COLONIES !!!!!!!!!! YESSSSS :)

[RoyalRook]

I am not so sure about all that. There are certainly unwinnable games in prelude colony, but there are far more outs as well. You can crush your opponents in more creative ways. Without possibility of Venus ruining the game, I think prelude colony is a beauty. My favorite is miranda exploits, you can delay pluto and manipulate miranda instead. In a weird way, prelude colony is sweet since heat control is far more exotic. I especially like it in 3p.

[foxracing13]

Do I have a noob opinion or do others feel that way?

Nah, I have the same experience too. Many Colonies games end early for some players because they're out of it quickly. Even in 2P, they still can't quit early because it would be a long time before the game hits 50% because it is the correct move to durdle and build. Many games end because one player still has 10+ actions after everyone else has passed, it is clear they will run away with the game, and the others just don't want to sit there for 15+ minutes for the game to actually finish.

I mean, if you get enjoyment out of building and watching engines run, even if it's by other players, that's fine. But for many competitive players, yes, the game can become a slog.

At the very least I understand why some game groups opt to ban Pluto. Games feel much better without it.

I am going to agree with you here.

That said, I LOVE colonies. But I only play friendly mode. Because, the cards are absolutely broken, batsh_t insane.

Warp Drive ??? Nuts. Corona Extractor???

Any of the cards that decrease the cost of trading, or allow you to advance the colony cube, or give you an extra trade fleet? Bonkers !

And Pluto ????? Totally insane.

So... Fun? Yes. Optimal for skill-based play? No.

I lost a colonies game by 100 points... even though I scored 136! The score was 236-136, in 13 generations.

But, it was FUN! I did not mind. Because it was friendly mode.

I've had a game where I had 3 extra trade fleets, -2 resources to trade, +2 advance on colony cube when trading, AI central, Olympus, Mars, AI central. And multiple colonies on Pluto. Fun for me. Not fun for my opponent.

And then there are the nutty floater cards. "I'll activate titan shuttles to gain 15 alloyed titanium".

And there are so man Jovians. I had a game where I had 9 or 10 Jovians, and was holding all 4 of the multipliers. Made sur the game went one more gen, and played all 4 multipliers for a zillion points.

Etc.

I would like to know how somebody scored 236 in colonies

[RoyalRook]

Forever engine with point luna.