You’re a wizard, Sam. I love how you can completely break down a game’s strategic elements in about half the time it takes most people to explain the rules.
This is a great guide. My husband and I are very into board games but we suck at this game while “noobs” seem to do wonderful with it. I’m not exactly sure why, and we usually play using your tactics. Surprisingly the only game either of us have won was using the “you win” card (and that was only by 1 turn), I had to pair is with arrow cards and “place a charge anywhere” cards to get it to work, plus get lucky. Every otherwise time my in laws win despite barely understanding the game and never using the same strategy twice. We’re just desperate to figure out how to win once 😂
There is a strong element of luck in Space Base. One of my earliest memories of the game is winning a 5-player game because I stacked number 11, and guess what rolled seemingly every 2nd turn... The higher the player count, the less control you have over the game. And it sounds like you're playing at 4+ players. My current go-to strategy for 4 and 5 player games is to get some rocket cards on the red side for numbers 1-6. Even only having one of them early is enough to get you a significant amount of the 40 points you need to win. But honestly letting your in-laws win is a small price to pay for having willing board game participants! Enjoy!
My favorite strategy is a high sectors build with the appropriate tech cards (arrows, bumps). Can be amazing especially when the other players are competing for mid-sectors and it's so satisfying when one or two good rolls pretty much win you the game.
Heyyy! You're the other Aussie near the top of the Spacebase rankings! I'm HenRays! My tip would be focus on 5's and 6's. Getting a good 6 card early seems like an easy win :)
Indeed, there aren't enough of us! I've been debating about posting a follow-up video to this one. 5s and 6s are king, and I still see far too many people take 11s and 12s for my liking.
Hi! Great vid! Please do more strategy guides for BGA! If you ever have enough material for a second video of this game I would love it! Apart from the 4Gold BUY A CARD card are there any other go to picks for an opening card if playing the fast variant? Cheers
Thanks Justin. At the time of writing this I've made 10 guides and they are all for games on BGA :) I reached #1 in Space Base exclusively playing 2 player games with no light-speed variant so my experience for this isn't great but I have a fair idea of what I would go for if playing it. In 2P games I would prioritise the Buy a Card followed by arrows followed by high number income cards (ideally between 7-10). The #10 card that gives 3 income would be very hard to pass up. In higher player counts I'd look to see if I can get a nice red reward on a low number early such as an income or point red reward between 1-6. If not I suppose quantity of cards beats quality, having 3-4 red cards first turn would be amazing.
I swear every time I build low everyone else rolls high, when I play high everyone else rolls low, when I play mid everyone else rolls low or high, when I play on every single part I don't get enough money or points anyways... 😡💀
Haha, that sounds about right. I think anyone that's played enough Space Base, Catan, or any game that relies on dice rolls can attest to feeling that way at some point. Luck is a big part of the game, and everyone will go through runs of being lucky or being unlucky, over a large enough sample size
My understanding is no. From the FAQ page on the Alderac website: Q: If the roll activates the Sector with a 2x (red or blue) ability, can I spend the charge immediately to double to rewards from that roll? A: No. You would have to already have the 2X charged, then roll an 8 and spend the charge.
I've played a game where someone just spam bought 5/6 cards that had red rewards with primarily VP and income. It was like every dice roll rewarded them no matter who it was and edged them steadily to win
Yep, no amount of strategy will beat a lucky player. It’s the reason top Space Base players on BGA have 500 ELO instead of the 700-800 you see in other games.
i have a question. if you have 4 income and 4 tokens can you buy a ship for 4 tokens which would pretty much be free? or would you have to have 4 more tokens than your income
When you buy a card it spends all the gold you have, and then your gold is reset back to what your income is. So in your example you will finish with 4 gold. It’s basically free, yes! Income is like the base level your gold won’t dip below. But if you don’t spend your 4 gold you will remain on 4 gold, you won’t go up to 8 next turn.
Hello Gwladys here. Sam has not played the game. We don't own it at home but I had always wanted to try it out so I've played a game on BGA a while ago as it's been in ALPHA for quite a long time. I personally enjoyed it but there was a bug halfway through the game that completely stopped me from even moving forward unfortunately. From the very small snippet of what I've seen so far, it's really fun. I don't think it's for everyone so take this with a grain of salt. It's a medium weight game so not too complex but also not something I'd take out for a board game with the in-laws or something. It mixes worker placement and resource management quite well. I personally hate most games with dice but I actually didn't mind this one. They all represent warriors. The white dice are the worse ones with the worst probabilities, the red ones are the most balanced ones with shields and attacks and the black ones are berserkers so they're just full damage. Replenishing your army is not so difficult that I didn't find it frustrating to lose warriors. The BGA version had been abandoned for more than a year without fixing bugs but I actually saw a few weeks ago that they started working on it again by fixing bugs and doing some tweaking here and there, so I hope we'll get to see a BETA version eventually! If you are an Alpha reviewer, you could potentially try it out there (seeing they started fixing the bugs) before buying it! Or try it out on Tabletop Simulator if you own it. :)
You’re a wizard, Sam. I love how you can completely break down a game’s strategic elements in about half the time it takes most people to explain the rules.
I-I'm a what?
(thank you!)
This is a great guide. My husband and I are very into board games but we suck at this game while “noobs” seem to do wonderful with it. I’m not exactly sure why, and we usually play using your tactics. Surprisingly the only game either of us have won was using the “you win” card (and that was only by 1 turn), I had to pair is with arrow cards and “place a charge anywhere” cards to get it to work, plus get lucky. Every otherwise time my in laws win despite barely understanding the game and never using the same strategy twice. We’re just desperate to figure out how to win once 😂
There is a strong element of luck in Space Base. One of my earliest memories of the game is winning a 5-player game because I stacked number 11, and guess what rolled seemingly every 2nd turn...
