Taking the First Stand in Voidfall as the House of Dunlork
Across the galaxy and intriguing cycles, find ways to manage crises and the looming threat of Voidborn corruption in Voidfall.
Confident with the tutorial scenario, I quickly moved onto learning the rest of the rules to play the solo mode of Voidfall. Perhaps it wasn’t exactly quick, as I had some reading and new setup steps to figure out, yet I was soon ready to go! This space-faring experience is all about recognizing the optimal choices while enjoying the successes. Back to the Domineum!
Game Overview
Game Name: Voidfall
Publication Year: 2023
Designers: Nigel Buckle & Dávid Turczi
Artist: Ian O’Toole
Publisher: Mindclash Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
With an enormous amount of variety, each play offers an optimization puzzle. It’s more than that, though, with the ways cycles unfold and each Great House offers its unique talents against the Voidborn. The solo mode also features the dreaded Harbingers and Fallen Houses… So much to like!
First Play
July 17, 2026
Complexity
4
Latest Play
July 18, 2026
Expansions
1
Setup Time
40 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
2 Hours & 30 Minutes
High Score
150
Game Area
62" x 34"
Low Score
149
Maximizing Tray Space
Beyond the tutorial, I had new card stacks and boards to add. Even more table space! As enormous as this was, though, I had a pretty good grasp of what was where.
The solo crisis cards can add a lot of space, yet since I was playing solo, the technology board had a row of unused card slots. This helped store a lot of these solo cards very neatly!
It was still a pretty large area, yet I liked keeping things as compact as possible. Surprisingly, I didn’t reach too far.
Wrapping my head around all of the rules took a little more time, yet I was pretty comfortable with the core mechanics.
Lots of Information
At a glance, this part of my play area might look confusing or overly filled with iconography and components.
But it all worked out! I knew where to look and had a pretty easy time blocking out or ignoring anything I didn’t need.
Sometimes, that’s an important part of playing such a huge game: Knowing where to look, and when. I took some of these photos simply to remind myself of my personal setup!
The miniature trays were also excellent for holding all of the written material. I could keep the rulebook or glossary open when I needed a little extra guidance without using space.
Harbinger Arrival
I’m usually content with cardboard tokens, but I was pretty amazed by these Harbinger miniatures. Quite a menacing being who also looked awesome with all of the facial details!
These offered another challenge with the solo mode, often taking up space on the crisis board to make the Voidborn even more difficult. Just one more thing to manage!
I wasn’t entirely certain how to get ahead with this full scenario, although I was in a position to try lots of things.
Setup was only a menace when it came to choosing Fallen Houses and technologies. The Voidfall Helper was awesome!
Time of Reckoning
So many possibilities! The cycle decks made for a great deal of variety, and I quickly got started on a path to make the most of the objectives. Lots and lots of choices to make…
But I was pretty pleased with how I built up a lot during this cycle. I had technologies that would help me out, a reasonably large fleet, and plenty of guilds to produce.
The crisis cards added to the flavor and kept me on my toes. I apparently had a Voidborn prone to devouring technology!
Looking back, I know where I made a few poor choices here, yet for my first full solo cycle, I was pretty happy!
When the Hours Fly By… Even in Space!
This play took me 3 hours, with roughly an hour per cycle without any breaks in between. I do think that’s unique to me, for I treated this as a learning game and kept following along with the written rules to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes. Or at least limited them. Ha! Yet regardless of the total time spent, I think I only checked the time once.
I followed the sequence of play in a way that gave me a chance to sort of mentally check off each step. Most of these started to speed up once I knew what I was doing, and the iconography made a lot of sense. Even during those turns when I waffled between a few focus cards, playing out those decisions was a great time! I really felt like I could do cool things.
My mistakes were mostly in the strategic realm, particularly with the way I spent a lot of actions building up installations. Many of these didn’t actually come into play, so there were some wasted turns. At the same time, I learned a lot from what I did and can see how the game isn’t just about learning the rules, but also learning how to identify the best actions. Clever!
