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?
Sky Galleons of Mars is a board game set in the fantasy Victorian era of space exploration. It is essentially the tactical ship combat game for the "Space: 1889" role-playing system.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Bias
Hidden or asymmetric information systematically changes how outcomes are interpreted.
Critical Hits and Failures
Exceptional die results create unusually strong successes or severe failures.
Movement Points
Spend a movement allowance across spaces with different costs.
Hexagon Grid
Use a hexagonal map where each space connects evenly in six directions.
Read the full game description
Sky Galleons of Mars is a board game set in the fantasy Victorian era of space exploration. It is essentially the tactical ship combat game for the "Space: 1889" role-playing system. The game has a lot of mechanics that are similar to Star Fleet Battles and Interceptor. It has a distinct 'naval' feel about it though... think of a game like Wooden Ships & Iron Men, with altitude thrown into the mix. The game is played in turns of three phases. In the Initiative Phase, players form or disband boarding parties and change crew assignments. They also roll dice to see who becomes the First Player that turn. Two Movement/Fire Phases follow. The moving player moves all of his vessels, both players fire (depending on range, weapon, etc.), damage is taken, then the second player repeats the full move/fire action. Two large hex, beautifully rendered maps are included in the game to accomodate detailed plastic ships. The rules are broken into two parts: Basic (the game at its simplest level with basic rules for moving, firing, taking damage, etc.) and Advanced (adds more detailed rules such as: ramming and grappling, towing, small arms, crew quality, etc.). Also included are seven Scenarios and rules for a Campaign game. Replaced by Ironclads And Ether Flyers