Garphill Games’ epic sci-fi dice-placement game, Circadians: First Light has received a fresh coat of space paint in the form of a shiny new second edition; now we can negotiate with alien races even harder!

1-4 Players 60-90 Minutes Ages 12+

Designer: S J Macdonald

Artist: Sam Phillips

Publisher: Garphill Games

Somewhere Out There

Back in 2019 (remember that?) Garphill Games released the original Circadians: First Light. I eagerly picked up a copy as I was already a fan of the Raiders of the North Sea and West Kingdoms series. The themes of intergalactic travellers encountering other species and engaging them in trade and negotiations intrigued me. Not only because I thought it was a cool idea, but because it was a bit different from my standard fare. Normally, negotiating with aliens in board games took a back seat to rolling a fistful of dice in an effort to eradicate them, so this promised a welcome change of pace. First Light went on to become one of my favourites in the series. Then, one thing lead to another, and as is so often the case with those of us who collect board games, I began to run out of space. A few things had to go, and sadly Circadians: First Light was one of them, which I immediately regretted. So when I was offered the chance to review the Second Edition of First Light, I was excited to see what changes had been made and how it stacked up alongside the original. The question on everyone’s lips? Does First Light’s second light burn as bright as First Light’s first light? Right? Whatever… let’s find out!

Going Boldly

Circadians: First Light follows a group of humans known as Circadians whose are exploring the universe and come across a world called Ryh which is inhabited by a number of other alien species. The Circadians are determined to get off on the right foot with their hosts, so they set about engaging with these new-found peoples, trading, building, exploring and negotiating while attempting to harvest resources to allow their own people to grow and thrive. And right away we come to one of my most appreciated elements of Circadians: First Light, the portrayal of humans as a group of explorers who come not as conquerers but as a curious species out to forge connections with their neighbours rather than nuking the entire site from orbit just to be sure. If it’s intergalactic conflict you’re after there are plenty of games out there that offer just such an experience, I have more than a couple in my own collection. What I enjoy here is the simple act of getting on with things, harvesting resources, upgrading my farms, negotiating with the locals, all of which can be every bit as challenging, engaging and rewarding as epic orbital battles or squad based combat.

Strange New Worlds

The gameplay in Circadians: First Light Second Edition hasn’t changed much over it’s predecessor, the game is one round shorter and the starting resources for each player have been increased, but beyond that, if you’re familiar with the first edition, you’ll feel right at home. For those who aren’t familiar, here’s a basic rundown. Gameplay takes place over 7 rounds. Each player selects a leader which has his or her own unique and powerful ability. Players begin with 3 dice each but will soon acquire more, though they can never have more than 5 dice in their pool at a time. This makes for some tight decision making and creates a glorious sense of wanting to do all the things, but only being able to commit to a few well chosen actions each turn. Dice can either be placed in your farms to aid in resource gathering, or assigned to your garages ready to be sent out to any of the action locations in the main play area. The value on the dice often determine the level of the benefit or reward you’ll receive and, like any good dice placement game, there are ways to mitigate the rolls. At the end of each round, any dice placed on your farms or in the six Station boards are returned to your pool, however, any dice placed on the Negotiation board or the Depository remain there for the rest of the game, so drafting replacements is essential. Dice that remain become important for end game scoring, so in addition to netting you some generous rewards, they can make the difference between victory or defeat much of the time. At the end of the game, the player with the most VPs wins.

It’s Life, But Not As We Know It

You’ll trade me five floogans for two of my snarfblats? That’s a hell of a deal!

I like a lot of what Circadians: First Light brings to the table. The first of these are the variable player powers. Depending on the game variant, players may select two leaders each and benefit from twice the abilities. This can result in some wonderful synergies and adds a little spice to the proceedings. This gentle asymmetry lets you feel uniquely powerful yet, the other players have powers of their own that while very different, will give them their own edge. The dice placement is done well, with tight decision spaces resulting in well thought out strategies. Seeing your actions chain up on a single round into a series of rewards feels great, if you can pull it off! Garphill Games has a reputation for creating innovative implementations of tried and true game mechanisms, and the same feels true here. There are so many options but with so few dice your choices really do matter each and every turn, this creates welcome moments of tension as you watch players preceding you gradually fill up the action spaces you had hoped to secure, resulting in last minutes changes in plan in order to salvage your turn.

We Come in Pieces

So much to do, so little space…. in space.

While this delicate balance of options and limitations cranks one’s brain up to 11, it can also result in some analysis paralysis (AP) especially when the afore mentioned situation occurs and the spaces you wanted are no longer available. Suddenly all your carefully laid plans begin to crumble before your eyes as your mind races to determine the next best course of action. I also found myself often forgetting where I was going to place my dice after assigning them to the garage. While this can lead to some frustrating moments, it’s part of the charm of First Light and encourages players to become familiar with the various choices, playing with a well versed group will result in a much faster game. But even those familiar will find themselves outmanoeuvred at times. If there were one aspect I would have liked to see adjusted from the original it’s the modular style boards that create the play space. While there is undoubtedly merit to the flexibility created with such an approach, it can result in some serious table space being required. I feel a single board would have been just as efficient and would reduce the overall clutter on the table as well as lower the set up and tear down time.

