Troyes co-designer reveals first game in four years, Sun Moon

Sébastien Dujardin, co-creator of lauded dice game Troyes, has unveiled his first game in almost half a decade.

Sun Moon is Dujardin’s first release since 2014’s Deus, and is currently scheduled to launch at this year’s Essen in October.

The game takes place in a world stuck permanently between night and day: the northern hemisphere of the planet is always dark, the southern half forever light.

Players are cast as travellers delivering valuable resources between the two halves, providing precious stones to the Day people and the wood and wheat needed by the Night people to survive.

Sun Moon’s intriguing premise is mirrored by its striking presentation, featuring a central board made up of modular pieces that ‘scrolls’ between darkness and light as an airship drifts between the two regions.

Players play cards onto spaces of the board – either next to the airship or another one of their cards – to either collect goods or deliver them to floating cities and earn gold stars. Players also earn bonuses by gathering resources, with different boons on either side of the double-sided player boards.

The cards are numbered, affecting how many resources are picked up or dropped off; the board advances when a ‘0’ is laid, with the airship moving forward and the back edge flipping over and reappearing at the other side of the five-by-five layout. It also seems that the cards are uniquely designed, with circular holes in the middle to allow players to see the reward on each space of the board.

The game ends after 16 rounds – around half an hour to 45 minutes – with players having used all their cards. The most gold stars wins.