This was a thorough and fair review with great considerations from all sides and great photography. I think your app recommendation was a good one that I hope MindClash will consider them if the game does well enough to warrant it. Also, the clips give me a chuckle.

I just dedicated 34 minutes to simply watching you rant about the extensive time investment of a game I have already backed and already know I want to play when my copy arrives. So yeah...time investment is not an issue for me. 😀

Such a fantastic game. Pretty sure it will will take the top spot for me (kicking Spirit Island to #2) for solo game. As much as I like it solo I like it even more multiplayer. I am also a person that doesn't mind the setup time. I find it therapeutic. That said, I wouldn't just break this out at game night. If I was bringing it to game night I would setup the game ahead of time same as I do the other lengthy setup games that I have.

Very good description and frank, well considered assessment.

Your critique is very helpful. There are limits to how large and complex a physical game can get and it sounds like this is over the edge for me. My arms are only so long, my table so big, my eyesight so clear, let alone the setup time and rules overhead…

18:32 "Overwhelming" is why most of us (and you) like this type of heavy games I guess. I absolutely love the feeling of getting to learn a complex set of rules (in a game at least). It's just so satisfying once you've gone through all the preparation, which is a lot of fun thanks to our beloved You Tube teachers as yourself, and start playing those first sessions.

Great video & as always a brutally honest review!

Nice overview of this game, I already own Gaia Project and Eclipse and just bought Voidfall as well.

Oof that setup time... same story with Trickerion, I timed that setup once, going as fast as I could, and it took 20 minutes. But I have high hopes that Voidfall will be worth it, seems like the sort of game I'll love (once it's set up...)

Cool review! I don't agree with all of it but most of it is fair, especially the part about the setup slog and the House trays (and a good chunk of the insert overall, they dropped the ball on that). But if that's the worst part about the game, I think we'll be okay :) Whenever I play this, I'm happy with the time I spent on it and it just flies by. It definitely doesn't compare to something like Spirit Island which doesn't have the same level of intricacies, it's simply a different experience so I don't think these can and should be compared. Definitely something lighter like Septima is interesting, but it really doesn't bring me the same level of enjoyment so it just depends on people. I definitely don't agree with the amount of rules. The rulebook and glossary are long because they are extremely detailed, half of the setup pages are images! And you certainly don't need to (and likely didn't) read ALL 3 rulebooks. You just need the one main rulebook and then refer to the rest if you need precisions or scenario setups. And I much prefer that over something like Feudum which has half the rulebook words for twice the complexity :D As for the iconography, I think either it clicks or it doesn't, more than logical arguments. I found it intuitive quickly and I really don't need to check the rulebook to remember the various cycle phases.

I'm going to suggest that most of what you listed as "flaws" are actually better described as "characteristics" of the game. Most of them are there to provide a very robust and challenging gameplay experience with long term replayability through variability. They become "flaws" for you because they do not provide you enough payoff to justify the investment. There's no argument with that. The only other way I could see them being characterized as flaws would be if you could see how the same depth, challenge, and robustness could be provided in a way that required less investment. Maybe your automated Crisis Board concept is a good example. I guess I think a more accurate way to describe the things you mentioned as "flaws" would be to describe them as things that were negative "characteristics" for you that people need to be aware of. BTW, you did a good job of pointing that out but it just struck me that I kept hearing the word flaw(s) a lot which implies a more fundamental game problem to me. I'd agree that the flaw you mentioned regarding lack of labeling of the House Trays is in fact a flaw since this could have been addressed with a sticker for the end or side of each tray. Recognizing this is in fact an area that could be improved, the designer has since provided files on BGG which provide House Tray labels and House Reference cards for each House. As always, I do appreciate the thorough review and analysis and believe you were accurate regarding everything you covered and that the evaluation and score was fair based on the game characteristics that were negatives (flaws) for you. Thanks!

Great and candid review, thank you for that. I am too much in dad mode gaming to get this but if I had all day by myself I would be into this a lot. But I fear this is not for me., the time thing kills it.

