Description

Star Saga: One - Beyond The Boundary, released in 1988, was the first in a short-lived series of science fiction adventure/role-playing games by Masterplay Publishing.

Loosely based on the Rekon pen & paper role-playing system,[1] the game series was designed by Andrew C. Greenberg (co-creator of Wizardry), Rick Dutton, Walter Freitag, and Michael Massimilla.[2] In this first title, players leave their homeworlds setting out to explore the vast unknowns of space. Per the official game text:

In 2815 A.D., the majority of the human race is afraid of space. They are cloistered in the Nine Worlds (Earth and eight colonized planets) in a region called the Galactic Fringe. Even though space travel has been practical since the invention of the dual-axis hyperdrive in 2257, humankind's attempt to colonize "Beyond the Boundary" came to an abrupt halt in 2490. The "Space Plague," a gargantuan epidemic caused by an organism of alien origin, killed more than half the humanoid population of the galaxy, threatened the extinction of civilization, and forever changed mankind's attitude towards space.

Now, a Space Patrol enforces the "Boundary," that one-way border around the Nine Worlds in order to prevent anything like the "Space Plague" from ever happening again. Now, anyone may leave the area enclosed by the Boundary, but they may not return.

Thus far, the Boundary has proven effective in keeping ships from entering the Nine Worlds for three centuries, keeping humanity safe from the unknown. Of course, this does provide for a bit of stagnation, as well. After all, no new discoveries, no new challenges, and countless lost opportunities hardly seem compatible with a growing standard of living. Finally, there are those who sense that something is amiss... "

The game is unique in the fact that it is a boardgame in which the computer acts as a moderator and tracks resources.

Reimplemented by:

• Star Saga: Two – The Clathran Menace