‘For All Mankind‘ was pretty good, wasn’t it? Sadly, the show’s run has finished now, and while we’ve got spin-off ‘Star City‘ picking up the mantle, it’s still going to be a while before we get any more space politics drama on our screens. Luckily, we can find it on our tabletops instead, with these fantastic space board games.
If you haven’t seen it, For All Mankind is the story of an alternate history in which the space race between the U.S. and Russia never fizzled out. Instead, it becomes a multigenerational competition that drives everything from electric vehicle adoption to gender equality.
If, like millions of other Apple TV subscribers, you’ve been rapt watching ‘For All Mankind’ and want to bring some of that hot diplomacy and betrayal to your own kitchen table, you’re in luck. Several space-based board games let you get a taste of the space race intrigue without having to connive your way to the top of an actual space agency.
Social deduction games have exploded in recent years with good reason. Some of the best tabletop games include some level of politicking, as well as the deal-making, deception, and favor trading that entails. Making social and technological advances often comes at the cost of high levels of international brinkmanship and some very gray ethics.
So, are you ready to kick off the space race once again? Here are 7 space board games that capture the high drama of the era, but without all the devastating foreign policy implications of the real thing.
1. Twilight Struggle
Developer: Ananda Gupta, Trevor Devries | Release Date: 2005 | Players: 2 | Recommended Age: 13+
Twilight Struggle is a perfect distillation of the tension and national anxiety embodied by the Cold War. It follows the conflict between the U.S. and Russia across five decades, and its space race track mirrors For All Mankind’s geopolitical stakes.
Every satellite you managed to hurl into the atmosphere or astronaut you successfully guide into space represents both a technical and a propaganda victory. It’s like watching Margo Madison and Sergei Nikulov battle with dice in place of launch vehicles.
Buy “Twilight Struggle” at GMT Games
2. Twilight Imperium
Developer: Corey Konieczka (Fantasy Flight Games) | Release Date: 2017 | Players: 3-6 (up to 8 with expansions) | Recommended Age: 14+
Considered by many to be the gold standard in space politicking, Twilight Imperium drops you into a vast galaxy after the fall of the ancient Lazax empire.
Players take on the role of interstellar empires competing to conquer the capital planet at the center of a huge galaxy. They achieve this by building space docks and warships, trading goods, and clashing in cosmic combat.
The true brilliance of TI lies in its asymmetry, with each of the 17 factions having a variety of advantages and quirks that differentiate it from the others, and the way it drives players to negotiate with — and backstab — each other on the galactic stage.
Laws and elections can quickly shift the balance of power in the game, and the rules can be subverted or twisted to your advantage through the deft deployment of crushing bureaucracy. It’s a long game and not one for beginners, but there really is nothing quite like a session of Twilight Imperium.
Buy “Twilight Imperium” at Asmodee
3. High Frontier (4th Edition)
Developer: Phil Eklund (Sierra Madre Games) | Release Date: 2019 | Players: 1-5 | Recommended Age: 14+
Designed by real-world aerospace engineer and rocket scientist Phil Eklund, High Frontier puts you at the helm of a space agency or private aerospace company and tasks you with building a self-sustaining space economy.
It channels For All Mankind’s scientific obsession and is a great showcase for the intersection of personal and national ambition and feasibility. Every decision feels freighted with international importance, and players are forced to grapple with mechanics like realistically modeled orbital mechanics and unforgiving resource scarcity.
Beware, though; High Frontier is one of the most complex board games ever developed, but can also be one of the most rewarding for committed players.
Buy “High Frontier” at Ion Game Design.
4. SpaceCorp: 2025–2300 AD
Developer: Phil Eklund (Sierra Madre Games) | Release Date: 2018 | Players: 1-5 | Recommended Age: 14+
SpaceCorp takes us far beyond the imagined future of For All Mankind’s world of governmental space agency programs, and into a timeline where vast, powerful corporations have transformed cosmic exploration and exploitation into big business.
Players begin in low Earth orbit and steadily expand their way into the depths of space, trying to find the balance between risk and profit. Like any good far future dystopia, SpaceCorp positions massive corporations as the true governing entities of the future, swapping in private investors for diplomats and corporate boards for politicians.
It’s the natural evolution of the creeping commercialization that For All Mankind’s later seasons begin to gesture towards. Real life is making similar gestures, if we’re honest, and I, for one, welcome our new corporate overlords.
Buy “SpaceCorp: 2025–2300 AD” at Amazon.
5. Terraforming Mars
Developer: Jacob Fryxelius (FryxGames) | Release Date: 2016 | Players: 1-5 | Recommended Age: 12+
Terraforming Mars takes the terrestrial-based space race so vividly portrayed in For All Mankind and ships it to the Martian surface.
Players compete to build massive engines of profit and production to transform Mars into a livable habitat, all in the glorious name of cutthroat capitalism.
It perfectly embodies the dream-versus-profit conflict so adeptly portrayed in For All Mankind, while also reflecting the later seasons’ focus on the red planet as a new stage for human rivalry and ethical reckoning, clothed in the reassuring euphemism of progress.
6. Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
Developer: Touko Tahkokallio (Lautapelit.fi) | Release Date: 2020 | Players: 2-6 | Recommended Age: 14+
A personal favorite, Eclipse is a 4X* game that blends elements of exploration with research and direct (fairly deterministic) combat.
Players ruthlessly compete for victory points derived from controlling systems, building specific structures, discovering artifacts, and researching scientific innovations. It’s a beautiful interpretation of one of our world’s oldest refrains, the often impossible balance of diplomacy and domination.
A full game of Eclipse ends up reflecting on human nature in some of the same ways the show does, illustrating how often our best intentions are undermined by our desire for personal advancement (or total victory).
*4X stands for Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate.
Buy “Eclipse: 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy” at Zatu Games.
