Ad Astra

Steer a human race across the galaxy by placing secret action cards on a shared board that everyone then follows.

Designers: Bruno Faidutti, Serge Laget
Published by: Nexus Editrice
Editions by: Fantasy Flight Games, Edge Entertainment, Heidelberger Spieleverlag, NG International Srl.

In Ad Astra, humanity has split into five races, each fitted for life on different kinds of planets, and you lead one of them out into the galaxy. You exploit resources, terraform planets and build advanced space colonies, and you may find artifacts of a lost alien civilization to use against rivals. The twist is the planning board: everyone places face-down action cards on empty spaces of a shared board, and when it is full, cards are revealed one at a time and every player may carry out that action. So you never quite know what the others will make of your plan. A 2009 game for three to five, about an hour, for those who like their space exploration with a shared rhythm.

Five human races with different planet needsShared planning board with hidden action cardsArtifacts of a lost alien civilization

Who it's for

You like space exploration with a clever shared-action twist and enjoy second-guessing the group.

Not for you if…

You want a lot of direct attacking or you dislike games that help everyone at the same time.

Vibe's take

Tense in a thoughtful way. You plan in secret, then watch the shared action sequence unfold and see whether your rivals profit from your own choices.