I heard ppl on here asked for this, so here you go:

-Just bear in mind it wasn't the best environment for a nine year old, as it was effectively at a house party (some family friends were watching the rugby). We played for three hours, with five players, and the 9yo played as the Hacan, in a team with my older cousin. They were between me as the Yssaril and my mate as the Arborec. We spent an hour learning the game, then two hours playing out three rounds. The game ended in a tie, with Arborec taking the Mecatol point and Sol having six planets. The other 3 players scored no points. With that said, everyone enjoyed themselves and there were some excellent battles, which included the Arborec being chased out of a system at the hands of Simba.

It turns out you can absolutely play with a smart 9 year old, and the adult non-board-gamers around the table actually had a far worse time grasping the rules. We're planning to play again with Cousin and his friend helming their own factions, and stringing the game over multiple nights. However, next time we play, I'll make a few changes. We'll ignore technology effects, as this was the one part of the game that was too much rules (but we'll keep unit upgrades), we'll make the tech and trade strategy cards a bit simpler, and I'll also stack the decks a bit, just so that the cards that are the most difficult to understand are at the bottom (It turns out 9 year olds don't know what the word "repeal" means).

I realize that for some people, changing the game is heresy, but the truth is, kids don't play games the same way we do, and in any case, playing an opponent with a 100% understanding of what the cards he's holding mean, makes for a much better game.

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