Cosmolancer

About this board game

Cosmolancer is a strategy board game for 2–4 players, with an average play time of 45 minutes, in which freelance photographers in space compete for the highest score.

Across three rounds, players build a shared 6×5 grid by placing tiles and tokens. At the start of each round, everyone draws a random tile and keeps it secret. On your turn, you can draw and place a tile in an empty space, keep a tile in your hand, or place one of your numbered tokens in an empty space.

When the grid is full, each token scores according to its position. Multiply the number on the token by the sum of the tiles in its row and column. Special tiles add extra uncertainty: some cancel positive values, while others split a row into two separate scoring segments.

• Play over three rounds on a 6×5 grid.
• Choose between placing tiles, holding a tile, or deploying a numbered token.
• Score tokens by multiplying their values by connected row-and-column totals.
• Use the limited lifespan of your tokens carefully between rounds.

After scoring, all 1 tokens return to their players, but tokens with higher numbers are removed from the game. This creates a changing balance between immediate scoring opportunities and long-term planning, while the tile layout continually reshapes the value of different spaces.

Cosmolancer is the newest version, as of 2024, of a design that also appeared as Auf Heller und Pfennig and Kingdoms. The earlier versions used marketplace shops or castles and hazards, while Cosmolancer gives the same core grid-and-scoring structure a space-photography theme. After the third round, the player with the highest total score wins.