Growing Menace
Here was where I set myself up to lose, although I didn’t realize it at the time. No worries: I was getting the hang of the rules, and still made some pretty good choices!
All except that time I sent my fleet to take the central sector without seeing the obvious consequences. The Voidborn immediately countered, and it was a sad, sad disaster. Ha!
Yet I liked that I could see the mistakes I made, or at least understand the different choices that would help me out.
I also focused a little too much on defensive installations due to my Energy Cells. Not terrible, but cool it next time!
Shadow of the Void
Indeed, I managed to lose to the Voidborn. My score wasn’t as pitiful as it might have been, though, and I wasn’t paying enough attention to the Voidborn’s scoring categories.
Not too shabby! In the end, I reclaimed the central sector, more out of spite than anything. Ha! I think the Voidborn laughed at me, but I set out to do what I planned to do.
So many awesome decisions! My play time was a little on the longer side, but I never wavered in my interest.
It was nice to follow along with the rulebooks, too, and I’m about ready to leave it off to the side just for references.
A Civilized House
Nicely done in general for my first play! I know I didn’t advance that far with all of these civilization tracks, but I got to see some of the later bonuses and unlocked spaces.
My only mistake was when the statecraft marker was corrupted and I moved it onto the space to remove said corruption… Nope! Should have ignored that bonus space.
But that was the only error I made during the play, as far as I could tell, and I honestly didn’t rely on the rules too heavily.
Creating a cohesive strategy will take time and more plays, yet I’m excited to see what I can try out next time!
Starry-Eyed Choices
I still considered this a learning game, so I wasn’t too concerned about the way I lost. Only one major rules mistake that had little impact this time, and I’ll remember.
Taking the central sector was quite dangerous. Next time, I’ll likely go after the Fallen House or try to encircle the Voidborn. Paying attention to fleet power might also help…
This was awesome, though! I was free to experiment with my focus card actions and push a lot of random buttons.
Here’s to hoping my next foray into this scenario will be successful! If nothing else, I’ll take a slightly better outcome.
Session Overview
Play Number: 2
Accessory 1: Voidfall: Enamel Painted Metal Structures
Accessory 2: Voidfall: Miniature Pack
Accessory 3: Voidfall: Triple-Layered House Boards
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: First Stand Scenario (Easy)
Outcome: 149-187 (Loss)
Most of the crises were well-managed, although I could have made a few other attempts to clear some of these. Still, I was pretty happy with how I fared after building up my knowledge of all of the rules. Dunlork shall return shortly!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
8
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
8
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
+ Pros (Positives)
- Play time can take a few hours, yet the engaging decisions and desire to stay focused makes the time fly by.
- Although there are always optimal actions, it’s very difficult to have a turn where nothing actually happens.
- Plenty of variety exists both across different plays, and in the ways strategies can come about in reaction to crises.
- There is a lengthy learning process that splits up a lot of the features, yet this makes the game more approachable.
- Deterministic combat without any random elements removes surprises and helps shift the focus to other areas.
- Not every cycle will feel like a success, yet it’s awesome to be able to look back at the good and bad choices to improve.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The setup process is quite lengthy, even with a bit of help from third-party resources, and the storage can be clunky.
- Many actions and cards are in play at once, which can be a complex web to keep track of and find the best option.
- Some elements of the Voidborn make the solo mode a little different in subtle ways that aren’t always obvious at first.
- Everything about the game is large, from the play area to the time investment, which requires the right mindset.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 13%
Goals and Milestones
Win the Tutorial scenario.
Win at least 1 game as each house. (1/14)
Win the First Stand scenario at the easy difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy the most about Voidfall? Have you experienced a particularly excellent cycle? I had a great time exploring the different options after I learned all of the rules for the solo mode. Not too many mistakes overall, thankfully! It was actually kind of nice to not win right away. Definitely need to make some adjustments to fight off the Voidborn!
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