Wild Space is a fast, tactical card game where you’ll use a limited number of actions to collect a Crew of point scoring cards.

If you love finding clever ways to combo actions into generating more actions — you’re going to want to check this game out! 

What is Wild Space? 

Wild Space is a combo set collection card game where you’ll manage your hand of cards and limited actions to play cards in front of you to collect various sets and earn Credits (points.) The player with the most Credits wins. 

For an overview of what playing Wild Space looks like, check out our Instagram Reel!

Overview of Wild Space Game Play

In Wild Space, players have 10 turns to create a game winning Crew of cards. 

At the start of your turn, you’ll decide if you want to use one of your ships to fly to a planet, or explore a planet you previously flew to. 

When you fly to a planet, you take the listed action at the bottom of the planet tile, these actions take the form of either drawing a card(s) or playing a card to your Crew. Sometimes this action will be free, sometimes there will be a condition or cost that must be met. Example: you must discard a card or have a certain type of card(s) played in front of you. 

To explore a planet, you’ll move your spaceship from the bottom of the planet tile to the top of the tile. Regardless of which planet you are on, the top actions are always the same. You can choose to either draw three cards from the Crew Deck or play a card from your hand into your Crew.

When you play a card to your Crew, it sits in front of you for the rest of the game. Playing a card can trigger its ability if the cards already in your Crew fulfill its condition. These actions give you more abilities that you can take advantage of on your turn, allowing you to combo playing one card into playing multiple cards if their conditions continue to be met. 

Play then passes to the next player. 

End of Game

The game ends when every player has all 5 of their spaceships in the exploration zone of the planet tile.

Players tally up the Credits they’ve earned from the Crew they’ve composed during the game.

Points are earned from:

• sets of each of the 6 different animals
• sets of 3 or more of the same animal
• completed card missions
• Robots
• Veteran Bonuses

The player with the most wins.

What do We Think?

Wild Space is a lovely little game! 

The rules are easy to pick up while the game is tricky and thoughtful. This is the type of game that gets better with each play. I love how tight it can feel. The limited number of turns you have puts the pressure on you, in a good way, to maximize each one of them. You may only get 10 turns, but once you figure out how to play the cards, you can turn one turn into the equivalent of two or three turns. It’s very satisfying.

I find that this makes Wild Space incredibly replayable. It’s a fun challenge that plays out in a quick 30 minute game. While quick, there can be some mild analysis paralysis. You’ll spend time thinking through all the different ways you could play your cards to try and find the magic order that allows you to play the most or sets you up for your next turn. 

With each play you’ll get better and better at this — it’s what makes the game addicting too!

Lots of Ways to Win with a Dash of Luck

There are a lot of ways to find success in Wild Space. You can earn credits through collecting each type of animal, having the most of a specific type of specialty, or perhaps you try to collect many of the same type of animal. Here players can find a bit of a math crunch during the game. When holding a hand of cards, you might have to make the call between one or the other point scoring paths — often you can’t complete them all. Players who enjoy making tough decisions will like having to weigh the value of each card against their end game collection goals. 

There is some luck involved with Wild Space. Some games you may not have things come together like you’d hoped because the cards you needed just weren’t available. There is some luck mitigation in it — you can always choose to discard a card from your hand to replace the three face up cards which can help you get more options out there. Overall I’d say that there is more strategy involved than luck. It’s unlikely that you’ll stumble and bumble your way to a win in Wild Space.

If you prefer a lot of player interaction in your games, you won’t find that here. It’s actually something I really enjoy about the game. No one can mess with you or stop you from going to a planet. No one is going to be able to force you to discard or trash a card from your Crew — you’re safe from any sabotaging. However, that doesn’t mean that you won’t want to watch what other players are doing. Many of your points come from having the most of a certain type of card, so you’ll want to keep an eye on how other players are assembling their Crew so you don’t get left in a lurch. 

Theme & Components

While space themed, Wild Space doesn’t really feel like a space game. It just doesn’t come through for me. The art on the planet cards is very nice, but I don’t spend much, if any time thinking about “traveling to planets” while playing. It also does not pair with the mechanics in a way that makes the theme pop. That’s not a bad thing — the theme just doesn’t really play a part in what makes the game enjoyable. 

The components are all really high quality. The wooden spaceship tokens are nice and the art throughout the game is excellent. I really love the vibrant colors and the use of animals for characters. 

If I were to point out anything that I don’t like, it would be the square cards. I am not a fan of square cards as they are both hard to hold and difficult to shuffle. It’s not a deal breaker though.

The game comes with multi colored wooden ships all in the same shape. These are high quality and nicely cut. We were also sent promo ships which give each player a unique ship shape. These are nice but not necessary to the enjoyment of the game. We’ve left them out of this review, but you may see us playing with them on Instagram.

How does it play with two? 

I’ve really enjoyed playing this at the two player count. Because there’s little to no interaction on the planets — no one can box you out from going anywhere — there isn’t that big of a difference between 2 and higher player counts. 

The biggest difference comes from having a few more people to battle with for end game credits. 

I think Wild Space is an excellent two player option and recommend it. 

Can kids play?

Wild Space is a great option to play with kids. 

It is easy to pick up and will test your child’s ability to plan and manage their hand. I would choose Wild Space to introduce this mechanism to someone starting around age 9 or 10. From a parent’s perspective I don’t want my kid to feel punished during the game. In that respect, I love that there is no take-that element and so long as they have the conditions met, they can never be denied visiting a location by another player.  

Summary

Wild Space is an easy recommend. It’s fast, fun, and incredibly addicting. Wild Space has high replay value thanks to the multitude of ways one can play their cards to create combos to assemble their Crew. This is a great option for players who prefer games with shorter play times, simple and satisfying strategies, and more passive player interaction. 

If you’d like to pick up a copy of Wild Space click here.
Find this and all our favorite games in our Amazon Storefront. 

A special thank you to our friends at Pandasaurus Games for sending us a copy of Wild Space or review. As always our thoughts and opinions are our own. 

Game Info:
Title: Wild Space
1-5 Players Ages 10+
Designer: Joachim Thôme
Artist: Amélie Guinet
Publisher: Pandasaurus Games

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