Twilight Imperium, you should include Distant Suns

I’m surprised how contentious of an issue the inclusion of “Distant Suns” is in the Twilight Imperium game. Some people think it’s an ultimate necessity and others hate it with the fury of a thousand (distant) suns.

Personally I love it. Maybe it’s my experience playing the Master of Orion series in my youth. That game really fuelled my love of the exploration part of a 4x game. Maybe I just love the randomness. But I know there’s more to it than that.

The naysayers talk about how it can really harm players in the early expansion phase of the game. I won’t argue against that, it does happen but believe me it isn’t that big of an issue. What these players forget is that this isn’t an empire expansion game. What you are really going for is victory points and achieving objectives. Sure a huge empire can help with that but it isn’t always necessary. Getting hammered early in the game with distant suns can actually work to a player’s benefit.

Seriously hear me out. During my first game the player to my right had some really terrible early expansion due to distant suns (his troops died in every landing.) This weakness did prompt the player to his right to leap on him like a jackal on a wounded gazelle (which sucked.) However the weakness also made him invaluable to me. He became my buffer to an aggressive player, he also became my trade buddy. He leveraged his weakness to gain from me, he wasn't a threat to me and the benefit he gained would fuel a war with an aggressive player. After that he became the underdog in a massive war, the rest of the table decided to rally to his support. Because of his status, political cards that helped him and hindered his aggressive neighbour were passed. Finally other players just jumped into the war to aide him. His apparent weakness also allowed him to achieve victory conditions without hindrance from other players because they ignored him as a threat.

The opposite is also true for the beneficial distant suns tokens. I managed to get the Lazax Survivors but never really used them to great effect. I used them to pass a law that favoured my weak neighbour, and knocked down one that would have really harmed my strategy (turns out I didn't need the extra votes though.) But other than that I failed to use them effectively. I have seen players who failed to use a technology boon effectively; Either from excitedly grabbing the wrong tech card, or being drawn into a costly war that prevented them from pursuing their tech tree. A boon of a spacedock is fantastic in a forward tactical position, but it can go to waste on a pitiful planet that was picked up just because it was there.

Distant Suns creates more political fodder for the game. Reminding players of successes or hurts from the early game can change their votes, influence who they are willing to trade with, and even swing their decisions on which sides of wars to fight on. You can find yourself the annoying rich kid of the game, the spunky underdog, the powerful ally, or the weak prey. It all depends on how the players interact. It builds on the narrative of the story you are creating that game session.

Distant Suns adds to the thematic element. I expect to have to explore the galaxy in a 4x game and it brings more action and suspense to the early game. I find that early turns are more mechanical repetition of expansion before finally trudging up to the player interaction part at about turn 4. This optional addition adds to the interest for everyone. Every player becomes tense waiting to see what each player's next exploration will reveal.

This changes the dynamic of the early expansion. Instead of a frantic planet grab, players carefully plan, they debate borders, and they make deliberate tactical or cost/benefit decisions. It makes the game more interesting.

Sure Distant Suns adds some time to the game. But honestly if you are already diving in to the epic experience that is Twilight Imperium, you should have the fortitude for such a minor time addition.

Distant Suns should be added to your Twilight Imperium to enhance the Space Opera your group plays out.