6 min readAug 29, 2019

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Solar Storm — Dranda Games — Preview
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Solar Storm — Dranda Games — Preview

3 hours ago Jordan Macnab

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All in all I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a solid co-op experience with a fantastic theme.

Jordan Macnab

MeepleGamers

 9/10

Publisher: Dranda Games

Designer: Ayden Lowther

Artist: Elias Stern

Artist: Vladimir Ishelin

Game Type: Cooperative Play

Game Type: Hand Management

Initial Year of Release: 2019

Age Range: 10+

Expected Playtime: 30–60 Minutes

Number of Players: 2–4

Theme and What is it?

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Trapped on a disabled ship floating through space, you and a small crew of survivors need to reroute power to get the ship useable again before time runs out or the ship is destroyed.

Can you and the crew save the ship and save yourselves!?!?!

Gameplay Mechanics

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Each player controls a crew member that can move around the ship and perform actions to repair or search the ship as well as rerouting power when possible. Each area of the ship also has a specific ability that a crew member can use if that area is fully repaired and they occupy the same space.

The ship is systematically being damaged so it is a constant battle to keep the ship together while trying to complete the objective.

While searching the ship you will find parts that will be required to repair each specific compartment. Managing your resources is key to the success of the game.

Initial Impressions

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 9/10

I was immediately drawn to Solar Storm just based on its box art. I wrote a brief preview of the game based on what little information I could find online before the UKGE. I was happy to meet the designer of the game at the expo and I got a greater understanding of how the game worked.

Game Build Quality

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The copy I had the pleasure of playing is a demo version, from what I understand there will be upgrades to the components based on the success of the Kickstarter Campaign. However, just based on what I have seen so far, I would be happy with the quality even as it is. The card stock was excellent and the color quality of the cards etc was top notch.

Artistic Direction

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Solar Storm is dripping with sci-fi art and that’s just from the 9 cards that form the ship. The resource cards are very simple but serve their purpose. I have no idea if they plan on upgrading the artwork but, again, I would be happy with the way it looks as it is. The game has such few components there isn’t much artwork to cover.

Fun Factor

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It is easy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Solar Storm. I played it multiple times over the same sitting and didn’t win once but I think my team wasn’t quite the well-oiled machine that we would hope to be, however, not winning didn’t affect the enjoyment of the experience. Struggling on to try and salvage the ship the best we could by use of the resources and abilities on hand felt tight and we attempted several methods to win each of which felt strong and viable.

Age Range & Weight

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 10/10

The age and weight of the game seem pretty spot on to me. I would happily sit down with a 10-year-old and teach them this game and confidently think they could pick it up with ease. The game time was fairly accurate too. The more we played the game the quicker we got.

Conclusions

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 9/10

As co-ops go, Solar Storm is a fantastic experience. It’s a super tight survival game that fits the theme perfectly. It was very important to work together and felt like a solid team effort. I would have loved to have seen character-specific abilities which I have suggested to the game designer but I am unsure if that type of change will make it in time for the Kickstarter, However, I can easily see this game being expandable in various ways.

All in all, I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a solid co-op experience with a fantastic theme.

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Solar Storm — Dranda Games — Preview

Facebook Twitter Instagram All in all I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a solid co-op experience with a fantastic theme. Jordan Macn

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Tags: action point allowance system, Ayden Lowther, cooperative play, Dranda Games, Elias Stern, hand management, Solar Storm, Vladimir Ishelin