TEST // SIDERISCHE KONFLUENZ

Submitted by Deniz Jansen on December 26, 2020.

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In a galaxy not too far away, 9 different species reached an agreement that would bring lasting prosperity to each species. This new agreement focused on scientific and economic exchange rather than war. But could that work? 9 species that couldn’t be more different, with different cultures, philosophies and, last but not least, different values? The species quickly realized that trade was becoming indispensable because their own planets simply did not produce the resources that were necessary for the newly developed technologies. But which species has the best negotiating skills? Who will prosper and who will be devoured by the market?

SIDERIAN CONFLUENCE was bought.
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That’s what the game is about

In SIDERIC CONFLUENCE, the players take on the roles of 9 asymmetrical peoples who are in a constant exchange of goods and technologies. The object of the game is to use your own race-specific advantages and personal negotiating skills in order to have amassed the greatest wealth at the end of the game.

At the beginning of the game, each player receives one of the 9 races and all of the game materials associated with them (screen, personal card deck, special ability cards / ability markers, etc.). At the beginning of the game, each species has its own technologies (represented by cards in the player’s colors) as well as its own starting resources so that they can be used directly in the first negotiation. SIDERIAN CONFLUENCE is played over a total of 6 rounds, each of which is divided into 3 phases. In the first phase, the transaction phase, players have to swap their available resources with the other players.

The aim is to obtain resources that can be processed by so-called converters in the next phase. Converters process materials that are added to them, so that more valuable materials are then obtained. There are two different types of converters for this: purple and white converters. Converters with a white arrow can only be operated in the second phase (the production phase), while converters with a purple arrow can be operated in the transaction phase.

This includes, for example, planets that can be colonized and automatically produce small resources (not colonized) or large resources (colonized) in the production phase. Research teams serve as the second relevant purple converter. Research teams unlock important new technologies that players can use exclusively for themselves until the end of their turn. At the end of the turn, each technology unlocked in this way is shared with the other players. In addition, the player can upgrade his existing technologies by the specified condition so that the converter becomes more effective in the next round. In most cases, technologies for this require certain other technologies that the player sacrifices for the upgrade, but this can vary among species. Each converter can only be operated once in the phase and each resource produced in this way cannot be used to start up another converter in this phase. Once these basic principles are internalized, the rest of the game is almost self-explanatory.

There are no game mechanics for the transaction phase. So the players are trading whatever they have available to get their converters going in the next phase. This includes all conceivable resources and even promises for future resources. If a player cannot keep a promise, he receives painful minus points for it, so every player should be clear about his exact wording.

After the players have started their converters in the production phase, the third and final phase continues: the confluence phase. The main aspect of the confluence phase is the auction for new planets and research teams with previously collected or produced spaceships. The players decide secretly how many spaceships they want to offer on the open display to research teams and for the open display on planets. The player who has bid the most gets to vote first. If there is a tie, the so-called tie breaker value counts, which is individually visible on the screen for each faction. The open display is divided into different values, which only indicate the minimum price for the planets or research teams on display. If a player only offers one spaceship, but the display only contains planets in positions that require 2 or 3 spaceships, he cannot buy a planet in this round, but he does not spend his spaceship either.

On the other hand, players who have bid 3 spaceships but buy a planet that is in a 1st or 2nd position must also spend all 3 spaceships, even if the planet had only cost 1 spaceship.

When the auction is over, the players who developed a new technology in the transaction phase share it with the others and receive victory points equal to the specified value and the respective round bonus. The round bonus is highest in round 1, but decreases in later rounds.

What’s in the box?

SIDERIAN CONFLUENCE contains, in addition to the game materials of the 9 different species, 9 different types of resource dice, which in most cases only differ in color or size, but in one case they are instead of a cube in the form of a hexagonal cylinder, as well as victory point and Spaceship tiles and decks for planetary and research cards. The resource cubes are of good quality and each differ in shape and color, so that you can quickly see which resources the players have. The faction-specific materials have a similarly good quality and an abundance of different markers and cards, so that each species is given a unique design. The graphics on the cards, the player screens and the player boards convey a suitable atmosphere and reinforce the impression of the uniqueness of each species.

The rulebook conveys the rules in a very user-friendly way and illustrates the rounds, the structure of the game and the function of converters using suitable graphical examples, so that the players can look up ambiguities during the game and, if necessary, explain them well. The player boards of the individual factions also support this learning process, as the faction-specific special rules on these are explained separately. Every player has an insight into their own faction rules at all times.

Tags: 120-150 minutes, communication, expert game, engine builder, 4-9 players, resource management, space, action, science fiction

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