Template:Realworld Star Trek: Expeditions is a cooperative-play, or "co-op", game set in the "alternate reality" of Star Trek as seen in the 2009 movie. The game was created by famed game designer Reiner Knizia, and is to be produced by WizKids for release on 15 June 2011.
The game uses the "Clix" system of play made famous with WizKids' series of HeroClix games. You and up to three other players take the roles of Kirk, Spock, Bones and Uhura aboard the USS Enterprise in an "episode" set just after the events in the movie. Duration for a single game is estimated at 60 minutes.
Game materials
NOTE: The following is taken from the official WizKids game site, and are subject to change when the game is actually released on June 15, 2011.
- One 23" by 24" Game board
- Four "HeroClix"-style player movers (one for each playable character)
- Two "HeroClix"-style starship markers (the Enterprise and the Klingon battle cruiser)
- A deck of 14 "Stardate" game cards
- A deck of 42 "Energize" game cards
- A deck of 21 "Captain's Log" game cards
- A deck of 25 "Captain's Log Supplemental" game cards
- 15 "Regular Discovery" and 5 "Major Discovery" game tokens
- One "Score Tracker" Board, with three game tracks
- Four "Away Team Cards" (one for each playable character)
- Four "Turn Order Cards"
- Three custom game dice
Gameplay
You and up to three additional participants play through an "episode" of Star Trek as if it were set in the "New Universe".
The Enterprise has been assigned to Nibia, a new planet that has petitioned for Federation membership. However, when the ship arrives, they find three things amiss:
- A Klingon battle cruiser is in orbit of the planet;
- The planet is on the verge of a civil war (because of Klingon interference on the planet surface); and
- The planetary government is reconsidering its petition for membership.
Thus, your mission is threefold:
- Deal with the Klingon ship in orbit;
- Quell the Klingon interference, and thus the civil war; and
- Convince the planet to join the Federation.
You have thirty days (thirty turns, with each turn representing a day's activities) to complete all three facets of the mission before the battle cruiser is joined by the rest of its battle fleet, forcing the Enterprise to withdraw and losing the planet to the Klingon Empire.
As with all "co-op" games, players do not compete against each other, but must work in cohesion to complete all the game prerequisites. The game uses a "branching mission system" which allows for up to sixteen different mission outcomes, so each time the game is played, the players' decisions will lead to a different outcome. The more successful your play, the more plot options will be available.
Unlike other "Clix" games, the bases for the players' movers will change depending on what "duty" has been assigned to that crewmember (not necessarily when the crewmember takes damage). In addition, you use the "Energize" cards to build away teams that are sent to the planet to counter the Klingons' machinations and stop the civil war. Said missions that the away teams undertake are determined by the "Captain's Log" cards dealt to the gameboard.
Expansions
Like its fellow game Star Trek: Fleet Captains, the game is designed to be complete in the box (no collectible or "blind" needs), but is built upon the "expandable" board game model meaning that down the line, new missions and Crew Members will be made available to allow play of further "episodes".