Rio Grande Games: Beyond The Sun, Strategy Board Game, Base Game, 2 to 4 Players, 90 to 120 Minute

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Your Sales Price $84.95 - $69.99

A quick rundown of this product’s key features:

As Earth begins to die, it is time for humanity to look Beyond the Sun.
Players take turns to take an action available on the technology board, then produce resources
Actions allow players to improve their economy, move spaceships, colonize systems, and research new technologies
For 2-4 Players. 90-120 minute playing time. Ages 14+

Our Top Reviews

Reviewer: Fuzzy Llama Reviews
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Space Tech-Tree Worker Placement
Review: 2-4 players, Competitive, Space Tech-Tree Worker PlacementDesigner: Dennis K. ChanArtwork: Franz VohwinkelPublisher: Rio Grande GamesRelease Year: 2020Origin StoryBeyond the Sun came outta nowhere for me! I was minding my own business when I saw another review for the game and heard that it is a board game about working your way up a tech tree. I thought, “hmmm, THAT is one style of game that I do not yet own”, and needless to say, the idea intrigued me greatly. Thus, it was purchased and played many times! Read on to gather up some critical data on my thoughts around this one.Overview of GameplayIn Beyond the Sun players will be taking the standard worker placement actions of moving their respective peg to an available spot on the board, take that action and then gather some resources and play moves to the next player. As the game progresses due to these actions, new technology cards will be revealed which will open new spots to place pegs. Now, these actions will move players forward in a number of different ways such as colonizing planets on a separate board, unlocking new abilities for the players and generally increasing their supply of resources. Players will generally want to work towards the rewards on the laid out achievement cards. Every game there are two constant achievements that are the same from game to game – Colonize four planets and Reach a level four technology – and another two randomly drawn achievements that differ every game. Depending on player count whenever there are a certain number of player tokens placed upon these cards it will trigger the endgame in which players finish out the round and do one more full round then scores are tallied. Whoever has the most points based around a plethora of different things from planets colonized to how high up the tech tree you climbed etc. will win the game!Another thing to mention is that the players personal boards are just as much a part of the overall game as the other two boards. Upon each players board there are a number of miniature dice that depict population, supply and space ships. Over time you will removed Supply dice from their respective spots to transform into population or ships depending on your actions. Ships you will utilize to move about the Exploration board to control and colonize planets. Population you will need to research technologies on the bigger Technology board and also to colonize planets. In addition, there are a couple resource tracks that house tokens for food and ore. As you control and colonize planets, you will remove these tokens to place on those planets, which will unlock more ore and more populations that you can recruit! There is a “Automation” track that these can be placed on as well through different actions and abilities. As you fill this track up you will gain more and more end game VP’s as well.Components/Game BoardThere are two main game boards that all players will be utilizing in addition to their personal player boards. The biggest board is the Technology board that houses all the tech tree cards and events. This is also where players will be moving their respective pegs around to take actions at different unlocked tech cards. The second board is the Exploration board where players will be moving their space ships around to control and colonize the different planet cards that are laid out. Finally, each players board will be worked to control your population and resources.Component wise everything is of average quality. The cards, boards, plastic tokens/dice and the cardboard pieces are fine, nothing to go wild about. That said, the way things are used is excellent! The mini dice are awesome with how each die has a use for each of its sides. Just flip the dice to the side you need and you are golden! The player boards are all double layered to hold all the dice and tokens AND I have seen no warping in any of these boards which is a miraculous feat when it comes to double layered boards. The boards are easy to read and understand with the icons of which die face you need showing already on the board. There are four nice cardboard player reference sheets that have the turn structure and scoring on them which are super handy. Overall, component quality is nothing outstanding but the clever use of the components is outstanding.Box/StorageThe box is pretty thin and flimsy feeling but workable. There is also a flimsy cardboard insert that surprisingly works very well! It has spaces for all the components to be bagged up and placed and even a nifty pull tab to easily remove the player boards from their section. The box size is super thin which is great as it allows you to more easily store it. There is a tad amount of space between the box lid and the components BUT since everything is bagged up you shouldn’t have to worry about mixed components. Overall, the box and storage solution work and since the components can be bagged up per color you should only have about 6 bags, four for player components, one for plastic ore tokens and one for the cards.Visual Appeal /ThemeThe game is a little light on theme and visual appeal. I do enjoy the art of the planets on the different cards and the exploration board looks nice. The Technology board also looks pretty good with a big planet in the background and all the branching tech spaces in the foreground. The only things I would gripe about with the design are the bland white starting basic action spaces and the player boards. I wish the player boards had just a bit more color added in to make them stand out. They just look so……sterile.The theme is also pretty bland. I’ve played the game a number of times now and still don’t really understand the overarching theme here and if there even is one. What I do know is that we are all competing factions trying to be the best of the best in technology and colonization with a nice space theme. It works though! I would love to see this exact same gameplay perhaps with a medieval theme or a horror theme. I think you could easily whip up some interesting tech tree mechanics with anything.RulebookThe rulebook is done pretty good! I think the simple gameplay lends itself to this but overall I didn’t have much trouble making my way through this one. Another helpful thing I noticed was the many pictures for the different icons in the book, which were very easy to find. There are specific sections explaining how to colonize, perform movement with your space ships etc. There is also a very nice visual component list at the front which explains each in great detail. The ONE gripe I have is how the setup instructions are completely separate from the rulebook. I found this to be very odd as it is just a double page fold outside of the regular rulebook. On one side is the setup diagram and the other side has variant setups and explanations on the advanced player boards. Just seems an odd choice to have it outside the rulebook.Player Interaction/Fun FactorThere isn’t much player interaction other than snatching up placement spots or taking control of planets. However, this is all a particular kind of interaction where you do things to prevent the other players from doing, not any trading or discussing at all. That said, I have had SO MUCH FUN playing this game it’s almost ridiculous.The strategies that you have at the start of the game are ever changing as new tech cards are revealed and other player’s actions are taken. You are always on your toes in this game. Starting out you kind of have an idea of what you want to work towards based on those achievement cards and as tech cards are revealed you start formulating new and exciting ways to achieve these goals in a more efficient manner. Furthermore, other player’s actions and what techs you have researched will limit what actions you actually can do on your turn. This makes the game strategic but at the same time not overwhelming as you only have a limited number of choices.Optimal Player Count/ReplayabilityThe scalability for player count of this game is incredible. It’s setup for a four player game out of the box but comes with some cardboard replacement tiles that can be laid over the basic action spaces to scale for player count. The Exploration board can also be flipped when playing with a lower count of players to keep the amount of spaces lower, which in turn keeps the interaction higher. Personally, I think the game works at all player counts and is equally as fun regardless. The more players, the longer the game will run as you will have to place more achievement tokens to trigger the endgame. However, I don’t think the game lacks any fun at all with less players.Replayability is VERY high with this game due to the extensive variability. Each time you play, you will have a random setup of event cards in which some are not even used in each game. There are two different player boards for each of the four factions, a basic (which are the same for each faction) and an advanced (which differ between each faction). In essence, you have five completely different styles of player boards to choose from. The basic boards are a good learning board but I highly recommend using the advanced boards when playing otherwise. The tech cards that will be played to the board are dependent on the previous techs researched of the four different schools – Scientific, Economic, Military and Commercial. When a player draws for techs they draw until they have two cards that match the previous tech color/s/schools and picks one to place. This further increases the variability of each game and players will usually pick a tech that benefits them more going forward.The exploration deck of cards is another thing that adds more variability to the game as the new planets that will be added to the exploration board are drawn from individual decks. These will change over the course of different games and each has a different value and power to it. In addition, on top of all that the achievement cards will differ as well to give a bit of different starting strategy to each game. I mean the amount of variability to each game is incredible and this lends itself a great deal to increased replayability.Positive Final ThoughtsThis has been one of the most fun experiences I have had in a while with a board game. The sheer amount of variability with each game makes me want to keep coming back to play again and again. Plus I’ve always loved the simple mechanic of removing a peg on your player board to gain something in return. The simple gameplay that adds even more depth as the game progresses is just awesome.Negative Final ThoughtsI don’t really have much to say negative about this one other than a couple nitpicky things. The way the setup sheet is separate from the rulebook is kinda odd. The theme seems pasted on as you could easily take this excellent game system and paste on any other theme and it would work.The Bottom LineOverall, I HIGHLY recommend this one! The options are almost limitless with the variability which is HUGE in this game since the tech cards ARE the action spaces. I love the balance and how the game gradually ramps up into much more thoughtful realms as the game progresses. The advanced player boards are each unique and fun to play. I love the way the spaceship movement and colonizing works. I mean this is a game that I played once…..and immediately setup to play again. After that, I took a break to play something else…..but was thinking about this game the entire time. If that doesn’t screech The Fuzzy Llama Golden Seal of Eternal EXCELLENCE, then I don’t know what does.

