❥ Lunar Base
2 - 6 players
30 min
Age: 10 +
Weight: 2.08/5
Publisher: By Plepic Games
A new era of space missions is about to begin! Your mission is to create a base on the moon and achieve lunar dominance. By going through the different modules you grow your moon base and you can use influence to thwart your opponents. Are you the astronaut who can achieve this?
Lunar Base is a card game for 2 - 6 players. The game contains Credit counters and a total of 90 cards, which are 6 Stations, 50 Modules, 26 Agents and 8 Influences. The Influences cards are a variant to add to the game. It is recommended not to use it for the first game.
❥ How do you play Lunar Base:
Each player is randomly given a Station card and his own Credit Counter, you start with three Credits. Shuffle the Module and Agent cards into a deck and place them face down on the table. Each player is dealt three cards from this deck in their hand. Then you place three cards plus 1 extra card per player face up on the table. The player who has made the longest trip in the last 30 days gets to start.
On your turn, you follow three steps:
1. Play any number of Agent cards (optional)
2. Perform one main action available in your base
3. Check out the upcoming shuttles
To play an Agent card, pay the cost, play the effect and place it face up on the discard pile. The effect is, for example, taking a card, getting Credits or having your opponent discard cards.
Main actions are displayed on cards that are blue on the top. On each turn, you play one of these main actions. This can be, for example, building a Module card or stealing Credits from other players.
The last action is to view the arriving shuttles. If there are no more Agent or Module cards here, each player gets 1 Credit for a complete yellow Orb in his base, lay down three new cards and each player gets 1 new card.
What are Orbs?
Orbs are the hemispheres on the cards. You get this by building modules on your base and by turning your Station card. A gray Orb can be placed on any other color. If you play a card in your base, you should keep in mind that the Orbs are contiguous in the suits.
You pay a fee for playing an Agent card and building a Module card. The cost is the number of Orbs displayed in the top right corner of the map. The cost of a card can be reduced if you have matching Orbs in your base. You pay the remaining costs in Credits with your Credit Counter.
The game ends when a player achieves one or more victory conditions. This can be done in four different ways:
- Collect 20 credits
- There are 10 settlers in your moon base (astronaut icon on the maps)
- You have five different scientific achievements
- Revealing 4 Influence cards from your hand.
❥ My Review
The Influence cards are a variant that you can use in Lunar Base. These cards are shuffled through the draw pile. These cards have effects that must be executed immediately.
I think Lunar Base is a nice little game. It comes in a small but interesting box with a very cool cover as far as I'm concerned! The game is easy to learn, quick to set up and therefore quick to play. The rulebook is very well-arranged, which makes it a pleasure to read. I only had some trouble with the rules of the Influence cards. In the beginning, the game is a bit slow, but as your moon base grows, the game gets faster and faster and it can just be finished again.
The cards are good quality, just like the Credit Counter. How nice it is to keep track of your Credits in this way. Another advantage is that you can play the game up to 6 players. Although I have to say I haven't tried that yet, but I'm glad it could. The game has a little bit of the 'take that' mechanism. Sometimes actions can steal other players' Credits. That is not always nice when you play it with two players.
Lunar Base is perfect as a filler, the playing time is +/- 30 minutes. It gives you plenty to think about, choice about which action is best to perform, how you want to expand your moon base and puzzling with the Orbs. In my opinion I recommended Lunar Base!
By Plepic Games provided me a review copy.