Stats:
No. of players: 2-5
Amount of time to play: 60-120 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 5 min

In Exodus Fleet, Earth is being evacuated. You must manage your resources to build ships and take as many people with you to win.

Exodus Fleet Rules Description:

Exodus Fleet is a resource management, tableau building, and action selection via auction board game. You start the game by choosing a faction and getting some money, a ship, and an Explorer card.

You play a set number of rounds based on player count and score twice per game. You get points for the ships you have built and people you have rescued from the planet. The more ships from the same faction you have the more points you get.

On your turn you pick one of five actions, Income, Mining, Transporting, Building or Exploring. The only restriction is you cannot pick the same action as the previous player. If you choose Income everyone gets money based on the ships they have. And since you choose the Income action you get three extra bucks and any two resources or an Explorer card.

For all the other actions there is an auction before you resolve the action. Bidding starts with the player to the left of the current player. You must bid at least three but you can pass if you like. During the auction you do not have to bid higher than the player before you, but you cannot bid the same as another player or less than three. The auction ends once the current player bids. The chosen action is then resolved based on who won the auction, who got second, etc…

Generally winning the auction means you get a bigger advantage when taking it. The loser of the auction, and anyone who passed, cannot take the action. Instead they get four monies and one resource.

Mining costs fuel and gets you resources from a planet. The highest bidder gets the most resources. The resources you mine go onto your ships. If you do not have enough spots to place all your resources you discard the extra.

Transporting costs a little fuel plus some food and water. This gets people off Earth and onto your ships. Winning this auction lets you pay to get more people.

Building is the one action that must be done in order from highest winning bid to lowest. Your advantage for winning is getting first pick from the available ships. Different ships cost a different number of resources. They can increase your income, ability to store resources or have a special ability that grants you a discount on actions or other advantage.

Exploring will get you additional Explorer cards. These cards grant you a one-time advantage or can be traded in for any one resource. Winning the Exploring auction gets you more cards from a larger selection.

Each time the first player takes another turn it is a new round. Like I said above you will score mid-game and after the last round. The player with the most points wins.

A Quick Review of Exodus Fleet:

Exodus Fleet adds a new twist on action selection board games. The auction to resolve actions is unique and interesting but can be frustrating. My group had mixed feelings on the overall game but for the most part enjoyed the auction.

The components for this game are a mixed bag the art is nice and the bits look cool. But the fonts on the cards and main board is too small. It is also not easy to determine which faction a ship belongs to. The rules are a little disorganized but still easy to understand.

This game combines a lot of fun mechanics, but I have to say my favorite is the auction. It can be frustrating when you lose but the fact you don’t have to bid higher than the previous player(s) and still get something is interesting. It creates a different interaction than typical auction games. For instance you might not need (or want) to win the Mining auction if you don’t have space on your ship for the resources. So you can afford to bid right below the top bidder.

There is a lot of information to absorb and track in this game. You will want to know what your options for building are and what your opponents have already built. This can make it a bit daunting to new players and will definitely give experienced players an advantage. This also is another reason the same font is disappointing.

Since there are different ships to build every game and you aren’t sure what auctions you will win, the game can be a bit chaotic. You will have to be able to react to the game state. This makes each game different but adds to its randomness.

Exodus Fleet is a fun action selection and auction board game. It has many familiar mechanics and I enjoy the auction. Whether your group will like this might depend on how much they mind the randomness of the card draw and chaos of the auction. I do wish the cards had a larger font and more recognizable factions, but if you like this type of game these issues are not show stoppers. For many this board game might be a try before you buy.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6