UFO’s (or UAPs) have hit the news this week thanks to whistleblower David Gusch, and whether you believe his testimony or not, it’s a good time to look toward the stars and give our place in the universe some thought. Better yet – strike up a debate with your friends over these space themed games the next time everyone sits down to play!
Planet Unknown: Compete to develop the best planet through thoughtful tile placement as you work to cover your planet and build up your engine! The game utilizes a lazy susan style space station that supports simultaneous game play in addition to polyomino tiles and an assortment of rovers, life pods and meteorites. Planet Unknown accommodates up to six players, and you’ll be looking at an average play time of 60-80 minutes.
Star Realms: Frontiers: This is a standalone game from the popular Star Realms series that can be played by up to four people at a time. Star Realms: Frontiers is a fast paced deckbuilder that gives a variety of play options according to your groups wants and needs; there are cooperative, solitaire and competitive modes to choose from. The card art is bright and detailed, and you’ll love noticing all the little elements in the illustrations.
Terraforming Mars: Set over a thousand years in the future, players represent corporations that both compete and work together to terraform the planet Mars. You’ll need to effectively balance closed card drafting, tile placement and resource management in order to gain enough victory points to win the game.Terraforming Mars has won numerous awards since it’s release in 2016 and continues to be a crowd pleaser as the years go by.
Race for the Galaxy: Build a galactic civilization by managing cards to develop your society and encourage technological advancement to gain victory points. In addition, players secretly and simultaneously select roles at the beginning of each round which allow activation of different actions. There are five expansions available to supplement the base game, and there is also an alternate dice version called Roll for the Galaxy.
Twilight Imperium: A galactic game list simply wouldn’t be complete without including the beefy behemoth that is Twilight Imperium. Players vie for galactic domination through military might, political maneuvering, and economic bargaining by choosing to represent one of seventeen different factions. This is a complex game that takes hours at minimum to complete, so you’ll want to set aside a full afternoon or even day to play if you want to finish it in one session!
See if you can play through this whole lineup or just pick one to try and pass an evening! Whether mining for planetary resources or trying to establish a galactic civilization, you’ll enjoy going beyond the bounds of Earth and exploring future possibilities.