The higher the player count, the less control you have over the game. And it sounds like you're playing at 4+ players.
My current go-to strategy for 4 and 5 player games is to get some rocket cards on the red side for numbers 1-6. Even only having one of them early is enough to get you a significant amount of the 40 points you need to win.
But honestly letting your in-laws win is a small price to pay for having willing board game participants! Enjoy!
My favorite strategy is a high sectors build with the appropriate tech cards (arrows, bumps). Can be amazing especially when the other players are competing for mid-sectors and it's so satisfying when one or two good rolls pretty much win you the game.
Love it! Creating a monster stack on 9 or 10 and watching your opponents roll it 2 or 3 times in a row is the most fun you can have!
Thanks for sharing your experience
Heyyy! You're the other Aussie near the top of the Spacebase rankings! I'm HenRays! My tip would be focus on 5's and 6's. Getting a good 6 card early seems like an easy win :)
Indeed, there aren't enough of us! I've been debating about posting a follow-up video to this one. 5s and 6s are king, and I still see far too many people take 11s and 12s for my liking.
Great guide. I definitely don't understand how the die manipulation and arrow cards worked when I played in real life, so I'll have to play on BGA.
Thanks for your hints. Awesome BGA nickname :^)
Job good. Just start playing this game too
Also another game I am very interested in (and Nidavellir). Thank you for your videos.
Hi! Great vid! Please do more strategy guides for BGA! If you ever have enough material for a second video of this game I would love it!
Apart from the 4Gold BUY A CARD card are there any other go to picks for an opening card if playing the fast variant? Cheers
Thanks Justin. At the time of writing this I've made 10 guides and they are all for games on BGA :)
I reached #1 in Space Base exclusively playing 2 player games with no light-speed variant so my experience for this isn't great but I have a fair idea of what I would go for if playing it.
In 2P games I would prioritise the Buy a Card followed by arrows followed by high number income cards (ideally between 7-10). The #10 card that gives 3 income would be very hard to pass up.
In higher player counts I'd look to see if I can get a nice red reward on a low number early such as an income or point red reward between 1-6. If not I suppose quantity of cards beats quality, having 3-4 red cards first turn would be amazing.
I swear every time I build low everyone else rolls high, when I play high everyone else rolls low, when I play mid everyone else rolls low or high, when I play on every single part I don't get enough money or points anyways... 😡💀
Haha, that sounds about right. I think anyone that's played enough Space Base, Catan, or any game that relies on dice rolls can attest to feeling that way at some point. Luck is a big part of the game, and everyone will go through runs of being lucky or being unlucky, over a large enough sample size
thanx for the video, I have a question, can I use the 2xcard at the same time as it charged ?
My understanding is no.
From the FAQ page on the Alderac website:
Q: If the roll activates the Sector with a 2x
(red or blue) ability, can I spend the charge
immediately to double to rewards from that roll?
A: No. You would have to already have the 2X
charged, then roll an 8 and spend the charge.
I've played a game where someone just spam bought 5/6 cards that had red rewards with primarily VP and income. It was like every dice roll rewarded them no matter who it was and edged them steadily to win
Yep, no amount of strategy will beat a lucky player. It’s the reason top Space Base players on BGA have 500 ELO instead of the 700-800 you see in other games.
i have a question. if you have 4 income and 4 tokens can you buy a ship for 4 tokens which would pretty much be free? or would you have to have 4 more tokens than your income
When you buy a card it spends all the gold you have, and then your gold is reset back to what your income is. So in your example you will finish with 4 gold. It’s basically free, yes! Income is like the base level your gold won’t dip below. But if you don’t spend your 4 gold you will remain on 4 gold, you won’t go up to 8 next turn.
Please review champions of Midgard (: would love to buy it
Hello Gwladys here. Sam has not played the game. We don't own it at home but I had always wanted to try it out so I've played a game on BGA a while ago as it's been in ALPHA for quite a long time. I personally enjoyed it but there was a bug halfway through the game that completely stopped me from even moving forward unfortunately.
From the very small snippet of what I've seen so far, it's really fun. I don't think it's for everyone so take this with a grain of salt. It's a medium weight game so not too complex but also not something I'd take out for a board game with the in-laws or something. It mixes worker placement and resource management quite well. I personally hate most games with dice but I actually didn't mind this one. They all represent warriors. The white dice are the worse ones with the worst probabilities, the red ones are the most balanced ones with shields and attacks and the black ones are berserkers so they're just full damage. Replenishing your army is not so difficult that I didn't find it frustrating to lose warriors.
The BGA version had been abandoned for more than a year without fixing bugs but I actually saw a few weeks ago that they started working on it again by fixing bugs and doing some tweaking here and there, so I hope we'll get to see a BETA version eventually! If you are an Alpha reviewer, you could potentially try it out there (seeing they started fixing the bugs) before buying it! Or try it out on Tabletop Simulator if you own it. :)
why higher numbers are better? in small numbers you can pick both cards
You obviously know what you are doing in this game. Is that your ELO as first player in the gameplay on BGA?
Yeah, I'm currently hovering around 400 ELO and have been frustratingly close to top 5 a number of times. That's my goal at the moment.
@No Wonders You did it for Isle of cats! You can do it for Space Base!