The Silver River

About this board game

The Silver River is a 4X strategy game for 1–4 players that takes place in the Milky Way and plays in about 120 minutes. Lead a human or alien civilization as you explore sectors, expand across the galaxy, develop technology, build your civilization, and pursue victory through war, peace, politics, or cooperation.

Choose from civilizations including Humans, Greys, Arcturians, Reptilians, Yahyel, Nordics, Insectoids, and Martians. Each race has unique special abilities that support different play styles, while the Deluxe Edition adds the White Lions and Cyborgs.

Each turn, your civilization gains raw production equal to its population. During simultaneous Governing phases, players allocate those resources to the areas they value most, then use them to take actions. This simultaneous system keeps the game moving while giving you meaningful control over your civilization’s priorities.

• True exploration: Discover rewards in planet-less sectors and uncover mini-quests that offer bonus rewards.
• Flexible conflict: Enter occupied sectors without automatically starting a war, attack when you choose, or agree to co-habitate planets.
• Streamlined progression: Move fleets rather than individual ships, with fleet sizes hidden until arrival, while technology upgrades apply instantly across relevant ships, planets, and more.
• Shared threats: Hunt massive space monsters around Sagittarius A* alone or alongside other players.

Before the game begins, players can choose victory conditions such as exploration, cooperation, negotiation, technology, civilization building, politics, production, or war. The Domestic Investment mechanic also rewards players who pass early in an age, providing resources and victory points while they focus on their internal agenda.

With its blend of discovery, development, diplomacy, and confrontation, The Silver River delivers a rich 4X experience with less micromanagement and a shorter playing time.