To be quite honest Eclipse would have definitely been in my top 3 games I played during 2010 but as the 2 games I played were done with an unpublished version of the game it really doesn’t count.But it was very delightful to hear that Lautapelit.fi will publish the game and presumably the date for the release is Spiel Fair (at Essen) in late October. For all of you wondering whether Eclipse is going to be seen outside the Scandinavia I have good news – game is going to be published in English. I’m also pretty sure that there’s going to be distributors involved both in the Europe and in the US.
Why do I anticipate Eclipse so much? Well, I’m a sucker for thematic, epic games which have solid mechanics, civilization feel, huge amount of gorgeous bits and pieces and they bring enjoyment even if the game lasts for a couple of hours. There’s a few games you know you’ll going to enjoy greatly for a long time after the first play and Eclipse did it for me (last game in a similar category was probably Twilight Struggle). All the ingredients of the game form an interesting mix which just clicks for me and I’m not alone with my feelings since everybody who have playtested the game have enjoyed it (average rating with 21 responders is 8.38).
If the marketing of the game is done well and there’s even a slight hype for the game, Eclipse is probably going to be one of the international hits of 2011. Hopefully we are going to get updates from Touko Tahkokallio and Sampo Sikiö of the present and future state of the game!
