To Infinity and Beyond: Exploring Planets with Far Away
Discover the secrets and dangers of an uncharted planet with its unique ecosystem during a mission of Far Away.
After I figured out the best way to roleplay an ecosystem of creatures, I was ready to tackle the first full-fledged mission in Far Away! There was plenty of excitement, particularly since there were all sorts of possibilities. What dangers lay ahead for my explorers? Was survival possible during this opening mission? It was all about to unfold!
Spoiler Alert
Every mission has some surprises in terms of the stories and steps, and below are a lot of details about mission 01. Skip on by if you want to discover everything on your own! Yet if you want an idea of what the full game experience is beyond the training mission, this might be useful. Read on if you don’t mind any spoilers, as I don’t cover 100% of the mission.
Game Overview
Game Name: Far Away
Publication Year: 2020
Designer: Alexander Jerabek
Artist: Jake Breish
Publisher: Cherry Picked Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)
A duo of explorers must land on a new planet and follow the mission parameters to succeed. Creatures pose challenges and hazards, while the environment may or may not produce the right resources. It’s all about bringing the world to life and trying to return home!
First Play
January 28, 2023
Complexity
3
Latest Play
February 25, 2023
Expansions
0
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
8
Play Time
2 Hours
High Score
N/A
Game Area
50" x 26"
Low Score
N/A
Mission Contingencies
Right off the bat, there was a lot more to this mission! Various contingencies provided a rough equivalent to side quests, offering some branching paths forward.
Not all of them were outright choices: Some involved certain things happening in the world, like a creature reaching the landing pad. Immediate consequence!
This meant my first time with a mission would uncover a lot of surprises, but that wasn’t a bad thing.
After all, most of the variety comes from bringing the ecosystem to life with all sorts of creatures.
Starting Creatures
As luck would have it, the first creatures were a pair of rather dangerous den beings. Adorable in some ways, but definitely not safe for my explorers to approach!
The Didelphis Furem came out first. Although pleasant enough, they would steal resources. Not a good species to hang around with when materials were so scarce.
Caedum Leonis? Basically, dinosaurs in pack hunter form. Aggressive, and entirely dangerous to encounter.
Don’t go into the long grass! These seemed to coexist in some way, yet I was about to find out all the details…
Seasoned Explorers
Captain Katherine and Ensign Samuel made it through the training simulation, so they were totally prepared for this real mission! Well, maybe not… Stop over-exploring! Ha!
I rather enjoyed the fun storyline that came out of their time together. They were complete opposites, which helped me roleplay their different actions.
Normally, this is a 2-player game where players can’t actually communicate unless they’re in the same hex.
Solo adjusted this a bit, but managing loneliness meant they would need to meet up regularly to socialize.
At the Crash Site
Setup involved a whole bunch of random hexes and rolls, which I loved! I never knew what I might find out there.
The creatures were right near each other, so it seemed like a good idea to move far away from them. Exploring new hexes could uncover new dangers, but I would risk it!
Not a lot of resources were available, though, particularly the bio-plastics from the swamps. Absolutely crucial!
So with this initial setup, both explorers had some plant material to pick up as a food supply. Yet what would lie beyond the horizon? And was this mission going to be fun?
Deathly Watering Hole
Almost immediately, Captain Katherine stumbled on something that changed the entire landscape. Sure, it was a simple watering hole on the surface. Safe and sound.
Except for the fact that this revealed 2 new creatures when I rolled the dice. The dinosaurs were scary, but standard. I also recognized the gliding nightmare. Still, acceptable.
See that fungus-like creature at the very bottom? Keep an eye on that to see how it completely changed this planet.
I assumed the dinosaur species would be the dominant predator. Ah, this food chain wasn’t so very simple!
Running Off to Safety
Aggressive packs of dinosaurs? Monkey-like creatures who stole everything? And now… A parasitic fungus that could hitch a ride anywhere and do damage? No, thanks!
Both explorers raced as far from the watering hole and dens as their suits would take them! Luckily, these new hexes revealed safe resource harvesting locations.
One of my most important early lessons was to maintain a safe position. Lock it in, and explore elsewhere.
All they needed was another safe hex to build the landing pad on with the right resources. I could hope for the best!
a Ready Landing Pad
Success! It was hard to find those bio-plastics, but the new construction was underway in no time. This advanced the main mission to point me to the contingencies.
The explorers were tasked with building 1 of 2 standard base facilities… Or both. So it was back to finding these resources and managing the very small cargo hauls.
And although it might have been easier to group them together, exploration took place far from this spot.
It was going well, of course, and even Ensign Samuel wasn’t falling apart with exploring as his last action!
Captain Comedy
And just as I said that, Captain Katherine decided that it was time to move forward. She explored as her final action, ending up in the middle of a brand new den.
Luckily for her, this was a mischief-maker! Rather than posing a danger, these creatures were more focused on chasing anything away from their den. Lucky, lucky!
This might have resulted in an attack, but it felt more realistic to scare off this new interloper.
After all, not everything was as it seemed on this planet. Remember that fungus? Oh, the plot twist!
Parasitic Fungus
The fungus had the ability to move to surrounding hexes, but with this creature set, I adjusted that slightly to make it work. Roleplaying the environment, of course!
