By Andrew Dodson on August 15, 2016 at 5:53am
In a continuing pattern of fantastic tabletop games getting digital release, "Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy" has been spotted onSteam Greenlight and it doesn't look half-bad. Check out what the developers, Big Daddy Creations, has put together so far:
For the uninitiated, "Eclipse" is a huge board game where each player takes the role of an interstellar civilization, where they compete with other players while they explore the galaxy, research new tech and, as with any huge space game, wage war on a ridiculous scale. As a tabletop game, "Eclipse" has been won or been nominated for a score of different awards. It is a solid game with solid mechanics, and is very popular in the tabletop community.
The downside with any tabletop game, however, is that the price-tag to just buy the game is fairly high (currently "Eclipse" is $85 on CoolStuffInc) and it can be difficult to assemble the right group together to learn the game and actually dedicate a few hours to playing it. Digital releases of these types of games make them much more affordable and with online play, much easier to find people to play with.
You just don't get to feel the weight of the pieces in your hand. And you lose some of the social aspect of having your friends across the table from you. You don't get to see their faces as you blast their fleet into oblivion...
Still, this digital release will bring some new elements to the table - like AI players (with varying difficulties) and cross-platform multiplayer. There is no telling yet if the game will eventually include "Eclipse's" expansions, but time will tell.
If you want to check out "Eclipse" now, it already exists as an iPad app by the same development team.
There is no release date yet for the PC/Mac version of "Eclipse" but you can follow their progress on Steam Greenlight, Twitter or on their Facebook fan-page.
Steam Greenlight
