
Half gaia project how to#

In order to be at least decently competitive, a good teacher will explain to you: If you have an experienced player beside you, who helps out with the set-up, guides you through actions (“you can’t build a mine here because you don’t have enough ore for terraforming”), and basically runs the game for you, you’ll understand it quickly and learn the rules during the game. Just a few basic actions such as building and upgrading structures, forming federations, researching, and passing are needed to play the game. It’s the Action phase where the bulk of things happen and where the players have most of the control.Īnd there aren’t that many of them either. The game layout is easy to understand – there are four phases (Income, Gaia, Action, and Cleanup) and three of them are quick maintenance phases. On the other hand, teaching Gaia Project is a breeze. Science tracks yield a lot of points, resources, and other in-game benefits. Experience with similar games helps, but not as much as you’d expect.
Half gaia project free#
But you’ll still have to learn the details of every phase and action, which is the crucial part.įor example, when building a mine, you have to consider distance, planet type, terraforming costs, mine costs, manage your resources with free actions if necessary, and in the end proximity to other civilizations for power charging. If you played a game with a similar flow before (phases, action selection, resource management – for me it was Clans of Caledonia) it will help you understand the core principles. Therefore, if you’re familiar with one, learning the other will be as smooth as learning an expansion for a typical board game. While some mechanics are perfected, most of the rules are exactly the same. Gaia Project is a polished and reskinned Terra Mystica. Automa uses a different set of rules, and while they are not complicated, they will confuse you when you’re already neck-deep in the “standard” rulebook. I made that mistake and I was even more confused. Also, don’t introduce automa just yet, even if you plan to play exclusively solo. Just don’t try to introduce Gaia Project (or learn with) to casual players until you’ve fully grasped it. You can include a second human player if you have a friend that is on a similar gaming level to you. Then re-read the rules and repeat the process. Set up a two-player game and play both sides while referencing the rules as you need (probably a lot). That’s the theory, now comes the practice. There are a lot of moving parts in Gaia Project. I heartwarmingly suggest printing them out. Luckily, the fans have come to the rescue and there are a few of them available on BGG. I prefer things mentioned one time too many than too little – particularly when there are many intricacies to remember.Īnother thing that bothered me was the lack of an overview chart, something that would summarize setup, phases, and basic action rules on an A4 format for quick reference. Meaning you find the rules where you expect them, even if that means they are explained multiple times. Ideally, I would want the rulebook composition to be more naturally flowing. Therefore, the process is explained at the end of the rulebook with the other free actions, instead of in the Power Cycle chapter. For example, you can charge one power from II to III by discarding another power token, which counts as a free action. But the content is more encyclopedically organized, rather than logically. Everything is included, I’ll give it that. The rulebook itself comes with a few quirks. But to understand the rules in detail (believe me, you don’t want to miss anything), you’ll have to read the rules thoroughly.

Sure, a how-to-play video will show you the flow of the game and it is a great starting point. Gaia Project comes with a hefty rulebook and there’s no way around it. Learning the game alone Rules and Rulebook It’s easiest to learn if you have a mentor. Gaia Project is hard to learn from scratch and by yourself, but it’s very intuitive and natural to teach others. In this article, you can find out if Gaia Project is hard to learn (answer: it is and it isn’t) and how best to approach both learning and teaching it.
