Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
The Earth is probably doomed, and rumors and speculation run rampant.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Area Movement
Move pieces between connected regions rather than along individual spaces.
Auction/Bidding
Bid against other players to determine who receives an item, action, or priority.
Negotiation
Make proposals, promises, or deals directly with other players.
Pick Up and Deliver
Collect goods at one location and transport them to another for rewards.
Tile Placement
Place tiles to build a shared or personal spatial arrangement.
Read the full game description
The Earth is probably doomed, and rumors and speculation run rampant. Newspaper headlines from across the globe stir the populace to desperation: "MELTING POLAR ICE CAPS" "RISING SEA LEVELS" "POLLUTION!" "OVERPOPULATION!" "NUCLEAR WINTER?" "RAVENOUS BLACK STAR GOATS?" "WILL METEORS STRIKE YOUR CHILDREN?" "DISASTER LOOMS!" The race to escape Earth has begun! With the world's nations in decline, powerful corporations now stand as humanity's last hope. Take the reins of one such corporation, as CEO, and venture out into space. With your mission in hand; build ships, collect resources, research technologies, survive the dangers of space exploration, and, while ticket sales hold steady, preserve the human race. Remember to stay a step ahead of competing corporations, which can use slick marketing campaigns and 10 cent tchotchkes to buy the loyalty of the people you just saved from certain doom! In Disaster Looms!, players are rewarded points for sticking to the mission and building colonies, and saving colonists. As you are a CEO you are also rewarded points for filling the Corporate treasury, and building the company's value proposition by retaining rights to the best technologies. Gameplay is fast, and exciting. Events, and the vast variety of hazards that space has to offer will keep you on your toes, and your underlings busy on the paperwork for decades to come! The game is played in five phases: Research, Fleet, Management, Revenue, and finally First Player Turn Auction. All players will complete each phase, in turn order, before proceeding to the next phase. This helps to keep the game moving, and keeps players engaged. In Research phase players can pay to research, or choose to license another players tech. In the Fleet phase players get one action with each ship they own. The Management phase is when players build new ships, special tech items, and sell technology to the public domain. The Revenue phase is when players collect their hard earned resources, including a small stipend from their home office on Earth. And finally, the turn auction phase is a bidding war for who goes first. Not that important at the start of the game, but monumental for the end.