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The Airship Has Arrived

Planet Steam is Now On Sale

The airship voyage over the Boiling Sea was difficult, but eventually, the trip ended. The passengers disembarked, bearing their hopes and dreams of riches out of the sky, onto the soil of the Colonies. Now that they’re here, nothing can stop their dreams of grandeur and wealth. Most of them set out to stake their claims the same day they arrived. They knew that nothing could stand in their way…except their fellow travelers.

Planet Steam, a board game of strategic commerce and resource manipulation for two to five players, is now available via our webstore, and your local retailer! Players will strive to gather more resources than their opponents, and to use those resources with greater efficiency. By using the abilities of influential characters in the Colonies, players will be able to gain a distinct advantage while harvesting, transporting, buying, and selling resources. The credits that each player gains can be used to upgrade their own equipment, but players must be cautious. Too much expenditure will result in beggary, whereas shrewd investment can lead to possessing the most credits, and the ultimate victory over the competition on Planet Steam.

Stake Claims and Spread Influence

Time is short in Planet Steam, and players have a limited number of rounds to make their fortune. In every round, players must first work to expand their business and lay claim to new zones that can be worked for resources. Players have the opportunity both to bid for the influence of an powerful character in the Colonies, and to lay claim to new areas.

The influence of the mighty characters in Planet Steam can provide the deciding difference for many aspiring prospectors. The Airship Captain allows players to gain the benefit of the supporting airship, the Venturer provides a monetary benefit to players when auctioning a new zone, and Lady Steam allows one player the benefit of going first in every action for the rest of the round.

Manipulate the Flow of Resources

As we examined in a previous preview, much of the action in Planet Steam comes when players are dealing with the tanks used to produce resources. Players that want to upgrade their tanks must spend the resources that they are trying to produce, creating a balancing act between production and demand. Standard tanks only produce water, to be used for steam, but players can buy converters or superchargers to change the types of resources tanks produce, as well as increasing their production capabilities. Tanks can also be shuffled around between zones as players try to create the optimal arrangement for their resource production.

When players are finished tinkering with their tanks, they can move on to extracting resources and taking them to market, as illustrated by another preview. Players use energy to make their tanks produce resources, but when those resources are taken to the market, the back-and-forth buying and selling can quickly devalue one resource, while causing the cost of another to sky rocket. By using a quick market intuition, players can know exactly what to ship to the resource terminal in order to intake the maximum amount of credits for their trouble. Players must work quickly to make their fortune, since they only have a few short rounds in which to do so. In Planet Steam fortunes are made and lost almost as quickly as the resource terminal changes.

If you want more details on the intertwined ebb and flow between the market and resource miner, head on over to the support page to read the rules for Planet Steam. It’s a hard life on the other side of the Boiling Sea. The ground is rough with untapped resources, and the air is noxious with steam and exhaust. But quick upgrades and clever fiddling with resources can build an unmatched fortune. Planet Steam is all about ruthless and cutthroat market competition, and it’s now available in our webstore, and at your local retailer!
 

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Source: The Airship Has Arrived (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4274)