Space Base
127 questions players ask about Space Base, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-30.
127 questions players ask about Space Base, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-30.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
No. The active player makes one normal buy per turn, and it is optional. Only a Buy a Card ability adds purchases on top of it; Claim a Card is not a buy at all, so it does not count either.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
To zero. Any normal buy empties your credits no matter what the card cost, and then at Gain Income your credits rise to your income level only if they are below it. The only way to save credits is to skip buying that turn.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
No. Credits are brought up to your income only in the Gain Income phase at the end of your own turn, and only if they are below your income.
The rulebook's Buy a Card section answers this directly, and the designer confirmed gaining credits first and that the buy is optional.
It buys one extra card paying only that card's exact cost; it does not reset your credits to zero, so you keep the rest for your normal buy. If the same effect gives credits, you gain them before buying. Using it is optional.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. Extra buys are optional like the normal buy. You can take the bonus credits and buy nothing, or buy one or two cards and pay full face value for each.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
Yes. A buy-a-card reward is separate from your normal buy, which stays optional. It pays only the printed cost of the card and does not reset your credits to zero, so leftover credits stay available.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Up to four: one extra buy per charge plus your normal buy. Each extra buy goes in any sector 7-12 of your choice and must be paid for.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
No. Claiming is not a buy; you still make your normal purchase afterwards, and you are not forced to claim every card the ability allows. Claimed cards can only come from the face-up shipyard cards, never the draw decks.
The rulebook's Claim a Card section says you need not claim all the cards indicated.
No. The rulebook says you are not required to claim all the cards indicated, so you may claim fewer than the maximum. The reward itself is not optional in general, so the "up to" is where the flexibility lies.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
It simply does not refill, so that level shows fewer than six cards. There is also no rule to wipe or cycle the shipyard; cards leave only by being bought or claimed.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
Only in the Refill phase after you finish buying. Cards bought or claimed earlier in the turn are not replaced until then.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
No. A bought ship is stationed on its matching sector and pushes the ship already there to deployed. Ships cannot go straight under the console from the shipyard, and there is no limit to how many ships you can deploy in one sector.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
Only your deployed cards (the red rewards). Your stationed cards pay only on your own turn, and an active player never collects red rewards from their own deployed cards. Green effects work on any turn.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
No. Every other player chooses for themselves whether to take the sum or both single dice; the roller does not decide for them unless a card says so.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
One or the other, never a mix. You either gain the reward of the sector equal to the total, or the rewards of the sectors matching each single die (the same sector twice on doubles). Every other player makes the same choice for their deployed rewards.
The rulebook says doubles give the same sector's reward twice.
Yes. On doubles you receive the reward of that sector twice, one for each die, so a double 4 pays sector 4 twice.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. Rewards are not optional: once you allocate your dice, you take everything the sectors give, even if that forces you to claim cards you would rather not.
You take every triggered reward, but you choose the order. Each deployed card in the sector also gets its own charge cube if it has an open charge space.
The table shows expected rewards per 36 rolls, not chances of activating the sector. Doubles let you claim a reward twice, so a 6 pays out about 17 times while only 16 of 36 rolls activate it.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
Yes. A reward shown above charge squares is gained together with a charge cube whenever the sector pays out. The reward is paid per activation of the sector, not per roll of the number.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
Blue works only on your own turn, red only on an opponent's turn, and green on any turn. A blue ability stays blue-timed even if the card is deployed or its charge arrived on an opponent's turn.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. Blue rewards and shipyard actions are for the active player. A green arrow on another player's turn only changes which red rewards you take; expansion cards that explicitly say otherwise are the exception.
The rulebook's colour reference says red effects only work on an opponent's turn.
No. Red effects only happen on opponents' turns. You can charge a card with a red slot on another player's roll and then spend that charge on your own turn if the ability itself is blue.
A single reply or a disputed reading; no official ruling and the rulebook does not settle it.
No. Each die points at its own sector, so a deployed card in just one of those sectors still pays out.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. Ships already deployed in that sector keep paying red rewards on other players' rolls; only your own station reward is gone.
