Solar Settlers is a galactic exploration card game,that on looks alone,may come across as not the most inviting mobile game that you’ll ever see. Part card,part board game,and city builder elements combined,with mainly text description and little in visuals.The bodywork may not be the most attractive,but what lies under the bonnet,as you’ll soon discover.Is a very finely tuned engine at heart,driving it along with each new campaign.
Story goes that the Sun is rapidly dimishing.The last shreds of humanity are taking to ships and leaving Earth for good.In search of new habital planets and a chance of a new life in newly constructed and developed colonies on them. Each game is presented on a grid,with a certain amount of colonists to start with,in the centre.Each colonist will make three phases per turn.Movement,scan area and action.Those phases require 2 basic resources in order to use them,and vital components that players will need to watch and monitor.Hydrogen for ship movement and Oxygen for your colonists to remain alive! Each tile on the grid,will most of the time,reveal a planet and a type of resource.Rock worlds can yield Hydrogen,and Water worlds Oxygen. Special random cards soon appear on round completion,or completing a certain action,that require a small payment of resources to use them. These cards serve as upgrades to each tile/planet and can grant players a wide range of facilities. Mining buildings,space stations and even Android factories and Alien defences are but a small portion of the range of options available.
Each scenario must be completed within a given number of rounds. Most objectives require you to settle a certain number of colonists in order to win the game,and later revisits and playthroughs will also contain mid round objectives like collecting a certain amount of resources or upgrading a certain number of planets. Scenarios are not long drawn out affairs,with each game lasting about 15 minutes on average.Making it perfect for mobile gaming in short bursts.
Winning,or indeed losing a scenario grants Xp. Advancing up a level will then unlock a certain number of the 35+ unlockables hidden in the game.These include new alien races,planets and new game scenarios. For beginners there is a tutorial mode that gently eases players into the game mechanics and a weekly challenge mode that puts your best effort with other players online.
It’s true,that it’s taken me several months to get to grips with this game.First impressions and early gameplay can prove to be off-putting and tricky,and yet perseverance pays dividends and the game starts to draw you in with an enjoyable and addictive experience.Once you grab those mechanics and complete objectives that is!
Big Brain Games have come out with an outstandingly intelligent and deep space game,requiring strategy and careful planning and thinking.With the added roguelike elements granting loads of new content hidden in the game.There is plenty to grant replay value and to summarise…it’s well worth a go!
Thanks to Big Brain Games for the code.
