On April 6, the Orion spacecraft took four Astronauts further from the earth than any humans have ever travelled before, letting them directly witness the side of the moon that never turns towards the earth. Called the Artemis II mission, it's a historic moment, and the closest any human has come to the lunar surface in fifty years. And that's all the excuse we need to recommend five great board games themed around space exploration!
For this list, we're not focusing on strategy board games like Twilight Imperium, Eclipse, or Arcs - and we haven't included the excellent Terraforming Mars, because a) everyone knows about it and b) Mars gets all the press. We've picked games with themes of exploration, discovery, and collaboration against the harshest environment known to humanity - and you'll find several of these titles on our guide to the best board games of all time.
Space Lab
A recent release, this lightweight game of building laboratories in space combines card collection with tableau building. You've got limited slots to fill your Space Lab with personnel and projects - each represented with gorgeous, up-beat card art - and you'll have to work hard to get the most out of your lab, while preventing your opponents from recruiting the best scientists before you can. A cheery game that puts the focus firmly on space as a place for discovery, not conflict.
Space Alert
We sincerely hope the Artemis II mission is nothing like Space Alert. This is a real-time panic simulator designed by the prolific Vlaada Chvátil, in which your crew of hapless astronauts must try to keep your rickety ship running while disasters crop up all around you. Players must program in their actions in real time while you listen to a mission recording telling you everything that's going wrong - and when it's time to let your plan unfold, you will inevitably discover that your best efforts have only made things worse. Hilarious, when it's not giving you a heart attack.
High Frontier 4 All
Among the heaviest of heavyweight board games, this is one for hardcore eurogame fans, and the kids who never missed a summer camp at Astronaut School. Taking the role of a near-future industrialist, you'll contend with real rocket physics and a map showing the actual bands of gravitational influence within the solar system as you try to establish your company in space. The latest edition comes with plenty of tutorials, including a mode for smart kids, which should help everyone achieve lift-off.
SETI
SETI is a modern eurogame with a classic core - the theme may be the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, but the goal is 100% focused on gaining the most victory points. That's no bad thing when the gameplay is this fun - and SETI is truly a beautifully produced game. If you want a pleasant head-scratcher while listening to the live feed from the Orion, this is a great pick.
Moon Colony Bloodbath
This hilarious game feels like a direct response to the billionaires who are currently fantasizing about space settlement - sure, we might be able to build a society on the moon, but do you really trust those guys to be in charge of it? In Moon Colony Bloodbath, players first build up their growing space colony as if they were playing a regular engine builder - but rather than rocketing to victory on a jet of victory points, the winner is the last one with any colonists alive after their helper robots decide to Kill All Humans. A guaranteed laugh riot.
What other great space board games should we be playing? Let us know in the Wargamer Discord community!