No. A bonus roll only gains that roll's rewards. Its blue rewards count for the rolling player only, and effects on other players, the shipyard or unbought colonies are ignored.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
An arrow lets you also gain the rewards of the neighbouring sector in its direction, on top of the card's own sector. With two directions you choose left or right. Each arrow reward can be used only once per turn, so two cards pointing at each other cannot ping-pong.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. You gain all matching rewards in the sector the arrow points to, not just one card, and you still keep the rewards of the sector you rolled.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. There is no sector 0, so an arrow pointing off the board gives nothing extra.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Arrows chain, so one roll can run sectors 7, 8 and 9 in a row, but no card gives its reward twice in one allocation, so loops cannot repeat a sector. If you use the sum, each reward is claimed once; if you take both dice separately, each die is its own allocation and can claim it once more.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. 2X doubles the rewards of the one sector you pick; the sector the arrow points at is still gained only once. To get a target's rewards twice, double the target sector itself.
Only if your own roll meets the card's exact-roll requirement; check the dice you actually rolled, not the arrow's position.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
When you collect that card's reward: blue squares charge on your own turn, red squares on an opponent's turn. Buying a card never places a cube, and a deployed card is only charged by opponents' rolls.
Nothing extra: the card gains no further cube. If two charges arrive but only one space is free, the second is lost.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. Rolling the number only adds charges; once the ability is charged you can spend it later on any roll or turn that its colour allows, without rolling that number.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
If the boxes are linked, you remove all of them (those with no pips plus those whose pips equal the player count) and use the ability once. If they are not linked, one cube is enough per use, so you can use the ability once per cube.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
As many as you have charges for, in any order, as long as each use falls in a legal timing window. Unlinked cubes on one card can each be spent separately, for example one charge per die set or reroll.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
Remove the boxes without pips plus those whose pip number matches your player count; only those need to be filled. In a 2-player game a split "five" slot is really a 2 and a 3 separated by a thin line, so fill only the slots required.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
You may reposition the cubes onto the card's deployed section, if there is room there, so they can travel with the card as it is deployed.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. An ability can never charge itself: the Collins cannot receive the cube it places or moves, and a 2X card cannot recharge itself by doubling its own reward.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
The ability resolves first and then the spent cube is removed, so the order is effect, then removal.
Yes. A charge gained in the reward step (or placed by another charge-placing ability) can be spent in a later ability step of the same turn, so you can trigger You Win immediately without waiting for another player's turn.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Abilities can be used before the roll, after the roll but before rewards (only roll-changing ones), and after rewards, but never in the middle of resolving the dice rewards. Anything that sets a die or rerolls must come before you start gaining rewards.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No — they are the same thing, since every ability needs charge cubes; anything that needs no charge is a reward. The designer called the mismatched wording an inconsistency in the rules.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes if the ability can still be used after you gain rewards, for example gaining credits, buying, moving charges or swapping sectors. No for roll-changing abilities (set a die, reroll, dice-arrow): they must be used before rewards, so a charge gained from the roll cannot alter that same roll.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. A 2X card cannot spend a charge on the same roll that gave it that charge. This is a specific exception to the general rule that an ability can be used the same turn it charges. The designer first allowed it in 2018 but later told players to go with the FAQ, which says no.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. The rewards for the two dice are gained at the same time, so no charge can be spent in between them.
The rulebook's timing clarifications say set-a-die and reroll abilities happen before rewards.
No. Once dice are allocated you cannot allocate again; roll-changing abilities (green dice-arrows, set a die, rerolls) must be used before rewards. Abilities that simply set dice must be used before rolling.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. Once the card is recharged during the reward step you can use it again afterwards in the same turn, subject to its colour and timing window.
Yes. Abilities can be triggered before the roll, so a point-loss effect can be used first, for example to keep an opponent under 40.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
The active player allocates dice and resolves all rewards and activations first, followed by the other players in clockwise order.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. 2X doubles rewards gained in the reward step, but Gordon's point-loss is a charge ability used in the ability steps, so it cannot be doubled that way. Gordon can only be used once per round.
A single reply reading the turn phases; no official ruling.
No. Glenn's recharge happens in an ability step after the Gain Rewards phase has finished, so it cannot be used to double the rewards of that same roll.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Spend the charge after the roll and before rewards: the sum of the two dice counts as one or two higher for you only (one per arrow). You then gain the shifted sector's reward instead of the original one, never both, and it cannot be used on a single die.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
It only changes which sector you collect. It adds no reward, and it cannot change whether you take red or blue rewards, so on an opponent's turn you get the red rewards of the higher sector.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. Each charged dice-and-arrow ability can be spent on the same roll and their shifts add up, but only the final sector's rewards are collected, once. Passed-over sectors give nothing. You cannot shift past sector 12.
Several experienced players agree, and the designer confirms a roll can always place the charge; no official ruling on same-roll use.
