It’s been a while since we covered the fourth of 8 builds from the second round of the Starfighter Telephone Game, or STG, so lets do a recap as we highlight the final build in the series. The STG-2 Beyonder, built by Simon Liu, the spaceship legend himself, made for a super strong finish for the whole game. For those not in the know, the game includes eight builders, passing along a spaceship design that they reimagine and redesign with each subsequent build. As such, the form and function can shift and change in dramatic ways from the first ship to the last. The bright green canopy surrounded by white angular canopy pieces smooth out the cockpit and compliment the triangular shaping achieved with the left and right roof tiles that Simon pulled from the Bone Demon set. Dark grey mock-wings stretch out from the green, white, and blue fuselage while gold tiling on the engines can be seen peeking out from behind the craft. Unfortunately Simon hasn’t provided much of a look at the back. Thankfully, the front is so beautifully built it’s worth appreciating on its own. The greebly, detailed interior of the cockpit feature’s many LEGO fans’ favorite frog piece as this sleek ship’s pilot.

Of course, Simon’s design wasn’t completely his own. The collaborative nature of this project means that builders will indirectly be working together to create a complimentary fleet of similar star fighters. The triangular shaping that Simon was working with was based on the Spectre by builder Thomas Jenkins. Built more around right angles than the more obtuse design Simon gave us, Tom’s smaller cockpit and flatter design still lend a sleekness to this ship. Gold detailing around the engine and intakes create complimentary lines that are repeated in the grey sections of the ship’s nose and wingtips. The slim inclusion of green and blue along each side of the ship is an interesting departure from the original ships, as you’ll later see.

Then again, looking at the Spectre’s predecessor, the STG-2 Boar by Builder Joel Tyer, it seems like the coloration wasn’t the only departure in the last two ships. This starfighter is much bulkier with a seemingly increased arsenal for engaging its enemies. Don’t be fooled by this space-tank’s porky pilot because dog fights are nothing compared to what goes down in a pig sty. The blue and green sections almost hint at this builder’s castle origins but Joel did well to keep his theme’s separate in his second attempt at a spaceship.

Moving from the sixth to the fifth build, we get the STG-2 Void Skipper by the talented Tom Loftus. It seems a shade of green wasn’t picked up by the final rounds in the game but here we get to see a delightful, cool gradient on a lively snipe. A master crafter of all general space fodder, Tom likes to challenge himself with creating smooth surfaces and intriguing angles. the interiors of his ships are intricately engineered for an eye catching final effect. The teal hose going down the center back of the ship is also a wonderful inclusion in its design.

The fourth build is, of course, the first ship we covered from this series, the STG-2 Sailer by Eli Willsea When it first popped up, No Man’s Sky had recently gone through an update that included ships with this solar sailer stylization, down to the rigging and the engines. Not only that, but the cockpit and body shared some similarities with the starter ship that all players get at the beginning of the game. The teal hose and lighter green that end with the fifth ship survive a darker shade of green used in the sail sections while teal makes up the bow of the boat like cockpit.

Eli’s predecessor in the Starfighter Telephone Game, builder Micah Beideman, gave us a lively, alien design lush with lime green and teal hoses. This deathglider like design looks like a blend between Stargate and LEGO Insectiods and I am here for it. Angular arms complimented by lime green horns combine to create a crescent moon shaped silhouette with a truly otherworldly flair. Gold plays a slightly heavier role here in the color scheme but the teal and lime detailing really glitter here.

The second ship in the series, the STG-2 Lightning by builder Carter Witz takes its inspiration from a different series, Star Wars, appearing to be a modification of Zam’s beloved airspeeder design from the Bounty Hunter pursuit scene in Episode 2. I’m always a big fan of these forked, almost Vic-viper-esque, designs with rounded canopies. Very little gold is used in this early phase of the game while the angled translucent green canopy that would eventually end out the round does suit this just as much as the final design. It’s interesting that the shaping of the craft completely changed its attack angles from these forward forks to back pointing wing structures in the eighth model.

Still, probably the biggest difference in designs comes from the first ship in this round of the Starfighter Telephone Game. Builder Roanoke Handybuck entered with a design that screams angry Jedi starfighter. The pentagram-like design gives this an aggressive stance while the bright greens and teals give off a contrasting festive and fun feeling. Gold highlights by the canopy and engines are a simple suggestion at technical elements of the ship. My favorite complimentary element of this ship is the spiky hair and spaceman shirt on the minifigure.

All in all, this was a pretty great game. I love seeing space fans coming together to celebrate the ingenuity and inspiration that goes into ship design. Watching how each builder edits the last’s design is a great way to learn about creating your own ships. Beyond that, it’s just awesome to see these great ships flying through space in these wonderful edits provided by Thomas Jenkins.