Hello, I’m Andrewsmile the longtime #1 elo player for Federation. At time of writing, I have 192 games played at a 98% winrate with about an even split between 4 player and 2 player games. I thought I'd make a guide for players new to the game or struggling to improve now that the meta has settled a bit- I will focus on 2 player for this guide as that is the arena mode, but I will make a few notes about 4 player along the way. I will start with some broad tips and then narrow down as well as cover each planet in detail.
General tips:
As with many 2 player games, denying points from your opponent is the same as getting points yourself. Consider taking megastructures that are extremely good for your opponent before they get to them even if there is one that is slightly better for you that they don’t care about. Rushing to a lvl 3 erudite they want early can also force them to pull the trigger on it early netting them far fewer points than they would have gotten, such as on the 2x planet level erudites.
In general you want to have the highest total level on all planets, as this gives points for laws, megastructures, and end of game points. This is why erudites and megastructures that allow you to gain levels on multiple planets at once are the strongest in the game: a lvl 1 erudite that lets you skip a level on the neo (red planet) track gives you a level in both pink AND red at once, getting you to both medals quicker.
Because we want to have the highest total level on all planets, we want most of our actions to be planet actions. Xp and ship actions are sometimes necessary, but we don’t want to use the top right space more than once a game for example as it is quite inefficient
Going first is a large advantage, especially early when good erudites are on the board. Do not be afraid to take the first player marker in 2 player games, even if you are already first player to set you up to beat your opponent to a contested 4-spot medal or erudite.
It is hard to get to level 6 on most planets. Either race to those planets early for the medal if they are in your plan, or take medals you know you will lose with the first player marker action
Fund and vote intentionally, even in round 1. You do not want a planet your opponent is going to win by a long shot to be funded by end of game as that is 10 free points to them.
Playstyle:
There are 2 sort of broad overarching playstyles, I will cover them below and give some tips for each one. Note that you will need to be flexible and deny your opponent whenever possible.
Dice King: this playstyle wants to win by building up their dice value early and consistently winning votes. You can build a huge head start that your opponent will struggle to recover from. Things to consider are:
You can afford to heavily specialize in some planets and completely ignore 1-2 others as you can be sure you will win the law. Often you should be
prioritizing planets that did not show up in round 1 or 2 for the laws.
You will ideally be able to win 2-3 rows of votes each round, so maximizing your xp track will be crucial for more points
You will be short of resources as you will typically be voting rather than funding, so it will be important to prioritize red or yellow to make sure
you are still able to pay for buildings.
Make sure to time your funding for player board checkmarks so that you do not lose the vote but still have all the planets you need.
Early indicators this strategy will be good:
The lvl 3 blue erudite is 2x dice
The megastructure with dice is on a good planet
Econ Endgame King: this playstyle wants to win by strategically funding early and often, using their resources to get good buildings, poaching medals, and sweeping endgame by winning all of the funded planets. Things to consider are:
You can’t let the dice king win every row of voting each time. Try to win the row without a neutral ambassador with your 1-strength vote tiles if
possible by voting on the planet’s column your opponent is strong in so that endgame mission doesnt get funded.
If your opponent is a dice king or has underprioritized key planets that will show up in later laws, try to beat them to the deep space tile. If the +6
dice tile is there, you can ruin their whole strategy.
You will typically be ahead on resources, so the red planet will be less important. Despite this, jumping out quickly to neo level 4 for the medal
with 3 red actions will give you enough resources to carry you throughout the game.
Early indicators this strategy will be good:
Neo (red planet) in the early laws
megastructure with dice is on blue (blue is typically not great for this strategy)
With that out of the way, I figured I’d go over my thoughts on each color:
Pink is the best color, and it’s not close- only 1 player can get each of the level 3 erudites, and it is often quite easy to get 12-15 points from one that you set your sights on early while reaping large rewards along the way. Almost all of the erudites are good, and the sleeper column that is often uncontested is the leftmost pink erudites: copying and re-flipping other erudites is a versatile ability, and the additional temporary accreditation erudites are undervalued- very rarely do people other than me take them in my games, which is good for 2 reasons- 1. I can be very sure I will be uncontested on the level 3 pink erudite which is typically strong 2. Adding accreditation levels translates to points on board for voting floors but also for the top left spaceship mission- i will pull the trigger on the lvl 2 +2 levels token when i am able to fund that mission which gives me an additional 4 points in addition to any laws. This token also lets you fund actions in rows you have not reached yet.
Note that pink is heavily contested. If the good erudites don’t present themselves to you, don’t be afraid to give up on pink or only go into 1 specific column. This is especially true in 4 player games.