It was a carnivore, but how did it eat? It attached itself to a host and injured it. Smaller creatures were easy, but the dinosaurs took a little more effort. However… Mobility.
Fungal victims tasted better and formed more attractive meat. So the fungus lie in wait before devouring the meat.
In this way, it moved out of the watering hole and started to move into the more densely populated area. Watch out!
The Proper Way to Roleplay an Ecosystem
No surprise here… There isn’t a right or wrong way to bring a planet to life! Although the creature cards provide a lot of information and guidance, it’s more about interpreting the entire collection. Rather than following the exact text of each creature in order from round to round, it’s more about looking at the big picture: How does everything interact?
Initially, and even for many rounds, the dinosaur creatures were the dominant species. There were even a couple of different packs at one point, devouring what they could and maintaining a strong hold on their territory. Ah, but that watering hole! Eventually, the fungus found its way onto a creature and hitched a ride to cause some chaos.
But it wasn’t a quick transition, and this wasn’t about wiping out any species. After all, most ecosystems maintain some balance. There may be an ebb and flow of certain populations, yet they all will typically survive in the long-term. That’s also why things shifted to less immediate attacks, unless creatures were hungry. That fungus was around!
Strange Requests
Contingencies were completed, but I’ll leave out those details so as not to spoil too much. Yet there was something quite unusual from the Federation Alliance.
Yes, that is a MURDER Turret. Another instance of a clever acronym! Not particularly nice to the local wildlife, but possibly helpful to my explorers.
Now, this might be too aggressive. That’s why it’s a contingency… I didn’t have to complete it to succeed.
Yet there were some encroaching dangers, and if this could work, it would actually help the explorers a bit.
One Busy, Busy World
Near the end of play, this is what most of my play area looked like. So much to see! I could tell stories about most of these cards and tokens just by looking at them.
Chaotic? Just a little bit. I thought I had a good sense of seeing everything, though, and didn’t miss any creature activations. Even if I did, the rulebook defined it as a rest!
See all of those meat cubes in the lower left? Attack of the fungus! It was just waiting for its next victim to show up…
And almost all of the damage was done with a single fungus creature: The other one arrived fashionably late.
Managing Samuel
Of course, this wasn’t entirely about the ecosystem! My explorers had to complete their mission. And I kid you not… Samuel fell back into his old ways with exploring.
Without fail, he walked into the den of a dinosaur and drew a random injury. Well, we now know they have extremely toxic bites! Quite a terrible accident.
There were no medical facilities in this mission, so poor Katherine had to deal with the horrible effects.
Still, it was manageable. He simply had to stop exploring so much… Double injuries meant instant death. Yikes!
All the Creatures
As always, the maximum number of creatures per play will be 4 den and 4 wandering beings. Even swapping out just a couple can make a major difference in interactions.
In fact, I recognized 3 of these from the training mission! Yet they acted very differently in this ecosystem.
Never mind the cubes… Let’s just say the explorers had a contigency that required sampling specimens in the field. It was… Strangely flavorful, and we’ll leave it at that. Ha!
Realistically, not all of these creatures took center stage. With a few more rounds, perhaps things could change.
Mission Income
Looking ahead, these main missions offered actual income that could be spent for bonuses going forward. How very neat! And quite a fun way to spend rewards.
Additionally, I’ll simply say that completing a contingency comes with a consequence that affects the next mission, and possibly ones even further ahead. So very fun!
My only concern would be if my intrepid heroes perished… Starting over would be the only feasible solution.
They were in this together, with Samuel slowly learning and Katherine taking calculated risks here and there!
Session Overview
Play Number: 3 and 4
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)
Play Details: Mission 01
Outcome: Win
There was a little bit of a twist to what I thought would be the end of the mission, but luckily, everything worked out at the last moment! Both explorers returned home, where I needed to figure out if Samuel could be cured. Or might that injury carry forward? There was an ongoing story here that I couldn’t wait to continue on with. Such a unique game… But do mind the fungus: No one wants it!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
7
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
8
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
+ Pros (Positives)
- All of the creatures feel very unique, and the combination of up to 8 of them creates a very diverse ecosystem.
- There is a bit of humor sprinkled throughout the missions and rulebook, leading to a lighter sort of atmosphere.
- Missions form a campaign with persisent effects, income, and possibly consequences for the next missions.
- Attacking creatures is sometimes necessary for survival, yet the main missions don’t seem to require violence.
- Managing loneliness and hunger is simple with only a handful of resources, but changes some decisions.
- Bringing the ecosystem to life can lead to unexpected outcomes and surprising interactions between creatures.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The play area can sprawl out quite a lot, especially since exploring in one direction is often a helpful strategy.
- Cards make up a lot of the components, yet they permanently warp very easily and don’t feel like the best quality.
- A lot of information can be out at once on the hexes and other boards, leading to a lot of cross-referencing.
- It’s easy to pause after any round, but the play time can be rather lengthy with the nature of roleplaying.
Victory Conditions
Complete the Mission
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Complete mission 00.
Complete mission 01.
Complete mission 02.
Complete mission 03.
Complete mission 04.
Continue the Conversation
What do you think about Far Away and its roleplaying elements? Are there any solo games you enjoy that offer a very unique and narrative experience? I’m simply having a wonderful time with this one! Time will tell how the missions differ and what it will be like to play through a campaign more than once, yet I love all of the emerging stories!
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