In this competitive area control game, players will take the role of faction leaders who will compete against each other to be the leading faction in economic development, science, and galactic influence.

The game comes with a large technology board that shows a tech tree with four levels on it. More than that, there is another smaller board called the exploration board, which has spaces for four habitable planetary systems.

In your turn, you will move your action pawn to free action space and take that action. Then you can conduct the production phase, either to produce ore, grow your population, or trade one of those resources for another. Lastly, you can claim up to one achievement, if possible.

Beyond The Sun Board Game consists of a number of rounds; it will end when the players claim a number of end game achievements. At the end of the game, the winner is the faction with the most victory points.

You can earn victory points by researching technologies, improving your economy, controlling and colonizing systems, and completing various achievements and events.

Game Components

1 Technology tree game board

46 Technology cards

20 Event cards

1 Double-sided space exploration board

24 System Cards

10 Achievement cards

1 Start player marker

4 Guild cover tiles

60 Ore crystals

2 Action replacement tiles

2 Technology tableau bars

8 Dual-layer faction mats

80 six-sided resource cubes

96 Wooden marker discs

4 Action Pawns

4 Player aids

Rulebook and separate setup sheet

The game comes with 2 main game boards that all gamers will be using besides their personal player boards. Those boards are easy to read and understand

The biggest one is the Technology board; it includes all the tech tree cards and events. Also, it is where each player will move his respective peg around and perform actions at various unlocked tech cards.

The second one is the Exploration board, where the player will move his spaceships around to control and colonize various planet cards that are laid out. Lastly, the personal player board is where you can control your population and resources. The player boards are all double-layered to hold all the dice and tokens.

The game features a number of mini dice that are awesome; each of its sides has a use. All you need to do is to flip it on the side you need, and it’s all done. Overall, the clever use of the components is outstanding.

Game Setup

1-Place the technology board in the center of the tabletop

2- Start by sorting the technology cards by levels from one to four, and shuffle each stack. Then draw the 4 level one technology cards and randomly distribute them face up on the technology board on the level one spaces marked by one. Then place the other technology stacks next to the board.

3- Sort the event cards for levels two and three

4- Take the 2 light bordered level two event cards with 4 random level two event cards, shuffle them and place one card face down on each level two space on the technology board

5- Shuffle the 2 light bordered level three event cards with a 4 random level three event cards, then distribute one card face down on every level three space on the technology board

6- Next to the technology board, place the exploration board with the number of players side up. Make sure it is on the correct side based on player count.

7- Sort the system cards in A and B decks. Then find the four starting system cards from the A deck that says start in red. Randomly choose two of them and place them face-up on the A spaces on the exploration board. shuffle the remaining two start cards with the A deck and place them next to the board

Then shuffle the stack of B cards and randomly place two cards face up in the B spaces on the exploration board. place the remaining stack B next to the board

8- Take the two basic light-bordered achievements cards (Transcendence and Empire) and place them face up next to the boards. Then sort the achievements cards into A and B stacks. Then randomly select one card from each deck and place them face up next to the basic achievements cards. Return the rest of the achievement cards to the box

9- Create an ore supply pool next to the boards

10-Place the 4 guild cover tiles on their corresponding spaces on the left of the technology board. For a two to a three-player game, you also place the basic spacefaring replacement tile.

11-All players will draw a faction mat and place it in the center of their play area.

12- All players will choose a color and get their pawn, cubes, and discs of their chosen color

13- place your action pawn near the basic spacefaring technology box on the technology board. Fill your population growth track with food production discs. And your ore production track with ore production discs. Then place your remaining discs next to your player mat.

Fill the supply columns on your faction mat with resource cubes with the supply side up. From your remaining resource cubes, place one on the level one spaceship side on the Sol location of the exploration board and place the other two with the population side up on a free space on your player mat.

14- All players will get their starting resources of ore. Finally, check your faction mat for any special setup or special powers listed.

15- Select a starting player randomly

Beyond The Sun Board Game, How to Play?

Beyond The Sun Board Game consists of several rounds. The player who has the starting player marker will start the gameplay; then, the other players will go in clockwise order.

 Each player’s turn is made up of three phases: the action phase, the production phase, and the achievement phase.

1-The Action Phase

To perform an action, take your action pawn and place it on an empty action space with a gray hexagon on the technology board and then perform the action listed. Keep in mind that you must have researched the technology to be able to use that technology space. This means you have one of your population cubes on the left of the technology.

So the first action in the basic spacefaring, you can use one population cube from your player mat to research a level one technology. While in the second action, you have to pay two ore for it, spend that two ore and then use one population to research a level two technology making sure you are checking your eligibility.

In the third space, the player can convert one population to a level one spaceship and place it on sol and jump it up to two spaces. The fourth and final action can convert one of your supply cubes from the leftmost space to a population. And you can also gain one ore. when the action references automation, you will move the disc to the leftmost space on the automation track

When a player performs actions, he will research new technologies. Those technologies come in four levels. Each technology is one of four types: scientific, economic, military, commercial, and higher-level technologies must match one of the kinds of tech that lead to it.

Therefore, in each game, every player creates his own technology tree, using these actions to increase his military strength, jump to and colonize various habitable exoplanetary systems, boost their resource production, and more.

2– Production Phase

In this phase, you will choose one of the options shown in your faction mat, which are population growth, resource trade, or ore production. in this one, you do not use your action pawn

In the raw of population growth, for any symbol that is not covered by food production discs, one supply cube is taken from the corresponding lettered supply column above it. this supply cube will be flipped on the population side and then placed on an empty space on the faction mat

The ore production and the population growth are similar, but the first one is easier; for any symbol that is not covered in the ore production row, the player simply gains one ore.

Resource trade, here you have different choices, the first one, you can convert a supply cube into a population by paying 3 ore. the second choice is to decommission a spaceship; you can take any one of your spaceships from anywhere in the play and convert it into a population cube by paying one ore

In the third choice, you return a population to the rightmost supply column with the supply cube side up, and you earn one ore.

3-Achievement Phase

You will determine if you can claim an achievement, and if you can, one of your achievement discs must be placed on one of the slots of the achievement card.

In order to do this, your disc is placed on the leftmost of the achievement card. Each slot can only hold one disc. A certain achievement can not be claimed anymore once all the slots on the card are occupied. Once you are done with the achievement phase, the next player will start his turn.

End of The Game

When the fourth achievement disc is placed on the achievement cards for a four-player game or the third disc in a two or three-player game, the final round will be triggered. First, end your current round, then play one more final round. At the end of the game, the player with the highest score wins

Our Opinion About Beyond The Sun Board Game

Beyond The Sun Board Game from the Rio Grande Games brand is a combination of engine building, resource management, and worker placement.

Each new game comes with an incredible amount of variability from the previous one. For example, each time you play, you will have a random setup of event cards; also, the achievement cards will differ as well to give a bit of a different starting strategy to each game. This all will lead to a great deal of increased replayability.

This strategy game is a little light on the theme and visual appeal. the art of the planets on the exploration board and on different cards is something the players will really enjoy; it looks really nice

Also, the Technology board has a pretty good look with all the branching tech spaces in the foreground and a big planet in the background. Also, the game box is small in size that can fit on your shelf; it is easy to store this game.

If you like science fiction board games where the earth is going to die and you need to find another home for humankind, this is a great game for you. Up to four players can play this game with a playing time of 90-120 minutes; it will provide you with a long time of fun. You can play it with friends and family and have an enjoyable adventure between the planets.