No. The charge from a roll cannot change that roll; spend it on a later roll. A roll of 1 or any other number can add the charge, because the sum restriction applies only when you use the ability.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. You pick the sum first, then spend the charge to change the sector, so the dice cannot also be used to recharge the same ability.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
All rewards from one sector you activate: either the sector of the sum or one of the single-die sectors. Station 2X works on your turn after rewards, deployed 2X on opponents' turns, and it can never charge itself.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. The designer ruled that 2X doubles the rewards of the one chosen sector however they were gained, so it works with separate dice and with doubles. Players commonly count a doubled sector as three payouts in total (two from the dice, one extra from 2X), but the designer did not give that number.
One player's reading of the rule that 2X doubles rewards; no official ruling.
Yes, if the 2X is a blue effect on your turn: the doubled sector pays twice, so a multi-slot card can take two cubes. A card with only one open slot still takes just one.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
No. A colony gives its printed VP once, when bought, and no station reward afterwards. Ships already deployed in that sector still pay on opponents' rolls.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
No. Once a colony is stationed the sector is closed for the rest of the game; you can no longer station or deploy cards there. Any ship that was in the sector is deployed when the colony arrives.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
In the base game you do not gain the card, because a colony takes precedence: you cannot station or deploy another card in that sector. (The Genesis rulebook adds an exception: a claimed ship that lands on your colony's sector is deployed instead.)
The rulebook text answers this directly.
Yes. The rulebook's Swap Sectors text says the ability works even with colonies, taking all deployed cards and the stationed card with them. Afterwards the cards act by the sector they now sit in, not the number printed on them.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
All 12 colonies are laid out at the start, available to buy at any time, and are never drawn or discarded.
Yes. The ability can purchase a colony and place it in a sector 7-12, and owning a colony in a sector does not stop Scott from buying another card for it.
Yes. It applies on every roll where you use the sum of the dice, yours and opponents'. It also covers your own bonus rolls, but not other players' bonus rolls.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Once per round. Its drain is a blue ability used on your own turn, so it cannot trigger on every 7. It can cost every opponent 4 VP and also lets you buy one or two cards; opponents cannot drop below 0 VP.
The rulebook's exchange text answers this and overrides an older designer reply.
Yes. The current rulebook says you may exchange it with any other card, even if that means swapping a deployed ship with a stationed ship. The designer's April 2018 reply (station with station, deployed with deployed) predates the June 2018 rulebook and no longer applies.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. The designer said a stationed card can swap with a stationed colony. Colonies still cannot be deployed, so this is a station-with-station swap.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
You swap Leslie with a card in the sector one to the left or right of it. The designer confirmed that card can be either on your board or deployed.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. The three blue rewards must come from three different sectors or cards, never the same one repeated, though cards with identical abilities in different sectors count as different.
Yes. A place-one-charge-anywhere ability can put the cube on any empty charge square on your cards, so charging Glenn can feed You Win. A green arrow shift that lands on Glenn's sector is also fine.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
You get one charge. The deployed card has a single charge space, so a double 4 from an opponent adds only one cube and the other is lost. You spend that charge on your own turn to set a die.
You gain the 3 credits each time you remove a charge cube to use it, not when the cube is placed. With three cubes stored you can use it three times, for 9 credits, including on the same turn.
You keep the credits you do not spend, so spending 5 of 15 leaves 10. It does not give a free card.
Its charge space fills when a 1 is rolled. Once charged, the green ability can be spent on any player's roll when you use the sum, treating your total as one higher. It is a separate effect from the blue or red reward.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
It counts as a 1 and nothing more; the rocket is decorative and gives no victory point.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. The starting card is deployed with its red reward face up, as if you had bought the drawn card.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
The second player, seated to the left of the first, gains 1 credit.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Cubes are unlimited; substitute anything if you run out. For tracking above 40 VP or credits, players put a spare cube on 40 and restart the counter.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Shuffle them into the level 1, 2 or 3 deck that matches their level.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
It is in the downloadable rulebook (p. 28 of the 2018 version), which the first printed manual lacks. The player with the most money left goes first; the highest-sector tiebreak applies only among those tied for most money, and then a roll.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. Reaching 40 at any moment starts the final round, even during an opponent's turn. Everyone gets the same number of turns, so the player to the right of the starting player takes the last turn.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
Yes. Once triggered, the final round stays triggered even if you fall back below 40, and the player with the most VP when turns are equal wins, even with under 40.
