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Game Info
Year
2022
Players
2-4
Age
14+
Playtime
120 min
Collection
Mechanic profile
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Description
Space Station Phoenix is a worker-placement and resource management game set in one of Earth’s possible futures. The players are representatives of the Galactic Council, sent to Earth to build space stations to observe and perhaps interact with humanity.
Players begin the game with nine ships and a station hub. These ships act as action spaces that players use to gather resources, explore the nearby planets, and build their stations. Turns are fast and straightforward; either take ship action or take income.
Many games start players off with a small resource engine which they build up to a bigger one. In Space Station Phoenix, players start with the best production engine they will ever have and proceed to break it down part by part. As the game progresses, their actions get more efficient, but the number of ways to take those actions starts to diminish.
Space Station Phoenix also features deep re-playability with millions of possible starting positions and station parts combinations.
—description from the publisher
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video wnubi4Wn6Sk
Playthrough at 33:40 sentiment: positive
video_pk 69157 · mention_pk 165524
Click to watch at 33:40 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Outstanding game
- Really, really great game
- Insane amount of variability
- Fairly simple rule set
- Super dope
- Very cool
- Really like it a lot
Cons
- Generic look and name
- Rio Grande dumped it and never did anything about it.
- Rio Grande tendency to not push their games very hard.
Thematic elements
- Building a space station
- Space
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players choose actions from a central board, with benefits for players who are leading or tied for specific actions.
- Alien placement — Aliens of various colors (brown, teal, pink, gold) need to be placed into matching sectors, with gold aliens being wild. Humans can go anywhere. Sectors provide income, endgame scoring, or abilities.
- Endgame scoring — Points are awarded for completed sectors, residents (aliens and humans), and majorities in alien types, with potential bonuses from hubs and built sectors.
- engine building — Building out the space station with various sectors enhances income and abilities, creating an engine.
- Hubs — Players start with a unique hub that provides different general strengths, scoring opportunities, or special powers.
- Modular board — The space station is built out with modular sector tiles.
- Resource management — Players collect resources like food, water, metal, and gems to activate cards, build sectors, and acquire aliens.
- set collection — Collecting sets of aliens and humans is a key part of the game for scoring and abilities.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- And then like still ultimately a fairly simple rule set in terms of the actions you can take. There's only a few action types. They're all easy to understand.
- But the types of builds you can make is kind of infinite in the space station.
- Rio Grande just dumped it and sort of never did anything about it. And the fact, we're not going to do an expansion. I'm like, yeah, that sounds like a Rio Grand kind of move to do. Uh, let's just just not give a crap about the games we make.
- My guess is this is a typo because of the fact that you get a brown sector cuz why would you get a brown sector for gold aliens specifically? Why would you get a pink one or a blue one?
- The whole kind of thing that you kept going like speedrunners are effing crazy.
- It's like, Shut Sit Down are not a big YouTube channel. No, they're just not like compared to other parts of YouTube.
- It's like, yeah, it gets difficult. Um, and the way they do a lot of them is very clever, but it does sometimes have um difficulties because of the way it works.
- So, I mean, people still find stuff constantly of like how you're able to if you can like wedge yourself in this corner and then do this. You can like build up speed and then you eventually let it go to go you can go to like again Mario 64 speedrunning has like alternate dimensions and stuff in it. They're called parallel universes. It's a whole thing.
- But it's like, yeah, like I'm going to I know people are going to speedrun this. It's a very speedrunny kind of game and so I'm going to actively like lean into that.
- But, you know, it's a it is a very good tool and it's very very cool. But there's certain games where I'm like, man, I'm struggling out here because I just can't I can't see everything.
References (from this video)
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Video OtFgfgzz6Ds
Getting Games Discussion at 34:40 sentiment: positive
video_pk 63356 · mention_pk 156717
Click to watch at 34:40 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
very_positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's been a few months since we played it and i still love that game it is so good
- arc nova is a game that i really like it's it's honestly one of the best games to come out last year
- spoiler alert i loved space station phoenix i can't wait to play that game more
- i was pretty frustrated playing unfathomable
References (from this video)
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Video BywFtiWazw8
Allies or Enemies Review at 0:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61152 · mention_pk 153694
Click to watch at 0:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Extreme variability thanks to 24 hubs and 72 sectors, yielding many distinct setups and end-game goals.
- Clear iconography and usable components; cards and station pieces are sturdy and legible at the table.
- Solid integration of engine-building with dexterous diplomacy and action-card interaction.
