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic3009245.jpg)
/pic154145.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic3174494.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic3174043.jpg)
/pic3042240.jpg)
