Damian Korus is the designer of the new project ‘Exploration’ currently on Kickstarter – he was kind enough to have some words with us about him and the project, below. Find his Kickstarter for Exploration here.
In Exploration, touring near-Earth space is just one facet of achieving victory. Players must build fleets, collect resources, and of course, exert their dominance over the competition.
Exploration boasts an array of ships—from transports to destroyers, and everything in between—letting you decide how to explore wild space. Some ships rely on speed and maneuverability, while others boast impressive shields and armaments.
Exploration boasts an array of ships—from transports to destroyers, and everything in between—letting you decide how to explore wild space. Some ships rely on speed and maneuverability, while others boast impressive shields and armaments.
Build your fleet to your faction’s strengths to gain dominance of near-Earth space. Exploration will provide plenty of deep strategy that’s attainable to both new and seasoned gamer
“Tell me about your journey in board games – when did you start playing and what were the games that caught your imagination?”
Like for many of us I grew up in the family that was familiar with board games classics like Catan, Carcassone or Munchkin. The critical moment in my life as a board game player was to play Talisman with my friends after a few years break. It was a critical day because I wanted to find more exciting games. It was in 2016, in the middle of the board games renaissance, so there were many great games on the market. We played Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, Terraforming Mars , Scythe, Tzolki’n and many other games. I realised then that there was only one board game trying to catch reality of space exploration – High Frontier, but as we all know it is very difficult to play it. I came up with idea to make a game about the near future of space exploration and now we are starting our Kickstarter campaign.
“What are your inspirations for Exploration and what would you compare the finished product to?”
My studies were the inspiration for the game theme. I am an aerospace engineer and I love everything about space and aeronautics. The first drafts began by anticipating and imitating the same technological challenges and problems that real life Space Programs had encountered for example: the difficulty of dropping the module accurately on the intended target position, The design of a ship that was well-equipped, enough to survive in space more than two turns and to create a realistic movement system that was both authentic and playable.
That’s right, this game about space exploration is actually designed by a rocket scientist!
Honestly, it’s difficult to compare Exploration with any other game that is currently on the market. At first glance, the game may resemble a very simplified version of High Frontiers and we can certainly find a similarity in XIA spacecraft: Legends of a Drift System and movement on board may look similar to Merchant of Venus.
I’m interested in the Polish board game scene, as there are so many good games that are coming out of that region at the moment, games like Robinson Crusoe, Imperial Settlers, 51st State, This War of Mine and Lords of Hellas. So I put it to Marcus, why he thinks that Poland is so well represented in the community:
It is a hard question. One of the reasons can be the still growing community of board gamers. I live in one of the biggest cities in Poland and I feel this growing community on every corner. Every year there are new small conventions, game pubs and even university guilds. That is why Poland is a good place for board game designers. We can show our projects to many people who are always eager to test new games. Another factor is the successes of Awaken Realms. They are Polish and their designs inspire designers all over the world.
“What are some of your favourite games and what are some of the gems that many people don’t play?”
I realize that many gamers hate this game, but my favourite is Tzolk’in. I love the time impact on the gameplay and fact that you can complete only 10% of things you are planning on the beginning of the game. The gem that many people don’t play might be Ankh-Morpork. I love when other players think that I’m a Lord Vetinari but really I’m a Dragon King of Arms. And it is Terry Prachett’s Discworld universe.
As mentioned before, make sure to check out the project on Kickstarter!
