# Eclipse - 2nd dawn — 2nd dawn for the galaxy

> Strategic 4X space civilization game with customizable elements and multiplayer. (iPhone/iPad app by BrettspielWelt.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/eclipse-2nd-dawn/id1472324985 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [BrettspielWelt](https://appshunter.io/developer/1063292497)
- Category: Games, Board, Strategy
- Price: $9.99
- Rating: 3.20/5 from 15 App Store ratings · 24 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 9+
- Requires: iOS 12.0 · 157 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2024-11-25
- Data updated: 2026-09-01
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/eclipse-2nd-dawn/id1472324985/reviews.md

## What is Eclipse?

The galaxy has been a peaceful place for many years. After the ruthless Terran–Hegemony War, much effort has been employed by all major spacefaring species to prevent the terrifying events from repeating themselves.

The Galactic Council was formed to enforce precious peace, and it has taken many courageous efforts to prevent the escalation of malicious acts.

Nevertheless, tension and discord are growing among the seven major species and in the Council itself. Old alliances are shattering, and hasty diplomatic treaties are made in secrecy. 

A confrontation of the superpowers seems inevitable—only the outcome of the galactic conflict remains to be seen. Which faction will emerge victorious and lead the galaxy under its rule?

The shadows of the great civilizations are about to eclipse the galaxy.

A game of Eclipse Second Dawn  places you in control of a vast interstellar civilization, competing for success with its rivals. You will explore new star systems, research technologies, and build mighty spaceships. There are many potential paths to victory, so you need to plan your strategy considering the strengths and weaknesses of your species, while paying attention to the other civilizations' endeavors. 

Eclipse other civilizations and lead your people to victory! 

Exciting Gameplay: Challenge AI opponents or play against friends in real-time or turn-based. 

Tutorial & Help: Whether you're an experienced Eclipse player or a beginner, the game features a detailed tutorial that walks you through the basics step-by-step.  

Online Domination: The Eclipse app allows you to compete against friends or rivals from around the world. The app gives you the opportunity to compete with players from all over the world. 

The "Eclipse-2nd Dawn" app has been carefully designed to seamlessly bring the charm of the board game to your device. The intuitive interface ensures a smooth gaming experience for both experienced players and novices.
This is the new version, which corresponds to the original board game "Eclipse - 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy" that makes the gameplay even more diverse and challenging.  

FEATURES 

* Official iOS version of the 'Eclipse - Second Dawn for the Galaxy' boardgame 
* Deep and challenging 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) gameplay 
* 7 species with different strengths and weaknesses 
* Customizable star systems, technology tree and ship designs 
* Up to 6 players (human or AI) 
* Asynchronous multiplayer with push notifications 
* 3 AI difficulty levels 
* In-game tutorial & manual

Eclipse received multiple awards:

Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy

2021 Geek Media Awards Game of the Year for Experienced Gamers Winner
2021 Geek Media Awards Game of the Year for Experienced Gamers Nominee
2020 Charles S. Roberts Best SciFi Fantasy Board Wargame Winner
2020 Charles S. Roberts Best SciFi Fantasy Board Wargame Nominee

Eclipse base game

* 2011 Charles S. Roberts Best Science-Fiction or Fantasy Board Wargame Nominee
* 2011 Jogo do Ano Nominee
* 2012 Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Winner
* 2012 Golden Geek Golden Geek Best Strategy Board Game Winner
* 2012 International Gamers Award - General Strategy: Multi-player Nominee
* 2012 JoTa Best Gamer Game Audience Award
* 2012 JUG Game of the Year Winner
* 2012 Ludoteca Ideale Winner
* 2012 Lys Passioné Winner
* 2012 Tric Trac Nominee

## Key features

- Official board game adaptation
- Deep 4X gameplay
- Customizable species, tech, and ships
- Up to 6 players (human/AI)
- Asynchronous multiplayer
- In-game tutorial

## Chart rankings

- #56 in Top Paid · Board (US App Store)
- #150 in Top Paid · Strategy (US App Store)

## Recent user reviews (10 of 24)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/eclipse-2nd-dawn/id1472324985/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Same Problems as First Version

