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Description
Fifty years ago, humanity began mining the Moon and the asteroids, and for decades that task was firmly kept in the hands of the World Government. But the turmoils of recent years have caused this enterprise to collapse. Now, adventurous companies and private investors take to the sky to revive this mining network.
As investors, you try to earn the most CrypCoin over the course of seven rounds. You do this by investing mined resources in companies and by spreading their outposts. You can improve your earnings by supporting your scientists’ research and by having them collect precious helium-3.
The heart of Skymines is a unique card programming and hand management system that requires careful and clever planning. It provides deep player interaction by letting you invest in any of the four companies as you see fit.
And as the combination of company abilities changes each game, there are endless synergies and strategies to explore.
—description from the publisher
Year Published
2022
Featured Videos
Review
Skymines in 60 Seconds
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–4 of 4
Video HYdFm4hyUcI
Unknown Channel game_review at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 40184 · mention_pk 121518
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Excellent heavy strategic depth with meaningful, non-trivial decision points that reward long-term planning
- Campaign content and two-map configuration add meaningful variability, increasing replayability and perceived value
- The stock-value end-game scoring mechanic gives a clear, objective path to victory and keeps tension high throughout the game
Cons
- Thematic coherence is limited relative to the mechanical weight, which can leave players feeling that the theme does not fully justify the complexity
- The rules can be dense and intimidating for newcomers, potentially creating a steeper learning curve
- With heavy Euro-style mechanics, some players may crave stronger narrative glue to anchor decisions in a more immersive way
Thematic elements
- Resource extraction and corporate expansion within a space-based economy, emphasizing strategic deployment of limited assets to grow influence and wealth.
- Lunar mining corporation operations on the Moon, featuring a campaign mode and a two-map side configuration that expands play options beyond a single session.
- Procedural, systems-driven, with emphasis on mechanism quality and strategic planning over immersive storytelling; thematic glue is present but not the central driver of decisions.
Comparison games
- On Mars
- Mombasa
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action selection / round-based turns — Actions a player can perform are determined by the revealed cards and the order in which they are played, shaping the round-by-round strategic flow.
- Campaign content — Two map sides and campaign elements provide additional scenarios, variability, and a sense of progression beyond a single play.
- card drafting — Players draw, play, and rest cards across rounds, explicitly planning which cards to use during the round and which will rest for future rounds.
- Card drafting / resting deck — Players draw, play, and rest cards across rounds, explicitly planning which cards to use during the round and which will rest for future rounds.
- Deck management / rest mechanic — Used cards are placed into a resting deck, which must be drawn or chosen from before resting, creating a cyclic tension between immediate needs and future options.
- deck manipulation — Used cards are placed into a resting deck, which must be drawn or chosen from before resting, creating a cyclic tension between immediate needs and future options.
- end game bonuses — At game end, each player's stock holdings are multiplied by the corresponding company values to determine victory points, creating a strong linkage between growth and scoring.
- End-game scoring via stock x company value — At game end, each player's stock holdings are multiplied by the corresponding company values to determine victory points, creating a strong linkage between growth and scoring.
- Investment — Players invest in lunar mining operations to boost company value, which in turn influences end-game scoring through stock mechanics.
- Investment / stock system — Players invest in lunar mining operations to boost company value, which in turn influences end-game scoring through stock mechanics.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Sky mines is a re-implementation of Mombasa loaded with extra content
- This is an excellent heavy strategic game that doesn't do much thematically
- I recommend On Mars
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video nKj73VuN4kQ
Board Game Dad top_5_list at 5:34 sentiment: positive
video_pk 33886 · mention_pk 100912
Click to watch at 5:34 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- clever planning for future hands
- puzzle-like discard management
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
- AI Minds
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- resting/discard pile management — similar to AI Minds; managing multiple discard piles to influence future hands
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- my five favorite board game mechanics
- cards have multiple uses regardless of what your hand draw is
- I love games that engage you when it's not even your turn
- every player gets to do something at the same time
- not only when you pull your workers you get something but every other player also has the option of pulling their workers back at the same time
- stock buying mechanic ... the objective is to have the most money at the end of the game and the way you get the most money is by buying stock in the players
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video N4RtgGjbHYM
Board Game Dad general_discussion at 10:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 30838 · mention_pk 90908
Click to watch at 10:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- reduces luck by controlling draw quality
- enhances decision-making and planning
Cons
- may require careful management of discards
- new players may need time to adjust
Thematic elements
- transparent objective tracks and planned discard piles
- Sky-based mining operations with resource and track-based scoring
- mechanics-driven, highly strategic
Comparison games
- Sky
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- objectives tracking — advance on company tracks that determine end-game scoring
- planned discard piles — draw a hand from a controlled discard pile to anticipate next rounds
- Track advancement — advance on company tracks that determine end-game scoring
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- these are games like wingspan or Ark Nova in general these games are a lot of fun
- the designer's intent is that over the course of the game the luck is going to balance out
- it's up to the player to make calculated risks and mitigate for bad luck
- it's those times where the games can get really frustrating for me
- the remedy for players who like me don't like bad luck due to cards
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video SiQomak9riM
Board Game Brody top_10_list at 3:24 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3933 · mention_pk 11497
Click to watch at 3:24 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Deep, multi-mechanic design with satisfying player interaction
- Improved from Mombasa with thoughtful refinements
- Engaging, strategic, with a lot of planning ahead
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Resource management and track interaction
- Industrial age, space or mining theme
- Euro-style with light thematic flavor
Comparison games
- Mombasa
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area majority / track competition — Compete for dominance on tracks and in markets, influencing scoring and placement.
- card programming / hand management — Plan actions ahead by selecting and ordering cards to execute round actions.
- stock/market simulation — Engage in market-like mechanics to drive points and position on the board.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the rules are quick and easy to get through
- my daughter really likes birds
- the game uses the game trays making it a lot better easier to set up and take down
- one of the best components that I've ever seen
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–4 of 4