Reviewer: SJ
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Beyond the Sun
Review: This was one of my most anticipated games and I was not disappointed. Beyond the Sun is a worker placement/engine building game where how you interact with the shared tech tree board determines the engine you build and how quickly you unlock spots on your player board. There is a dash of area control on the shared space exploration board where you vi for control of systems in order to colonize them for victory points and bonus actions. Each player receives their own faction board with slightly variable abilities/resources at the start of the game, turns are simple and quick consisting of a placement phase, a production phase and a check for achievements phase. Depending on the player count, when 3 to 4 achievements have been collectively met the game end is triggered. Play time on the box is accurate 60-120min.The iconography is very easy to understand, the player aids are good, the rulebook is a little dry, but clear and concise with illustrated examples, and if you read it and follow up with a playthrough or a how to play video (Watch it Played or Jon Gets Games), I don’t think you’ll have any trouble jumping right into playing. The components are high quality, the player boards are chunky and recessed, the art is sparse but decent and the cards are all bright and easy to read- it’s not beautiful compared to a lot of other games, but I still think it is sleek and communicates it’s futuristic theme well.The replayability is high, you’ll probably be able to play a dozen times without seeing every card in all the tech decks and there is an expansion coming. You will build a completely different engine each time and not only that if you pay attention to the flavor text, you’re also creating a story that’s unique each time. Possible negatives: Player interaction can be quite high especially if players have similar goals, so keep that in mind if you hate negative player interaction. There can be a lot to track once you start once the tech spots start opening up and you gain personal tech, powers and colonies- you might forget to use an important bonus a card grants you. The retail price is bit high and I understand that’s because the component quality is high, however that may not come across to some- because it is such a plain art style, it may look cheap or unattractive to warrant the price.The first game was exhilarating and turns were so quick the time flew by and because you only have one worker to place each turn you can’t really get too AP about it. The game is a simple sleek design that allows for complex play (that feels to me similar to Scythe). You don’t know who is going to win until the end game tally, there is no score tracker, accept for watching the common achievements and the end can come suddenly if someone completes several achievements in one turn, so it retains a mild tension throughout the game. Scores are often close and I found myself reviewing my moves at the end of the game and being able to trace it back to a sub par move forced on me by another player blocking the turn I had planned and set myself up for. One bad move you might recover from but a few weak turns in a row could cost you the game, it’s very tight.Overall, an extremely solid game. Highly recommend.

