EGO

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We are not alone! It is the 23rd century and evidence of alien life has finally been discovered beyond our solar system. In fact, recent technological developments have triggered a cascade of discoveries throughout the galaxy; intelligent life forms and advanced civilizations are now known to exist on many planets, moons and asteroids in the Milky Way.

Now the race is on to establish interstellar relations with the aliens. The people of Earth, Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter know that each of these planets can gain dominance and rule the system by forming powerful alien alliances, but despite our best efforts, the individual planets are unable to create their own spaceship to traverse the galaxy. Our only chance of reaching alien life is to pool our resources to build the necessary Super Ship. In an unprecedented, yet difficult, cooperation between planetary governments, the people of our solar system have finally built the first of these Super Ships.

And so, the coalition known as the Extraterrestrial Greeting Organization (EGO) is now ready to launch our first mission. Although our final destination is the Galactic Senate, EGO's stated mission is to visit numerous advanced civilizations throughout the galaxy and establish friendly relations between our solar system and the aliens. Through careful policy, our five planetary governments aim to gain allies and benefit from these interstellar relations.

In addition to the crew of a spaceship, aboard the Supership there will be an ambassador for each planet, who will take turns leading the mission. Even before the launch, tactical maneuvers begin between our governments and their representatives.

Expectations are high, as is the rivalry between our governments to get their fair share – or more – of this unprecedented mission. Each ambassador has been given the discreet task of ensuring that their home planet comes out on top. Naturally, such ambitions require methodical policy, and all tactics must be carefully considered. Alien races could easily resent overly aggressive advances. This could have detrimental effects for our planetary governments, if not the failure of the entire mission...

In EGO , players move through a series of main and sub-events, including auctions, drafts, risks, and more. Risk and ego are the lifeblood of this game, as players will often find themselves playing "who cares" with their rival ambassadors, in an attempt to impress different alien civilizations and gain political power.

By offering gifts, persuading, scheming, exchanging technology, and displaying charisma, these ambassadors will be able to gain advantages and allies. But unwise tactics can lead to damaging or even disastrous encounters. Taking a risk during a negotiation can tarnish your reputation with the aliens... or at the very least confuse them considerably as you retreat back to your ship in embarrassment. Yet there is always the possibility of triumphant success, and no one has ever reached the top without trampling a few challengers.

During auctions, everyone must spend what they bid. These auctions require you to spend matching icons from your hand (including Charisma, which can fulfill any request). The winner of the auction gets the first pick of the available rewards, then the runner-up gets to choose their reward, and so on—yet some of these options are less rewarding and more... punishing. Whether they win rewards or suffer penalties, players who choose their battles wisely—who better anticipate when to save their cards and when to spend more—will come out on top.

Being naive humans, these clumsy ambassadors will undoubtedly offend many aliens along the way, but you will have many opportunities to make amends. At the end of the game, players will earn significant bonus points or suffer severe penalties depending on how offensive they are considered by the aliens. In the end, the ambassador with the most prestige and respect will earn a seat in the Galactic Senate and be crowned the winner of the game.

EGO is a radical reimagining of the strategy and auction game Beowulf: The Legend , and Bitewing Games has collaborated with Reiner Knizia to preserve the essence of Beowulf: The Legend , while helping it evolve and reach its full potential. EGO introduces numerous innovations:

• Renewing the mechanism of polarizing risk while preserving its excitement and drama
• Increase build variety with a randomized sequence of interchangeable civilization tables
• Simplify the end-game push-your-luck token system where players can either achieve great things or suffer immensely
• Introducing exciting new features such as currency cards and broadcast events
• Balancing the bid tiebreaker system with the simple ranked card solution
• Speed ​​up game time with a condensed and focused sequence of events
• Double the number of unique special cards that can be chosen as rewards
• Add rewards and penalties to risky events
• Sharpen your endgame hand management decisions with enticing rewards after a climactic final auction
• Enhance the appeal of your theme and presentation with Marie Bergeron's vivid galactic artwork

EGO Expansion III ( Interstellar Interludes & Interruptions) adds special alliance tokens and expands the voyage map with ship boards featuring new competitive broadcast events.