Scanners Are Picking Up Multiple Readings

When it comes to the art work, I have to say, it’s actually grown on me over time. At first, coming from The Mico’s work on Garphill Games’ previous titles, the bolder lines of the Circadian designs was an adjustment. Now, I find it has a similar charm to the old school sketches gamers would often draw of their characters on their RPG sheets, or when trying their hand at art in the margins of their math books. It’s not going to be for everyone, but I feel it works here. The dice themselves are beautiful and add some nice subdued colours on the boards, the colour choices themselves stray from the familiar red/green/blue/yellow of most games, instead opting for turquoise green, warm orange, smoky black and translucent purple. The card stock of the cardboard components is thick and heavy, and the sheer amount of stuff in the box is almost daunting. Thankfully this second edition includes a fantastic purpose built insert that fits all the components (including sleeved cards if that’s your bag) and even has removable trays for the fours resource types that you can place right on the table. Little touches like these show what an investment of love and attention Garphill Games puts into every one of their titles.

Takahe’s Solo Take

Above Board’s dedicated solo game reviewer, Takahe, was so excited to hear about the second edition being covered, that he just had to share his own solo-centric thoughts on Circadians: First Light. Keep in mind his experiences are based on the 1st edition of the game, but as we’ve already established, the gameplay changes are minimal between the two versions. so without further ado, we bring you a review within a review! Here’s what Takahe had to say:

‘I’ve been a proud owner of Circadians: First Light (the first printing) ever since the game hit the local retail stores. A relatively less known dice worker placement euro from team that brought you the hit “West Kingdom” series caught my attention with it’s lovely sci-fi theme, well designed gameplay mechanics… and of course a solo mode promising a challenging, yet easy to manage solo bot. Till this day, I have played the solo of First Light at least 20 times. At least. I stopped counting. This game is simply a breath of fresh air in my euro-heavy collection and each time it hits the table, I feel invigorated. And again, it is because how good this game plays in solo.

As I have mentioned already, in Circadians: First Light you are playing against an automated opponent– so expect some tough decision making as the bot will definitely screw up with your plans in the worst possible time. Although there are 4 difficulties to choose from, bot always operates the same way, and the only difference is how many VPs they score for individual scoring achievements. As it is now a common norm in solo board gaming designs, the bot is driven by a deck of cards. You draw them in sequence (at minimum 2) and execute the first possible option depicted (from 3 available). Since the game provides a hefty number of actions to take and things to do, you will never be able to fully predict what the bot will actually do, except for trying to negotiate as often as they can.

Another thing to keep in mind while playing against ai is the turn order – unless you place your dice into Headquarters, the solo bot will always go first. So, even if you’ve decided on your general strategy, the pathway towards your goals will have to be tactics-driven. Very rarely have I achieved my goals by doing what I’ve planned early on in the game – because of how the bot blocked certain location boards, taken the depository spots or claimed actions on the negotiation board, I always had to think of plan B/C/D. Overall, the solo opponent is aggressive and capable which is a perfect fit for a game with so many actions and options to choose from.

Do I have any complaints? Not really. Perhaps the bot might feel a bit “cheaty” at times (especially when they gain tons of those gems which are really hard to get for a human player), but this is countered by the fact that solo bot does not score item cards nor farms/garages so… maybe I am just being too harsh here. Speaking of scoring, this game is quite tight – you don’t score 100s of VPs here (looking at you, Tapestry!) so every single VP counts. I have found myself winning by just playing a meagre 2VP item, and only because I wanted to move my harvester elsewhere and hence had to play a card. To my surprise, those 2 points in the end made me victorious.   So – is Circadians: First Light a good solo experience? You bet! It’s not just good – it’s excellent. The solo game plays exactly the same way as the multiplayer one, nothing is removed or compromised for the sake of solo mode. The bot is easy to manage, provides a very engaging and cut-throat challenge... and is just pure fun to play against. But enough of talk from me – if you’ve been on the fence whether you should get this hidden gem for solo, please… do not hesitate anymore. If you’re ok with the theme, you’re in for a fantastic solo gaming experience!’

Thanks Takahe!

The Final Frontier

Is that ethically farmed organic algae? Don’t mind if I do!

In recent years it’s become the norm to, rightly or wrongly, portray humans as the villains rather than the heroes. But I was raised on the original Star Trek; you know, the one where humanity had finally overcome its bigotry and prejudice and created a utopian society that was ready to become part of something greater beyond our solar system. This is exactly the vibe I get when playing Circadians: First Light, a sense of hope and optimism. Its in that spirit that I find myself drawn to Garphill Games’ sci-fi setting and I look forward to seeing more games set in this universe. Circadians: Chaos Order is already here and I’ll be sharing my thoughts on that epic looking title soon. Right now I just feel the urge to dive back in and play one more game of First Light. Its just too much fun!

If you already own the original Circadians: First Light, then you’re not likely to find enough changes to warrant buying a new copy, however, if you like custom inserts, updated player boards and the larger box format, there could be an argument to be made for jumping ship to the second edition. If you don’t have either version, then the second edition is the one I’d happily recommend! Go forth and explore new worlds!

Thanks for reading! Have you played Circadians: First Light? If so please let us and know your thoughts in the comments below or join our growing game community over on Above Board’s Facebook page where you can join discussions about your favourite games and be kept up to date with future content coming to Above Board.

*Special thank you to Garphill Games for providing Above Board with a copy of Circadians: First Light Second Edition for us to review and compare!

Circadians: First Light Second Edition Review