New Frontiers

I spent the last week playing a lot of Frontiers, the latest expansion from Star Realms and while I like it overall, there's something a little strange about it.

First: this seems like a very solid set. the Machine (red) faction isn't overpowering but is still very useful-a problem that plagued the first set was Machine's general dominance.

Second, the new Star Empires (yellow) draw mechanic seems to be in great shape. The "Draw then discard" element of the ships feels fair and like it might offer a lot of room to interact with the other factions.

The Blob (green) and Trade Federation (blue) factions don't get as much to do mechanically but they do have some really flashy cards that ask players to make tactical decisions, like Pulverizer and Federation Battleship.

All in all, I think it plays really well. Not quite up to Colony Wars, my favorite base set, but fairly close! So what's the problem?

Of all the base sets I've played, Frontiers is the one that feels as though it really, really wants expansions. That isn't to suggest that it is somehow deficient, that playing Frontiers means you're playing part of a game. The experience as is works.

But it's a bit like getting a videogame and being told 'here's your experience and it's good! Buuuuuut we have some downloadable content for you right over here...."

There are ideas to expand on-particularly in the cards that want double factions to trigger-that would become a lot more useful if you added in the Assault, Combat or Stellar Allies expansions, because those cards count towards both of their respective factions. As it stands, when the double faction trigger hits it is brutal but it misses more often than not, which can be a little frustrating-a cool toy you can't have access to.

And in the meanwhile, there's the creepy looking dude in the corner asking "Whatta buyin'?"

Since I'm a fan of this game, I've got the cool expansions I want. Newer players might feel a little differently though, as if part of the game was held back.

Or they might not! I certainly did enjoy my games of Frontiers and frequently found that an exciting back-and-forth resulted more often than not.

I don't think Frontiers will convince anyone who didn't like Star Realms to begin with, but it is a pretty good set that I think rewards long time players who have expansions to add, as well as being not too complex for newer players.