Magnastorm

When the first exploration vessels entered the cloudy atmosphere of the planet Magnastorm, they discovered not only evidence of abundant natural resources, but also the remains of a long-lost civilization. At the bidding of the magistracy, scout vehicles are lowered to the barren surface to search for suitable mining areas.

The goal of Magnastorm is to be the first player with a certain number of reputation points. You acquire reputation mostly through fulfilling objectives, taking control of one or more of the eight commanders, and building transmitter stations. The flow of the game is controlled by an action board with two action panels, each of which has five columns. At the start of each round, there are a 3-5 action tokens (crew members) standing in each column on the upper action panel. To carry out an action, a player:

A) takes an action token from the upper panel and places it on the lower action panel either to gain resources or to pay for a movement on the planet surface, or

B) pays for every action token still standing in a certain column on the upper panel to gain control over the commander and his ability at the top of that panel, after which the player places those action tokens on the lower panel.

Since option A) will reduce the cost for option B), the players have to find the right timing for their actions. A round ends when the upper panel is empty. For the next round, the panels are swapped.