Wild Space: Rhinos and Lizards and Bears in SPAAACE!
Create an animal-based crew of specialists to explore the far reaches of space and visit new planets with Wild Space.
It was no surprise that I couldn’t resist Wild Space with all of its animals! Exploring space in this way seemed pretty neat, and I’m hardly one to turn down anything with creatures. Have you seen my Calico Critters? Ha! I got to work learning the rules and figuring out just what sort of space-faring adventure this would be. To the solo table!
Game Overview
Game Name: Wild Space
Publication Year: 2020
Designer: Joachim Thôme
Artist: Amélie Guinet
Publisher: Pandasaurus Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
A starting captain forms the foundation for a crew that can grow to include specialists, emissaries, and robots. Ships head out to discover and explore planets, all with the goal of adding more crew members for bonuses. Turns are quick, and in space, that’s often a good thing!
First Play
October 7, 2022
Complexity
2
Latest Play
October 7, 2022
Expansions
0
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
15 Minutes
High Score
45
Game Area
30" x 22"
Low Score
30
Lots of… Similar Cards
So many different crew members! I was only slightly disappointed by the identical image used for every animal. Still very neat, if a little on the monotonous side.
As I read through the rules, it was clear that this was going to be on the lighter side and involve lots of combinations.
There were a few small stumbling blocks with the rules for the solo opponent. Please don’t tell me to set it up exactly like multiplayer, but imply not to deal a hand of cards.
Yet rulebooks are their own animal… Oh, a pun! Ha ha! I was prepared to start building my crew to explore space.
Beginning Options
I started out with a hand of 3 cards, which proved to be a nice mixture of the specialists available. The veteran at the bottom could upgrade my captain, providing bonuses.
The lizard required a botanist in the crew in order to place. A-ha! My bear captain met that requirement. Playing that card allowed me to draw 2 cards into my hand.
Meanwhile, the other bear could be chained to play a botanist immediately. Like I said, combinations galore!
But this all happened by visiting and exploring planets. Those actions were a lot more similar than I thought.
Fun with More Animals
Note that these animal meeples are from another game that just arrived… Can you guess which one? I brought them in to show off my first play, which was a win!
However, it all felt rather bland. I either had a good turn, or didn’t. The randomness of the cards ruled supreme.
I had some choices in terms of collecting sets and setting up certain card combinations, but the theme wasn’t there.
Furthermore, I wasn’t building an engine to activate. It was all just simple set collection, only with some extra steps and a whole lot of random elements.
Exploring Planets
Each of the 10 turns either involved placing my ship on a planet to take the bottom action on either side, or moving a ship to the top to draw 3 cards or play 1 card.
The later planets provided more powerful options for having more crew members… But it all felt similar.
I didn’t feel like I was moving forward or doing anything other than trying to generate victory points. Maybe that works for some, yet I often need a little bit of a theme.
Animals in space sounds like a great concept, and the artwork is delightful! I was just disappointed overall.
The Conundrum of What Makes a Game Fun
At the heart of my disappointment was the lack of fun for me. I could identify it immediately: This was just about short-term card combinations. Turns where I could chain actions to do 3 or 4 things felt exciting! But that all depended on luck, and not necessarily a good deal of strategy. The cards were random, as were some of the solo opponent’s moves.
I can definitely see this game working well for the right audience. Someone who wants a quick 10-15 minute game about trying to make some cool card combinations would likely find lots of fun here! Yet for me, I have plenty of other options that give me a sense of satisfaction about building something. I didn’t feel like I had a crew… Just cards.
Honestly, this is probably a game that simply feels extra mechanical to me: It’s all about following the rules and working towards final scoring. Again, nothing wrong with that for those who enjoy that sequence! I suppose I wanted a lot more and the sense of making a more powerful crew. No one worked together nor provided any neat bonuses.
Some of the emissaries provided victory points for pairs of elements, like rhinos and botanists. But that didn’t translate into anything other than victory points in my mind. I tried settling on the fun in creating card combinations, yet the sheer randomness of the deck didn’t help matters. I only saw less than half the deck with each play, unfortunately.
To Infinity and Beyond!
Can you believe that I have absolutely no space-themed Calico Critters? They like to keep their feet planted on the ground. But this curious cat was decked out as a gargoyle!
With some very questionable wings, she was all set to join the next space crew. Close enough to a proper uniform!
Also, not to go too far off on a tangent, but some of these costumes are so cute and nostalgic. This reminds me of something I would have worn way back in the day.
Try as I might, even some cute animal visitors struggled to bring my second play to life. Still… Gargoyles in space!
Failure to Launch
I had a pretty awful time with my second outing. The cards didn’t go in my favor. I had the choice of what the solo opponent would do, and that didn’t help me out.
There were possible combinations I could see, yet I never could quite get them going. The most I could play were 2 cards at once, and I never visited the furthest planets.
Again, I was left with a sort of hollow feeling. I liked a few turns, but just couldn’t find the formula for fun.
I hope there are those out there who enjoy it though! The games I don’t like still have their fans, fortunately.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 and 2
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level
Outcome: 45-38 and 30-43 (1 Win and 1 Loss)
My score flipped with the solo opponent’s, and a lot of that was down to luck. I couldn’t quite pull off the requirements for the better planets. And although the solo opponent helped cycle through the cards, I still missed out on some I needed or never managed to create the right combination. At least I got this one off my shelf and gave it a chance! Better than letting it sit around in SPAAACE!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
5
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
6
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
3
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- When card combinations come together, it can be very exciting to chain together more than 3 cards at once.
- Most of the iconography is very clear, understandable, and easy to find on all of the cards and planet boards.
- There isn’t a huge amount of space needed to play since identical animal cards can stack to track victory points.
- Scoring comes from different paths, including animal sets and special robot cards mixed into the deck.
- Play time moves very quickly with a total of 10 rounds, and the choices are limited to 2 different main actions.
- Ships provide helpful round reminders as they track how many actions are left and are easy to find at a glance.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Card combinations form the main aspect of play, yet randomness makes this a definite hit or miss each turn.
- Not all of the solo mode rules are clear and some of the iconography isn’t defined in the reference chart.
- The card quality is somewhat disappointing, as they tend to curl or bow pretty easily and lack a linen finish.
- Making decisions for the solo opponent helps cycle through the deck, but adds a separate thought process.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 40 points.
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What have you enjoyed about playing Wild Space solo? Maybe it didn’t pan out for me, yet I always hope that the games I don’t particularly have fun with have people who like them. Are there other games that didn’t resonate with you, yet found an audience somewhere else? I have a feeling I’ll be finding a new home for this copy, and that’s not a bad thing!
0 Comments