Eclipse: Second Dawn for The Galaxy – Board Game by Lautapelit 2-6 Players – Board Games for Family – 60-200 Minutes of Gameplay – Games for Game Night – Teens and Adults Ages 14+ - English Version

I've had my copy of Second Dawn for a couple of weeks now, and I love it! I've also owned New Dawn (the first edition of the game) for many years, and I have the Rise of the Ancients, Ship Pack One, and Shadow of the Rift expansions for New Dawn.What I love about Second Dawn is that it takes some of the best features of New Dawn and its three expansions, incorporates those features, adds some rebalancing of the species and technologies, adjusts the rules to get rid of some of the (very few) annoying things about New Dawn, updates the graphic art, and adds storage trays for all of the many playing pieces — all to create what I consider to be an ideal version of the game.The price I paid on Amazon ($399.99) was hefty, but I didn't want to wait for the publisher to get another print run to the US. Plus this game is in the top 100 games on Board Game Geek (so is New Dawn) and continues to work its way toward the top 20. If you want to wait for the publisher or if you can manage to find the game at a game store somewhere, you can probably save more than 50%. But again, I couldn't wait!I wasn't sure whether my wife would be up for a complex game like this one, but after one play she started to get the hang of it, and now it's a favorite game for us to play. She is very familiar with the game of Scythe, and I explained the six action options of Second Dawn as being a feature just like the four action options (actually, 4x2) available in Scythe. I also explained how the population cubes are, in a way, similar to the upgrade cubes in Scythe. There are many differences between the two games, of course, but if someone can handle Scythe, that person can handle this game too.The game plays well with two players, which will be the majority of games I play with it (though I will be having a couple of friends over in mid-July for a four-player game). I have a table that is about 4x4 square, which will fit four players just fine. I don't think I could easily fit five or six players on my table, though.I also ordered a "grippy" play mat (3x3 square) from a third-party source (apparently not available on Amazon, at least as of late June 2021 when I wrote this review). Looking forward to receiving that play mat!Overall, I would say this is a fabulous game (I rated 10 out of 10 on Board Game Geek) that isn't cheap but worth saving your money for, or buying now if you can afford it. This game will get many, many plays at my house.

First off the most organized game ever made! Full Stop! second the play is not hard. For a game like this it flows so so well. Yes it is expensive but worth every penny. only gets 4 stars on giftable because there is a chance your grandma may not like it...she wrong but she may not like it anyway.

Love this game. I've tried TI4 a couple of times which I like as well but it's just soooo long. We can typically managed to get a 3-4 person of this game done in about 3 hours vs every time we've tried TI4 it turns into an 8+ hour affair. Love the exploring, the ship blueprint plans and how you can try completely different ship parts and strategies. Highly recommend getting a 4+ player game going to be able to work with allies as it definitely adds new element to the game.

I ordered the game Tuesday along with the map mat. The map playmat was due to arrive within 2 weeks while the game itself was due to arrive within 3 - 5 days but the map playmat arrived within a couple of days and was the 1st to arrive to my surprise. The weird thing was that information for tracking the map playmat was detailed and there was a couple of notification everyday up to its arrival at my doorstep. The opposite was true for the game itself. The notification stopped after the initial notification. Contacted the retailer and was told it would arrive very soon. Thankfully the game did arrive within several days.Opening the box, the contents were a mix bag. The trays are flimsy. I just wish the developers would add a sturdier trays even though it would drive up the box weight. Putting together the player boards was not at all smooth sailing. Either the directions were wrong or I received defective player boards (the 2 sheets that go over the player trays). Most did not fit perfectly together and I was forced to place the player boards vertically when I really wanted them to be horizontal.The dice holders did not hold the dice neatly as seen in the content description and the dice colors did not match (The rulebook may have been shown the 1st edition of Eclipse 2nd Dawn). FInally, I was disappointed with the box not including the stands for the ships (the only model to receive a stand was the ball like model).For some reason, they did not add a spot to place all the point and technology counters. I placed them in the bags provided but am afraid the contents will spill out when I travel with the box.Those are all the bad points I observed opening the box. The things I were impressed with was the devs making it easy for setup and takedown. I love the concept of the player boards except for the fact my 2 layer boards for each player board were defective. The ships are varied and visually great (the capital ships should each have come with a stand).update: Finally got a chance to play it and really enjoyed the game. Love how they emulated the concept of overreaching/overexpanding.

If you like Twilight Imperium but don't have 6 to 8 hours to play it then this is for you. Eclipse manages to give you the feel of a massive Sci fi epic and streamlines it down into a 2 to 3 hour game. Plus how each civ has its own tray with a lid is a game changer. Set up is as easy as asking what color they want and then handing them their tray that has everything they need inside. Awesome game!

We have nerdy game night once a month, this is becoming a regular rotation. The gameplay is simple but complex at the same time and the mechanics of the game handicap the leader and boost the trailer to keep the game close (and it does this without you consciously being aware). It’s a fantastic game, would recommend to anyone who likes fairly complex games. But still plays in a single sitting (maybe 40mins/player)

Game is fun and very well designed. The rulebook and interconnected systems flow beautifully, I almost never have rules hitchups. The included organizer trays are top-notch, cleanup is a cinch.