Green is very good early, but in 4 player games it is rare to get more than 12 points out of the megastructures, since you don’t have time to build up the 2 categories without someone else pulling the trigger on the x3 before you. 12 points is good, but there are better ways to get 12 points that don’t require 2 crystals and a diamond. Still, you should be shooting for at least one megastructure and 2 if it will secure the green end of game points token for you. As I mentioned above, prioritizing early production is crucial, and the blue resource you need should come from one of 3 places- the start of game bonus, the green erudite that takes a crystal off the cost, or a blue planet token that gives a blue crystal. Getting to the asteroid on the red planet takes too much investment, while the yellow space takes away a green that you will need.
Note that with the basic structures, the xp building is better than the spaceship building. The non-basic building that advances you on red and blue should be acquired ASAP if possible, it is extremely strong.
Blue is good for 3 reasons: it gives spaceships and flexible early resources while still leveling a planet which translates to law points, it gives diamonds in the later levels that you will need for megastructures while not investing in orange/yellow planet, and it has many ways to be skipped- meaning that some blue erudites let you skip levels, and there is a building that lets you skip blue levels, both of which are very strong. Do keep in mind that voting power often comes down to dice levels, and not who has the bigger blue tokens. If you know a planet is coming up for a law in which you are leveled and others are not, it is worth having some big voting power blue tokens however. Despite all this, blue is one of the weaker planets in a vacuum.
Yellow is better than I initially thought, though still not great. Its strength is in the ability to turn green into experience- you get a free green every round from a funding token, and often the +2 accreditation level board space is contested. This is the best alternative, and can give you some blues along the way both for buildings in round 2/3 and also to pay the accreditation level tax in the later rounds. Don’t be afraid to use that trade location multiple times even though it doesnt level you if it means you can get a deep space token which are extremely powerful. Typically, you want to get the medal here by using the green to blue track and the blue to diamond track twice.
Red/Orange is tricky, it is typically very contested and easy to skip levels on making it trivial, but you also may need the resources. My one big tip is to never take the level 3 and 6 asteroids, taking levels is much better and the asteroids arent very valuable. Even if the lvl 3 red erudite is 5x asteroid, they take too much investment and if your opponent is good they will contest that.
I have a pretty consistent routine at this point, though it’s of course necessary to be flexible. A good opponent will get you off your rhythm and force you to adapt, making it a "deny them or lose" situation. Exempting this, here is a general map of my gameplay-
Round 1- generate resources, and get a funding token down on green. If I can’t make it to a good building, I should at least get the top right cheap building. This allows me to use a spaceship on the good building on round 2 once I’ve had time to generate resources. Note that you should NOT be prioritizing the law in rounds 1 and 2- these planets will not show up later, you want to be investing in colors that will show up late and give you big points.
Round 2- At some point in rounds 1 and 2, I want to have a funding token down on the following- top right spaceship square (putting a checkmark on top left spaceship action (2 points/lvl)), first player marker (taking either a token im positive i will lose or the black token with a face on it), +2 accreditation level. Round 1 and 2 any loose actions I have go towards those, as I will need spaceships on all of their actions later in the game and I want to be using voting power in later rounds rather than funding. These actions are only when I'm set up to win the medals in contested planets.
Round 3- building the planets that will be laws in rounds 4&5, and using the pink planet and spaceship action in the same turn to snag a contested lvl 3 erudite. Often this will be yellow if it is the 3x spaceship action (giving me 12 points) or the pink erudite if it is the 1x checkmark.
Round 4- this is the burst round for accreditation level- I want to be spaceshipping the +2 action and middle of 4 action to bring me up into the level 4 zone. If I have the blue, I will push for the deep space token by funding the +2 lvl board action if available (funding because I usually want the pink end of game project to be complete) and having first pick of the uber powerful deep space tokens. My typical priority is the token that maxes your voting die- in a 4 player game, the odds that it will be there are quite high so you can often ignore your dice until then and then surprise your opponents with a huge boost in voting power that you will need to win the laws you have been working towards. If I have no diamonds, I will consider the free megastructure, if I have a lot of diamonds I will consider the free lvl 2 yellow action because it turns all my future yellow actions into 9 points.
Round 5- at this point you should have a plan for all 4 of your actions to maximize points. Often, what you vote on here and what you fund will have more impact than the individual actions however, so you may take actions that don’t give you anything but secure a 5 point voting row and 10+ point law or a 16 point planet project.
Throughout the game, I am mindful of what people are funding. Often on the far left row I will use funding whenever possible so that pink project is completed, far right row i will use votes so that orange planet project isnt completed if I am heavy into pink not red for example
The last comment I’ll make is the difference in 2 player vs 4 player, 3 being of course in the middle- in 2 player, leveling your dice becomes non-optional. A player with a higher die face wins every law and sweeps the voting row of their choice. In 4 player, you want to either have the highest dice or be in similar planets as the person who does- the worst situations for a planet are to be the only one interested, or the only one not interested as you will lose those laws. Try to find a “buddy” that has a similar planet leveling structure such that you 2 can influence laws.
