Exodus Proxima Centauri Board Game

Great 4X game with a lot of obvious comparisons to Eclipse. Like Eclipse, Exodus is much shorter than the grand and stately Twilight Imperium, and can be comfortably played in 3-4 hours even with the maximum number of relatively new players. Both are excellent, relatively intuitive games that see you building a stellar empire and (potentially/almost certainly) waging war against your neighbors trying to do the same. Each has it's own strengths and weaknesses. For Exodus, these are...Pros:-Political 'bidding' for turn order and action economy forces players to interact and compete even when they aren't in combat or contact.-Slightly more involved diplomatic systems encourage player interaction.-Superweapons! Great deterrents for those at peace, and since they can't be used on the last game round a great incentive for empires to actually go to war before the last, desperate bid for the galactic center.-More balanced upgrade costs, nuanced ship blueprints, and combat research makes fighting a little more interesting and allows multiple paths to building deadly warships.Cons:-No differences between player factions beyond unit color; the expansion addresses this (though its still a glaring hole in comparison to TI and Eclipse's diverse races).-While the contents of map tiles are randomized, the tiles themselves are always in the same position, as opposed to Eclipse and TI's more modular universes.-Slightly less streamlined economy. Eclipse is a Eurogame economic optimizer at its heart, with colorful 'Ameritrash' aspects (dice rolling for combat, unit miniatures) to spice things up. Exodus embraces the American conquest game a little more, resulting in livelier turns at the cost of Eclipse's fine-tuned economic balance and intuitive systems (which is not to say its bad, just not quite as tight).Both games have underwhelming 'neutral' opponents (hostiles you can fight for experience, and who block your way in early turns). Both games tend to put a bit too much emphasis on a late-game rush for a valuable galactic center, though Exodus has less of this issue for the reasons described above. If you're a huge Eurogame (Catan, etc.) fan looking for a little more complexity and the vague threat of combat while you build the perfect stellar empire, check out Eclipse. If you want something a little more diverse on the combat side with a heavier emphasis on player interaction, Exodus is the game for you. You can't go wrong either way.

Interesting universe exploration game. Great components and presentation.

Played this 2 times the first weekend i received it. fairly easy game to learn but very detailed in what and how you can play. I am now itching to get the expansion to make each player different but is not needed because this is a very fun game. I also love that the map and layout can change depending on how long or short you want to play. It has different variants to keep the game fresh. LOVE IT!

My group likes it but we did not play that often.It is very different from Eclipse and so we have a hard time adapting our play style.Eclipse is more number crunching and managing, the randomness of the board and asymetric start makes for the need to adapt and think ahead more.Exodus is more linear, basic number, less random but more interaction with other player.Eclipse is like cold war while Exodus is war.So overall I like it a lot, can't wait to try the expansion.

Have played 3 times now and I would say it takes at least that many times to get a good feel for the huge amount of strategy that is in this game. Love the fact that there is a counter to just about anything the other players are trying to do, really is a great game. Cant wait for the expansion that comes out later this year.

Exodus able to do what every 4x game needs to do easily, intuitively, and quickly. The game plays fast for a 4x game and you can learn after one round. Good balance of politics, research, and combat. Most turns you will be making interesting decisions or trying to bluff your opponents. This is what I want in a 4x board game.Also there is currently one expansion our which adds more complex mechanism if that's what you and you group look for after learning the base game.

Was very surprised by Exodus. This isn't a 4x or even really a space exploration game so much as an excellent strategy game of conquest. Great fun!