*2026-06-21*

Update: 8 months since the last update for the app.  So many things still broken. Trying to play online w friends, so we have a way to communicate outside of the app. It shows my friend’s turn on my device, it show my turn on his. The dev appears to have no interest in addressing any of the issues this app has.This is a barely updated version of the first version of the game. It still uses some of the rules from v1 that are not actually in 2nd Dawn. Same graphics, same interface, same lack of configuration options available for multiplayer, just as before. Notifications don’t work so inevitably players in a mp game will be replaced by bots. They slapped a new splash screen on the old version, added the new tech and left everything else in the same broken state it was in before. It might be fine for solo mode, but if you want to play online MP, steer clear.

### 4/5 — Great for practice, single player or pass and play.

*2026-05-19*

The good: 
Animated Battles 😎

Challenging AI. 

Fully automates the more tedious aspects of the board game.

The bad:
Can on rare occasions crash at a point where your current game cannot be recovered. 

Not good for online gameplay. 

This App forces some steps to happen sequentially, and sometimes irreversibly, which would otherwise be flexible in real gameplay. 

I recently bought the board game with some friends. I got this app for practice between games or local tournaments. It’s great because it automates all the setup and calcs. Also all the little steps that could be forgotten during typical gameplay are prompted for. I don’t see any true rule variations from the board game. Playing as a single player vs 1 to 4 ai players is challenging and satisfying. The practice I got in the app gave me a significant edge when playing the real board game with my friends. I tried to play online with a friend but the game didn’t even show up in the Queue until 24 hrs later.    One other caveat: Currently if you’re bankrupt at the cleanup phase; the game forces you to decide to sell resources, but darkens all the other visible information you need to make that decision. Also this action can’t be undone if you find you have to remove too many disks after the fact. So you need to be careful. Finally it is too easy, and even seems encouraged, to accept ambassador tokens from other players that replace high value and hard earned reputation 
tokens on your hidden diplomacy track.

### 3/5 — It's okay

*2026-01-29*

If you already know how to play, and have the itch this will do it, it's very streamlined and does not have the expansions. I'll still play it every now and then.. I have yet to play online, just bots

### 2/5 — Pretty good practice, but unreliable

*2026-01-26*

It’s pretty good to practice the fundamentals of a great game, but my biggest gripe is the game has a bad habit of “breaking” deep into a session. I constantly have the game totally freeze and force me to start a new game when I am on round 7 or 8. That is extremely frustrating to invest all that time and effort only to lose out on playing the final and most challenging rounds of the game.

### 3/5 — Tech Needs Fixing

*2026-01-24*

Overall a good implementation of the game. However, the tech discount system doesn’t work at all, putting the player at a significant disadvantage, and fundamentally changing how the game works, especially for factions like the Hydran Progress. Contacting the developers about this issue was impossible due to language barriers. The game will also feel incomplete until the expansion content is available.

### 2/5 — Licht und Schatten

*2025-12-26*

Das Spiel lässt sich mit der App gut lernen.

Aber es gibt einen krassen Bugs: Kämpfe werden plötzlich unterbrochen, obwohl ich klar am gewinnen bin und dem NPCs werden die Punkte zugerechnet.

Manche Symbole sind sehr klein und schwer lesbar.

### 3/5 — Buggy but mostly playable

*2025-12-19*

The game is playable in its current state, and functions mostly as expected. It does occasionally crash,  but progress has been saved 95% of the time. The AI is not very good, but can put up enough of a fight to make it entertaining. The app does have strange dice rolling anomalies, like rolling snake eyes in 3 consecutive battles, which I guess is technically possible with true RNG. 

Definitely needs some work to live up to the price tag.

### 4/5 — Local game freezes on iPhone

*2025-12-17*

Great game and production, too bad has freezed many times on local plays, with different races and situations. If it ever gets corrected, I’d gladly rate 5 stars for what it is.

### 1/5 — Doesn’t work

*2025-10-21*

Most games hang up in combat, some tech upgrades don’t work and some rules are wrong. Very disappointed.

