Voidfall might be my favorite solo experience ever
I need to make a premise. I love heavy euro games, it's my favorite genre. I personally find complexity as an added value, if it is used to give depth to the game coupled with a strong theme. I own several heavy games, including the (almost) entire collection of Lacerda, which is my favorite designer. I know that a lot of people don't prefer this kind of games, so what I'm saying might not be true for everyone, but that's totally fine. It's the beauty of the boardgame world, where everyone can find something that fits its own taste.
I had Voidfall in my wishlist since a long time but I was not totally convinced, however some days ago I found a good discount online and I decided to buy it. And that was the best decision I could take. I had a couple of days alone at home, which ended up in a (not foreseen) full immersion in this game.
I bought this exclusively for the solo variant. The game offers also a competitive and a cooperative mode, so maybe in future I will try those with my friends, but it would probably take an entire night just to explain the rules and run a tutorial, so for the moment I think that I'll use it only for its solo mode. Which is awesome!
Yes the game is heavy, yes the rules are complex, yes the learning curve is steep (although less than expected)...but man it's worth it!
The rulebook is very well structured and cleverly guides you with a series of incremental steps of learning, allowing you to digest the core mechanics one step at a time. There is a very nice tutorial that uses only a part of the rules and lets you enter this world without being overwhelmed at the beginning. And then you start playing with the complete set of rules and try a couple of initial games that might feel a bit flat. But then, once you get it and you start exploring the real potential of this game, the magic happens.
As I started playing the first complex scenario with a non-basic faction, I became addicted. A single game can last even 2-3 hours, but after I ended one I wanted immediately to try another, with a new faction and new technologies. The possible strategies are endless and the variety of play style is incredible. Every game is different from the previous one...and it is incredibly rewarding.
Once it clicks in your head, this game is amazing. I know that this is not for everyone, it takes a lot of time investment and brain power, but the solo experience is so satisfying that repays for all the initial effort.
So, if this kind of genre suits you, don't be scared by the rulebook and dive into it. It's absolutely manageable and once you capture the logic, everything flows like a river. After a few games (for me it was 2 games), you stop looking at the rules and you only focus on the strategy. And here is where you can feel all the power of this game. It's an experience that I absolutely recommend!