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The conquest of space was one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. In 1957, the first satellite—named Sputnik 1—was launched into orbit. Just four years later, Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space, aboard the spaceship Vostok 1.
This game is dedicated to the early space explorers: all the outstanding people who worked to make space travel possible. As Yuri Gagarin said at the moment of his launch: “Let's go!”
You are the head of a Research & Development Hub in a Space Research Center, competing with other such Hubs in the spirit of the Golden Age of Astronautics. Your goal is to complete large-scale space projects by gathering the best and brightest minds humanity has to offer.
Thanks to your efforts, satellites, manned spaceships, and orbital stations will be launched into space!
You score Progress points by recruiting Specialists and completing Projects. The game ends when all available Projects are completed, or you have recruited 12 Specialists to your Hub. The player who made the most Progress is the winner!
Key game features:
Closed loop resource system: when recruiting a Specialist to your team, you pass Research tokens to a player to your left.
Specialists are assigned to the Divisions according to their skills. The more Specialists you have in a Division, the easier it is to recruit new ones to that Division.
All Specialists have unique abilities. Only the ability of the top card in each stack is active. Therefore, by adding a new Specialist, you often get a new ability but lose the other one. Think carefully what is more important for you at that moment in the game!
- Accessible rules with a clear rulebook and helpful structure
- Engaging token economy that interacts with neighboring players
- Deep strategic depth with meaningful, bite-sized decisions
- Elegant blend of tableau building and card-based engine
- Clear end-game goals that reward planning and adaptation
- Artistic variety between cards could be improved
- Components (especially tokens) could be upgraded for tactile feel
- Some players might want more explicit visual differentiation between cards of the same skill
- Resource management, technology development, and hub-based specialization
- Space exploration and interstellar research hub construction
- Strategic, abstract with light thematic narration
- Splendor
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting — On each turn, a player may take a specialist from the six available or take the top card from the deck.
- Card drafting / top-deck choice — On each turn, a player may take a specialist from the six available or take the top card from the deck.
- Discounts and cost reduction — Specialists provide discounts for future purchases, reducing overall token expenditure.
- End-game trigger and pacing — The game ends when the last project is taken or a hub condition is met that ends the round.
- Hub management and activation — The top card in a skill group provides abilities; recruiting a new card can cover up or replace older abilities.
- Projects and end-game scoring — Project tiles grant end-game points and require certain combinations of specialists to claim.
- Resource management — Research tokens are limited and passed to neighbors, influencing both you and your opponents.
- tableau building — Players assemble a personal hub of specialist cards that generate abilities and end-game points.
- Token-based resource management — Research tokens are limited and passed to neighbors, influencing both you and your opponents.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Space Explorers is a tableau building game that has some similarities to Splendor.
- It's pretty crazy if you think about it.
- The rules book is done well; it explains the rules and has these fake tabs on the side that help you find part of the book you're looking for.
- Gameplay is super great because you can try to collect specialists and complete projects to get points that way.
- Choices are super important on your turn and they will change the game so that your decision actually matters.
- I will be competing in the space race for a long long time.
References (from this video)
- easy to learn
- good filler game
- not deeply strategic
- resource economy and exploration
- Space exploration theme
- light, family-friendly
- Splendor
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- economic engine — spend resources to progress on goals
- hand-management — players manage actions to advance their space program
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Star Realms is fantastic
- we should probably give Star Realms the boring coffee seal of approval
- Sorcerer is a fun game
- the artwork for Sorcerer is fantastic
- Space Explorers is a simple fun game
- it's cooperative and accessible
- this game makes you think like a winner
- the 3D buildings are amazing
- it's the giveaway sirens
- Munchkin Dungeon is a wild ride
References (from this video)
- Beautiful 1960s artwork
- More strategic than Splendor
- Interesting resource economy
- Card abilities add replayability
- Great player aid
- Thin thematic connection
- Somewhat derivative of Splendor
- Wild resource tokens cheapen fixed economy concept
- Government Space Program
- Space Race Era (1960s)
- Recruitment and Project Completion
- Splendor
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting — Players select specialists from a display
- Resource management — Players use research tokens to recruit specialists
- set collection — Collecting specialists with specific skills to complete projects
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I am a sucker for the space race
- Gameplay is where this game comes in since there's no theme
References (from this video)
- stellar art across all cards
- deep engine-building with clear rulebook
- complex for new players but approachable with guidance
- space-age advancement and discovery
- space race and exploration
- tech-forward, aspirational
- Splendor
- Gizmos
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck building — players acquire cards to build an engine and tableau
- deck-building — players acquire cards to build an engine and tableau
- engine-building with stacking effects — abilities from stacked roles trigger cumulatively
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Vegas II like yes except with superpowers
- I love the narrative love the story feel
- it's a great game
- this is art you're looking at right now
- if you're a Harry Potter fan check this game out
- it's the best aliens board game I've ever experienced