Space Base

When I first started seriously playing modern board games a game called Machi Koro was very popular. I still have a soft spot for it even though I have probably moved on from the gameplay itself. What has helped is games like Valeria: Card Kingdoms and Space Base moving the genre on, while retaining that addictive draw of rolling dice and activating cards.

Space Base’s basics are very simple. Over the course of the game you gather cards that have a number on them, on your turn you will roll two dice and activate cards matching both the die numbers or the sum of them. You will want to create an engine, of sorts, that gives you the maximum benefit at the best odds.

The beauty of Space base is that when you buy new cards you turn your old ones upside down and tuck them in under the board with the bottom showing - this becomes a power which can be activated on other players' dice rolls. This creates some tough decisions where you will want to get cards on to their upside down side as soon as possible to benefit from them - especially as you can stack those cards for multiple effects.

On top of this, you are trying to increase your income each turn so you have more to spend in future turns. Space Base gives extra options over Machi Koro that make it a much more attractive game for me. It manages to be avoid the frustration of bad dice rolls and rewards strategic play. Amusingly there is even a card that wins you the game - should you be able to achieve its difficult requirements.

Space Base is easy and quick to play but deep and rewarding enough for repeated plays. It has a relatively compact box for the amount of game you get and the publisher are supporting the game with future expansions, including a legacy style one.

Player Count: 2-5
Time: 30-75 Minutes
Age: 14+