Description

"Despite all our hopes, Earth got depleted before FTL jumps were possible. However, mankind made one last and desperate effort: five colony fleets were sent in an intergenerational journey to other worlds potentially capable of supporting human life…

...colonists reaching Arcturus found a barren planet, and in order to preserve their very existence they established a symbiotic relationship with the ancient supercomputer they found there…

...those reaching Draco incorporated the genes of an indigenous lizard into their DNA so they could survive the adverse planetary conditions…

...colonists headed for Kerberos found resources were scarce there and chose to change themselves so no one had to be left behind…

...as for the fourth fleet... well, you all know what happened... let's just say that we were the lucky ones, especially considering that no one has heard about the fifth fleet ever since.

One would think the later invention of the FTL drive presented an opportunity to reunite and live in peace with our long lost brothers... unfortunately, regardless of our many differences, we all were descendants of mankind and thus we all were afflicted by the same curse: WAR".

Parallax is a 4X board game, playable in 2 to 3 hours, which focuses on providing a deep political space opera experience.

The political part is achieved through variable player powers and asymmetric factions: since each player exploits the monopoly of a different resource and handles crucial information only available to their faction, chances are that not only they will need to eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate to meet their goals, but to also negotiate or even become allies to do so.

This, combined with the fact that every decision affects the unstable balance of power, not only allows for constant player interaction but also eliminates downtime, since everyone has some influence over each other actions —to the point of even affecting the outcome of battles and duels they are not directly involved in—.

As for the space opera part, it is achieved by putting the spotlight on the characters that the players use to carry out their orders, on the personal relationships that arise between them and on how they affect the global conflict: for example, your commodore may be hesitant to attack the fleet commanded by the person she just fell in love with in the previous turn, and she may even deflect if forced to do so.

This not only allows for a rich dramatic narrative that makes each game memorable, but also presents players with a series of events that force them to constantly reassess their alliances, further fostering negotiation and player interaction.

Don’t miss the opportunity to not only participate in galactic diplomacy, empire building and interplanetary battles, but to also become part of the romance and the drama experienced by their protagonists... Join us to spy on your fellow diplomats and sell the information to the highest bidder, to persuade local leaders to support you in the upcoming elections, or to taste the glory of becoming champion of the arena… just make sure that, when the time comes, you’re in the winning alliance…