Echo from the Dark

From BoardGameGeek:

Echo from the Dark is the fourth game in the Irregular Conflicts Series, depicting an interstellar struggle between divergent factions after humanity discovers a material that allows for faster-than-light travel and communication. Players will use this material to deploy unique technologies that shape their faction identity across the course of the game, meaning that every playthrough is a unique experience. As they expand across the galaxy, the human population will follow, providing new incentives and opportunities. Eventually, their visions for the future will prove to be irreconcilable: only one player will be able to determine the fate of humanity. Highlights: A highly variable setup: Choose from a selection of different factions to arrange on a modular map. As the game goes on, players will discover valuable Salt and dangerous anomalies that further change the texture of the map. A shifting population: At this scale, population grows, moves, and declines over time, encouraging factions to consider the longer-term ramifications of their actions. Technology: Every round reveals a new technology that can be researched to shape each faction over the course of the game. Unique non-player opposition: Aliens, artificial intelligence, and disease form some of the possible opposition factions that each act through their own special system. Streamlined sequence of play: Every faction may act on every round, with smaller actions allowing a player better initiative in the next round. Player factions all have access to the same basic actions and can use researched Technology no matter what action they take. In such seconds of decision entire futures are made. - Dan Simmons, Hyperion (1989) Echo from the Dark is a streamlined take on the COIN/ICS formula, where each faction acts on every turn and the event deck is replaced with 48 unique Technologies for them to research. Setup is quick and easy, with a modular map and eight factions to choose from, providing a new experience every game. All factions have the same set of actions available to them at the beginning of the game, plus a unique special bonus action that uses Salt. All factions have the same set of forces, the same collection of population markers, and the same way of choosing and paying for actions. They also have the same access to Technology, gated only by presence on the map. —description from the publisher