On September 1, 2022 Mindclash Games launched a pre-order for its first straight-to-retail release Astra, from designers Patrik Porkoláb, Eszter Krisztina Sas, and Frigyes Schőberl, which will be available at SPIEL ‘22. Astra is the first release in a new line of games under the sub-brand Mindclash Play, which is focused on accessible, lower-entry games much lighter than the bigger, heavier games Mindclash Games is known for (i.e. Anachrony, Trickerion, Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles).
In Astra, 2-5 players take on the role of astronomers discovering constellations in the night’s sky in a highly interactive game featuring an innovative approach to card bidding. Astra is based on the 48 constellations described in ancient astronomer Ptolemy’s The Almagest. On your turn, you collect and spend stardust to mark stars with your dry-erase marker, discover and collect constellations, and earn boons (rewards) and abilities granted by the discovered constellations. Additionally, you also gain fame (victory points) for your efforts exploring the night sky. The player with the most fame at the end of the game is the winner.
When you set up a game of Astra, each player receives a different color dry-erase marker, a journal (player board), and eight stardust, which is the game’s currency. Your journal is organized with a fame track around the perimeter, sections for storing stardust and telescope tokens, and pouch and wisdom tracks which you can, and will want to, advance on throughout the game.
In addition, players receive a unique final scoring card. One side of the final scoring cards has an identical player aid specifying everything that scores at the end of the game. The other side has a grid for scoring the elements on your constellation cards at the end of the game. The scoring grid side is kept face down and secret from your opponent since two different boxes are crossed off in the first column of each, which gives players a slightly unique direction to strategize around.
In the center of the table sits the sphere board for the appropriate player count. This is where undiscovered constellation cards live during the game. However, before you place any cards out, you have to create the constellation draw deck. You shuffle all 48 constellation cards, and based on the number of players, draw and set aside a certain amount of cards. Then you place the Game End card on top of the cards you previously set aside, rotated slightly so you can see when it’s coming after the remaining constellation cards are placed on top of it. Next, you discard the top card of the deck, placing the sphere marker on the sphere board element space matching the element on the discarded card. Finally, draw and place constellation cards around the sphere board and get pumped for your upcoming discoveries.
Ready for a 4-player game
In Astra, players take turns in clockwise order until the game ends. Each turn, you perform an optional Ability phase, followed by an Action phase, and then a Discovery phase if it’s triggered during your turn.
In the Ability phase of your turn, you may choose to activate the abilities on any of your active constellation cards in any order. Some abilities are instant effects, while others last your entire turn. Once an ability is used, you exhaust the constellation card by rotating the card to the horizontal position (i.e. 90 degrees to the right). An exhausted constellation card cannot be used again until it becomes active again by taking a rest action at the right time. More on that later.
In the Action phase, you must take an observe or rest action. When you take an observe action, you spend stardust to mark stars on an undiscovered constellation card around the sphere board. Each constellation card consists of stars connected with one or more lines creating a unique shape. Each constellation card has a starting star, which is the first star that needs to be marked in a constellation. In addition, there are common/basic stars, and grand stars which grant you wisdom when you mark them. Each constellation card has an element (fire, water, air, or earth), an ability, and four different boons, which are instant rewards for assisting other players when discovering a constellation.
My journal and constellations mid-gameWhen marking a star, simply color the white dot of the chosen star with your dry-erase marker. For each star you mark, you must spend one stardust. When marking stars, determine the first star to mark, then you can mark additional stars immediately adjacent to the last star you marked, assuming you have enough stardust to spend. If there are no stars marked on the constellation you choose, you mark the starting star first. Otherwise, you can start adjacent to any marked star. You end your observe action if you don’t want to mark any more stars, if you run out stardust, or if there are no remaining unmarked stars adjacent to the one you just marked.
Whenever you mark a grand star, you immediately gain one wisdom which you mark off on the leftmost empty spot of the wisdom track on your journal. The more wisdom you have, the more constellation cards you can keep in your tableau. If you want to do well in Astra, you definitely need to build up your wisdom level so you can build an engine of constellation card abilities to help you during the game, but also for end game scoring. However, marking off grand stars might not be an optimal move for you due to their position(s) on the constellation card you are planning to observe. Astra is a deceptively simple game with a wide decision space, especially when it comes to the observe action.
Throughout the game, you may gain telescope tokens. Each telescope token you have allows you to take an additional observe action on your turn, which you can use to mark more stars on the same constellation card you just observed, or a different one. The telescope tokens are very juicy and can create a bunch of interesting opportunities.
During a rest action, you refill your pouch with stardust, activate exhausted constellation cards with elements matching the active sphere, and then advance the sphere marker on the sphere board. When refilling your pouch, if you have less stardust than your current pouch size, you gain stardust income up to your pouch size. If you already have an amount of stardust equal to or greater than your pouch size, you don’t gain any stardust.
Next you activate (stand upright) all constellation cards with an element type that matches the active sphere, where the sphere marker currently is. If you don’t have any exhausted constellation cards matching the active sphere, you skip this step of the rest action. Ideally, you can time out your rest action so that you can re-activate as many cards as possible. However, if your fellow astronomers (opponents) are keeping an eye on things, they may take a rest action before you to shift the sphere marker to an inconvenient location.
