If you’ve read any of my reviews before, you know that my jam is space themed games. I also love big puzzley games. Also, I’m a sucker for a game company that is fun, hilariously self deprecating, and has an incredible social media team. So, with that, I give you….
Unsettled!
Unsettled is the second game from Orange Nebula (Vindication is the other) and delivered through Kickstarter last year. It is a 2-4 player Co-Op that plays roughly 20 min per player. It is essentially a mashup of a worker placement-survival-escape room (planet) that is modular and plays as a board game. Currently, there are 6 planets that you can play and each planet has 3 different modules (scenarios) that you can play and try to survive. Each planet is wildly different in its aesthetic and its unique methods of trying to kill you. I say currently because as on Feb. 22nd Orange Nebula launched a new Kickstarter that, to date, is offering 3 new planets and an additional scenario module for each of the existing 6 planets.
Each planet starts the same way – you’ve crash landed on an unexplored planet in the middle of nowhere and the players are the only survivors. If I may quote the amazing Mark Watney from the book/movie The Martian, you’ll have to “science the s*** out of this” in order to survive. You’ll work in conjunction with the other survivors to complete the tasks laid out on the planet objective cards until you meet the requirements to finally jettison off the big bad rock!
The planets range from 1-4 in difficulty, so there’s always a challenge to be had. You can also make things a little easier/harder within each module by changing what resource pips your dice start on (will explain more on this below), or by using one of the three different Scarab (your ship) Nodes; two of them offer a “power ups” while the third is blank.
Gameplay
Each player has a slightly asymmetrical player board to start and is able to take two main actions per turn (the third must always be to ‘rest’). Some actions require you to ‘pip down’ your dice and others allow you to ‘pip up’. The dice are placed to activate any three main actions you take and the pips are the resource you’re trying to manage. You have main actions on your player board as well as on various places on the larger board to build research structures, gain resources, or accomplish other objectives. You get additional benefits for using a specific die for a specific action, but you are always trying to make sure you never get the the hour glass symbol (Time) on the die. If you do, you can use the action as normal, but it will cost you Time, which is the biggest resource in the game.
As mentioned above, certain actions or movements will require you to spend Time, and no matter what you do on your turn, Resting costs Time. You’ll also have to spend Time while trekking between planet Nodes on the board. Once the Time marker ticks across the board six times, all players lose an Endurance. Endurance is essentially your “life” in the game. Each player starts with six Endurance and if they ever get down to your last spot (the pink slot), you essentially pass out and are unable to actively contribute to the game. You can be carried by other players and theoretically escape the planet on the Scarab, but you’re still dead. But…. go team?! 😉
Anyway…… Like I said earlier, you get two main actions and then can use secondary actions as well. These Secondary Actions are free and are outlined clearly on your player action reminder sheet. They actions include things like moving Luna (your fun little scout droid) who can flip over the planet Nodes to reveal the benefits and perils of moving to it, having Luna scan and uncover resources (which you’ll need to accomplish other tasks), and moving (yes you can move for a free action and then Traverse (move) again as an ‘active action’). You’re also able use some of your amazing upgrade cards that you can get by having Scientific Breakthroughs and solving Opportunities that you can reveal on each node of the planet board. The great thing about these upgrade cards is that you can activate them on any players turn, so it keeps you actively engaged in the game even when it’s not your turn. There’s always a way you can try to help the team!
Since the game revolves around conserving your Time while completing objectives laid out in the narrative of the individual modules, there aren’t any “rounds” to the game. This isn’t to say that you don’t feel a sense of urgency when playing because when your Endurance is low and Time keeps racing across the board, you definitely feel it!
Each planet module typically has three “main objectives” to accomplish while trying to escape. While your hitching rides and galavanting across the weird and murderous landscape of the exotic planet you’ve found yourself on, you’ll also be participating in “side quests” called Opportunities which will afford you Scientific Anomaly upgrade abilities (movement, negating Time effects, etc.). It’s important to always have one or both Opportunities active so you can gain these upgrades. You’ll also be gaining Insight which will lead to Scientific Breakthroughs during the game that will give you additional powers and Traits that you will most likely need to accomplish your main objectives.
Components
I can’t be explicit enough – Orange Nebula literally spares no expense when creating their games – graphic art, component quality, card thickness, color saturation, component trays, and even system storage. It’s all 10/10. They even offer their own card sleeves both as a part of their KS campaigns or as add-ons to purchase after the fact direct from their online store. The ‘main’ storage box for Unsettled holds all of the base components and holds two additional planet boxes, so you can bring along more than enough ‘game play’ to any game night without having multiple boxes bouncing around the trunk.
Each planet has its own set of unique components that truly create a new and engaging experience. Each planet has its own “Scientific Anomaly, Scientific Breakthroughs, Opportunities, Nodes and Distress cards, so while the ‘board’ looks similar each game, each planets game-play experience is extremely unique.
Impressions
I mean, is it obvious yet that I love this game….? I love it. It’s grand. It’s immersive. It’s a true ‘experience’ playing it. And yes, if you were thinking, geez, there is a lot of “there there” and “how can I keep track of everything?” You’re right, there is. But remember…. it’s a Co-Op, so you don’t need to do everything. You just need to do what is necessary at that moment to advance the team forward. This is the part of the game that takes the most getting used to. It may take a game or two to get the “feel” or “rhythm” of play, but is also so rewarding when the team is “humming.”
Unsettled isn’t easy. In fact, it took us three times playing through a few modules to finally survive (we survived our first game on planet Wenora, module A, but we didn’t play a few rules correctly….. oops, so I don’t really count it as a win). Even though we died terrible deaths by spores, giant tentacled plants, and vindictive living storms, it was a blast playing them.
Conclusion
O-Neb has become an instant back for me personally. They’ve only produced two games (Vindication and Unsettled), but they are constantly improving the games by releasing large and small expansions, and have made it a point of pride to involve the community in designing upgrade packs and expansions. In fact, the additional planet modules in the current Unsettled KS is completely community driven and designed!
I highly recommend this game to seasoned and new gamers. It’s a lot of game, but you can gear up/down the difficulty and it has a ton of replayability. I personally can’t wait to play more of the planets and to die gruesomely amazing deaths…. I mean barely survive and make it home in time for ice cream!
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