If you’ve got your head in the clouds, or far above the clouds, you’ll love these board games about space. This is a pretty popular theme, so there are a lot of space board games to choose from. We’ve curated this list of the very best ones, and we made sure to include something for everyone! Take a look at the following space games, and you’re bound to found a board game about space that you’ll love to play for many years to come.

Investing in quality board games can seem a little pricey at first, but when you compare it to other hobbies, and how much enjoyment you’ll get out of your games, it’s a pittance. This, however, hinges on choosing games that you’ll actually enjoy playing multiple times – and all of the games on this list are winners. From games that are simply themed around space and meant for the whole family to enjoy together, to in-depth resource management and trading, to space exploration games, let us know if you see any of your favorites here!

Here Are The Best Board Games About Space

Overall Best Game: Terraforming Mars (2016)

terraforming mars
fulci99/flickr
  • Players: 1-5
  • Time: 120 Minutes
  • Designer: Jacob Fryxelius
  • Publisher: FryxGames
  • Mechanics: Card Drafting, Grid Movement

Terraforming Mars isn’t just a good space game, it often makes people’s lists of top board games of all time. With very good reviews from both critics and fans, Terraforming Mars is a great grid-based management game where huge corporations compete to make Mars a habitable planet.

As players work together to accomplish tasks like raising oxygen levels or increasing ocean coverage, they also compete to earn the most victory points. These points are awarded to the corporations for their unique contributions. Carefully balancing income, growth and production is the key to becoming the most valuable corporation on Mars.

Race for the Galaxy (2007)

race for the galaxy
kamakaze/flickr
  • Players: 2-4
  • Time: 30-60 Minutes
  • Designer: Thomas Lehmann
  • Publisher: Rio Grande Games
  • Mechanics: Set Collection, Action Selection

Race for the Galaxy is a card game of galactic colonization. Each player is attempting to expand their empire by colonizing planets, researching new technology and producing goods. It’s a careful balance of getting what you need without letting your opponents get the upper hand.

Every round of Race for the Galaxy each player secretly chooses one of the five roles to activate on their upcoming turn. Being careful to select a role that benefits them without helping out their opponents too much. In order to claim a new world or development, players pay a cost in cards from their hand. Keeping a steady income of new cards throughout the game is important to victory.

Most Advanced Game: Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition (2017)

twilight imperium fourth edition
sebastian bergmann/flickr
  • Players: 3-6
  • Time: 240-480 Minutes
  • Designer: Dane Beltrami, Corey Konieczka, Christian T. Petersen
  • Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
  • Mechanics: Action Drafting, Area Control

If you want to play a game that’s packed with both complexity and nuance, then Twilight Imperium surely delivers. Originally released in 1997, Twilight Imperium is a game of galactic diplomacy that’s gone through many iterations to become the game it is today. With games often taking upwards of six hours, the depth of this game does not disappoint.

In Twilight Imperium each player represents one of the 17 unique alien races that’s trying to gain power after the fallout of a great war. Players earn victory points by completing both public and secret objectives. Through a series of careful tactical decisions like waging war or voting on new political agendas, players attempt to get an edge on their opponents and be the first to reach 10 victory points.

Star Wars: Rebellion (2016)

star wars rebellion
mikko saari/flickr
  • Players: 2-4
  • Time: 180-240 Minutes
  • Designer: Corey Konieczka
  • Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
  • Mechanics: Area Control, Unit Movement

With so many different Star Wars board games on the market it can be hard to stand out. Rebellion does this by being a fully fleshed-out war game that follows the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Rebellion. The Great War comes to life with more than 150 detailed miniature figurines and multiple game boards.

Over the course of a few hours players command starships, organize troops and recruit new followers in an attempt to overthrow the opposing team. The Empire represents the massive galactic force with legions of storm troopers and imperial starships at their disposal. On the other hand, the Rebellion represents a smaller group of insurgents that must rally troops from neighboring planets if they want to stand a chance against the Empire.

Best for Families: Astro Trash (2019)

astro trash
  • Players: 3-5
  • Time: 10-15 Minutes
  • Publisher: The Op
  • Mechanics: Dice Rolling, Pattern Recognition

If you’re looking for a lighter space board game, Astro Trash is a fairly simple matching game about space that’s great for the whole family. In this fast paced game players aim to clean up their planet by any means possible, even if that means giving all your trash to other players.

Astro Trash takes place in real-time, meaning there’s no turns and players try to roll and move their trash as fast as they can. It’s a quick game that’s good for teaching pattern recognition and quick thinking.

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game (2008)

battlestar galactica the board game
heather anne campbell/flickr
  • Players: 3-6
  • Time: 120-180 Minutes
  • Designer: Corey Konieczka
  • Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
  • Mechanics: Bluffing, Area Movement
PreviewProductPrice
Battlestar Galactica Battlestar Galactica $130.00

Star Trek Catan (2012)

star trek catan
rhombitruncated/flickr
  • Players: 304
  • Time: 60-75 Minutes
  • Designer: Klaus Teuber
  • Publisher: Catan Studio
  • Mechanics: Dice Rolling, Hand Management
PreviewProductPrice
Star Trek Catan Star Trek Catan $69.99

This Star Trek themed Catan game takes colonization into the outer reaches of space. Instead of building settlements and roads, players build galactic outposts and salvage valuable commodities that are used to build star ships.

Although many of the game mechanics will be familiar to anyone who’s played the original Settlers, this edition introduces special Support Cards representing iconic characters like Spock or Captain Kirk. These support cards add special bonuses to help gain an advantage on the Final Frontier. It adds a little bit of freshness compared to the classic Catan, and you can use it with some of the best Catan expansions, too.

Best Teaching Game: Apollo – A Game Inspired By The NASA Moon Missions (2020)

apollo a game inspired by the nasa moon missions
  • Players: 2-5
  • Time: 30-60 Minutes
  • Designer: Jonathan Gilmour, Sarah Addison
  • Publisher: Buffalo Games
  • Mechanics: Co-Operative, Communication

Apollo is a game that’s taken right out of the history books. It takes place at the time of the NASA moon landings and explores the brave souls that helped accomplish that mission. Unlike the other games on this list, Apollo is a strictly co-operative game where players work together to accomplish a common goal.

One player represents Mission Control and the rest are Astronauts, each must work together to overcome various obstacles based on real events. Mission Control spends game tokens to relay vital information to the crew to help increase their odds of success while avoiding critical ship failures.

Blast Off With One Of These Board Games About Chess!

Did you find anything that you’re going to pick up? If you love any of these games, or you’re thinking about getting one of them, or if you know of some other board games about chess that should be on this list, don’t be shy to join the conversation. Getting a little tired of planet earth? It’s time to play some space board games for a change of scenery!