Fractured Sky

Managing your airship's coal and crew while everyone secretly bids on the same star fragments gets tense fast, especially when you misread the table and lose a piece you needed. Played it three times in one night and each round the area control shifted completely.

Didn't expect area control to blend so well with resource management, but it works. My group spent a whole evening arguing over whether to spend our last crystal or hold it for the next star fragment. The bidding rounds get tense in a good way.

Blind bidding sounded gimmicky to me until our group actually played it — now it's the part everyone argues about. The area control on the sky map stays tense right to the last round, and managing your airship's resources never feels like busywork.