Mining Colony is a tile-laying game where you are working to build the best mining colony to bring back resources for your home planet which is resource poor.
In this game players bid by choosing one of three development cards from their hand for a variety of resources including colonists, spaceships, crystals and development tiles. The cards you do not use for your bid will be available to you again later in the game, therefore it can be beneficial to save the more valuable cards at times. You then place your items you won that turn onto your board.
Board Game Scores & Ranks:
- BGG Weight: 2.0
- Play time: 40 Mins
- Player Count: 1-4 players
- Year Published: 2021
Board Game Designer:
Steve Finn
Game Mechanisms:
- Auction Bidding
- Tile Placement (polynomial)
- Resource Collection
Goal of Game:
Collect the most VP by end game and you are the dominate colony! You collect VPs through place sets of gems that can be placed on your board, having of colonists, spaceships, outposts and science stations and overall grid coverage.
Interesting Elements:
If you gain resources that you cannot use, you can trade them in for credits which allow you to purchase other items you made need include one grid square tiles of different types from blank, to launch pads and crystal spaces. This allows you to always have something to do and no matter which resource pool you win during the bidding you can get something useful for yourself.
The solo plays with a bot to where you are trying to build your own colony. Will you craft the ‘best’ colony?
Board Game Replayability Review:
Based on 9 Plays
- High player interaction through bidding
- Variety of resource cards in discover phase making each game different
- Race for outposts and science stations as there are limited quantities based on player count
- Straightforward rulebook and easy teach (includes a player aid)
- Great job on the artwork (80s space theme) and meeples (all unique)
- This game shines at higher player counts as there is more variety in the auction phase (options to bid on and interaction with players)
- Scoring values change from game to game
Who is this Game For?
We recommend this game for gamers looking for a competitive mid-light weight game that is easy to learn. This game would be a great family game or a filler for a game group wanting to try something a bit different. If you like Steve Finn games you will like this one as there are a few elements I have seen in his other designs and a number of new twists and turns.
For us, Mining Colony will be played with 3-4 players to enhance the discover phase (options and interaction during the bidding phase).