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?
A game of exploration and encounter in deep space, Star Explorer puts each player in the role of a star ship captain. After modifying ships and optimizing their crew complement, captains set out to explore a set of planets near their common Starbase.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Grid Movement
Move pieces between adjacent spaces on a regular grid.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Role Playing
Make decisions or communicate from the perspective of an assigned character.
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.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Read the full game description
A game of exploration and encounter in deep space, Star Explorer puts each player in the role of a star ship captain. After modifying ships and optimizing their crew complement, captains set out to explore a set of planets near their common Starbase. Each planet presents a series of exploration missions (mostly unknown at game start) ranging from geological surveys to encounters with sentient aliens at various tech levels. Random events both planet-side (like ice storms, disease outbreaks, and earthquakes) and space-borne (like enemy starship encounters or uncharted gravity wells) keep things unpredictable and drain precious fuel. It takes luck combined with prudent decisions and careful resource management to come home with honors rather than be reassigned to a garbage scow. Components include: 16 page rulebook 17"x22" map 266 die cut counters A pad of ship and planetary log sheets 2 six-sided and one 20-sided die (Note that the original 20-sided is "80s style" and thus numbered 1-10, allowing it to be used as either a 10-sided or 20-sided during the game.)