Celestia is a family game where you are trying to collect the most impressive souvenirs by travelling to the different islands of Celestia. At the start of the game everyone is dealt some cards: cards can be an equipment item (a lighting rod, horn, compass or cannon), or a special card (which I will talk about later). Next everyone places their character counter in the 3D cardboard airship and the game can begin. Players take turns at being the Captain of the ship, as Captain it will be their responsibility to navigate the airship safely to the next island. The Captain starts their turn by rolling the two dice provided, which will have either a blank space or a symbol which relates to a situation the airship has encountered (a lighting bolt, clouds, birds or pirates). Without showing the other players, the Captain will then look at their cards to see if they have the appropriate equipment to deal with the situation at hand - like the horn card to clear the birds or cannons to fend off the pirates. If the Captain has the right equipment, then they will be able to move the airship along to the next island. But if they can't cope with the problems encountered then the airship, and everyone in it, will crash and go all the way back to the start. However, before the Captain reveals whether they will be able to overcome the situation, everyone else has to decide whether to stay in or jump out of the ship. If they jump out, they take a souvenir card from the island where they disembarked which will give them victory points. The further the island is from the start, the better the card will be. So you'll want to stay in for as long as possible before jumping out. But, if you are on the airship and the Captain doesn't have the right equipment, you go back to the start and get no points at all. Only after all the other players have decided whether to trust the Captain to see them through or abandoned ship, does the Captain finally reveal whether they can take navigate the ship to the next island. So what would will you do? Do you push your luck and hope the Captain has the right cards or do you play it safe and get some points, even though bigger prizes lie further on...I mentioned that there are also some special cards, which can change the course of the game by letting people do extra things they wouldn't normally be able to do. An example is one card that allows you to force another player to jump out of the ship, regardless of whether they wanted to or not. This means they might end up with a rather lacklustre souvenir compared to their other shipmates who go on (unless the airship crashes). The another fun card allows you to jump to the next island even if the airship crashes, guaranteeing you the most impressive souvenir that flight.
Celestia, in my opinion, is a really great game. The artwork is amazing and I love how you have to try and figure out whether someone has the right cards by just looking at how many cards they have and their face. I also love the exploration aspect of this game, and it always gives me a really good sense of satisfaction as I make it to a place I have never been to before. Overall I really enjoy this game and it is definitely one of my favourite games.
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