The residents of the oldest colony on the moon, Lunar Nexus, are in search of a new leader, and you are one of the prospective candidates. To ascend to leadership, you must garner the support of the three prominent Families— Moles (miners), Foxes (ecologists), and Hawks (upper class). Achieve this by outmaneuvering your opponents on the game's Kalaha-like worker placement board, where your choices will determine various actions for both you AND your opponents.

In Craters, black and white influence meeples are positioned on the action spaces of the circular board. On your turn, you pick up all influence meeples from one action space and place them one by one in a clockwise fashion around the board. In each action space where you placed an influence, you act once per white influence, and all other players act once per black influence. The action selection mechanism is designed to force players to give good actions to others. In other words, it's all about the tension between taking the best actions and not giving away too much good stuff to your opponents.

To win the game, you'll need to earn prestige among the three families. Each family grants prestige for different actions, such as building structures, utilizing rare alloys, or specific research. As the game progresses, these actions become increasingly impactful. Your strategy will evolve, heavily influenced by your opponents' moves on the Kalaha board.

If you enjoy games where each action influences your fellow players - why not join me for a game of Craters at Fastaval?