If the captain does not have cards matching the dice, the ship will crash (unless anyone plays special cards to save it -- see Power Cards later). In Aaron Weissblum’s latest game, a revamped version of 1999’s Cloud 9, players board a cloudship to collect the treasures in various cities across the worlds of Celestia. Once all passengers have announced their intentions, and before the captain plays (or fails to play) his cards, "Power" cards may be used. Passengers then decide either to remain on the ship, trusting the captain has the necessary cards in hand to negate the perils, or disembark to earn some loot.

And the large equipment cards have lavish artwork on them, and all that matters is the symbol in the top corner of the card.The two-player game was surprisingly decent but it was much different from the higher-count games: thinkier and a little meaner. Cloud 9, you board an aircraft with a team of adventurers to perform many trips through the cities of Celestia and recover their wonderful treasures. A player will always get, at a minimum, the number of points corresponding to the city, but they may get more. Celestia is a competitive bluffing game in which you compete to acquire loot while navigating perilous skies. At this point the captain can bluff: stating that they are capable of succeeding, or that they are not.

The box contains a simple but elegant cardboard steampunk airship, as well as pawns, inventory and loot cards, unique “event” dice and the rule book. You should try the following : check your connection, disable ad-blocker, clear your browser cache, try in private mode, try from another browser/computer/connection. I’ve brought this out at several groups now, and even though it was played as the opener or closer among some harder-hitting games, it has stood out as the memorable game that my friends are asking to play again. When things go well, and you end up a couple of islands down the path, you’ll end up cheering them on. The ship will go from low-numbered cities to high-numbered cities, and the longer a player stays on the ship, the better the reward.Normally special action cards like this would dilute the experience for me, but there are few enough of them in the deck that I don’t mind them. But its not all plain sailing there are many danger to exploring Celestia; fog, lightning bolts, killer birds, and pirates to name just a few, and you have to be ready to deal with them if you want to keep exploring and gain all the riches! If the captain does have the cards exactly matching the dice, they must play those cards and the round continues, with the captain passing to the next player. The further along the island chain the greater the reward, but also the greater the risk and Celestia is all about balancing your chances of getting to the next island against grabbing the treasure where you are.

The only really mean part of the game is the “hard blow” card, which forces the captain to roll for additional hazards, but playing that card has always resulted in laughs in my plays.The “magic spyglass” allows the ship to pass the challenge anyway after the captain announces he cannot. The whimsical art of floating teapot islands is a delight but the crowning glory is the ship itself, a 3D cardboard structure that actually houses your player pieces and looks for all the world like a floating magical bathtub. Unlike other cards, these are not “power” cards, but rather treasure cards located in the decks of the first four cities, and they are worth two points if unused. The casino recently moved its poker room and hired a new manager who decided to change the direction of the entire casino and began to introduce new table games.

It means they don’t overshadow the main gameplay but are nice to pull out when the going gets tough, or you decide to mutiny and throw your captain overboard.If they think the Captain will manage to overcome the events, a player will declare they are staying. The captain must use the required "Equipment" cards from his hand to overcome the challenges shown by the dice. That said, anyone looking for a substantial challenge or more than a superficial dash of strategy should look elsewhere. Whatever the outcome of the previous, the passenger sitting to the left of the captain becomes the new captain.