Let’s be real – deciding which action to perform during a board game is stressful. There is an incalculable amount of ways you can f*ck up. And all the charlatans you invited over for strategy board game night know it. They’re like a pack of wolves waiting to chomp down with comments about your worker placement decisions. It’s why I’m no longer a fan of “taking my turn.” I now prefer to watch dumbsh*ts across the table struggle through a decision they will regret 47 seconds later. I call it passive ladder climbing. This might be why I love Space Base so much – where other people’s turns help me more than my own.
While most games are trying their absolute d*mnd*st to include original new dice covered with fancy symbols meant to represent attacks, successes, and the “collapse of the space-time continuum” (Or whatever them triangles mean in Anachrony), Space Base chooses to say “f*ck ingenuity” and has you rolling literally the same two dice from Catan with literally the same mechanism. But, you know, in space.
Of course, I am exaggerating just a tad. Though you do roll two dice every turn while gaining benefits on other player’s turns, you ain’t laying bricks and poaching sheep. In Space Base, you are buying ships, launching ships, and manipulating your own personal board instead of expanding your farmland on a shared board. Which just goes to show you that even in a friendly game of Space Base, no one wants your fricken sheep.
Gameplay
In Space Base, players begin their turns by rolling two dice – ALL players (Not just the active player) get benefits based on their own personal board. The active player then buys a single ship that is tied to a number 1-12. The ship they purchase will replace the ship that previously held that number’s “Base Location”, and that older ship will be launched into the “Launched Location.”
When a ship is launched, it joins up with all other launched ships that are tied to the same number. This means that if a player keeps buying ships that belong in the 7, they will constantly be adding more and more ships to the launched area of 7.
When the active player rolls dice, they either combine the two dice and activate the ship in that number’s Base Location, or count the dice individually and activate the two ships in those two number’s Base Locations (Possibly activating the same ship twice if they rolled doubles).
But here is why Space Base is so much fun – When an opponent rolls dice, you will make the same decision (combine the dice or count them individually) and then activate ALL SHIPS in those number’s “Launched locations.” This means that, as you buy new ships and launch the previous ones, you will gain MORE resources from opponents. Few games give you more joy during another player’s turn. Space Base nails this.
The goal is to eventually buy and launch the pricier ships that give you VP (So that you gain VP on opponent’s turns). The first player to reach 40 VP triggers the end game.
1ST CLAW - Gamble How You Choose
Space Base is an asymmetrical game that holds the esteemed record of having the LEAST asymmetrical beginning. All players load up their base locations with the same 12 ships during set-up, with one, and ONLY ONE, being randomly replaced. But absolutely no one gives a sh*t as the remaining symmetry rapidly disintegrates from a card shop that is ALWAYS stacked with 18 cards – continually refilling – with not a single duplicate (There are 12 other complicated end game cards that sit there and mock you, but those don’t matter til later).
This insanely large card shop, along with incredibly quick turns, is the 1st claw. It brings back those ye old memories of loving the sh*t out of Catan since enemy turns are not boring. But it is – and I can not stress this enough – MUCH FASTER THAN CATAN since there is none of that negotiation crap for sheep and wheat or giving up your shredded dignity for two roads to nowhere. I’m still a little bitter, but therapy is helping.
A round of Space Base goes by so fast, that by the time your turn comes around, you already know what you are buying. And the large card shop allows you to plan ahead when the rounds do slow down.
2ND CLAW - The Growing Engine
The average gamer loves a good dice game – even though rolling low can trigger a cognitive implosion. Anyone who has ever played D&D and rolled a ‘1’ against a chromatic dragon knows that following bitter thought – tables were meant to be flipped. But in a game like Space Base, anger is never felt. Quick turns ensure a ton of dice rolls, meaning a bad roll doesn’t sting. And yet, a beneficial roll still makes you smile just as wide.
The 2nd claw strikes rather quickly – around the time you feel like you have some actual control. You start to make some forward-thinking decisions. Up until now, the cards you bought were the cards you could afford (If the cheapest cards were for locations 4 and 7, then that’s what you bought). By the 2nd claw, you will have launched enough cards to earn a healthy amount of coins and can choose what you want. The shop has by now cycled through most of the different card mechanics and you have the freedom of picking which numbers and engines to buy.
Despite this freedom of choice, the game does not slow down. Since the shop does not change much in a single round, each player eyes up 2 or 3 cards before their next turn, allowing them to immediately grab their chosen precious. This 2nd claw is really the most fun. Everyone is developing a quickly growing engine and no one has stormed out into the lead.
THE BITE - Time to Colonize
The bite strikes when either A) that all too familiar thought of “another player is the clear winner” spawns in your brain or B) you realize YOU are probably taking home the win. It chomps down harder when the conversation at the table reflects this – players discuss who is public enemy #1. Comments like “We’ve been rolling 8’s all game so Tony probably has this game” or “Mary gets so many VP on 4’s she has to win!” reveal each player’s worry. But since it is a dice game where players do not interact directly, there can’t be a “pig-pile on the leader” moment. All players have is blame and prayers. So … how, exactly, is that fun?
First, all stakes are known. Throughout the game, each player has been verbally/physically reacting to different numbers; you instinctually memorize which numbers are celebrated by who. John has been fist pumping every time a 10 is rolled. Bob breathes a “Yes!” when any single die rolls a 3. And Maggie does a little shoulder dance when the rare 11s and 12s are hit. You no longer view dice rolls as a mechanism for random chance – but a gear in each player’s engine. Some engines are just more effective than others. The bite is a clock and every roll ticks down. There is still time – but it’s running short and may or may not favor you.
This end now signals it’s time to buy a type of card I have not mentioned – the colony cards. Colony cards are very expensive and do not further an engine. They are always available and are NEVER replaced – once one is bought, it is gone from the shop. There is one for each number; when bought, they give the buyer a generous one time VP bonus and are never triggered again. They are a reward for those who have sacrificed VP in order to become rich with coins. Colony cards do not help your engine – they simply give you a VP boost. Since the end of the game is nigh, and engines no longer need improving, these cards become a must in order to reach 40 VP.
I should say that of all the Claw Claw Bite reviews I’ve done, this one might matter the least. Since Space Base is a “choose your path” point salad that flies by quickly, identifying the three phases of gameplay can prove to be pointless. Nothing I said in this review is a lie, but the opening excitement of other player’s turns really is the meat of the game. Perhaps Space Base is nothing more than the distilled excitement of the Catan dice rolling mechanic. And if that’s the case, I still suggest it for anyone interested.