Moonrakers Components Overview and Impressions

A few weeks ago, IV Studio put out a call for reviewers to look at one of their latest projects called Fractured Sky. Although uncertain on the likelihood of getting it for review, I reached out to the company to let them know we would love to share it with our vast audience here on GamesReviews.

When the box arrived yesterday, not only did the box contain Fractured Sky, but also Moonrakers and 3 expansions, and Mythic Mischief with a few expansions. Although Fractured Sky was the title I wanted to get coverage on first, something about Moonrakers kept calling to me, so I got it unboxed and onto the table.

At the time of writing, I have now opened up all the games IV Studio sent over and there is one thing I can say with certainty – this company produces fantastic games. From pieces to coins to dice to cards, everything IV Studio pushes out the door would be considered premium. Yes, the consumers are going to pay for that premium experience, but it is still impressive. Stonemaier Games was always my go-to when talking about companies that produce great games; IV Studio now joins that conversation.

Speaking of Stonemaier Games, a few years ago I did an interview with Jamey Stagemier and asked him one simple questions: What is the most expensive thing to upgrade in a board game? When he said it was linen finished cards with spot UV, I was a bit shocked. When I opened Moonrakers, that conversation came back to me, and I understood.

Moonrakers is an expensive game, there is no doubt about that, but the card quality specifically is amazing. With 100s of cards in the game, and a good amount of shuffling when it comes to your personal deck, I think a game like this NEEDS good card quality. Sure, there is always an option to sleeve cards, but A) some people don’t like to sleeve cards, and B) do you really want to push that extra expense on people as a publisher? Ultimately, IV Studio has decided to not make consumers feel this way – although their new Titan box does fit all the cards, sleeved, if you wish!

The quality is great, but the artwork is also really unique and fits the feel they want for this experience. Everything has a very unique art style that I really enjoy, and it seems to flow throughout the game, from the player boards to the central boards, and even to all the different card types, including ship parts.

It’s the extra attention to detail in this box that puts it over the top. The base game of Moonrakers includes metal coins instead of plastic or cardboard. Small little plastic ships are used to track prestige in the game – these could have easily been pawns or discs, but again, they improved production to make you feel like you were playing something premium. And finally, the box just has a fantastic insert. Someone asked me why the box was so big and whether it was needed or not.

Sure, they could have fit Moonrakers in a smaller box, but not one that had a nice place for everything in the game like this one has. GameTrayz makes fantastic products, so I’m glad to see IV Studio partnering with them for this game (and their other games as well)!

Overall, I’m very impressed with the component quality of Moonrakers. I know the price is pretty steep for just the base game, but I think if it’s something you plan to play often, the price-per-play will drop very quickly. And bonus – it’s easy to understand as well, so getting this to the table should be fairly easy!