Space Mission

About this board game

Space Mission is a 2011 board game for 2–5 players with a playing time of about 45 minutes. Players explore eight planets, randomly selected from twelve, by flying between neighboring worlds or using a jump gate to travel anywhere.

Each player holds five cards, with blue, green, and orange values supporting different actions. On every turn, players take two actions, and the same action may be chosen twice. The available options create a cycle of movement, information gathering, development, and discovery.

• Top up: Discard any number of cards, then refill your hand to five.
• Jump: Travel to any other planet by discarding a card matching its landing value.
• Fly: Move for free to a neighboring planet.
• Scan: Examine face-down planet tiles and secretly set one aside with your marker.
• Develop: Spend two matching cards to build a space station and distribute scanned and claimed tiles.
• Discover: Take a planet tile from a developed planet.

Every planet has its own values for jumping, scanning, and landing. Planets can be developed only once, and when all their tiles reveal empty space, those tiles are placed face-up. The game ends when 6–12 space tiles have been revealed, depending on the number of players.

Scoring depends on the type of tile collected. Minerals reward concentration in one color, Medals are worth three points each, and Matter tiles score more when forming a green-blue pair. Players also score for their space stations and for having tokens on the jump gate. In Space Mission, the player with the most points wins.