Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension

About this board game

Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension is a space-themed game for 1–4 players that takes about 45 minutes to play. Command a spaceship pulled through a black hole and find a way home before the escape route closes.

Your ship has no fuel, so you must collect basic elements from surrounding asteroids while navigating the strange gravity of this dimension. Moving ships travel toward the nearest object—often another ship—while some effects send them away, creating unexpected changes in direction.

Fuel cards determine both movement and timing. The game uses 26 alphabetized cards, and most move your ship toward the nearest object, while a few move it away. At the beginning of each round, players draft cards from three pairs of two, with only the top card of each pile visible, giving you limited information about the moves your opponents may hold.

• Choose the order in which you will play all your fuel cards.
• Reveal and resolve each selected card in alphabetical order.
• Use your once-per-round Emergency Stop to avoid an especially unwanted movement.

Because cards resolve in a shared order, your ship may move differently from what you expected when another player’s action changes the nearest object. The frozen hulks of failed spacecraft mark the escape route, but careful card play can let you slingshot past these derelicts and gain ground.

Reach the warp gate first to win. If nobody escapes after six rounds, the player whose ship is closest to the gate wins. With its combination of drafting, hidden information, and shifting gravitational movement, Gravwell makes every card choice part of a tense race home.