Ad Astra takes your game of Mutant: Year Zero into space with a set of new rules that allow for moving in space, a new character class (Pilot) and everything you could want to know about the planets in our solar system and how to get there with your party.
Was this game sent for review or self-purchased?: This was kindly sent for review by Free League Publishing.
In two sentences, what do you do in the game: It is a continuation of your campaign of Mutant: Year Zero or a standalone campaign that allows your party to leave a plagued Earth and travel to space. You’ll then try to navigate though the solar system in search of the core engine of the ship Ad Astra.
Have we played any other titles by this publisher?: Yes, we have played Dragonbane (an all time favorite), Alien, Vaesen and have read numerous other products.
What was surprising about this title: For clocking in at 131 pages, Ad Astra is very dense and feels like a significantly larger book with all of the content.
How likely is this to return to the game table?: Unlikely as once the campaign is over, you already know what will happen. However, once the campaign is over the book includes a significant amount of tools designed to help the game master continue the adventure far beyond our solar system.
Game length: Several sessions that will last a few hours. This is a full campaign and may take a significant amount of time for your table to complete. This game cannot be run as a one-shot (as our table prefers to play) but it does allow you to create an adventure that could potentially last 1-2 sessions.
Language Barrier Playability: Extremely difficult. The only way this game might work with a language barrier is if your game master is bilingual and can run the game between two languages (or more). Maybe some characters can only speak in one language but have to try to work together? Either way, it would be an arduous task for the game master but it’s not necessarily impossible.
Artwork: Mutants in space. It does exactly what you would expect and creates a believable way for your party to venture into space while giving some reasons as to why the party would want to leave Earth. The space suits feel out of place as they have faces that both seem to be holograms and realistic inside the suit. What ends up showing up seems strangely out of proportion and cartoony.
Quality: Great. The game is a hard cover with semigloss pages. Fingerprints will be visible if your hands are oily or sweaty but will wipe off somewhat with a microfiber towel and gentle rubbing.
Strategy: Not applicable for this game as characters are free to do whatever they want.
Instruction Manual: This is an odd one as the game manual is technically not this book but it does have additional rules. The rules are well written and allow for a more immersive experience while floating about in the vacuum of space. One disappointing thing about As Astra is that while this game is technically a standalone adventure/campaign, the book recommends you also have the core Mutant: Year Zero rulebook, Mutant: Genlab Alpha, Mutant: Mechatron and Mutant: Elysium. So in order for you to fully enjoy it, understand and immerse yourself in this campaign, Free League Publishing recommends you have 4 separate books. Granted they mostly provide background information and more context with classes that are unplayable with just the core rules but still, this would be vastly disappointing for someone who is getting into Mutant: Year Zero and finds our they need to purchase more books. It also does say that the core rulebook is required on the summary but it makes no mention of the other 2 books.
Organization: Great. This game is well written and the flow of the books is easy to follow and reference. It does tend to provide a lot of lore that can read a little sluggish if you have no background information but other than that this is an enjoyable read.
Final thoughts: Ad Astra is a good addition to Mutant: Year Zero if your table wants to explore space and really loves the mechanics and system of the game. The rules provided are easy to add to your game as they do not really occur on Earth so they really only apply to space travel. The campaign is enjoyable and includes a few MacGuffins that lead the party on exciting but dangerous adventures. That being said, if your party wants to play a space themed game and is not committed to Mutant: Year Zero, Free League has Death in Space, Into the Odd and Alien that we enjoyed more ourselves.
Sushiball Games 