Third edition vs previous versions The third edition significantly changed many of the game mechanics. While some of the core elements remained the same, the game as a whole was completely revamped. Here are some of the more significant differences: • In 2E, only the Hacan, Letnev, N'orr, Jol-Nar, Sol, and Xxcha were playable races. The Mentak and Yssaril were introduced in the ''Hope's End
expansion as new playable races. The L1Z1X were present as non-player hostile invaders, introduced to gameplay via some of the events. The Naalu were completely new to the 3rd Edition (although it first appeared in the first edition expansion: The Outer Rim''). While the races present in both games kept the same basic flavor and feel, the racial abilities changed between editions. • In 2E, the game rounds were broken into phases: the political, production, movement, invasion, and technology steps. Each player had equal access to these phases every round. In 3E, these phases were largely spread out among the strategy cards, coupled with the new threaded activation sequence. • In 2E, players collected credits as tangible money that could be spent from round to round. 3E's spending is mostly done by exhausting planets, though the trade-good concept does allow some limited form of savable liquid assets. • In 2E, the only spaceships that could be built were cruisers, carriers, dreadnoughts, and fighters. 3E introduced destroyers (cheaper and weaker than cruisers, but more mobile than fighters), and war suns (expensive and powerful super ships). • While most of the technologies were ported from 2E to 3E, many of the effects changed significantly (largely to fit with the 3E sequence better). • Politics in 2E was done at the beginning of each game round by drawing a card from a political card deck, and voting on the agenda. Some of these cards were events which automatically affected the game in some way (such as introducing hostile L1Z1X forces). In 3E, the concept of "events" was removed completely. • In 2E, players achieved victory by progressing along a fixed set of objectives, largely centered around the number of resources, influence, and planets controlled, as well as technologies. In 3E, players instead try to achieve victory points by completing objectives revealed during the game; these objectives could change from game to game. • The tiles, cards, and playing pieces in the 3E are noticeably larger in size than their 2E counterparts.
Fourth edition vs previous versions • Players now have 17 factions available to choose from, including factions that were only available in the expansions for earlier editions such as the Ghosts of Creuss, the Mentak Coalition, the Naalu Collective, and the Yssaril Tribes. The number of factions has been increased to 25 with the Prophecy of Kings expansion and the Twilight Codex Vol. III. • The phases of play in each round are now strategy, action, status, and the agenda phase. The agenda phase is added only after a player has taken Mecatol Rex. • In the strategy phase, players choose a Strategy Card to use in the upcoming action phase. The strategy cards now control many of the fundamental mechanics that were tied to a phase in the 3rd Edition. As a result, players may be in competition for a particular strategy card, and a taking a particular Strategy Card may be necessary for a player to achieve certain objectives. The Strategy Cards confer abilities such as the purchase of additional command counters, changing who is the Speaker and thus will get first pick of the strategy cards in the next round, refilling commodities for trade, building Planetary Defense Systems (PDS') or Space Docks, researching technology, drawing additional Action Cards or Secret Objectives, or scoring an objective early (in the action phase, while all other players must wait for the status phase). • In the action phase, players take turns expanding their empire by moving ships, building units, engaging in trade and combat, researching technology, making deals, using their Strategic and Action Cards, and attempting to complete the requirements for public and secret objectives. The player's initiative order (the turn order) is determined by a player's lowest number strategy card, e.g. a player with the leadership card (no.1) will go first and a player with the imperial Card (no.8) will go last. The action phase continues until every player has chosen to pass, and once a player has passed they cannot make any more tactical actions. Each strategy card has a primary and a secondary ability - the bearer of a strategy card uses only the primary and the other players may only use the secondary. So that no player ever misses out on the powerful abilities of the strategy cards, the bearer of a strategy card may not pass and end their action phase until they have used their strategy card, and all other players always have the option to use the secondary ability of a strategy card once activated, even if they passed on a previous turn. • The status phase is a book-keeping and maintenance phase. Players score public and secret objectives in the same initiative order from the action phase (not clockwise from the Speaker), reveal the next public objective, draw action cards, remove and regain command tokens (and may redistribute command tokens among their tactical, strategic, and fleet pools), ready all exhausted cards (including the strategy and technology and planetary cards), repair any damaged units, and return the strategy cards to a common play area. • The agenda phase has replaced the politics phase. Once a player has taken Mecatol Rex, it is appended as the fourth phase after the status phase to each round. In the agenda phase, players convene the galactic council on Mecatol Rex and vote on two agendas. Agendas are either Laws (permanent changes to the current game's mechanics, such as allowing all players to build War Suns without needing to research the qualifying technologies) and Directives (a one-time effect such as each player drawing a secret objective, or giving a victory point to the player in last place). Each player casts votes by exhausting their planets for its influence score (where each point of influence is one vote), and may spend as many as they have for the agendas, or abstain from voting. Players may not spend trade goods as influence for casting votes in this phase, but the voting (the active) player is free to offer deals - Promissory Notes, commodities or trade goods - to influence or purchase another player's vote. Players are also allowed to make deals and transactions during the agenda phase whether they share borders or not, allowing for the exchange of promissory notes, and commodities and trade goods. Once both agendas have been voted on, the players refresh all their exhausted planets so they have the resources and influence and technology specialties available for the action phase in the next round. • The
technology tree has been simplified. Rather than a confusing flow chart of pre-requisites, technological advancement is through four linear branches, and players can upgrade most of the available units by satisfying pre-requisites in the four branches. • Trade has been simplified. Players now exchange faction commodities which become trade goods when another player acquires them. Instead of requiring trade agreements, the active player is now allowed to trade their commodities with neighbors (anyone they share a border with) during their turn. == Reception ==