Board Game Arena

Please bring the expansion boards to BGA the original board with Praha is somewhat skewed into a race game, first to Praha wins, removes so much of the creative scoring and fun.

New boards were released to help with this, please bring them to BGA asap.

love Nucleum!

Thanks,

Just had a look at that Australia board and it looks fun! Seconding this! :3

I don't consider Praha to be imbalanced and would prefer for the implementation of Energy Research Institute to be prioritized over Australia.

Faiz Ali wrote: ↑15 August 2026, 20:18 I don't consider Praha to be imbalanced and would prefer for the implementation of Energy Research Institute to be prioritized over Australia.

Based on my personal experience playing offline, I think Australia is more important for gameplay improvement than ERI. ERI only gives more experiments and does not change the gameplay too much, if on the base map.

When playing with the base map, there is almost a standard start: unlock X7 technology by level 4 turbine & mine -> take Praha -> fulfill Purple contracts. There might be some variations with different openings (market, milestone, etc.), but the overall process remains almost the same. With Australia, there are no cities that must be taken, and this varies the gameplay. One can start at any city and still find his way to develop his network, urbanize and energize. Moreover shipping makes the game more flexible and more enjoyable. Australia definitely should be prioritized.

Level 3 technology is always prioritized. Purple contracts represent a limited pool of points and an opportunity for an early L3 tech unlock, therefore they are always prioritized. Can you explain why this would change on the Australia or Gibraltar maps? In the base game, competitive 4 player games are not viable because Experiment D is clearly weaker than A-C. The logic behind implementing Energy Research Institute is to make 4 player games viable.

Faiz Ali wrote: ↑22 August 2026, 22:11 Level 3 technology is always prioritized. Purple contracts represent a limited pool of points and an opportunity for an early L3 tech unlock, therefore they are always prioritized. Can you explain why this would change on the Australia or Gibraltar maps? In the base game, competitive 4 player games are not viable because Experiment D is clearly weaker than A-C. The logic behind implementing Energy Research Institute is to make 4 player games viable.

I never say that persuing L3 tech and getting purple contracts are changed. The main focus is Praha, and I have explained in my last post that without Praha, one can have more routes to build up their network and develop, since player do not need to compete for the 3~5 spots in Praha to get higher energize VPs. Of course L3 tech and purple contract should be prioritized in the games!

I only consider 3 player games without ERI. I prioritize balance and gameplay than competitive 4 player games, since 3 player games can also be competitive. Indeed, competitive 4 player games are not viable considering Experiment D, no matter in the base game, Australia or Gibraltar. Australia would make Experiment C stronger, and thus decreasing the gap between Experiment A,B and Experiment C. Australia definitely makes Experiment D even weaker, but that's not taken into my consideration.

I would put Australia in the nice to have category and Energy Research Institute in the need to have. The most competitive game mode is four player, so I feel the Experiment D issue needs to be resolved. Three player is fun but too forgiving.