Planet Unknown

Categories: City Building, Industry/Manufacturing, Puzzle, Science Fiction, Space Exploration, Territory Building

Mechanics: Events, Grid Coverage, Hidden Victory Points, Map Addition, Network and Route Building, Open Drafting, Pattern Building, Rondel, Simultaneous Action Selection, Square Grid, Sudden Death Ending, Tags, Tech Trees/Tech Tracks, Tile Placement, Turn Order: Progressive

Players: 1–6

Ages: 10+

Playtime: 60–80 Min

In Planet Unknown, humanity is on the brink of a new frontier as our planet has run out of resources, forcing us to search for new worlds to colonize. We’ve discovered a series of planets, and our rovers have identified 1-6 viable options for colonization. This competitive game for 1-6 players challenges you to develop the best planet to ensure survival and prosperity!

Each player’s goal is to build and develop the most efficient and thriving planet. In each round, players select and place a dual-resourced tile, shaped like a polyomino, onto their planet. These resources represent the essential infrastructure needed to support life. Strategic placement of these tiles is crucial, as it not only helps cover your planet efficiently but also builds up your planet's engine. After placing the tile, players perform two actions corresponding to the two types of infrastructure on the tile. But beware—certain tile placements can trigger "meteors," which complicate development by making it harder to progress and blocking scoring in the affected row and column.

Planet Unknown innovates on the popular polyomino genre by allowing simultaneous, yet strategic, turn-based play via the Lazy S.U.S.A.N. space station at the center of the table. The game efficiently condenses what would typically be a 3-hour medium-weight game into a streamlined 70-minute experience, offering both depth and accessibility in a shorter time frame.