SPACE BASE (2018)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
2-5	45 mins	John D. Clair	AEG

In this game, players roll a pair of dice and use the results (either individually or combined) to take the reward from one of their twelve sectors.

While the main result players are looking for is points (first player to 40 triggers end game), you have to also work on raising your credits and income so as to be able to afford better ships.

This is such a fun game and I love the artwork; both the bright and colourful Saturday morning cartoon vibe, and the cool spaceship designs.

Something that really works in its favour is that, as long as you’ve replaced sector ships, you start growing your ability to gain something on your opponent’s turn. This immediately reduces downtime and keeps everyone at the table engaged on those dice rolls.

SPACE BASE has a nice escalation to it. Rewards are minimal to begin, with the odd credit here, and maybe a single point there.

But as your fleet grows, and as you get the better cards onto your board, you really start to make big moves with your three cubes.

Unfortunately, it’s those ships that cause me a little issue with this game. Not all the ship powers are simple, with some needing constant return trips to the manual. This can sometimes slow down the game as a card I’ve not played for a while is picked up by another player.

Of course, more regular play would remedy this, and those more complicated ships only add to the variety of abilities. I just find it slows our games down.

And the other thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes, when you hit the halfway mark, it can seem clear who is going to win. If your engine isn’t optimal and an opponent’s is, it can already be too late to course correct.

Overall SPACE BASE is a fun, hectic, constantly engaging jaunt through space as fleets try to outdo each other. And, for me, it beats MACHI KORO (there, I said it 🤣)