I really appreciate the honesty going into this review, even if its painfull to hear. Setup is an issue, but not for gamenight since it can be setup beforehand. The biggest question for me really is: would I (would you) play this game over something else and if so which one ... this is really the question i would like to be answered in your reviews as well, just my two cents though :)

I haven't played my copy yet, and I'm concerned my table won't be into this one enough to play it more than a couple times. Hopefully the solo holds up for me, but I'm sitting on an organized copy and no time to even set it up for at least a week. So I definitely see the concerns about how daunting the game might be. Bit of a tip for those faction boxes: Half the factions or so have special focus cards which serve to "label" the boxes. To make up for those that don't, I just put the Fallen House cards into the boxes face down. That way, I just look at the bottom of the box to see who's in it. But I agree that set of boxes does not seem conducive to quick and easy set up. Factions probably should have been organized differently.

It was tough but then it clicked…..it’s fantastic….but I could only play this solo as my own AP is through the roof with this

I'm tempted by this. I like Anachrony from this designer. Not worried about setup time (I'm the one who sets these things up and my wife just sits down and plays). I think between playing Anachrony, On Mars, and Eclipse, I'd like to believe we could handle it. We don't even play such games usually in one sitting, just leave it on a table for next day. Those inconveniences are OK for me, if the game is generally fun.

This game is so good, and yes it’s a lot at first but Ian O’Toole really nailed the iconography and it makes it so much easier to learn.

As with Spirit Island or Through the Ages, it's a great game, which also happens to be a boardgame instead a videogame at start. I'd rather play it on computer to reduce the busy work.

Okay, probably too much for me. I think I'll bring Imperium:etc off the shelf-still plenty of solo play in those boxes.

I wonder if mindclash woll create voidfall essential edition like they did with anachrony...lol

I decided to learn the game solo “two handed” competitively first. All the additional solo rules were a little daunting.

I'm carefully optimistic about this one, but all these nuances are fully expected. Looks like an epic boutique lifestyle solo experience, but I already have a few games competing for this super-heavy slot. You'll forget everything if you don't play once a month at least. Dunno how a hardcore game of these proportions gonna become popular. I've tried beta version from KS times and AP from focus cards was brutal for me, couldn't even complete a solo game. Now I have to reread rules from scratch and try again on TTS to decide if it's worth it, and that task looks dauting as hell...

“Whaddya want? A biscuit?” 😂

I’m sure some folks like the video clip interruptions, but I found them distracting. Not expecting any changes on my account, but figured the feedback may be helpful. I just played this competitively tonight, it’s really good, but I don’t think I could justify owning it. Except. I haven’t tried it coop yet. And if it manages to be amazing there, it may be worth it to me, as I really do love a good coop.

Thank you for your review Luke. To be honest, if you explained to me Spirit Island setup like you did with Voidfall, I wouldn’t understand more than half of it 🤣 Point is: you can’t really demonstrate the setup is complex if you present it that quickly to an audience who mostly doesn’t even know the game 😅 I think that we need to consider that many publishers / developers create games thinking that people will only play them for months. Is it realistic? Probably not. But I’ve read the rulebook 3-4 times at most (and I mean the actual rules, not ALL the rulebooks from start to finish) and played like 5-6 games on TTS and the iconography became natural after the first 2 games. Also you are not supposed to read every single page on the glossary. That’s for reference only. Once you get the logic behind the icons, 95% of the cards are self explanatory. You’ll just look at the glossary for maybe 2-3 cards that may still be a bit unclear or for special sectors that come out only in specific scenarios that you are still unfamiliar with. I do wish the tray system for factions was a bit more user-friendly, sure. If you store cards in a way the Fallen house card can be seen through the tray though, you can easily see which tray holds the tech cards you need for a specific sector, so you don’t need to actually open every single faction tray. I’m also curious about the app, because sorting combat results out can be pretty helpful, but if that means inputting the fleet types and techs involved every single time, it would become a chore to use

Good review as ever. Having said that, you sort of cheated, as you can't really go wrong when you open with a clip from the best tv show ever! I am in the fortunate position of being a very early retiree so time is a lot less of an issue, and I suspect I will like the gameplay a lot (especially following your comments on that front), so I remain hopeful about this beast 🙂

That's a big layout

Corruption tokens are the same in the standard version, not cardboard.

Not sure I'd class spirit island or Ark Nova as particularly heavy. I must admit though, your review has probably turned this into a definite buy for me!