Hope this helps
let me know if you’d ever like a game!
General tips:
As with many 2 player games, denying points from your opponent is the same as getting points yourself. Consider taking megastructures that are extremely good for your opponent before they get to them even if there is one that is slightly better for you that they don’t care about. Rushing to a lvl 3 erudite they want early can also force them to pull the trigger on it early netting them far fewer points than they would have gotten, such as on the 2x planet level erudites.
In general you want to have the highest total level on all planets, as this gives points for laws, megastructures, and end of game points. This is why erudites and megastructures that allow you to gain levels on multiple planets at once are the strongest in the game: a lvl 1 erudite that lets you skip a level on the neo (red planet) track gives you a level in both pink AND red at once, getting you to both medals quicker.
Because we want to have the highest total level on all planets, we want most of our actions to be planet actions. Xp and ship actions are sometimes necessary, but we don’t want to use the top right space more than once a game for example as it is quite inefficient
Going first is a large advantage, especially early when good erudites are on the board. Do not be afraid to take the first player marker in 2 player games, even if you are already first player to set you up to beat your opponent to a contested 4-spot medal or erudite.
It is hard to get to level 6 on most planets. Either race to those planets early for the medal if they are in your plan, or take medals you know you will lose with the first player marker action
Fund and vote intentionally, even in round 1. You do not want a planet your opponent is going to win by a long shot to be funded by end of game as that is 10 free points to them.
Playstyle:
There are 2 sort of broad overarching playstyles, I will cover them below and give some tips for each one. Note that you will need to be flexible and deny your opponent whenever possible.
Dice King: this playstyle wants to win by building up their dice value early and consistently winning votes. You can build a huge head start that your opponent will struggle to recover from. Things to consider are:
You can afford to heavily specialize in some planets and completely ignore 1-2 others as you can be sure you will win the law. Often you should be
prioritizing planets that did not show up in round 1 or 2 for the laws.
You will ideally be able to win 2-3 rows of votes each round, so maximizing your xp track will be crucial for more points
You will be short of resources as you will typically be voting rather than funding, so it will be important to prioritize red or yellow to make sure
you are still able to pay for buildings.
Make sure to time your funding for player board checkmarks so that you do not lose the vote but still have all the planets you need.
Early indicators this strategy will be good:
The lvl 3 blue erudite is 2x dice
The megastructure with dice is on a good planet
Econ Endgame King: this playstyle wants to win by strategically funding early and often, using their resources to get good buildings, poaching medals, and sweeping endgame by winning all of the funded planets. Things to consider are:
You can’t let the dice king win every row of voting each time. Try to win the row without a neutral ambassador with your 1-strength vote tiles if
possible by voting on the planet’s column your opponent is strong in so that endgame mission doesnt get funded.
If your opponent is a dice king or has underprioritized key planets that will show up in later laws, try to beat them to the deep space tile. If the +6
dice tile is there, you can ruin their whole strategy.
You will typically be ahead on resources, so the red planet will be less important. Despite this, jumping out quickly to neo level 4 for the medal
with 3 red actions will give you enough resources to carry you throughout the game.
Early indicators this strategy will be good:
Neo (red planet) in the early laws
megastructure with dice is on blue (blue is typically not great for this strategy)
With that out of the way, I figured I’d go over my thoughts on each color:
Pink is the best color, and it’s not close- only 1 player can get each of the level 3 erudites, and it is often quite easy to get 12-15 points from one that you set your sights on early while reaping large rewards along the way. Almost all of the erudites are good, and the sleeper column that is often uncontested is the leftmost pink erudites: copying and re-flipping other erudites is a versatile ability, and the additional temporary accreditation erudites are undervalued- very rarely do people other than me take them in my games, which is good for 2 reasons- 1. I can be very sure I will be uncontested on the level 3 pink erudite which is typically strong 2. Adding accreditation levels translates to points on board for voting floors but also for the top left spaceship mission- i will pull the trigger on the lvl 2 +2 levels token when i am able to fund that mission which gives me an additional 4 points in addition to any laws. This token also lets you fund actions in rows you have not reached yet.
Note that pink is heavily contested. If the good erudites don’t present themselves to you, don’t be afraid to give up on pink or only go into 1 specific column. This is especially true in 4 player games.
Green is very good early, but in 4 player games it is rare to get more than 12 points out of the megastructures, since you don’t have time to build up the 2 categories without someone else pulling the trigger on the x3 before you. 12 points is good, but there are better ways to get 12 points that don’t require 2 crystals and a diamond. Still, you should be shooting for at least one megastructure and 2 if it will secure the green end of game points token for you. As I mentioned above, prioritizing early production is crucial, and the blue resource you need should come from one of 3 places- the start of game bonus, the green erudite that takes a crystal off the cost, or a blue planet token that gives a blue crystal. Getting to the asteroid on the red planet takes too much investment, while the yellow space takes away a green that you will need.
