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Abe Sargent · 07-25-2006, 02:52 PM

The next game on our countdown continues a three game sci-fi streak that TW2002 started. Say hello to a game that I've pushed here on the forums:

24. Star Chamber
Nayantara Studios
PC
2003
GameSpot Review - 8.8
Strategy - Card Game

http://starchamber.station.sony.com/

A couple of years ago I stumbled across this independant game created by a few guys at Nayantara Studios. The game is simple in concept. You play against a real life opponent online, in a space strategy game that is like a simpler version of Master of Orion. You conquer planets, build resources and so forth. You can win either through conquering your opponent's homeworld, winning three power plays at the Star Chamber or getting thirty more culture than your opponent.

The Star Chamber is a neutral planet where political machinations take place every six turns. Typically, each player gets a vote for every citizen of theirs at the Star Chamber when the vote takes place. You can vote for a Power Play, or to get ships or culture for your empire. Three Power Plays equals a victory for a player.

Here is a Star Chamber Vote:

Artifact planets produce culture every turn, and control of these planets can also be a key to victory.

Therefore, you can try to grab and hold aritifact planets, try to overwhelm your opponent at the Star Chamber or try to take their homeworld. All three paths to victory create a game that really has three fronts. Mere board play alone will win or lose you many games.

However, there is another side to Star Chamber. In addition to being this strategy chess game with three fronts and numerous options, it also is an online collectible card game. There are collectible cards that come in booster packs you purchase and you build a deck.

There are five techs in the game (similar to the five colors in Magic) that can be made, and over time, you'll make more and more techs. There are ten races in the game, and each race is a combination of two techs. My favorite race, the Silica, are a combination of the Life and Cyber techs. Another race, the Ixa, are a combiantion of Order and Entropy techs. And so on it goes through the ten races.

The beauty of this game is in the interweaving of a CCG overtop of a board game that is already detailed. The cards can make specialized ships, give you leaders, and affect the game in a variety of ways. Every so often, a new expansion set is released and the game evolves.

I can't tell you how amazing this synergy of games becomes. The total game created by the intertwining genres in more than the sum of its parts, and it is truly an amazing game.

You can also play a larger game with more players, or just watch the game getting played.

It was recently bought out by Matrix Games, which repackaged the game. Although the Matrix Edition of the game did add some vital things to the game, including a small single player campaign, they also did some things that I disagree with.

Like any CCG, you have to buy packs of the cards. The older, original Nayantara version of the game understood that the cards were electronic and priced them accordingly. You could buy a booster box, 36 packs of 15 cards each, for 30 dollars or so. For a 30 dollar investment, you could play this game tons and still end up paying less than you would for many video games.

However, Matrix has upped the pricing structure, and as a result, the game is now more expensive to play. It's still a great game, it just has ceased to be a cheap game as well.

The second decision made after Matrix took over was to reduce prize support for tournaments. There are tournaments held weekly and the prizes for them used to be amazing, but quickly became less sterling. The number of prize diminished, and so has tournament play.

One disadvantage the game has always had is that there are never more than 20 people playing at a time, and that's during peak hours. I decided to log on as I write this, just to see how many players are on. There were nine, including Merakon, the guy who was behind creating the game.

That's one of the great things about this game. Imagine playing a casual game against the creator. I played him twice in my first week as a player! You are always rubbing noses with the community manager, the game developers, and more. It's one of the most mature internet communities out there, and very warm and friendly. Just like this place used to be in its earlier days

-Anxiety

07-25-2006, 02:52 PM	#27
Abe Sargent Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Catonsville, MD	The next game on our countdown continues a three game sci-fi streak that TW2002 started. Say hello to a game that I've pushed here on the forums: 24. Star Chamber Nayantara Studios PC 2003 GameSpot Review - 8.8 Strategy - Card Game http://starchamber.station.sony.com/ A couple of years ago I stumbled across this independant game created by a few guys at Nayantara Studios. The game is simple in concept. You play against a real life opponent online, in a space strategy game that is like a simpler version of Master of Orion. You conquer planets, build resources and so forth. You can win either through conquering your opponent's homeworld, winning three power plays at the Star Chamber or getting thirty more culture than your opponent. The Star Chamber is a neutral planet where political machinations take place every six turns. Typically, each player gets a vote for every citizen of theirs at the Star Chamber when the vote takes place. You can vote for a Power Play, or to get ships or culture for your empire. Three Power Plays equals a victory for a player. Here is a Star Chamber Vote: Artifact planets produce culture every turn, and control of these planets can also be a key to victory. Therefore, you can try to grab and hold aritifact planets, try to overwhelm your opponent at the Star Chamber or try to take their homeworld. All three paths to victory create a game that really has three fronts. Mere board play alone will win or lose you many games. However, there is another side to Star Chamber. In addition to being this strategy chess game with three fronts and numerous options, it also is an online collectible card game. There are collectible cards that come in booster packs you purchase and you build a deck. There are five techs in the game (similar to the five colors in Magic) that can be made, and over time, you'll make more and more techs. There are ten races in the game, and each race is a combination of two techs. My favorite race, the Silica, are a combination of the Life and Cyber techs. Another race, the Ixa, are a combiantion of Order and Entropy techs. And so on it goes through the ten races. The beauty of this game is in the interweaving of a CCG overtop of a board game that is already detailed. The cards can make specialized ships, give you leaders, and affect the game in a variety of ways. Every so often, a new expansion set is released and the game evolves. I can't tell you how amazing this synergy of games becomes. The total game created by the intertwining genres in more than the sum of its parts, and it is truly an amazing game. You can also play a larger game with more players, or just watch the game getting played. It was recently bought out by Matrix Games, which repackaged the game. Although the Matrix Edition of the game did add some vital things to the game, including a small single player campaign, they also did some things that I disagree with. Like any CCG, you have to buy packs of the cards. The older, original Nayantara version of the game understood that the cards were electronic and priced them accordingly. You could buy a booster box, 36 packs of 15 cards each, for 30 dollars or so. For a 30 dollar investment, you could play this game tons and still end up paying less than you would for many video games. However, Matrix has upped the pricing structure, and as a result, the game is now more expensive to play. It's still a great game, it just has ceased to be a cheap game as well. The second decision made after Matrix took over was to reduce prize support for tournaments. There are tournaments held weekly and the prizes for them used to be amazing, but quickly became less sterling. The number of prize diminished, and so has tournament play. One disadvantage the game has always had is that there are never more than 20 people playing at a time, and that's during peak hours. I decided to log on as I write this, just to see how many players are on. There were nine, including Merakon, the guy who was behind creating the game. That's one of the great things about this game. Imagine playing a casual game against the creator. I played him twice in my first week as a player! You are always rubbing noses with the community manager, the game developers, and more. It's one of the most mature internet communities out there, and very warm and friendly. Just like this place used to be in its earlier days -Anxiety __________________ Check out my two current weekly Magic columns! https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/?action=search&page=1&author[]=Abe%20Sargent Last edited by Abe Sargent : 05-01-2022 at 10:36 AM.