The rulebook text answers this directly.
Play one more round of turns; if still tied, share the victory.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
It goes straight to your board as deployed. The designer said this applies to random top-of-deck pulls, not to Claim effects in general; the Genesis rulebook's "Claiming a Ship on a Colony" section is cited by a poster as covering it too.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. The designer confirmed the ship already in that sector stays in place instead of being forced out and leaving the sector empty.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. The intent is that it applies on every roll where you use the sum, yours and opponents'.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
It deploys a ship from your board without buying a replacement for that number; the spot stays empty until you buy a card there.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Blue rewards are gained when rolled on your turn, so a blue colony has an ongoing ability. Yellow rewards are one-time bonuses when you buy the colony.
As written, yes: a 2021 reply says the combo works but advises not using that card until an errata. Other posters argue it should not trigger. No official ruling confirms either reading.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. Genesis requires only the base game.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. The two sectors must be different. If they are charge cards you place a charge as normal.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. The buyer makes one bonus roll, and every other player makes a bonus roll that counts only for themselves.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. Only the deployed ability applies.
A single reply or a disputed reading; no official ruling and the rulebook does not settle it.
No. Each arrow reward can be used only once per turn.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Flip and tuck every ship in sectors 7 to 12 so the red side shows; those sectors have no blue rewards until you buy replacements.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Command Station rules say that when timing conflicts, the active player acts first and then play goes clockwise. Ability steps occur both before and after the active player's normal buy, so a charged ability can be used in either window.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. The designer called such a loop legal and said it works as long as each bonus roll keeps recharging the ability.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
It is a green symbol, so you immediately make the bonus roll even on another player's turn.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. The designer confirmed that before-rolling set-a-die abilities, such as those on Gagarin and Titov, can be used on bonus rolls.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. A player cannot affect the shipyard or other players when it is not their turn.
A single reply or a disputed reading; no official ruling and the rulebook does not settle it.
No, just as a buy or claim into that sector would not.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. Each pair is its own use, including two uses in one turn.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No for rolling cubes bought that turn; tokens gained that turn can be spent that turn.
Yes. The story only introduces the cards gradually, so you can shuffle everything in from the start.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes; the only cost is story continuity for someone who misses a game.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. Start the next game with the story card in play. The designer suggested lowering the VP threshold, or resolving on 8, 9 or 10, to bring it up sooner.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. Mix them into the level 1 deck and start as normal.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. It is on top of your normal turn.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
The designer says they are separate ways to play, Miners as default and World Eater as an optional module; combining them is fine if your group wants.
The designer answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
No. An individual reward cannot be gained more than once on a single roll, so the chain cannot backtrack. A red and a blue reward in different sectors can still both be collected.
A single reply or a disputed reading; no official ruling and the rulebook does not settle it.
Unsettled. Some players say a reward is claimed only once per roll; others say two cruisers reaching the same card by different paths is legal and cite a designer ruling on a different loop. No official ruling.
The publisher answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. In a regular game you can use it at once or keep it on your command console. It can sit anywhere there and needs no sector until used.
A single reply or a disputed reading; no official ruling and the rulebook does not settle it.
No. A die on the console re-enters your pool only when used.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Draw 6 random special alien colonies and fill the other six slots with standard colonies, including when playing with Biodome.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
With Shy Pluto, six pink dice; without it, six random orange dice. The remaining dice, including green, go in the bag.
No. Green dice are used only in the Shroom Doom scenario; afterwards they go into the plutonium bag, and players do not start with them.
The publisher answered this directly on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. They become regular cards shuffled into their level decks.
Yes to both. Sector 13 is treated like other sectors, and when you reach it by modifying dice you take rewards from each die separately.
No. Place-a-charge abilities cannot charge Sector 13 upgrades. Upgrades are tucked as if deployed.
Yes. The rulebook (p. 30) includes an example of activating Sector 13 by modifying dice and confirms the forecast also triggers.
Yes, per one poster: if a Sector 13 ability gives you a bonus roll, the doubling applies to that roll. Orange forecast cubes are not rewards, and you only trigger Sector 13 once.
A single reply or a disputed reading; no official ruling and the rulebook does not settle it.
No. It gives all blue station rewards of the card in the arrow's sector, and never rewards from a colony there.
A single reply or a disputed reading; no official ruling and the rulebook does not settle it.
The rulebook makes it a choice of income or a ship token. A playtester says both at once is also balanced, but that is not the printed rule.