- Smooth overall run with a focus on puzzle-like decisions rather than overly abstract mechanics.
- Good fit for mid-weight Euro players who enjoy planning and long-term strategy with some interaction.
Cons
- Not particularly beginner-friendly; can be daunting for new gamers or players who struggle with balancing short-term moves against long-term planning.
- Some thematic visuals (alien shapes and sector colors) could be more distinct to avoid setup/readability confusion.
- Pace and feel can vary significantly with player count, which may frustrate groups seeking a consistently fast or consistently slow rhythm.
Thematic elements
- engine-building, resource management, diplomacy, and fleet/space station construction within a competitive multi-actor environment.
- A competitive space-era scenario focused on constructing and optimizing a modular space station, amid ship-teardown and resource competition.
- mechanics-first Euro with light thematic flavor; puzzle-driven planning rather than cinematic storytelling.
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card interaction and theft — Action cards on shuttle cards can be played by paying their costs; players can dismantle or steal opponents' actions, creating dynamic counterplay.
- Crystal payment and card-specific costs — Actions are paid with crystals; if paying for your own card you pay the higher cost, and if paying for an opponent's card you pay both the higher cost to the card and the lower cost to the owner as a tax.
- Diplomacy tracks and bonuses — A diplomacy board provides tracks where leading moves yield bonuses (gems, points, resources) whenever others perform certain actions.
- end game bonuses — The game ends when a player passes 40 points, finishes their space station, or there are four or fewer aliens remaining.
- end-game triggers — The game ends when a player passes 40 points, finishes their space station, or there are four or fewer aliens remaining.
- Engine-building via ship cards and station components — Players draft and/or acquire ship cards and space station parts to assemble and upgrade their hub; destroying action cards yields metal to fund building.
- High variability (hubs, sectors, and ship cards) — The game ships with 24 hubs and 72 sectors across colors, creating a wide matrix of setups and goals that shift each game.
- Resource management — Gaining resources via cards or dice and using them to recruit alien residents to the station, with diplomacy track progress providing bonuses.
- Resource management and aliens — Gaining resources via cards or dice and using them to recruit alien residents to the station, with diplomacy track progress providing bonuses.
- Turn structure: action vs income — On each turn players choose either take an action (build, gain resources, manipulate cards) or take income to refresh resources and reset card options.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Space Station Phoenix is very much a Euro game the theme is there and you will feel it to an extent but for the most part this is mechanics first which is not at all a knock it just means the sort of players that are gonna most enjoy this game will be those that like solving those Euro puzzles rather than those that want a real space themed experience as far as that puzzle goes.
- Space Station Phoenix certainly gives you a lot of stuff in the box and for the most part it is pretty good.
- The game ends when someone is either past 40 points or finished their space station or there are four or fewer aliens remaining.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 5QRR3ANR0TY
Allies or Enemies Top List at 15:03 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61145 · mention_pk 153669
Click to watch at 15:03 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- rich engine-building feel
- opponent's cards can be used to disrupt others
Cons
- complex setup for new players
Thematic elements
- resource management via action cards
- space station construction
- engine-building in space
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card crafting — destroy/remove actions to obtain the metals needed for construction.
- card destruction to acquire resources — destroy/remove actions to obtain the metals needed for construction.
- engine building — build a scalable space station by selecting cards that trigger actions.
- engine-building with cards — build a scalable space station by selecting cards that trigger actions.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's such a good Gateway game
- the art on the cards looks fantastic
- it's one of those simple flip and write games that you just want to play again and again
- the lazy Susan is genius
- Planet Unknown just knocks our socks off
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video EIiUSBj15xE
Getting Games Discussion at 4:40 sentiment: positive
video_pk 5382 · mention_pk 16002
Click to watch at 4:40 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Very consistent enjoyment across plays
- Strong core experience
Cons
- Highs can be more stable than explosive
Thematic elements
- Engineering, space infrastructure
- Space station building and resource management in a sci-fi setting
- Mechanistic / consistent gameplay
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- engine building — Actions provide ongoing benefits across turns
- Engine-building style actions — Actions provide ongoing benefits across turns
- Resource management — Players gather and allocate resources to achieve objectives
- Resource management with set collection — Players gather and allocate resources to achieve objectives
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a euro style game that plays up to six
- it's fully simultaneous
- Concordia Venus ... brings in team play and that lets you play two on two which is a four player game and it also lets you play two versus two which is a six player game
- not a euro game really it's more of a deduction style game where it's one versus many
- I started to work on that video and I'm hoping to make it happen
- Miniatures don't do anything for me
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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