The last thing you do on a rest action is move the sphere marker to the next space in clockwise order. If the sphere marker passes over the discard icon, discard the top card of the draw deck. The scoring grid incentivizes players to collect constellations with the same element. You get more points for a set of four matching elements, than a set of four different elements. Conversely, the process to reactivate cards incentivizes players to have a diversity when it comes to elements on constellation cards, so regardless of where the sphere marker is when you rest, you’ll likely be able to at least reactivate something.
Constellation card examples
The last phase of your turn is the Discovery phase which is only triggered if there are any constellation cards with all stars marked at the end of your turn. Each completed constellation card on your turn is considered discovered by you and now belongs to you. However, before you take the card, if any of your fellow astronomers assisted in the discovery, they may choose from the boons on the discovered constellation card for their contributions in descending majority order. Any tied assisting players may pick their rewards simultaneously.
The boons you can choose from are all goodies, but there are often more enticing options than others, so having the majority as an assisting player is very advantageous. With the boons, you can gain different amounts of fame, stardust, telescope tokens, increase your pouch size for stardust income, increase your wisdom track, or activate exhausted constellation cards. Throughout the game you’ll often be struggling to decide if it’s more beneficial to complete/discover a constellation and take the card for yourself, or to contribute to an undiscovered constellation enticing another player to discover it so that you can cash in on some boons for yourself. You will often be torn between gaining access to an awesome ability or getting immediate rewards, or preventing your opponents from gaining access to an awesome ability or getting immediate rewards. Astra has so many tough decisions.
Then the active player takes any constellation cards they discovered into their tableau. If you’re over your wisdom limit, you must discard down accordingly. You definitely want to avoid having to lose any discovered constellations as much as possible, so be sure to continue growing your wisdom. The final step of the Discovery phase is to refill the sphere board with constellation cards from the deck.
Our constellation mess after final scoring
Players continue taking turns and discovering more and more constellations until the Game End card appears on top of the constellation draw deck, triggering the end of the game. If this happens on the first player’s turn, the other players take one last turn to finish the round before proceeding to final scoring. However, if the endgame is triggered during a player’s turn who is not the first player, finish the current round and play one more final round before proceeding to final scoring.
Final scoring element gridAs handily indicated on the final scoring cards, during final scoring you score fame equal to the highest number marked on your pouch and wisdom tracks, one fame for every three of your remaining stardust, one fame for every two stars you marked on undiscovered constellations, fame for your active constellations, and fame for the combination of elements on your constellation cards, regardless if they are active or exhausted.
Astra scales well at all player counts and runs about 20-30 minutes per player depending on how much thinking everyone is doing on their turns. I’m torn on this because on one hand, I really dig the game, but on another hand, it doesn’t feel like a game that should take 2 hours, which it can at higher player counts. It definitely doesn’t feel too long though. It mostly feels satisfying building your engine of constellation card abilities, along with your wisdom and pouch tracks, as you’re faced with one interesting decision after the next.
Less undiscovered constellation cards in a 2-player game…The 2-player game is unique as it incorporates an additional phase on each player’s rest action where you fill in a certain amount of stars of a third color on one of the undiscovered constellation cards. It adds some welcomed interaction and competition when it comes to earning boons for assisting on a discovered constellation while playing with 2 players.
So far, I’ve been enjoying Astra a lot. It plays very smoothly and it is a surprisingly thinky game. The rules are easy to digest, it has a lot of player interaction, and the tough decisions are plentiful and never dull. It’s definitely more on the abstract side, but the theme is a nice touch, and well-implemented. The overall production and presentation is well done too with great components and excellent iconography.
I found myself constantly juggling different decisions while playing Astra. There are multiple undiscovered constellation cards you can contribute to. Sometimes it’s better to finish a card and be the one to discover it so you gain access (and beat your opponents) to a particular special ability. Or perhaps you need a card with a certain element which might push you in one direction or another. You might want to fill in stars on a constellation that has some grand stars easily accessible for increasing your wisdom. You also have to decide when it’s the best time to cash in on your valuable telescope tokens to take back-to-back observe actions. Then you’re also carefully watching your opponents to avoid giving them any easy benefits. Meanwhile, you’re managing your stardust (currency) and trying to nail the timing of your rest actions so you can efficiently reactivate your constellation card abilities for a specific type of element. Plus, when it comes time for you to choose a boon (reward), they’re usually all really good, useful options, so even that choice is very challenging and important. These are just some of the decisions Astra throws at you with its seemingly simple gameplay.
I was skeptical about the use of dry erase markers in a game where every player is writing on different cards in the center of the table. I thought it would be fidgety and slightly annoying, but it was totally fine. However, I did find that some of the markers are a lot darker than the caps indicated, and therefore occasionally hard to differentiate between. I also wonder about their longevity, but it’s easy enough to replace dry-erase markers if they ever run out of ink.
I’m really glad I got to the opportunity to channel my inner astronomer playing Astra on a review copy provided by the publisher. I found it to be a stellar, first Mindclash Play release, and I think it’s awesome that the Mindclash Games team is branching out and producing new games outside of their usual wheelhouse. I’m very curious and excited to play whatever’s coming next from this new sub-brand of Mindclash Games!
