Another day and another genre that gets a great release from a rising developer, and today’s new developer hotspot belongs to Whatboy Games. This small London-based studio was founded in 2018 with a massive passion for board games from the looks of it, and while this small team doesn’t quite have the notoriety it deserves yet, they’re aiming high with their releases. They started their adventure with Trials of Fire in 2022, a brilliantly made Card Battler Strategy that took a ton of inspiration from the old board games we enjoyed back in the day.

However, Whatboy Games wasn’t done with the world yet and they got to work on an absolute beast of a release, Nexus 5X. Here’s the thing, it’s not just another garden variety strategy with extra steps, it’s a hell of a lot more. Think along the lines of Sins of a Solar Empire or Civilization, but bigger and somehow faster, and with a lot more strategic thinking involved. So, buckle up and get your thinking cap on because Nexus 5X might be in Early Access at the moment, you’ll be glad to know that it’s officially getting a full release on 18 April.

Now, when it comes to releases like Nexus 5X, things can come off as rather simple at first but this changes very quickly as you explore the deeper intricacies of the universe at hand and its races. However, there are two sides to this coin when it comes to the story or playing against friends. The story in Nexus 5X will have you taking a walk-through race faction as you get to learn more about their strengths and weaknesses, and each race comes with its strategies that give them an edge. Meanwhile, playing against friends takes on a different approach and the end goal is to reach and claim the throne-world Nexus, which will give you galactic dominance.

The biggest thing for any strategy release is how well its many mechanics are implemented, an added bonus is the role-playing aspects. Granted, with role-play comes the fun side of backstabbing and making shady deals with your opponents for an alliance or to take down a bigger threat, there are endless possibilities as to how each match will take place and there’s never a dull moment. Keeping in mind that there are 11 races to pick from and each race has its leader, you’ll be spoiled for choice but you’ll need to bring the brains to match.

With so many races to pick from and with each race having several leaders, things can get a little complex with the bonuses they bring to the table, such as More resources per round, fleet bonuses, trade bonuses, extra research, etc. It is advised that you find your feet in Nexus 5X first through a few bots matches and experiment with the different races, or even play some of the story missions to get a good feel for everything.

On the matter of resources in Nexus 5X, this is where things take a very complex turn. You’ll have access to Social Points, Mechanics, Research, Credits, Ammunition, as well as extra resources such as trade value alongside a few others but these vary between races and leaders. However, getting resources every round is nice, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get the same amount each round. You’ll need to conquer planets and expand your reach, but doing so means you need to build ships and this costs Mechanics and Ammunition. Sending your ships to other planets comes at the cost of Social Points and maintaining control over those planets will affect your upkeep for every round.

Although, you’re not stuck with a set income for each round, since each planet will have slots that you can use to construct new buildings on them that will increase your income as well. Sadly, nothing is ever really free and you’ll need to be strategic with how you spend your points… Unless you have Credits, which can function as Social Points or Mechanics. Yes, money can make the world go round but it doesn’t mean it’s easy to come by. You’ll have to play to your race’s strengths, some races are great at trading and getting Credits, and others are much better with research or even firepower. It’s all really dependent on your playstyle and how you can use it to claim victory.

On the other hand, having a few extra people to play with is where Nexus 5X shines. A simple strategy will get you far but having actual people to go up against is where you’ll need to use a little social strategy too, trade routes and alliances are going to be your go-to option in this case but you can also plan a little backstabbing. This works well because simple diplomacy isn’t always as simple.

Unfortunately, Nexus 5X does come with a slight drawback when it comes to combat. Building ships is easy enough as long as you have a Starport built on the planet, but you’ll be limited to a max of 3 ships per planet, and the Starport counts as one already. This makes going for an overwhelming sweep to victory impossible and you’ll need to think outside the box to fight on multiple fronts using the different ships. Granted, this is easier said than done and it can cause a stalemate quite early on unless you can muster a buff through Edicts.

Speaking of Edicts, life in Nexus 5X would be boring if there wasn’t a form of wildcard you could play. You’ll usually get a set number of Edicts you can play per round and these range from Exploration, Construction, or Research to more Race-specific Edicts like Politics. However, using them also comes at a cost and is not always cheap either. However, when you can use Edicts, they can make or break a round for you due to the changes they can bring or even spare resources that’ll allow you to flip the script on a situation that’s turned against you.

Saving the best or most important part for last, Research… This is likely the most vital part of any match in Nexus 5X simply because of how many paths it can open up. Your research options will usually depend on the Race you picked but it’ll allow you to give your planets or ships a much-needed boost or even reduce your resource drain. However, there is one constant throughout all the races and that’s Exploration. Anomalies exist everywhere and they’re just waiting to be explored and exploited for whatever they can you, it is recommended that you explore where possible due to the high pay-out chance.

On the visual side of things Nexus 5X, doesn’t go over the top with crazy visuals or overcomplicated designs, it sticks quite close to its original inspiration from board games. Though there is a fair bit of beauty to the universe as well with the backgrounds and character models being well drawn, however, any form of ships in Nexus 5X didn’t quite get the same unique treatments and can look a little ‘copy \ pasted’. To add to the confusion, opening up the star chart a bit more and revealing new planets is nice, but the way territories are highlighted can become a little confusing when combined with the ship issue. You’ll likely end up feeling a little lost.

Sadly, the mixed bag isn’t quite over yet because Nexus 5X impresses in some parts and disappoints in others when it comes to background music. Understandably, it shouldn’t be overwhelming but some parts are really in your face while others make it almost non-existent, however, there is a slightly annoying aspect as well. Throughout your conquests, you’ll have the ever-present Adviser who will let you know if you don’t have enough resources, your fleet is unbalanced, and a multitude of other problems… It’s a nice touch but her voice is somehow the loudest thing ever and there’s no way to turn off her ‘helpful’ advice.

Overall, Nexus 5X is a great deep strategy with endless potential for the genre, and even more potential to ruin a few friendships in good-natured fun. You’re definitely in for a hell of a treat and a good brain massage with how much strategy you’ll need, but that’s what makes this release so great and also such a rarity. Unfortunately, it does need a bit of polish and variation in certain parts to ease some of the confusion such as fleet race variation and the star chart overlay.
 

Jay Claassen (@R3GR3T_3NVY)
Senior Editor, NoobFeed