For me personally, this is a lot better than "Spirit Island" as a solo game. Running a single spirit in "Spirit Island" means the island is tiny and the "programming" of the invader actions become almost robotic. I know that's working as intended and you can just run two-handed (which I do), but I think pure solo is a bit of a downer. "Voidfall" is - like "Anachrony" - quite demanding to acquaint yourself with, but once you do I get a much greater enjoyment out of it. Solo works great, and if you want, you can also play "Voidfall" two-handed, which is also a hell of a good time (those Joint Focus cards are such a cool idea). I still think "Mage Knight" is my favourite but "Voidfall" has become my #2 solo game, knocking "Scythe" with 4 Automas down to the #3 spot.

That setup and table space needed is a hard pass for me.

which one do you think is more fun, voidfall or eclipse second dawn?

Great review Luke! You seem to gloss over the co-op scenarios. Can those just be played as solo scenarios. Thx!

I can handle complex games like mage knight or spirit island but this seems too much. I dont think it would be a relaxing experience and i usually want to relax when i play a board game.

Didn't realize that the designer of Imperium Classics/Legends/Horizons was the same guy! No wonder this game crossed on my radar, but seeing your review and the review of others.....yeah this one ain't for me. I really wanted a good 4x space game and this title had everything I wanted but it's too much. If they seriously compressed it, I'd think about picking it up.

I think these monstrosities really appeal to people that look at boardgames as mental challenges to overcome. I see this mountain and I’m going to climb it. I admit I looked at this, and I thought it would be a challenge to learn, and could I actually learn it? Similar to how I used to approach complex Avalon Hill Games. You test your limits. How else would this get an 8.7 rating on bgg? Masochists all. Maybe the company purposely sets out to torture you. “Let’s see how much we can get away with.”

How would you compare this to Gaia project?

I just imagine someone that play a heavy game for the first time and play Avoidfall. 🤣😂😅 This game is ridiculous but good!

You gave it a 1 on bgg?!

Can say enough nice things about having a recessed game table. once i made one myself, my board game collection soared from about 10 to over 250. If you don't have the time to set up Voidfall, you shouldn't even be looking at 4x games. period.

The Rulebook is 40 Pages… With lots of pictures in it. Come on ;) . I set this game up for solo in about 15 minutes. Cool review, but i dont get what you are doing there 😂

Ian O'Toole... does it every time. i get sucked in by his art.

10:29 you highlighted exactly what I have been thinking, not 4x, exploration is not there although someone could argue it´s there, it´s just that is not a blind exploration. Funny, all the things you dislike are the ones I like the most. I don´t agree with you regarding the 8 stars, you are giving it an 8 based on the amount of time for the setup, complexity and doesn´t seem you are doing it based on gameplay.

yeah good luck with those. They won't get to the table so why have them in the first place.

Honestly, I regularly play High Frontier 4 All with all the modules... and this game feels too much for me. I get it is a bit lighter on the rules than HF4 but the sheer amount of visual stimulus looks very tiring to be honest. For example, HF4 has 100+ pages of rules (when all the modules are included) but once you get through them, the game is OK, you are not constantly bombarded by tons of icons, actions and special cases. It HAS them, but they are for you to know, not showed on the components. In Voidfall, it all looks like a vomit of colors and shapes. Maybe I am completely wrong, but from a simple visual representation, I would stay away from this game, even though I enjoy heavy games (as I said, I regularly play HF4, Frostpunk...). I think about buying it for the theme, but I am really on the fence due to how the entire thing looks.

Is not as complex not long to setup as most reviewers claim it to be, really...

Do they make a profit of this game? Tablehog. Heavy heavy ruleset. Long rules to learn. Setup is long. Are people going to buy this and not play this, fomo? What are those people who buy this. It must be a lot to gain money as a publisher. There must be a market for this.. in space. 😂 oke im just talking for myself. Not for me this one but good they make games for people who like heavy games

Voidfall to me seems like a failure in board gaming.

Space, as theme, is beyond boring. It's got horrifically boring colors. It has no background, no history and nothing worth defending or caring about. Generic Fantasy is by far more palatable, more... non-nerdy. Space, as a theme, is a lazy, dull theme. Every single time.

I see the comments is full of people trying desperately to avoid feeling buyers remorse. You brought up very fair points.