Note that with the basic structures, the xp building is better than the spaceship building. The non-basic building that advances you on red and blue should be acquired ASAP if possible, it is extremely strong.
Blue is good for 3 reasons: it gives spaceships and flexible early resources while still leveling a planet which translates to law points, it gives diamonds in the later levels that you will need for megastructures while not investing in orange/yellow planet, and it has many ways to be skipped- meaning that some blue erudites let you skip levels, and there is a building that lets you skip blue levels, both of which are very strong. Do keep in mind that voting power often comes down to dice levels, and not who has the bigger blue tokens. If you know a planet is coming up for a law in which you are leveled and others are not, it is worth having some big voting power blue tokens however. Despite all this, blue is one of the weaker planets in a vacuum.
Yellow is better than I initially thought, though still not great. Its strength is in the ability to turn green into experience- you get a free green every round from a funding token, and often the +2 accreditation level board space is contested. This is the best alternative, and can give you some blues along the way both for buildings in round 2/3 and also to pay the accreditation level tax in the later rounds. Don’t be afraid to use that trade location multiple times even though it doesnt level you if it means you can get a deep space token which are extremely powerful. Typically, you want to get the medal here by using the green to blue track and the blue to diamond track twice.
Red/Orange is tricky, it is typically very contested and easy to skip levels on making it trivial, but you also may need the resources. My one big tip is to never take the level 3 and 6 asteroids, taking levels is much better and the asteroids arent very valuable. Even if the lvl 3 red erudite is 5x asteroid, they take too much investment and if your opponent is good they will contest that.
I have a pretty consistent routine at this point, though it’s of course necessary to be flexible. A good opponent will get you off your rhythm and force you to adapt, making it a "deny them or lose" situation. Exempting this, here is a general map of my gameplay-
Round 1- generate resources, and get a funding token down on green. If I can’t make it to a good building, I should at least get the top right cheap building. This allows me to use a spaceship on the good building on round 2 once I’ve had time to generate resources. Note that you should NOT be prioritizing the law in rounds 1 and 2- these planets will not show up later, you want to be investing in colors that will show up late and give you big points.
Round 2- At some point in rounds 1 and 2, I want to have a funding token down on the following- top right spaceship square (putting a checkmark on top left spaceship action (2 points/lvl)), first player marker (taking either a token im positive i will lose or the black token with a face on it), +2 accreditation level. Round 1 and 2 any loose actions I have go towards those, as I will need spaceships on all of their actions later in the game and I want to be using voting power in later rounds rather than funding. These actions are only when I'm set up to win the medals in contested planets.
Round 3- building the planets that will be laws in rounds 4&5, and using the pink planet and spaceship action in the same turn to snag a contested lvl 3 erudite. Often this will be yellow if it is the 3x spaceship action (giving me 12 points) or the pink erudite if it is the 1x checkmark.
Round 4- this is the burst round for accreditation level- I want to be spaceshipping the +2 action and middle of 4 action to bring me up into the level 4 zone. If I have the blue, I will push for the deep space token by funding the +2 lvl board action if available (funding because I usually want the pink end of game project to be complete) and having first pick of the uber powerful deep space tokens. My typical priority is the token that maxes your voting die- in a 4 player game, the odds that it will be there are quite high so you can often ignore your dice until then and then surprise your opponents with a huge boost in voting power that you will need to win the laws you have been working towards. If I have no diamonds, I will consider the free megastructure, if I have a lot of diamonds I will consider the free lvl 2 yellow action because it turns all my future yellow actions into 9 points.
Round 5- at this point you should have a plan for all 4 of your actions to maximize points. Often, what you vote on here and what you fund will have more impact than the individual actions however, so you may take actions that don’t give you anything but secure a 5 point voting row and 10+ point law or a 16 point planet project.
Throughout the game, I am mindful of what people are funding. Often on the far left row I will use funding whenever possible so that pink project is completed, far right row i will use votes so that orange planet project isnt completed if I am heavy into pink not red for example
The last comment I’ll make is the difference in 2 player vs 4 player, 3 being of course in the middle- in 2 player, leveling your dice becomes non-optional. A player with a higher die face wins every law and sweeps the voting row of their choice. In 4 player, you want to either have the highest dice or be in similar planets as the person who does- the worst situations for a planet are to be the only one interested, or the only one not interested as you will lose those laws. Try to find a “buddy” that has a similar planet leveling structure such that you 2 can influence laws.
Hope this helps
let me know if you’d ever like a game!
