Brink
- Board's Eye View
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Brink is a resource collection, trading and voting game that's notionally in the same universe as IV Studio's' Moonrakers games. That said, this is an entirely standalone game so you don't need to have played Moonrakers before playing this; indeed, experience of that game isn't particularly relevant to this one.
Each of the 2-5 players in Brink has three space ships to place out on and between the hexes of the modular board that is built over the course of play. Your circular ship goes onto a hex, you have a long ship that can be placed between two hexes and you have a triangular ship that can be placed at the junction of three hexes. You place your ships out worker-placement-style and gain the resource cubes indicated on the hexes. Ordinarily these go into your tray, protected from other players' prying eyes with a shield, but white-bordered cubes on hexes must be placed in front of your shield and have to be put up for trade with other players. If you can't make a trade, those resource cubes are lost.
In addition, there are icons on some of the hexes, and these give you a path to upgrade your ships. You can spend resources to gain ambassador cards that give you power, and, for example, discounts on upgrades. These cards also score valuable set collection bonuses. There are also potential bonuses, including for end-game scoring, through the use of action cards.
Each round players choose which colour cubes to commit to voting, and the colours that come out on top score points multiplied by players' power in that colour. You may try to keep track of each other's actions and trades but because of the shields around player's trays you won't necessarily know exactly how many cubes rivals have in each colour, so there's always an element of guesswork, deduction, bluffing and misdirection over the voting aspect of the Brink.
We found the forced trading aspect of Brink to be reminiscent of Sidereal Confluence (WizKids), albeit notably less frenetic. It's not the main thrust of the game, however. That's about harnessing power and turning it into points by buying cards that enhance your end-game scoring and by 'winning' in the rounds of voting.
There's a lot going on in Brink but it all fits together well in a game that's highly interactive throughout. The player interaction makes this game especially good at higher player counts but there's a clever device for encouraging trade that makes the game still very playable even with just two players...
IV Studio are known for the high quality of their production, and Brink is no exception. From its attractive yet very practical plastic spaceships to its foil-printed box, you'll find Brink doesn't just stand out when set up on the table; it stands out on your shelf as well. And that's fitting too for a standout game.