Space tourism

Last Resort is a 1-4 players game in which you build a space resort to attract tourists and make the most money before the fad wanes, as people realize space tourism is mostly a scam. The campaign will be live on Kickstarter on November 16.

Image source: BGG

In the solo mode, you play against a bot whose behavior every round is driven by card draw. The game is played over three Years, of three Seasons (i.e. rounds) each. Since the bot’s deck has 9 cards, as the game progresses you can know with increasing certainty which behavior it may adopt. The passage of time is tracked on the central board, providing all necessary information on the different phases you’ll go through. You also track your prestige scores with respect to four kinds of tourists, all with a different drive to come to your station: Inspire, Relax, Thrill and Entertain. In this game, prestige is but a means to an end: getting the most money! You also play on your personal board that features your space station, to which you will be adding tiles. Tiles come in four types. Each type also specifies which kind of tourists can come to it, and how much money you get rewarded. Additionally, a type shows different prestige points for all four kinds of tourists: when you build such a tile, you earn prestige points in the corresponding tracks.

Image source: BGG

Each round consists of four phases. First, in the Advert phase, you must play one of your four Advert cards. These cards restrict your future actions during the round. Once played, you don’t recover them until the end of the Year (so once every three rounds). The first restriction specifies one or two tile types for the Check-Out phase; you will remove all tourists from the matching tiles in your station, and score money for each of them, as specified on the tile. The bot, who has no tiles, will return all tourists of the color it has the most to the bag, and earn as much cash. The second restriction takes place during the Building phase; you can then purchase new tiles to add to your station from a shared display, but you can only purchase tiles of the kind specified by your Advert card. When you purchase a tile, you must pay both for the tile itself and for its placement on your station. Finally, in the Arrival phase, a number of tourists appear in the resort, randomly drawn from a bag. You pick them one by one, alternating turns with the bot, and the one with the most prestige of the current ‘trend’ (one of the tourist types that changes every year) goes first. Tourists are placed in available tiles or, if there is none, ejected out into space. In such a case, you lose prestige on the track matching the tourist’s color.

When the game ends, you score as many points as you got money, and earn additional money bonuses for each tourist type if you have more prestige with that type than the bot. The bot also scores money from all tourists remaining in its supply. If you earn more money than the bot, then you win the game and can freely enjoy your wealth.

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