### 4/5 — Fix resolution

*2025-09-18*

Pls, fix resolution for latests ipad mini

## Frequently asked questions about Eclipse

### What is Eclipse - 2nd Dawn?

Eclipse - 2nd Dawn is the official iOS version of the 'Eclipse - Second Dawn for the Galaxy' boardgame. It offers deep and challenging 4X gameplay where players control interstellar civilizations.

### How many players can play Eclipse - 2nd Dawn?

The game supports up to 6 players, who can be human or AI opponents. It also features asynchronous multiplayer with push notifications.

### Does Eclipse - 2nd Dawn have a tutorial?

Yes, Eclipse - 2nd Dawn features a detailed in-game tutorial and manual. This is designed to guide both experienced players and beginners through the game's mechanics step-by-step.

### What kind of gameplay does Eclipse - 2nd Dawn offer?

Eclipse - 2nd Dawn provides a deep and challenging 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) gameplay experience. Players can customize star systems, technology trees, and ship designs.

### What are the AI difficulty levels in Eclipse - 2nd Dawn?

Eclipse - 2nd Dawn includes 3 AI difficulty levels, allowing players to adjust the challenge to their preference. This ensures a dynamic experience whether playing solo or with others.

### What platforms is Eclipse - 2nd Dawn available on?

Eclipse - 2nd Dawn is available on iPhone, iPad, and iPod. It is designed to bring the board game experience seamlessly to your device.

### How much does Eclipse - 2nd Dawn cost?

Eclipse - 2nd Dawn is a paid application, priced at $9.99. This one-time purchase grants access to the full game experience without additional in-app purchases.

### What is the age rating for Eclipse - 2nd Dawn?

Eclipse - 2nd Dawn has an age rating of 9+. This indicates it is suitable for players aged 9 and above, offering strategic gameplay without mature content.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.4 — 2025-10-10

- The alternate blueprints now also work in online play.
- The UI now responds better to camera notch

### 1.3 — 2025-07-01

Changes:
- Explanation of player status in the rules
- Ships that cannot be hit due to shields are grayed out when attempting to assign a shot that is too weak.
Fixes:
- Display info even for inactive technologies

### 1.2 — 2025-04-09

Changes:
- Remember influence highlight
- Visualization of additional colony ships
Fixes:
- Hangup when purchasing Ancient Labs Technology
- Game crashes if the warp portal had to be placed on the home sector
- Notifications on mobile devices
- Tutorial incorrect display for Pass/End Turn
- Incorrect positioning of the action bar at the start of an online game.
- When pressing the back button, a different discovery was displayed

### 1.1 — 2025-03-06

Fixed the following problems:

- AI chooses a warp portal deployment, even if there is already a warp portal in the sector.
- Diplomacy through Warpportal not possible.
- Draco can be peacefully on a sector with Guardians.
- There is one 2 victory point reward piece too few in the game
- 2 Monolith and 1 Orbital Discovery too many in play
- The GCDS only has +1 instead of +2 computers
- 6 does not apply to ships with shields
- It is not possible to influence sectors from captured ships.
- Orbital Discovery is missing 2 material for the player
- Game sometimes crashes towards the end. (Could occur if a player's influence bar was completely empty, or completely full in the digital version).
- Warpportal Discovery by Ancient Labs are not placed on the player's starting sector.
- Discovery with 3 money, 2 science and 2 material is missing.
- Warpportals are not optional.
- Game crashes if you choose a population marker on an expanded universal planet for which you have not researched the technology.
- Alternate blueprints are not available.

### 1.0 — 2024-11-26

No release notes.

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## More apps by BrettspielWelt

- [Eclipse - Boardgame](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/eclipse-boardgame/id620439479)
- [Ligretto](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ligretto/id627380827)
- [Gecko the Game](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gecko-the-game/id1063292498)
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- [That's Pretty Clever](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thats-pretty-clever/id1411348057)
- [Power Grid Boardgame](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/power-grid-boardgame/id1434690170)

All apps by BrettspielWelt: https://appshunter.io/developer/1063292497

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-01.*
