Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8291216/beyond-the-horizon

Designer: Margaret
Publisher: Carrotpen

Beyond the Horizon is a thematic, unique, well-designed roll and write. During the game, you utilize your dice to gain resources and equipment, send crew members to explore planets, research, and develop knowledge. For being a roll and write, it’s impressively complex without being overly complicated; it strikes a good balance.

First and foremost, I greatly appreciate that the player sheets are very well designed and intuitive for game play. Each section is clearly labeled, has its purpose, and covers an appropriate amount of space. Nothing is unnecessarily large, but everything is also big enough to be marked with dry-erase markers (I have my sheets laminated).

I also really like how the game play is tactical based on the dice rolls and the current game state, but there is also the ability to do some longer-term strategic planning. It’s nice to have a game that expresses both of those well.

The solo game revolves around using cards to eliminate certain game conditions that would normally happen in a multiplayer game but also reward the player with benefits. I don’t think I’ve ever played a solo game that has cards that negatively affect the gameplay (as in impact the player) but then also provide assistance or some kind of bonus. Overall, the solo design is very creative and exciting to play.

While the game can drag on a bit towards the end (at least it did for me), the game does have an innate “timer” type mechanism that works well and prevents the game from lasting too long. There’s enough to do in the game to fill the time, but it can get a little repetitive towards the end.

I got this game through its crowdfunding campaign, and with it came many expansions. I’ve had the opportunity to play most of them, and while some are better than others, the base game is still my preferred option. The expansions add a lot of variety and variability, but most of them also increase the complexity and/or difficulty. Not a bad thing, but the standard game is fun enough for me that I may add an expansion occasionally, but the base game will get utilized the most.

For me, besides the utilization of the many expansions, this game isn’t highly replayable. It’s probably more a once-in-a-while type game for me, but there’s enough to appreciate and enjoy to keep it in the collection.

One minor complaint: in the original printing of the rules, the solo symbols were misprinted with mismatched explanations, so my initial play was very confusing. But I was obviously able to logically figure it out, just a small irritation. And it may have been fixed since then!