Why this game?

Hello everyone, Vince here. I wanted to take a moment to talk about why I am so excited about Space Station Zero. This game grew out of an idea I have had bouncing around in my head for nearly a decade. Originally, I had thought to make it into a traditional tabletop role-playing game. As Adam and I talked about projects we wanted to do and ideas we had passion for, this one quickly came to the top of my list.

I wanted to make a tabletop sci-fi game that had at its heart, a story. The best sci-fi always has layers of meaning and reflection upon the human condition, even when full of aliens and set in the far-flung future or the distant past in a far-away galaxy. It is for this reason that Space Station Zero may not be like many other table-top skirmish games you’ve played. Instead of only fighting your friends in scenario after scenario (don’t get me wrong, that’s in here too, because it’s just fun), I wanted to do something that let’s your crew explore a real mystery. Through the branching narrative of 24 scenarios, your crew will slowly peel the onion, learning more about this mysterious space station, and how they came to be here and if they can escape – at least, they will learn all of that if they survive.

This game is hard, no bones about it. In creating these challenges, we drew on inspiration from rogue-like games and dark souls. Though not nearly as punishing as some of those games can be, getting through all the challenges and making your way to the final truths will be no mean feat and may require multiple attempts and different crews. It’s a dangerous universe out there.

The other reason I wanted to make this game was because I love so much Sci-Fi. I grew up reading and watching science fiction. Star Wars, Dune, Larry Niven, Ursula le Guin, The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe, Starship Troopers, Foundation, Battletech, Warhammer 40K and so much more all engrossed me. I love these tales of distant galaxies and the dreams of what may exist in this incomprehensibly vast universe. I was reminded of this again recently with the amazing photos from the Webb telescope, when an image the size of a pin in the night sky contained galaxies beyond counting. I wanted to make a game where people could use any sci-fi miniature in their collection or that they could imagine and bring those together to have fun.

I know you’re going to enjoy Space Station Zero. Adam, I, and the rest of our contributors put a lot of work into bringing this to life. I can’t wait for you to share the crews you create to explore the depths of the ancient space station. As this is a giant mystery, my final piece of advice would be DON’T SPOIL ANYTHING. That goes for yourself by reading ahead or for others by posting in social media. It will take people varying amounts of time to complete this so please don’t ruin the fun for anyone else.

So that just leaves one question – Can your crew survive?

Vince