Yes.
[Pause while waiting for other Eclipse fanboys to return from purchasing their own copies of Terra Mystica.]
Now for more details in my comparative review.
(1) One subtle reason that I like Eclipse is its headache-free bureacracy. As colony cubes and action discs are subtracted (and sometimes added) to your personal display, you can instantly see your current revenues. Terra Mystica mostly uses an identical smooth bureacracy.
(2) Eclipse if used with its expansion, Eclipse: Rise of the Ancients, has nine double-sided player boards with eleven possible races. This permits dynamic imbalance during play, as each race has its own pluses and minuses which modify the standard (Human race) rules.
Terra Mystica has only seven double-sided player boards, but has fourteen possible races.
(3) Components:
(a) The Eclipse player boards are bigger, but some (not me) think that they are a trifle too thin. The smaller Terra Mystica player boards are made of sturdy cardboard. For both games the boards are colourful and functional.
(b) The Eclipse wooden bits are abstracted and functional. The Terra Mystica wooden bits likewise (except that Priests are represented by meeples). The Terra Mystica designers thoughtfully kept the purchase price of the game to a minimum by repurposing The Settlers of Catan Settlements, Cities and Roads to instead become Terra Mystica's Dwellings, Trading Houses and Bridges.
(4) Space, the final frontier. Eclipse, which I still slightly prefer over Terra Mystica, notoriously takes up a huge amount of space. So whenever my gaming session is space-limited I will have no hesitation taking along Terra Mystica. (And since I do not own a car, often travelling by public transport, the portable and lightweight Terra Mystica is much easier to lug around than the large ton-of-bricks that is Eclipse.)
(5) During the first few turns of a game of Eclipse any conflict between players is indirect, primarily snaffelling valuable Research tiles before another player gets a chance, and secondarily Exploration towards a neighbour with the aim of hemming her in. Only in the last third of a game of Eclipse do players unleash their Neutron Bombs.
Contrariwise, conflict is indirect throughout an entire game of Terra Mystica. Indeed, being hemmed in by another player building next to you is advantageous, as you can then trade Victory Points for the highly desirable Power tokens.
(6) There is NO item 6.
(7) In conclusion, I believe that there is a strong family resemblance between Eclipse and Terra Mystica. While I would not describe the two games as siblings, I would use the metaphor of them being first cousins.
[Pause while waiting for other Eclipse fanboys to return from purchasing their own copies of Terra Mystica.]
Now for more details in my comparative review.
(1) One subtle reason that I like Eclipse is its headache-free bureacracy. As colony cubes and action discs are subtracted (and sometimes added) to your personal display, you can instantly see your current revenues. Terra Mystica mostly uses an identical smooth bureacracy.
(2) Eclipse if used with its expansion, Eclipse: Rise of the Ancients, has nine double-sided player boards with eleven possible races. This permits dynamic imbalance during play, as each race has its own pluses and minuses which modify the standard (Human race) rules.
Terra Mystica has only seven double-sided player boards, but has fourteen possible races.
(3) Components:
(a) The Eclipse player boards are bigger, but some (not me) think that they are a trifle too thin. The smaller Terra Mystica player boards are made of sturdy cardboard. For both games the boards are colourful and functional.
(b) The Eclipse wooden bits are abstracted and functional. The Terra Mystica wooden bits likewise (except that Priests are represented by meeples). The Terra Mystica designers thoughtfully kept the purchase price of the game to a minimum by repurposing The Settlers of Catan Settlements, Cities and Roads to instead become Terra Mystica's Dwellings, Trading Houses and Bridges.
(4) Space, the final frontier. Eclipse, which I still slightly prefer over Terra Mystica, notoriously takes up a huge amount of space. So whenever my gaming session is space-limited I will have no hesitation taking along Terra Mystica. (And since I do not own a car, often travelling by public transport, the portable and lightweight Terra Mystica is much easier to lug around than the large ton-of-bricks that is Eclipse.)
(5) During the first few turns of a game of Eclipse any conflict between players is indirect, primarily snaffelling valuable Research tiles before another player gets a chance, and secondarily Exploration towards a neighbour with the aim of hemming her in. Only in the last third of a game of Eclipse do players unleash their Neutron Bombs.
Contrariwise, conflict is indirect throughout an entire game of Terra Mystica. Indeed, being hemmed in by another player building next to you is advantageous, as you can then trade Victory Points for the highly desirable Power tokens.
(6) There is NO item 6.
(7) In conclusion, I believe that there is a strong family resemblance between Eclipse and Terra Mystica. While I would not describe the two games as siblings, I would use the metaphor of them being first cousins.