Moonrakers Board Game Review

Moonrakers is a combination of something I love and something I generally hate. As a longtime fan of games like Dominion, I would say that I really enjoy deck or bag buildings games. Negotiation games, however, are generally not my cup to of tea. Things like Waterfall Park , while a great production and fun to play, ultimately fall flat for me after a few plays because of the negotiation elements. Still, I’ve managed to play a number of games of Moonrakers in the last week AND look forward to more – so what gives?

In Moonrakers, players are building decks, obtaining ship parts, and trying to fulfill contracts with the ultimate goal of reaching 10 prestige points and winning the game. The bulk of the game will be taking and negotiating contracts, which will require players to play a set number of cards of a certain type, along with rolling 0-4 hazard dice that could lose you prestige if not countered with a shield or ability.

The thing is, most of the contracts available in Moonrakers are going to be tough to complete alone, so negotiating with other players to complete the contracts is a must. How many coins or prestige will you offer other players to help you? Will they also be required to roll one or two of the hazard dice? Why is that guy so keen on helping out even though he doesn’t want any rewards at all?

The negotiation in Moonrakers is unlike anything I’ve really done so far, and to make sense of that we need to talk about a turn structure. After choosing a contract to take (or staying at base), players will ultimately have to discard their entire hand, whether they played cards or not. Anyone who helps with the contract ALSO must discard their entire hand, whether they played cards or not. Because of this, helping someone else out is a good way to trash a bad hand prior to the start of your next turn, but there could be some trickery involved.

Divvying up the rewards prior to beginning a contract is a must, and those deals are binding. But just because I say I can help you complete something, doesn’t mean I have to. This will always be in the back of your mind in Moonrakers. Is he only helping me to trash his bad hand? Does he have an objective card that requires him to go on a mission without accepting a reward (regardless of whether the mission is successful or not)? These are the questions that continue to pop into your head, and really stiff negotiation will be required.

Ultimately, like any negotiation game, there needs to be a method to the madness. If I screw you over too many times too early, I’m probably not going to be invited on contracts anymore. Not negotiate hard enough, however, and I’ll be continually giving you the upperhand which could lead to my downfall. There is a fine line in when to help and when not to help in this game, and it gives me a negotiating feeling I haven’t had in other games of this style. As I mentioned off the top, I don’t really like negotiation games – this one hits differently and I like it quite a bit!

Part of me thought I could recommend this game to those who really disliked negotiation games. Afterall, you can build up your deck overtime to complete harder contracts all on your own. You can add shields (protect against hazards), thrusters (draw extra cards), damage (deal 1-3 damage) and reactors (take two extra actions) to your deck, as well as advanced cards of these types that give both extra actions and cards, or attacks plus defense.

You can even add crew to your hand that give special abilities like choosing what you might want (actions, hazard protection, etc.) or giving you bonuses when doing certain types of missions. But even if you build up well, there has to be some negotiation to get your own ship board and deck going. It’s a must, and there is no getting around it.

We previously spoke about the components and art of Moonrakers, and you can read that here (LINK). This game is impressive. It’s impressive to play and impressive to look at. IV Studio has done a phenomenal job when it comes to producing their games, and I couldn’t be more excited to have a few other IV titles sitting on my shelf waiting to be reviewed. At least when it comes to Moonrakers, this is the complete package.

There is only one place that Moonrakers falls flat a bit for me, and that is in the contract selection. 8 contracts will be face-up at all times, and sometimes those contracts are just too big for one person to handle. If you happen to be near the end of the game – perhaps 1 or 2 prestige away from winning – it’s unlikely other players will want to help you, or ask you to help them, on contracts.

That means your only option is to complete small 1 or 2 prestige contracts on your own, or hit it big with 1-prestige objective cards. With a limited ability to cycle contract cards (you can pay a credit to remove and replace one) it can be hard to even get a shot at a contract you can actually fulfill. That can quickly make the entire game drag to a crawl, and can be a bit off putting.

Aside from that, I have very little negative to say about this experience. I think this takes basic deck building mechanics and elevates them. While not a 2024 title, it still is one of the better games i’ve played so far this year, and I would recommend it to almost anyone!