Pax Expanse

About this board game

Pax Expanse is a 3–4-player area-control game with an approximately 240-minute play time, set in The Expanse universe and covering the first three seasons of the TV show. It is a retheme of Pax Pamir, with core mechanisms adapted to the setting.

Players act as powerful puppetmasters working behind the scenes of the Solar System. They manipulate the United Nations, the Mars Congressional Republic, and the Outer Planets Alliance while mysterious events unfold following the arrival of the extraterrestrial Protomolecule.

Control can take two forms, and both may exist at once. A faction controls a region by having the most fleets and transports there, while an individual player controls it by having the most supporters and fleets belonging to a faction they are loyal to.

• Three factions: the United Nations, Mars Congressional Republic, and Outer Planets Alliance
• Four asset types: Military, Subterfuge, Political, and Economic
• Four scoring phases: victory is determined by the political balance at each phase

Players spend influence, the game’s currency, to purchase asset cards from a shared market. Each asset provides its controller with particular actions and abilities, while the current political climate makes one of the four card types able to perform its actions for free.

When one faction is dominant during a scoring phase, players loyal to it score victory points. If no faction dominates, scoring instead reflects each player’s individual power and presence on the board. Players must acquire valuable assets, choose their alliances carefully, and make deals to protect their positions.

After four scoring phases, the player with the most victory points wins. With shifting faction power, competing forms of control, and opportunities for negotiation, Pax Expanse brings the political maneuvering of The Expanse to the tabletop.