Excursions
A smaller box. The same deliciously difficult decisions.
Excursions
Designer: Ben Rosset
Publisher: Kinson Key Games
Overview:
(Please note, this is a review / preview of a prototype version of Excursion. Images, artwork and components are not final…but look very splendid regardless!)
Fans of Galactic Cruise (Kinson Key Games) will be in more than familiar territory here in this sequel of sorts / reworking / reimagining, Excursions, designed by Ben Rosset – with art coming once again from the ever-splendid Ian O’ Toole. But even if this is only your first foray into the world of cajoling different coloured guests onto different coloured cruises, you'll find a lot of familiar and tasty Euro beats at play.
Choose an action on the big space station action wheel. Heck, choose the same action as you did for the previous ten turns if you really want*. Actions will largely see you gaining those ubiquitous Euro resources (fuel, food, cash, etc.), gaining cards that you either burn for more resources or keep to use to build ships ready for launch, recruiting different coloured guests to go onto those ships, blasting the cruise ships off into space, gaining points as your different coloured guests trigger different coloured things on those ships, and then watching the ships return from their trips. Repeat.
Along the way, you might be the first to meet various 'company goals', e.g. 'first to have launched X amount of cruises' or 'first to have X amount of different coloured guests on a single cruise.' Get some tasty VP for getting there ahead of anyone else. Heck, get some end-game VP if you have met one or both of your personal strategic goals. Kerching.
The wrinkles? That round board spins, and with those spins come different bonuses alongside each action. You see, this is a simultaneous-action game. You choose the action for that turn and everyone gets to do that action, but only you get the juicy corresponding bonus. Choices, choices, choices - do you take the action you really want to take this turn, or do you wait another turn or two until that honking big bonus lines up alongside it and makes things go even more… kaboom?
If you have been a clever smarty pants, then you will probably have used some of your turns to upgrade your player board and become a bit more powerful in a good few ways, build technologies that provide ongoing bonuses, and construct developments that let you take actions not just where you lay your hat, but also in the adjacent space to that development.
The first player to reach 50 VP triggers the end of the game. Score the points you earned during the game, points for how well you cleared different parts of your player board and, finally, points for those strategic goal cards that you started the game with. Player with the most points wins.
*I wouldn’t recommend it as a strategy unless you want to lose the game
Solo Headlines:
Garphill-esque.
That was the word that sprang to mind after playing the Excursions solo mode. Well, reminiscent somewhat of the solo modes in Paladins of the West Kingdom and Scholars of the South Tigris. Much more simple to operate for sure, but if you have played either of those solo modes then you'll understand what I mean when I say that the bot here in Excursions needs a little bit of prior understanding of how it is running. Once you have those quirks and differences locked into your brain, its turns take seconds... and see it largely cycling around an erm, circle on its own separate player board and hoovering up points along the way.
There is no massive rules overhead, decision trees or flowcharts here. Your automated opponent's turns take seconds once you have internalised how they work (but even then, it's a very trim ruleset).
Take your turn as usual, then flip one of the automa cards. As this is a simultaneous-play game, you now also get to take the action shown on the automa's card. Depending on the action it has chosen, it will either clear some 'stuff' from its player board (earning end-game VP as a result, just like you do), move its cruise ship pilot down a track getting ready to launch into space, or finally move across to and up an adjacent track to earn points once it has launched.
It's not mirroring what the human player does. It's not gaining resources, hoovering up cards or gathering those colourful guests to go on its cruises. Flip a card, you take the action on the card, it moves either down a track or up a track and, if it lands on a space that displays points, it gets those points. It also has a couple of built-in timers to create some competition for those strategic 'Company Goals' that everyone is trying to be first to attain.
The End (give or take a few nuances and foibles that I am glossing over).
The solo opponent completely gets out of the way, leaving you to simply enjoy the game. And there is more of 'the game' to enjoy here. The fact that you are taking actions during its turns leaves you in an almost permanent decision-making state. The playtime here in Excursions might be shorter than its bigger sister, Galactic Cruise, but it still feels like an "I need a lie down after that" sort of game. There is just no let-up. Ever.
One tiny gripe in the solo mode (and I mean tiny, and probably not even a gripe) is that it is super easy to get lost in your turns. I anticipate that this might also be an issue in the multiplayer game. Those "wait, is it my turn, my bonus turn, my turn as a result of it being someone else's turn, or is it actually someone else's turn?" moments. There are so many juicy choices on offer, and so much scope for analysis paralysis, that it's easy for a few minutes to go by before you realise that you have absolutely zero clue whose turn it actually is anymore.
