Last modified February 3, 2025 by jarjar
Last weekend we re-released a game that was already starting to gather dust, the excellent Planet Unknown, nominated for the Kenner Spiel des Jahres in 2023, a game that exploits the polyomino placement mechanic in a rather refreshing and fun way through the Lazy SUSAN (Simultaneous Unit Selection Axial Node). A visually very colorful and very attractive game.
GAME FACT
Planet Unknown was a concept created and initially tested in 2015 and the prototype name was “Terraform”. They felt that the game needed a different title once a popular game using that word in its title came out in 2016. So with a brand new title, Planet Unknown was born.
The story of this game is based on an alarming observation: Earth has exhausted its natural resources, forcing humanity to seek a new home in space. Following the discovery of several promising planets, we have deployed exploration rovers to analyze their environments, in the hopes of establishing future human colonies there.
And for the first time, I managed to complete my planet without leaving a gap. Next game, I have to try a new corporation and a new planet. The game is also very rich in variety: the individual boards offer a double face, presenting on one side an exclusive corporation and on the other a specific technology tree. The planets, for their part, each display their own asymmetrical puzzle, decorated with distinctive illustrations. This configuration allows players to freely combine boards and planets, giving rise to 49 unique and asymmetrical configurations. This wealth of combinations guarantees a constantly renewed gaming experience.
TECHNICAL SHEET
Number of games played: 5
Best Setup: 3-6 players
Level: advanced family
My best score: 69
MY IMPRESSIONS
I loved :
>> A physically imposing game, but still easy to approach in terms of rules
>> the variety offered (the different planets, the different companies)
>> The Lazy SUSAN which is rather original
>> No downtime, we all play at the same time
I liked less:
>> Limited interaction, mainly on objectives and tiles that we would like to obtain.
An extension is in preparation, the author explains to us, via the elevation.games site, what he wishes to accomplish with this extension:
- Smoothing out some minor friction felt by some players. Two of the three unique modules we created were specifically designed to allow players to play with or without them, depending on their preferences.
- Adding new content to the game and showing that we are excited to support Planet Unknown in the future. This includes a new highly modular corporation and planet, as well as continuing to explore design space with civilization and event cards.
- Listening to the community of people who really wanted the opportunity to add a lid to their game.
And the next projects he is working on:
We are excited about two upcoming projects this year. The first upcoming title is called Defenders of the Dictionary, which is a cooperative game that reimagines Scrabble-like gameplay into a campaign experience. The second upcoming title is called Long Soul, which is a competitive azul-like game that brings a new approach to resource selection by placing each player as an avatar on the 3D game board. The 3D game board also offers some of the intangible elements of Planet Unknown like quick setup, storage, and containment, and it also allows for new game mechanics that can't be replicated in 2D.
A polyomino type game that surprised me a lot with its fluidity and this selection wheel which is very fun. It is a game that goes down very well with everyone.
FUN FACTOR 🙂 🙂 🙂 : )