Experience the adventure of landing on the moon, building structures, and funding corporate projects when you play Shackleton Base published by Pandasaurus Games. This is a heavy worker-placement, area-majority game with deep strategy decisions, and many people have ranked it as one of their favorite games published in 2024. This is a basic overview of Shackleton Base. If you have interest in this game, please review the manual, which is linked in the illustration area of this web page, for more detailed information.
Game Setup: The main board represents the moon, which is
divided into hexagonal areas and placed in the center of the table. Around its
edges are solar panels that are used to power up each area to activate it when
players start to build on them. An energy track on the board displays available
power generated by these solar panels, as corporate projects require energy
during the game. Players each receive their own “base” player board, which
stores structures for building on the moon, and during the game, it is
populated with astronauts that provide points and resources. There are seven
corporations with boards, cards, components, and instructions included and
three will be used each game.
Game Play: The game is divided into three rounds consisting
of three phases each. Players have six turns in each round for 18 turns during
the game. These phases are:
- The Shuttle Phase: Included with the game are three different types of astronauts, which all have different functions during the game and are represented by three different colored wooden meeples. They are Engineers (yellow), Technicians (Red), and Scientists (blue). In this phase, players choose a “shuttle” populated with six astronauts in different combinations of each type. These shuttles also are numbered to provide a turn order determination for each round. An unchosen shuttle populates the lunar gateway area, which is detailed in the action section below.
- The Action Phase: During each turn, players choose an astronaut from their shuttle to perform one of three actions. These are:
- Take one Command Action from three that are available: You may choose any type of astronaut to do this, but each offers a bonus if you use a specific type. Briefly, these actions are to build one type of building on the moon, fund a corporate project, or take three corporate actions. See the linked game manual for more detailed information.
- Exploit the Crater: A player can place a worker in a space facing one of the rows on the main moon map to trigger an action based on the presence of any active and powered structures in each hex of that row. Engineers, Technicians, and Scientists obtain different rewards.
- Visit the Lunar Gateway: Choose any astronaut to send to the gateway and choose any other astronaut at the gateway to bring back to your player board. Placing different types of these meeples in different vacant areas of the player board where buildings were placed on the moon map gives players specific resources, action assistance, or points. Players also gain 3 coins and may take any one corporate action.
- The Maintenance Phase: This phase begins when each player has finished six turns, which ends a round. The tasks are to set up for the following round and complete round-end scoring. Final scoring starts after the third round’s Maintenance Phase. The person with the most points wins!
My experience with this game was
challenging, interesting, and immersive. Up to four players can enjoy this game
and there is a solo mode included. Although it is a great game at any player
count, I prefer the synergy at three players. Game time is 60-120 minutes,
depending on player count and the complexities of the three corporations that
are used.
There is so much to explore in Shackleton Base, and it has great replay value. ~ Marsha