Reviewer: S. Alexander
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fun and easy to learn
Review: This game seemed a lot more complex initially but after playing a few turns it was clear that it was a very straightforward game with lots of choices to the players. There was minimal downtime, with most occurring as players mulled decisions on pertaining to the tech tree. There were also some minor questions in the rules that ended up making our game take longer than it should have (as we didn’t read the additional rules errata for a 3-player game). All that said, it was immensely fun and we had a great sense of accomplishment throughout the game. Only flaws are that the rulebook could have been a little clear in certain sections (regarding colonization actions) and the board faces only in one direction forcing players to all sit a bit close together and thus pushing things like extra cards etc. to various areas of the gaming table away from the players. All in all, I think these flaws can be remedied with further effort by the game publisher to refine the contents and rules so I give this 4.5 stars!

Reviewer: Brendan OSullivan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Amazing game, highly replayable
Review: Fantastic game with a high amount of replayability. Plus it has several different set ups to allow for more advanced / complex play, but even the base game is both easy to learn but has incredible depth. It is playable on BoardGameArena (with direct support from the designer) and TableTopSim (with an official mod from the publisher) if you want to check it out before committing to the print version. And speaking of, the production quality is great. Cannot recommend this game enough!

Reviewer: david misell
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Although re shrink wrapped was full of spores water damaged contents and a ripped manual and box. I have now cancelled prime

Reviewer: Robert Miller
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The game is worth it, so will add longevity

Reviewer: Nelson Torres
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Básicamente trae tres cosas:Dos tableros nuevos y Más cartas de sistemas y tecnologías para agregar variabilidad al juego base.La expansión de líderes para dar asimetría inicial.El modo solitario fácil de llevar y bastante entretenido.Vale la pena? Si te gusta el juego si

Reviewer: Dr. M. Fernandez Perez
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Llegó golpeado y con la esquina izquierda inferior hundida y en el mismo lado en la parte superior con parte de la portada roto y levantado el cartón. Lo debieron golpear bastante fuerte por ese lado

Reviewer: André Brose
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Neben neuen Events, Technologien, Planeten und 2 Fraktionen, kommen gänzlich neu die Anführer dazu. Die kommen in 2 Ausführungen daher – militärisch für Vorteile bei den Planeten und die anderen mehr wirtschaftlich/forschend ausgerichteten. Von jedem der beiden draftet man zu Beginn je einen, ansonsten bleibt das Spielgeschehen gleich.Idealerweise versucht man beide Leader von ihren Möglichkeiten her gut zu kombinieren, da ergeben sich teils recht „unterhaltsame“ Aktionen. Eine Kombination könnte z.B. sein vom einsetzen neuer Schiffe in Verbindung mit Kolonisation der Planeten zu profitieren.Zu den Regeln fürs Solospiel kann ich nichts sagen.Macht insgesamt einen guten Eindruck und darf bleiben. Alles Material passt in die Schachtel des Grundspiels und nimmt so keinen wertvollen Regalplatz in Anspruch.

Price effective as of Mar 11, 2025 09:25:31 UTC

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