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Not much pleases me more in board games than a bit of spaceship pew-pew. Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy is one of my favourite games but unfortunately, it's a tad long and quite large so it's an ‘event’ game that only comes out now and again. When Roy Cannaday from the Dice Tower touted a 4x game in an hour for up to 8 players, everyone did what everyone does when this has been claimed before and slightly scoffed at the statement. However, I am pleased to say that Last Light not only gives you a full 4x game in about an hour but also throws in some unique and fun mechanics that truly make this little gem a pure joy to play. So, follow me, into the middle of the galaxy and let's harvest some light!
The Setup
Setup, as with all these sorts of games, does take a little time. I have got it down quite well though and can have it thrown together relatively quickly. You have to place the rotating board, planets, starting Colony Ships, meteors and discovery tokens on the board in a certain configuration, depending on player count. Then, once that has been done, you give everyone a couple of alien races to choose from, give them a random tech card, a couple of secret objectives and you're ready to rock!
There are resources to put out near the board and various bits and bobs but I have these all in little trays that I somehow managed to get back in the box along with all the expansion content too. It's tight but it is there and fits very snugly. This makes setup a bit easier and I love everything being in one box.
What's The Goal?
As stated above Last Light is a 4x game. 4x stands for Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate and has you doing the above four things against the clock, against other players on an ever changing galactic board. In something that seems novel to me, Last Light is also a race game. The first player to reach 20 light initiates the end-game then the player with the most light wins.
There are multiple ways to gain light though and there are many routes to victory, which I adore in games. The main way to harvest light is to occupy the center of the board with your ships and control the inner ring of planets. This creates a sort of vacuum that pulls all players towards the center fighting for light. You can also gain light from harvesting planets, researching tech and destroying your opponents ships. All good fun!
A Turn And Simultaneous Actions
One of the reasons Last Light is, well, quicker than light is the simultaneous actions players take. Akin to games like Century: Spice Road, you have a hand of cards you can play on your turn, which you all pick simultaneously. This card then stays on the table until you play your refresh card. Your refresh card stays on the table until everyone plays it, then you are free to retrieve it and that is also what initiates the rotation of the board but more on that jazz later.
The actions on the cards are pretty much what you would expect from a game of this ilk, they do however create some interesting moments of interaction. Firstly, each card has multiple actions on it to do and the command card, which is used to move and attack is used in a really novel way. When you play your command card and attack someone, unless they played their command card in the same turn, they can do nothing. This means, tied in with the refresh card and the timing of everything, you are always aware of who may be attacking at any time and of course, if they can defend themselves. (Even though it's not really defending but rather everyone attacking at once). It's real, real spicy.
This command card, along with the above-mentioned shooty-shooty-bang-bang stuff, allows you to move all your units up to their movement distance. If you move onto a sector with an undiscovered planet or a sector with an exploration token, you get wherever is revealed from the cardboard chit. Different planets produce different materials and also produce a one-time boon on discovery. These range from free ships, free resources or even the ability to gain one of your cards back from the table, which is very powerful. I found the exploration in Last Light both rewarding and enjoyable. Finding a planet where you can harvest light is always great but does put a massive target on your back.
Another action you can take is research, which allows you to draw more technology cards and pay resources you have to build them. Within the technology cards, you have civilization techs, ship mods and ship abilities which make your faction more asymmetric from the other players with each one you build. You can change the attack options and movement options for all your different ships and create some interesting combos. Also with this action, you also gain a light for every four techs you have built too, which is a massive boost in a race to twenty light.
Alternatively, you can take the construct action, which is how you grow your armada and get more units on the board. Each unit type costs a differing amount of resources and is built at your colony ship where you start the game. Along with this you can also build a construct, which is a little device that mines from the planet in that sector. These little devices are vital for gaining the resources you need to obliterate your opponents, build tech and get that illusive light.
Following on from that, another action you can take is mine. When you take this action, all of your constructs mine the resources from the planets they are placed near. If you are lucky this may even be light. The planets get more lucrative the closer you get to the center of the galaxy, which again, funnels everyone together and creates a lovely feeling of tension.
There is also a trade action you can take. All this action does is allow you two trades, you can trade up your resources for the next level or take the basic resource for free. It's not as exciting as other actions but great if you're a little off building your next ship or tech card. Another little tidbit about this action is you have to give another player a resource from the communal pool too, which always causes discussion between the players, creating thin allinces and banter, which I always find entertaining. “What you giving it him for, he's winning! And you gave it to him last time, right, I am coming for you Kieran!”
The only action left is perhaps the most important of all. It holds together the rest of the actions, creates a great tempo to the game and even garners the movement of the galaxy. As I said above, when you play your refresh card you can pick up all your previously played cards and gain the light you are owed from the planets you control on the inner ring of the galaxy. Your refresh card stays on the table until all players have played them, then the whole galaxy rotates and any ships in the middle of the galaxy gain light too. The whole system is so clever, so unique and makes this 4x game move at a great pace. Also, the moving board means you can never turtle in the corner, never rest on your laurels and means that you are always brushing shoulders with your foes.
Planets, Ships And Lots Of Doodads
If you were to walk past a game of Last Light being played on a table it would certainly turn your head. Firstly, all the planets are acrylic spheres held in the air by based and transparent rods. The board comes alive and looks like a real galaxy spread out on the table. Don’t get me wrong, the planets could have just been tokens but some on, that would not have anywhere near the same table presence. When that board rotates and the coloured planets circle around each other, it's certainly a spectacle.
Both versions of Last Light look great, both retail and the deluxe edition, The only difference I can see is that in the retail, the ships, resources and asteroids are tokens rather than the plastic 3d sculpts in the deluxe. I think you will be fine with either but for me, I do love ship miniatures rather than cardboard ones but that’s just me.
The cards, board and everything included in the box are of decent quality and I was happy with my purchase. My only reservation is the board and how it's produced. I hope, that the rotation, folding and inserting of the centre planetary rod does not create any unnecessary wear and tear. Only time will tell.
Final Thoughts
Who would have thought? Not only does Last Light play in about an hour but it also offers a 4x game with some unique twists and some great tempo considerations. Every game is so different, from what you discover to your starting alien race, there is so much to get your teeth stuck into. There is so much game crammed into such a short playtime, to put it simply, it’s witchcraft. I cannot think of another game that gives me so much ‘game’ within the same timeframe.
If you like these types of games, I cannot recommend Last Light enough. Not only that, if you don’t normally like these types of games, Last Light may surprise you. With its brisk runtime and synchronous play, it really does feel different from other games in this genre. I adore it. Right, time to go harvest some light, laters light-chasers!
