Solar Draft
Do you want to build a Solar System? C’mon, let’s go and play. Solar Draft is a family-friendly card drafting game where you build a solar system full of cute planetary bodies with very expressive, and very cute faces. Come for the art, stay for the gameplay.
Year of Release: 2019
Number of Players: 2-5
Playing Time: 20-30 min
Listed Age: 14+
Mechanics: Card Drafting, Tableau Building
Theme in a Nutshell: Solar System Building
What I like:
This is a surprisingly think-y game for what is essentially a very simple game to play. There are very few mechanics to learn, and the cards that you draw and play are clearly laid out and easy to read. Often in card games you see a lot of icons and clutter on each card, but not so in this game.
As you play cards to build your solar system, you end up creating scoring combos for great success. I love games that allow you to come up with clever combos to score mega points. You could just slap down any old planet, comet, or moon from your hand, but your score will be… sub-optimal.
The game only takes 30 minutes or so once you know what you’re doing. Most of the cards have similar scoring and effects, so there’s not a huge need to learn what all the cards do. The large deck does give the game some variability, as you won’t see the whole deck every game.
I haven’t come across any “you do this and you win” strategies, this is mostly about making the best with what you’ve been given, which is a very similar notion to one of my other favourite games: Race for the Galaxy.
The art in this game is the really stellar, and really is the star of the show. The cute cards featuring planets with faces is what will bring new people in to the game. Each card has unique art, with the colour of the planet determining the type of expression it has. Red planets are angry, blue sad, green are happy, and brown are… confused?
Plays very well with 2 players.
My Rating: 7.5/10
What I don’t like:
It’s a hard one to find, only one online retailer even lists it at the time of writing, and it’s out of stock.
The rule book is too sparse, and some of the cards could use some clarifications. To exacerbate the problem, there’s not a lot of rule clarifications on BGG due to it being a lesser known game.
I suspect it would be a slog with full 5 player count. The game works best as a quick game, it isn’t quite deep enough for you to want long breaks between your turns.
Is if good for kids and families?
Yes! It’s easy enough to teach, and the art can be a draw for family members that like that sort of thing. The mechanics are such that even small children can play (badly).
Learn more about the game:
- Rahdo’s Solar Draft Gameplay Runthrough (Video)
- Solar Draft Review with Tom Vasel (Video)
- Solar Draft BGG Page
- Where to buy Solar Draft Online in Canada
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