Aidler-14

Wealthy individuals on the Earth funded a project and have assembled the tools and mining teams capable of a 1 year expedition to a Near-Earth asteroid and have placed you in charge of its operation. The mission is not without risk however. In an effort to achieve the greatest resource achievement and make more room for hauling resources back to the Earth, the teams have been supplied with limited water and must learn to “live off the land” by locating sources of water to sustain themselves all the while avoiding the numerous other dangers of mining an asteroid such as outgassing and related geological effects. You and your team will be pitted against other mining teams with the same capabilities and it will be up to you to outperform the other teams to achieve the largest, most diverse haul and achieve victory. Good Luck!

Aidler-14 pits players in a unique mining mission where the ultimate goal is to acquire the greatest amount of resources, making the most efficient use of available mining tools and techniques that are available through the use of the mining assistance cards. Abilities range from advanced movements on the asteroid surface to being able to double and even triple your teams mining production for the turn. Your mining team has 3 workers which you deploy to either explore and uncover new resources to be mined, mine resources that have already been discovered, or process raw mined materials into processed goods that will save weight and space on the Earth return vehicle for the trip home. The game consists of 12 rounds with each round being broken up into 6 distinct stages.

Worker placement, dice rolling, and timing are the key mechanics to this game as choice of available cards and locations on the board are chosen in succession beginning with the starting player for the round. Placing more than one worker for mining will increase the odds that more resources are produced, but at the same time increases the risk of losing those workers to the damage sustained mechanic of the game that simulates the many dangers associated with this type of mission. Management of water resources cannot be overstated as the teams will have to seek out sources on the surface to replenish water utilized to keep your team alive as well as operate the equipment on the surface.

Combining the most unique and exciting elements of outstanding games such as The Settlers of Catan, Agricola, and Stone Age with a science based approach to the prospect of mining for resources in space makes Aidler-14 stand out compared to the many other space mining-type games that are on the market and makes for endless replayability and a lot of fun.

—description from the designer