The Banished Vault

Very much a board game, Euro style. Puzzley action point and resource management. Some random elements, but quite forgiving in that you can restart each map as much as you like (by default). A bit fiddly to figure out, you'll want to read the in-game manual. Not that complicated once you wrap your head around what resources are required for things (there is a reference page in-game, but I made myself a little chart). Banished Vault is basically a board game where you use ships and fuel to move guys around so they can build extractor and converter buildings on planets, thus gaining fuel, food (stasis), hp potions (elixir), and materials to make more ships. And ideally materials to build a scriptorium on a special planet, 4 of which will win the game. Then the sun explodes and you move on to the next solar system with whatever you managed to extract. In usual board game fashion, each cha

The Banished Vault is like 'Hey kid, wanna do some math?" and then laughs at me as I strand my exiles on the Hallowed Planet as I had the hubris to think I could inscribe our journey there. The Banished Vault is about resource management across a solar system where there are a few things you must do, and a lot of things you really would like to be doing, but time and resources conspire to make getting through everything impossible. But that's good, because the tension in the game comes from realising you have more options than you think. Necessity breeds creativity as the most straightforward but perhaps resource intensive option gives way to clever workarounds. There's plenty of room for failure, but every mistake is a learning opportunity and the game's mechanic feel as deep as the void.

This is a very specific kind of "Recommended". It's not "I think you should buy it". I'm not recommending it to the world. I wouldn't even recommend it to *myself*. This is possibly the most niche game I've encountered, with a very limited set of gamers who will really enjoy it. As evidence for that, I offer the fact that at the time of writing, 33% of people who bought this have completed the tutorial, 10% have completed the first post-tutorial level and 2.6% have completed a run (this being a game where you're supposed to do multiple runs). So you really need to figure out whether you're going to enjoy this before you buy it, as most people won't. But for that small set, it's really unique and something they won't want to miss out on. What you're getting here is Analysis Paralysis: The Game. It's essentially a Euro-style board game (albeit one that would be really fiddly as an actual

For context, I refunded this game within thirty minutes of buying it. This game is very daunting, and its mechanics are very well thought out and designed to present you with the challenges a crew would actually face in this situation - the logistics of fuel consumption, ferrying resources to and from different planets, all before an existential threat catches up to the system your in. If a space style logistics game sounds up your alley, and you're craving a thought puzzle - you will like this game. If that sounds like homework, I would probably go play FTL or something if you want a space-age journey simulator. For my final thoughts, this game seems very well crafted and clearly has a lot of heart in its production, it just wasn't for me.