Celestia

Product Information

This is one of the biggest bargains in board-gaming – you get a beautiful 3D ship made of cardboard, a big pile of cards, and a really fun game, which is the important bit, really. It's usually available within our price range, though it's price fluctuates, and it's occasionally slightly over – forgive us, because it's so good.

A game of Celestia is made up of several journeys during which adventurers travel in an aircraft, from city to city, towards Meiji, the City of Lights (25). Each journey consists of a number of legs. Celestia’s gameplay is fast paced and full of surprises, while being easily taught within a single round of play. Perfect for family play or board game night with friends. Once all passengers have announced their intentions, and before the captain plays (or fails to play) his cards, "Power" cards may be used.

You know how the song continues….. On each turn, players can choose whether to jump off to safety or whether to push on, in the hope that the captain has the ability to get to the next destination. It is a question of deciding if a player wants to take the certainty of lower points or risk a big score and glory, or “Nil point” if the captain fails. “If I Go There Will be Trouble” So how does having a little initiative help? What if you don’t trust the captain and prefer to go it alone? If the passenger feels that the captain will not be able to overcome the challenges shown by the dice, he declares « I will leave ».

If the captain cannot face all the events, he plays no "Equipment" card at all and the aircraft crashes with all its passengers. None of these players receives any "Treasure" card. The current journey ends at this point and a new one begins. Whatever the outcome of the previous, the passenger sitting to the left of the captain becomes the new captain. Each loot card a player receives from an island has a score value, with farther islands having higher value loot. The game ends immediately when a player acquires 50 or more points of loot. All players, including the captain, may play any number of "Power" cards any time during this period. Starting with the player sitting immediately to the left of the captain, passengers (players still in the aircraft) take turns declaring whether they will stay aboard or not.

Game Play

Each player chooses an "Adven- turer" tile (he keeps it in front of him) and places the "Adventurer" pawn of the same color in the aircraft. Mixed among the equipment cards you need to progress are five types of special power cards. The crew or the captain can play these cards to help or hinder the current voyage. The turbo card acts as a wild and can be used to quell any type of hazard the captain needs to overcome. The Ejection card allows the captain to eject a crew member out at the skyship's current location. This can be used to get rid of a crewmate and force them to take a lower rank treasure or to help a crewmate if you are going to fail and are feeling especially kind. (This is not the way I would use it that's for sure) The captain must use the required "Equipment" cards from his hand to overcome the challenges shown by the dice. The captain must play one "Equipment" card for each die.