Things felt nicely competitive. The bot's scores can swing a little to keep you on your toes (no specific fixed number of points for Easy, Medium or Hard difficulty levels for example). I won. I lost. I got my backside handed to me. Each game pans out a little differently, much as I imagine it would in a multiplayer game with different people at the table. No fixed number of turns here either. The game ends when someone reaches 50 VP and, some games, that can be quick; in others, it can drag. I prefer games with a fixed number of turns, I won't lie, and when a game drags, it drags. But where I felt that more in Galactic Cruise, I feel it less here in Excursions.
Smart little solo mode, this one. Enjoyed it.
General Headlines:
I've got a bit of a confession to make...
...I culled Galactic Cruise.
I can feel you all hurtling for the comments section right now to tell me what a fool I am. I'm sorry!!!!!!
The thing is, I didn't particularly dislike it in the slightest. Indeed, you'll see that I gave it a more than decent review. It was a stellar production too – tip top, in fact.
But I'm skewing fractionally lighter at the moment, and the game ran a little longer than my usual 60-minute solo sweet spot. No cardinal sins being committed whatsoever, but I just found myself reaching instead for the more streamlined Shipyard 2nd Edition when I wanted to scratch the 'build ships to order, set them off to sail' itch. And ooooofft, that box size made it tricky to store easily. So, in the end, off it went to find a new forever home.
It's almost like Kinson Key Games had a direct line into my thoughts, because here they have turned up with a major "hold my beer" curveball in the form of Excursions.
Importantly though, I think it would be a mistake to think of Excursions as a light game, or even really a lighter game than Galactic Cruise. Many (and I mean MANY) of the same beats are going on here. Some fat and fiddle has been trimmed for sure, but I would rather use the words streamlined or honed than light. I'd argue that a good 85-90% of the game has been carried over from Galactic Cruise, with those trimmings slightly reducing the overall game time while keeping much of the heft and weight of the decision space.
The two key differences here in Excursions are actually two rather nice additions. Firstly, that giant spinning space station wheel. Each time it rotates, the bonuses available alongside each of the main actions change. Those decisions around timing - not just what action to take, but when to take it - are excellent.
I'm also a sucker for dual-use cards and here you'll grab cards along the way that you can save to build your eponymous Excursion ships, or you can simply burn through them for the resources displayed at the top. Cards come and go quickly through your hand, making things feel quite freeing and loose. Equally though, you can expect some painful decisions along the way along the lines of "Aaaargh, I want to keep this card because it is precisely the exact card that will make my next Excursion ship a big juicy point scorer... but I really REAAAALLLY need that one measly resource printed on it RIGHT NOW."
The move to simultaneous play also keeps you in that permanent state of decision-making. Smaller box, shorter game, slightly more streamlined ruleset, whilst keeping all of the main beats of the bigger Galactic Cruise experience. I'm sold.
That said, I don't think this game is for everyone...
The thing is, Excursions is remarkably similar to Galactic Cruise. Now, OK, I hear you screaming at me: "But you're a sucker for slight iterations of games you like. You literally own every single Everdell game even though they are practically doing the same things each time." You're right, of course. But while I like variations on a theme, there are variations on a theme and then there is pretty much being an identical game mechanically and thematically.
So, for those who already own Galactic Cruise, love the game, play it regularly and have it sitting comfortably in their Top 10 games of all time - I just don't think you need to own both. There simply doesn't feel like there is enough difference here to warrant picking up Excursions as well. That said, I already know that my words here will likely make not one ounce of difference. If you love Galactic Cruise that much, then it's probably inevitable that Excursions finds its way into your collection regardless. Enjoy it!
Who I think this game is for, though, is people like myself. Here in Excursions, you're getting an almost identical experience to Galactic Cruise, but with a shorter playtime, streamlined and honed mechanisms, a tasty solo mode, a thankfully smaller box and a fraction of the cost (with both a retail and deluxe version available rather than Galactic Cruise's 'bling or nothing' approach).
So, in future, when I'm asked the inevitable question: "Which game should I get - Galactic Cruise or Excursions?"
For me, the answer is a complete no-brainer.
Excursions.
At a Glance:
Excursions takes much of what made Galactic Cruise enjoyable and repackages it into a tighter, more streamlined experience without sacrificing the decision space that made the original so compelling. A clever spinning action wheel, satisfying dual-use cards and an excellent solo mode kept me engaged throughout, while the reduced playtime and smaller footprint made it significantly easier to get back to the table. It is perhaps a little too similar to Galactic Cruise for owners who already adore that game and play it regularly, but for anyone looking for that same experience in a more manageable package, Excursions absolutely delivers. Shorter, leaner and considerably easier to live with while still providing plenty to chew over. For this solo player, that's a winning combination.
Final Score:
8 out of 10 (reviewed after 4 plays)
***Prototype provided by the publisher***
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