Planet Steam

Tap a steam-powered planet for energy, ore and quartz, then outplay everyone in a heavy resource market.

Designer: Heinz-Georg Thiemann
Published by: LudoArt Verlag
Editions by: Fantasy Flight Games, Edge Entertainment, Heidelberger Spieleverlag

It is the year 2415, and the planet Steam is ready to be conquered. Its core is a source heated to 6,500 degrees Celsius, and forty-two shafts run from the surface down to it, each venting hot steam. You build platforms over the shafts, connect water purification tanks, and use tank extractors to pull energy, ore and quartz out of the steam. Those resources feed your steam empire, and you buy, sell and bid for them in a market that you can bend to your advantage. It is a heavy, long economic game with about three hours at the table, ages fourteen and up, for people who love numbers and a bit of speculation.

Platforms and extractors over 42 steam shaftsEnergy, ore and quartz to produce and tradeCommodity speculation with auctions

Who it's for

You enjoy long economic games with markets and speculation and you have a free afternoon with a table of fellow number-crunchers.

Not for you if…

You want a light evening or you dislike long games. This is a three-hour, fourteen-plus market machine.

Vibe's take

Heavy, calculating and market-driven. You build the machine in front of you, but the real fight is on the trading floor, where timing and price reading decide who profits.