On a small board are various cards containing hidden objectives, open starfalls and hidden starfalls.

Each player receives a screen on which the various actions, including resource costs, are printed, as well as various tokens. On the one hand, there are buildings, skimmers (small airships) and so-called scouts; on the other hand, there are larger tokens, which represent the large airships. These are available with a printed number from 0 to 10, whereby there are two 0s.

The core element of the game is the aforementioned starfalls. The place where starfalls appear is largely unknown to the players. But whoever has collected the most at the end of 5 rounds wins the game.

But how does it all fit together?

Each round, we carry out one of the following actions in turn order:

• Construct a building (Market or Fortress) or skimmer
• Scout or Peak a Card
• Place an airship

As soon as someone has placed their third airship, the round ends for them and they can choose a free space in the player order for the next round.

However, the airships have two peculiarities. Firstly, they are placed face down, which means that the troop strength of the airship remains unknown until the battle; secondly, the sum of the three airships must not exceed 10. As a small bluffing element, the backs of the 1 and 10 are marked, signalling a very high or very low number to the opponents.

Markets may give players more resources for the next round and fortresses increase the troop strength for adjacent airships by 1. But beware, the spaces for buildings are limited and certain spaces are potentially better than others.

A skimmer, on the other hand, gives exactly one troop strength in the deployed area.

However, the deduction aspect is intensified in the Peak and Scout actions. A hidden objective or hidden Starfall card can be viewed here. In the latter case, the player receives a resource from the area of the hidden starfall.

This information and the deployed troops provide the other players with clues regarding the hidden starfalls and objectives.

After all players have placed their third airship, the hidden objective of the round is revealed and all hidden starfalls are distributed to the islands. The number of hidden starfalls corresponds to the number of rounds.

Whoever is ahead in the calculation of the troop strength of the respective island now receives the following rewards in descending order of troop strength:

• Starfalls (if available)
• Both resources of the island
• One resource of the island
• No reward

All ties are resolved with the player order.

In order to have enough resources for the next round, it may even be desirable not to receive a starfall for an island.

Apart from minor details, these are the rules for Fractured Sky.

The feel of the game is difficult to describe, as it really does feel very unique and is not directly comparable to anything else, at least that we know of. All the elements are in exciting competition with each other.

We always want to be far ahead in the player order for ties during the game and to secure good places for the buildings, but the 4th and 5th place receives a bonus gold resource and better tactical options.

We need a high troop strength to win islands, but everyone knows that the total troop strength of airships deployed must not exceed 10.

We have to look at the face-down cards to know the Starfall locations, but in doing so we give away some of this information to the other players.

The relatively fast action speed and tactical depth create a great stir.

In terms of gameplay, there's nothing to complain and, depending on your preference for the area majority genre, it has the potential for top ratings.

The impression is somewhat diminished by the theme. Despite the extremely colourful, great illustrations, the game feels very abstract. The story about a numen who can grant a wish to the person who brings him the most starfalls is only minimally described in the instructions and cannot be felt at all on the game board. Of course, a sense of battle could be created through miniatures, but these were only included in the very limited Deluxe Edition on Kickstarter.

It has to be said, however, that the Deluxe Edition is really great to look at and even offers a little extra play value. For example, there are magnetic airship miniatures, which attach appropriate troop strength chips and thus make the game not only special, but also more fluid.