Tabletop
Rewriting the Space Race: Board Games with a For All Mankind Vibe
Engine builders, worker placement, and high-stakes diplomacy for players who want to rewrite the space race from the ground up.
We got on the For All Mankind train pretty late - but we kept hearing good things about this Apple TV show and eventually made time for it. But as big Battlestar Galactica fans, it wasn’t much of a stretch that Tobie and I would totally get into another Ron Moore adventure. And the show totally lives up to the hype as we blitzed through the first two seasons in eager anticipation of diving into the third season.
With the fifth season about to begin before the end of March 2026, it seems as good a time as any to use the show as inspiration for another list of board games that might work for a themed game night. And a hard science fiction show like Mankind deserves a particular range of games.
Or maybe we just really like the heavy stuff.
The first season of the show threw us into the deep end of the show’s alternate history, with Russia taking the lead in the space race and America scrambling to catch up. For some reason, this added a harder edge to the entire space effort, instead of the message of hope and scientific achievement that we’re more used to.
This Haakon Gaarder game is probably as direct as one can get, as it’s literally about trying to set up a base on the moon. It’s not a full space race, but the hand-drafting mechanic does have the vibe of shared (or stolen?) information and technologies contributing to your progress. One of the best things about the game is the role that the little wooden rovers play in terms of giving you more actions, but also helping other players in future rounds. It’s just a really good game, and it’s as close as I can get to the theme of this first season.
I can’t say that we’ve played many space-themed racing games, so this is as close as we get. This Bruno Cathala (Five Tribes) and Bruno Faidutti (Citadels) game has an odd steampunk theme, but this game night is all about alternate histories, right? The fact that you need to influence the passenger composition of the shuttles making their way to Mars makes for an interesting puzzle and has the same vibe as a lot of the corporate (and literal) espionage on the show. And it’s also why the game requires a minimum of 3 players to make things work, as that kind of complex social interaction rarely works at 2 players.. But it nicely captures the pressure of the race to establish a proper base on the moon…even if we’re talking about Mars first.
After things on the moon stabilize, Mars becomes the next big goal. And it just so happens that modern interests in exploring and colonizing Mars have resulted in quite a number of Mars-related board games. At this point, there are probably enough Mars-themed board games to tell all the different stories of these two seasons of the show and then some.
I’m sure you all expected to see this game on the list because it’s a no-brainer. It is one of the best strategy games out there, not just limited to games about Mars. It undoubtedly played a key role in everyone and their dog creating a game about Mars. But this is still the big one that we love to get to the table over and over again. The art may not be the best, but there’s no denying it’s a great game that’s fun to get to the table. And the many expansions of the game have done a great job of capturing different aspects of the show.
This is a much heavier game because Lacerda only seems to design really heavy games. But this take on a Mars game is a very rich one with excellent components and deep gameplay that inspires some very creative strategies. Balancing your actions in orbit with those on Mars could feel something like what the residents of Happy Valley had to go through in order to keep the colony going. It’s worth the effort of learning as long as you invest the time in more plays.
The beginning of Season 3 included Polaris, the orbital space hotel. And while we don’t have a direct hotel in space game, there’s one that comes to mind that I had to add to this game night roster.
This Lacerda-inspired game is quite heavy despite its seeming lighter “cruise ships in space” core theme. Thankfully, getting your rockets launched and ferrying different types of passengers to exotic destinations isn’t as dangerous as what happened on Polaris in the show. The retro futuristic theme of the game is top-notch and provides a satisfying game experience once your players get comfortable with it. Plus, I enjoy wearing the ID that comes with the game.
All this talk of alternate history has me needing to bring up this Civilization-inspired game that is much-loved in our gaming circle despite its rather significant playtime. But the mixing and matching of Leaders, Wonders, and technologies can have you crafting your own version of history. Depending on how players develop, you can have the likes of James Cook using cannons to fight Knights under the command of Isaac Newton.
And that’s today’s For All Mankind board game list. Admittedly, the games suggested for Seasons 3 onwards are all spotlight games that will probably act as the main focus of any game night, so pick the one that best matches the vibe of your group. If anything, the exercise of crafting these themed game nights has taught me that science fiction games tend to lean towards the heavier side of the gaming spectrum. I guess that makes sense given how various science fiction concepts get translated into game mechanics. I’ll see if trying other themes might result in game nights with lighter games in future articles.
