WhaDiYoB? - Space Base (2018)

🕑 6 min read

Welcome back again, to our 'What Did You Bring?' segment! This week will be diving into a game which doesn't seem to have made many appearances at NoBoG in recent times. Space Base by John D Clair, published by AEG. 

In a galaxy, far, far away, but not that long ago - a space base has become home to your space fleet. As the newly minted Commodore of your Fleet, it is your mission to trade and increase your wealth and influence; all in the hopes of ultimately becoming the Admiral of the Fleet! 

Space Base is essentially a race which encompasses a tableaux building dice rolling game, where luck plays a big part along with some quick thinking, and some satisfying tactical choices too. 

This game is fast becoming an ever-green, and is the most popular game by John D Clair, according to BGG. I suspected that quite a few of us may have somehow over looked Space Base, due to there being a galaxy full of other rising stars. So here's my take on it, and why I think you might want to dip your toes in, roll some dice and do some intergalactic exploration if you get the opportunity. 

Space Base is one of those games where learning it is easy, however mastering it will take numerous attempts. John Clair has given to us a highly sensitive set of in-game controls and customisation which imparts immediate feedback. It gives me a sense of excitement and anticipation when I know I am sitting down to play it again. So here goes.

If you have ever played Machi Koro, then you will have a head start on understanding parts of this game. Each player begins with a tableaux (space base) of 12 sectors equipped with the same 12 space vessels. On your turn you roll two six-sided dice. The number on the dice correlates to each numbered sector. So if you roll a 6, you gain the (blue coloured) bonus given by the vessel docked at sector 6. However, alternatively you may split the dice total, for example, if you rolled a 4 and 2, you may collect the individual bonuses on sectors 4 AND 2 instead. Roll a doubles and you get to use the same number twice if you wish. Typical bonuses include additional Credits, increased Income and/or more Influence (victory points). If you collected credits then they are added to you running total. You may then spend credits on a new vessel (only one purchase per turn) bought from a multi-level (tiered) market place. However, even if the vessel you wish to buy is less than your current total, your credits are still returned back to zero for that turn, thus wasting any remaining credits. At the very end of your turn, your credits bounce back up to your last income level. This means, you will have to save your credits for a BIG purchase a few turns down the line. Or, you could concentrate on raising up your income level, giving yourself a powerful launch pad, to be able to afford the expensive vessels found in the 2nd and 3rd level markets. 

In Space Base the first player to 'max out' their influence tracker at 40 points, wins. You can do this by purchasing vessels which give you influence bonuses on yours and other players turns OR by buying some of the single use Outposts which are priced from 1-40 credits. The larger the outpost you buy, the more influence (victory points) they will score you. These outposts usually are acquired towards the end of the game to speedily increase your influence, so you can swiftly and/or sneakily nab a last gasp victory. 

If Space Base was simply just the game I described above then it would still be quite an enjoyable one. However, there is a little more to it. Let me explain. 

You may have been thinking, wait, if I only have 12 sectors, and I buy a new vessel to dock at one, where does my old vessel go? Is it decommissioned? No. It is sent into space (deployed) to explore and trade in the furthest reaches of the galaxy. What this means in game terms is that it is flipped upside down, and slipped under you player board at the same position it was first docked at. You now earn a new (red) bonus from that vessel each time the number is rolled on any of your opponents turns! Not only that, some vessels will give you unique power-ups that can be used to increase or decrease the sector number rolled that turn. So now you have a small engine builder which can help you find some more of the good luck needed to win a campaign. Indeed, how you choose to arrange and deploy your fleet over your space base provides you with a unique path to victory. Plus, just like with Machi Koro, advanced players will be taking note of where their opponents are strongest or weakest, and try to take advantage of this information. 

Final thoughts.

I was introduced to this game a few years back after falling in love with Machi Koro. As soon as I began playing Space Base, I knew I would adore this too. For such a simple game, it really pushes you to be creative with your choices, and try your luck at engineering a smooth running warp core, which works on both yours and your opponents turns. Failing that, you can go for brute force, save your credits up and purchase a super-powered vessel or outpost, and put all your xenomorphic eggs in one nest. 

Space Base sprawls out quite satisfyingly over a large table, and is reasonably priced for what looks like a LOT of game. I suspect that many of us will play this game several times before we manage to grab ourselves a well earned victory though. It is worth saying that since this game is dice roll driven, you could easily benefit from a really lucky set of dice rolls, and artificially get your fleet's warp drives running at warp 9 prematurely.

Space Base will play quite easily in 1 hour, however if you play at the higher player count of 4-5 players, or most of you are first time players, plus some of you are prone to analysis paralysis... then put aside another 30minutes for sure.

See you all later!