The Space Adventure Review

As the crew of the SlothMonkey (an actual name from one of our games) approached the mountainous planet. They were in awe of this planets beauty and yet harshness. Before any of them could say a word, the holo-screen on the ships dash came to life; standing there was The Ambassador. Without waiting for acknowledgement, the ambassador commands:

‘SlothMonkey, we have had reports of lifeforms on the planet you approach. Be on the lookout for, what we now call, Invisiphants. A race of invisible elephant like creatures that inhabitants of this planet. Please forward all data collected to me directly’

The holo-screen fades to black. As you start your final approach to the planet, the chefonaut jokes, ‘I like him, he has a great way with people.’

Choose an Ambassador, As Ambassador of the Intergalactic Committee your job is to facilitate the game experience and guide players as an in-game character. You play an important part in this game and in keeping up a ridiculous and fun mood. You can change or modify the story, the rules and winning criteria if you want
Space Adventures is played over 6 timed rounds.

  1. BRIEFING

Show the briefing video from the Intergalactic Committee or read the below:
‘Planet Earth turned into a raisin and we have to find a new home for humanity. You are one of the chosen ones. You will form a space crew with other brave and crazy minded LUPO-Nauts. Each one of you will have a specific role in this mission, but together you must build a new town for hu-manity on a strange new world. It is up to you how you want to bring your ideas to life. You can start with pen & paper and go all the way to building an actual spaceship. You have 60 – 90 minutes time to form a space crew, build a spaceship and create a new town for humanity. When the time is over, you have to present your creation to the Ambassador of the Inter-Galactic Committee.’

  1. FORM SPACE CREW (3-5 Minutes) –

Each space crew consists of 3-5 players. (Assign extra roles if only 3 players.)

  • Let your players choose a character name and write it down e.g. on a post-it.
  • Give each player one role card.
  • Let your players get to know each other.
  • Let your players decide a name for their space crew.
  1. BUILD SPACESHIP (10-15 Minutes)

It is time to build a spaceship for the journey!

  • Let your players design a spaceship based on the name they have chosen for their space crew.

If they can’t agree on the name for the ship, ask them to combine their ideas. The result might be an ice-unicorn-kitten spaceship!

  1. LIFT OFF! (5 minutes)

Now that they have an awesome space crew and a spaceship, all it’s missing are the coordinates for then designated planet.

  • Give each player a designated mission card for their role.
  • Let them tell each other their mission.
  • Give each space crew one world card.

Another species arrived at the sometime!

  • Give each space crew a species card.

Don’t forget, we want to live in peace and harmony with the new species. As the cities on planet Earth looked boring, we want a new style.

  • Give each space crew one style card.
  1. TOWN CREATION (20-45 minutes)

It is time to build the new home for humanity! Your players can decide how they want to bring their ideas to life. Be it by brainstorming and then by drawing, or whatever they can imagine! Actively engage with your players, keep up the ridiculous mood.

  • Give space crews a world impact card, if they are too fast or they need more challenges.
  • Give space crews a crew impact card to make them do ridiculous and fun things.
  1. SHOWTIME (3-5 Minutes)

Let your players present their creations to the Ambassador

  • Inquire about their creations by asking questions about their town.
  • Challenge their decision or praise them for their creativity.
  • Think about ways to inspire the players to think further.
  • You can decide whether there are winning criteria or not, modify the rules as you wish.

The winner is decided by the ambassador after all teams have presented their creations

Space Adventure is weird and wonderful; It is crazy and whimsical with an organised chaos of hilarity and fun. This game is like nothing I have ever played and I loved it so much. Space Adventure is from Lupo games and is certified Educational Quality. The game plays in about 90 minutes and would be amazing for a team building exercises or a group art project.
I received a random email about this game from Finland, and in all honesty, took the game mainly because I have always wanted to go there. That being said I’m glad I did, as this game is so much fun.  Not to mention, I was the hit of one of ‘The Angels’ birthday party with the kids and the partners.
I played this game twice, once with a group of friends, which I played RPG with and all but 2 of us have some sort of artistic skills and once at ‘the Angel’ 12th birthday. Both parties loved this game, as working together to make something come alive and the pressure of the time really does make you work together under stress.
So the reason, I mentioned these friends were RPG players, is because that is what this game feels like. You are creating your characters and world; giving them backstories and personalities and even creating the world and people they encounter. I know personally, creating a new character is part of an RPG I like, I give them a voice, write a backstory and even a brief stretch as to what I think they look like. So Space Adventure was just all this with a sci-fi backdrop.
Space Adventure also doesn’t expect you to just randomly come out with stuff, it prompts you the whole way. You receive card throughout the rounds that both guide and hinder you. Let me explain that a little better; so when I played with my friends they had ideas of where they were taking their characters and the colonists that they would meet, but give them a card and all of a sudden their world changes. Their idea was a desert planet, as they thought to far a hard and tried to over plan, but received the Mountain world. This has water and receding mountain with snowy peaks meaning everything they pre-decided had to change.
Whereas the Angel and her friends, allowed the cards to guide them and keep the imagination flowing. It allowed them to focus on the task at hand and then move forward once it was complete. Funnily enough, the 12 year olds played it better than the 35+ year olds.
I must say some of the creations from both parties were amazing. With my RPG friends we only had enough for 2 teams of 5; with the Angels we had 5 teams of 5. It was mayhem. Luckily I had a special guest Ambassador, My 7 year old niece. I think she felt a bit left out with the older kids and so I gave her the special rule of Ambassador. It was the best decision I made that day, she was like drill sergeant. When I asked her to let each group know there was 2 minutes left, she jumped on a chair and at the top of her lungs screamed “THIS IS YOUR 2 MINUTE WARNING!”  If this wasn’t the scariest thing I have ever seen, I would have almost thought it was cute.

The art of Space Adventure is perfect for this game, it is self-explanatory and simple on a simple black background. It gives you exactly what it needs to imagine the astronaut, species and world, but not too much that it doesn’t allow you give it your own style and flare. Lupo have done an amazing job of getting the art to gently guide you and not forcefully push you in the right direction.
Space Adventure has added another reason for me want to visit Finland. This game is fun, creative and imaginative. It is aimed at kids; yet I think families and even a Corporate setting for team building would get use from this game. Not to mention, it is totally up to you how you want your players to bring their ideas to life It can be pen & paper, Minecraft, 3D printing, LEGO or any other tool you can think of.
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