I just got a chance to play through a number of recent expansions. I thought it would be nice to package up the previews and reviews all in one piece. I will include the link to our review of each base game. If you are unfamiliar with the base games, go read that first. Then come back to learn about the additions included in each of these expansions.

Here are the links to the base game reviews:

• Review of Heat
• Review of Galileo Galilei
• Review of Terra Mystica

Heat: Rocky Roads

• Designers: Asger Harding Granerud, Daniel Skjold Pedersen
• Publisher: Days of Wonder
• Players: 1+
• Age: 10+
• Time: 60 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

The desert heat is relentless but so are you. Gravel sprays out from under your tires and your car gives a sickening lurch as it begins to spin out. Clutch. Shift. Gas! Your engine roars and your car leaps into the next turn on a perfect line. You are still in the race, but you will have to watch for loose gravel on the track.

Heat: Rocky Roads introduces two new racing tracks. In the South Africa Grand Prix, you will face treacherous gravel on the track. This requires careful management of your car and nerves of steel. Victory on the Germany track will hinge on how you deal with the fast pace of the newly built chicanes along the long straightaway. Take part in the 1966 Championship season and take advantage of a new innovation, the sliding skirt. This will help you surprise your opponents and slipstream to victory!

Heat is one of those games that I have enjoyed every time that I have played. Interestingly, it is still not one that I request on my own. As I have many gaming friends that love the game, they often do the requesting. Rocky Roads was quickly requested as soon as it arrived here. Thus far, I have played one race on each of the two new tracks. As with all of the the other boards, each brings its own set of unique rules to the game.

On the South Africa track, there are new rules to deal with the gravel filled track spaces. When you end your turn on gravel, you must pay one Heat if you have Heat cards in your Engine. This can really accelerate how this affects your game. Trying to decide whether you are going to avoid stopping on gravel versus dealing with the extra Heat is a big part of the strategy for this track. We found that this also provides an interesting possible catch-up mechanism to the track. Players that are behind often have less Heat. As a result, they will often not be bothered by ending their turn on gravel. The Germany board feels pretty straightforward with lots of high speeds. The big decision each lap is made around how each driver wants to deal with the chicane.

I will note that there are cards included to add a new season onto a Championship campaign. As I have never played through that way, those cards are lost on me. There is also a new rule for what looks to be super-slipstreaming. But again, for someone who just plays essentially vanilla one-off Heat races, it is more than I want to know.

As has been the hallmark of the whole franchise, Heat provides gamers with all the components they need to customize the game to their liking. I will pretty much stick with one-off races. I do appreciate the variety provided by each different race course board. You can play with the Legends to add more cards to the race. You can play in a series of games in the Championship series. You can add in weather and track conditions, etc. It is rare to find a racing game which is this versatile. This expansion simply adds more to what is already in the system.

Is it essential? That is unclear. None of the new rules are groundbreaking from my standpoint. Though again, the added variety is nice. If you are still playing Heat four years after the initial release, I am guessing that you have some or all of the expansions. You will assuredly want to add this to your collection.

Luna Expansion for Galileo Galilei

• Designer: Tomas Holek
• Publisher: Capstone Games / Pink Troubadour
• Players: 1-4
• Age: 14+
• Time: 60 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

In the 16th century, astronomers like Tycho Brahe studied the Moon’s movements and phases using precise measurements and simple instruments. Galileo Galilei’s telescope revealed craters and mountains on the Moon. This disproved the ancient hypothesis of its perfect smoothness. These observations changed our understanding of the Moon and of the entire universe. Map the Moon together and enhance your strategic possibilities!

This expansion for Galileo Galilei introduces the Moon as a new object of observation. It adds a new scoring mechanic to explore. Now, you can also observe the Moon itself. However, it will always require you to use all three colors. When you make a Moon observation, you will get both the basic scoring as well as a nice bonus. Interestingly, all other players get the basic scoring as well. Just like in real life, the Moon reveals itself in phases. You will get to see more of the Moon each time that you hit a Dividing tile in the Discovery Deck.

Additionally, Grand Inquisitors enter the game each time you observe the Moon. They offer great rewards to those who can successfully persuade them. If you are able to fully persuade one of the Grand Inquisitors, you can take and open Bonus space. Let me tell you, these are quite good!

Finally, you will discover four new playable characters. Each brings unique abilities. Elizabeth Hevelius has a set of 16 Constellation tiles that you will use to form star patterns. You get increasing better bonuses for the more stars in the formation. Isaac Newton comes with a unique set of six action tiles that you use instead of the base tiles. Each of the new characters brings a nice asymmetrical ability to the game. Each will cause you to play differently to maximize the benefit of your chosen scientist.

There is also an expansion for the solo game in the rules. As I have never played this game solo, I did not do much more than read the heading in the book.

The variety added to the game is nice. You can add in the extra characters and the whole Moon observation bit in piecemeal or use them all. It will be interesting to see in my future plays how all of the different characters work against each other. Or if nothing else, the variety in learning how to play with each of them.

Terra Mystica: Fan Factions

• Designers: multiple TM fans
• Publisher: Feuerland / Capstone
• Players: 2-5
• Age: 14+
• Time: 30 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

In February 2021, Feuerland Spiele started a competition to collect the most interesting of these ideas and publish them for all fans of Terra Mystica to play. We would like to thank everyone who took part in this competition, regardless of whether their entry was chosen or not. The new factions have since been tested, illustrated by Dennis Lohausen, tested even more on BoardGameArena.com and tweaked accordingly.

In this heavy box, you will find a collection of 20 new factions for Terra Mystica. There are two each for the seven colors of the game and two multi-color, ice and fire factions, respectively. Each one brings its own twist to how you approach the game.

As with any fan-made expansion, I would have some concerns about balancing issues. But after discussing with the folks at Capstone, I learned that all of these factions were tweaked and balanced through heavy play on Boardgamearena. In fact, it is likely that these factions have received much more playtesting because of that wide exposure online.

A few examples:

Djinn – You get three Magic Lamp tokens. During the game, you can discard a Magic Lamp to have two of your markers on the Cult board switch Cults with each other. They keep the same levels.

Goblins – You gain Treasure tokens each time you build a Temple or Sanctuary. On your turn, you can spend a Treasure token to get a reward.

These factions look very interesting. I am excited to try them out in my next game.

Cities: Achievement Boards and Theaters

• Designer: Masahiro Hara
• Publisher: OKAZU Brand
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 10+
• Time: 30 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Cities is a game about building a city. You place tiles to create neighborhoods and score points. The base game is simple to learn but has good depth. This expansion adds two new modules to the game.

The first module is Achievement Boards. These are special boards that give you extra goals. If you meet the goal, you get extra points. For example, you might need to build a certain number of parks. Or you might need to have the most buildings of a certain color. This adds a new layer of strategy. You have to decide if you want to go for the achievement or stick to your normal plan.

The second module is Theaters. Theaters are special buildings you can add to your city. They work a bit differently from other buildings. When you build a Theater, it gives you a special ability. This ability can help you in the game. For example, it might let you move a tile or get extra resources. Theaters add more variety to the game. They make each game feel different.

I liked both of these additions. The Achievement Boards make the game feel more competitive. You have to watch what other players are doing. The Theaters add fun new powers. They are not too hard to understand. The expansion is easy to add to the base game. You can use one module or both at the same time. If you like Cities, this expansion is a good buy. It adds more replay value to a solid game.