Cerebria: The Inside World

2018 · Fantasy

Cerebria: The Inside World

Cerebria: The Inside World is a board game for 1–4 players. It plays in 60–120 minutes and is meant for ages 14 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 2. It is rated 7 out of 10 by 12 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $52.00 (United States).

Two teams of Spirits—embodiments of Bliss and Gloom—vie to shape a personified inner world through area control and objective scoring. Players take turns spending Willpower to move Spirits across Realms and Frontiers, invoke and upgrade Emotion cards that occupy board areas, remove opposing Emotions, and erect Fortresses to lock in influence. Willpower is mainly gathered from central Spheres, while a limited shared Ambition resource unlocks the most powerful effects. Teams score via public minor Intentions or by fulfilling changing major Aspirations, which add permanent Bliss or Gloom Fragments to the evolving central Identity; the side with greater influence on the finished Identity wins.

Players
1–4 best 2
Playing time
60–120 min
Age
14+
Complexity
4.3 / 5
7 on Ludoyafrom $52.00Point to Point MovementArea Majority / InfluenceCooperative Game

On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya
51
Plays logged
97
Players
2h 7m
Average play
38
In collections
14
On wishlists

7.0/10

from 12 Ludoya reviews

Read the reviews and rate it

Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

How is control of a Frontier or a Realm actually determined — do you count cards or something else?

Frontier control is determined by the Frontier's Triad (the Frontier slot plus the two adjacent slots): if only one team has Emotions there they control it, otherwise add each team's Emotion Intensities (the highest-numbered filled Essence space on each card) in the triad and the higher total controls; tied or empty = no control (pages 12–13).

If there's an opposing Emotion in the Realm, does an Emotion on the adjacent Frontier still count toward that Realm?

An Emotion on a Frontier can be blocked from influencing a particular Realm if an opposing Emotion occupies the adjacent Realm slot (the blocked Emotion still affects its Frontier and the other adjacent Realm); Realms are scored by adding Intensities of unblocked Emotion slots plus any Fortress bonus (pages 12–13).

How much Willpower do I get from Absorb, and when does a Revelation/Origin rotation happen?

Absorb gives a base of 2 Willpower plus +1 for each adjacent Frontier your team controls (and any Emotion effects); you then take the Sphere's optional bonus, and if the Sphere becomes empty you resolve a Revelation and then rotate the Origin one step clockwise (pages 22–23).

Can I build or upgrade a Fortress in an opponent-controlled Realm, and how do Exalt and Raze work?

You may Fortify only in a Realm your opponent does not control and only if the Fortress location is empty (placing a Minor Fragment and +1 Intensity); Exalt upgrades your existing Minor to a Major by spending 1 Ambition (and the Fortify cost), while Raze lets you, for a Willpower + Ambition cost, remove or downgrade an opponent's Fragment and may be used even in an opponent-controlled Realm and grants an extra Action (page 17).

What are the requirements and costs to Empower an Emotion?

To Empower you must be adjacent to the Mild Emotion, it must meet its Empower threshold of Essence, and you spend 3 Willpower to replace it with its Strong counterpart while transferring Essence (tokens other than Essence are discarded); upgrades like Channeled Power let you spend 1 Ambition to add 1 Essence before empowering (page 18).

How do Ambition tokens work — how do you gain/spend them and what can you do with them?

Ambition is a shared pool (max 3) that starts empty; you commonly gain Ambition by flipping a face-down Ambition token instead of drawing 2 Emotion cards at end of your turn, and spending Ambition flips a token to the spent side; Ambition can pay for powerful Abilities such as adding a Vibe token, rotating the Origin, or buying an Additional Action, with each Ambition Ability usable only once per turn (page 21).

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.