Essential Facts
Players: 1-2
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 10-50 minutes
System Requirements: PC w/DirectX, internet connection
Complexity: Varies (see below)
Game Concepts
The game is set about 300 years in the future. Ten different races exist in the galaxy (including humans). And they coexist peacefully and give gifts to each other, and it's all very sweet.
No, of course not! They fight for military supremacy, battle for political influence, and compete to prove that they have the greatest culture.
This all plays out on a virtual board representing the planets available for conquest, including the two players' home worlds, the Star Chamber, and a smattering of Artifact, Industrial, and Barren worlds. On the board you also see markers showing where each player's fleets are, counters that indicate influence at different worlds, and counters that indicate the amount of production available on each industrial world.
To get more detailed information, you can click on a fleet or a planet and the sidebar will give you more details or appropriate controls to deal with that item. For example, click on a planet you control to choose what it builds (small ships, big ships or people) the next turn. Click on a fleet to group your ships and citizens however you like; drag a group to another planet to start a voyage during the next movement phase.
If two enemy fleets end the move on the same planet, they will fight. The actual rules for combat are somewhat complex, but this is a great example of how computers enhance board games: the computer does all of the calculating for you.
So far so good: We have a watered-down version of a 4X game like MOO2 that's perfect for quick online play. Throw in a variety of maps to fight on, some variant rules to keep things interesting, and, of course, the interplay of 10 different races and you've got something to hold your interest for a while.
But that's where the other half of the game comes in. Along the bottom of the screen is your hand of cards. Each race specializes in two of the five technological fields (Life, Mind, Entropy, Order, and Cyber). And each card requires a certain amount of one or more of these technologies to play. A trial user gets access to five preconstructed decks (reflecting the Android, Ferrier, Omior, Silica, and Ixa races). When I bought my Ferrier Starter Package, I got the Ferrier preconstructed deck, plus 150 additional random cards to create new decks with or to modify my Ferrier deck.
The cards can do straightforward things: Ferrier Scout just creates a "free" scout at whichever Industrial world it's played on. Or they can do subtle things: Ruined Plans cancels the next card my opponent plays. With nearly 400 different cards in the game, the variety of effects is quite large.
Components
After downloading the client from the Star Chamber home page, you get:- Tutorials - The interactive tutorials were well done, spending just enough time working with each concept, then moving on to the next.
- Deck Viewer - From here you can look at every card in the game and see how the 5 sample decks are constructed.
- Game Client - Connect to the online lobbies to chat with other players, or play a sample game.
After buying the Ferrier Starter Package, you get:
- Ferrier Starter Deck - 39 cards (25 common, 11 uncommon, 3 rare) that work together well enough to give you a fighting chance as Ferrier.
- 5 Origins Booster Packs - 75 random cards (55 common, 15 uncommon, 5 rare) from the initial set of cards.
- 5 Incursions Booster Packs - 75 random cards (as above) from the first expansion.
- Deck Editor - The Viewer is now an Editor, and you can edit and create decks. It includes a number of filters to help you find exactly the card you're looking for.
Presentation
Star Chamber is a board/card game that runs on a computer so I'll be judging it as such.
One of the nice things about a physical game is that you can touch it. You can pick it up, take the rule book to bed with you, feel the plastic pieces or even just know that there's something solid in your closet that you shelled out your hard-earned money for. Star Chamber lacks those things.
But there are advantages to being virtual: all the players in the world meet in one place, so you can almost always get a game in. The pieces don't get worn, or torn, or ruined because somebody spilled their soda. Plus, no other collectable card game has both art and sound on their cards!
The sound effects are a nice addition. Ships whoosh from one system to another, cards slide into play and/or have a custom sound effect, missles and lasers boom and zap during combat.
The graphics are about normal for a CCG. Each card has a 2.5" square (approximately: it will depend on your monitor size) image for the card. A number of artists have done work for Star Chamber, in a variety of styles. It all looks professional to me, though I do prefer some artists over others.
User Experience
My experience was very good. I was a trial user for about a month, and unlike my experience with most online communities, this one was positive. When I lost my first game, I got a sportsmanlike "good game" from the other player, not the "hahaha! You suck!" taunt I've come to expect from online gamers. As a trial user, you only have access to one map, and can only play the five preconstructed decks. This was good, but I wanted more.
Now that I've upgraded with the Starter Package, I have access to 35 maps and I have enough common cards to build a playable deck for any race. My Ferrier deck is the strongest, naturally, but I've played most of the races and there are real differences in the proper strategy for each race. I believe this depth, plus the positive atmosphere provided by the community, will keep me coming back for a long time.
Final Points
At the top, I declared that Complexity was varied, and it is: If you play only the preconstructed decks on the skirmish map, you're ready to play after getting through the tutorials. The computer handles the complexity of combat resolution for you, and the game is easy to control. So it's about as complex as Risk.
But if you build your own decks, you have a hundred small decisions to make as you choose which cards to use. If you need a card you don't have, you can use the web trading module to try to get what you need. And then you can playtest it on different maps, against human opponents or a weak AI. At this level, it's more in line with Axis & Allies. The good thing is that new players start at one level, and transition to the other when they're ready.
I've been looking for a good, fun PC strategy game for a long time -- and I think I've finally found it. I hope to see some of you online.
