Shackleton Base is a complex and engaging eurogame focused on the development and operation of a lunar colony. This title uses a worker placement system where your main tasks involve constructing domes, recruiting personnel, extracting resources, and generating income. In every session, three specific corporations are selected from a pool of seven, and these entities dictate the types of human activities taking place on the moon. Earning victory points is primarily achieved by completing projects for these corporations.

Each round begins with a card draft. This selection determines the types of workers and resources you will receive for the round, as well as your turn order. Workers are categorized into three distinct colors: red, yellow, and blue. The color of the worker becomes crucial when placing them on the main game map to gather resources. Red workers are used to collect money, yellow workers gather natural resources, and blue workers secure corporate-specific resources. When you place workers to construct buildings, purchase cards, or execute specific corporate actions, the color requirement is less strict, though using the preferred color often grants a bonus.

Only the three figures on the left side of the components are considered standard workers. The astronaut dressed in white appears only when the space tourism corporation is active in the game. These white figures represent tourists rather than workers, and their design gives the impression of impatience, almost as if they are frowning.

This is your personal player board. The tiles visible here are domes, which serve as habitats you can build on the lunar surface. Constructing these domes requires spending resources, and once they are built, you must pay maintenance costs every round. Placing a dome on the main board opens up space on your player board, creating accommodation for workers. Workers placed on the main map to collect resources are attracted to these domes, with priority going to players who have the most domes near the re

This represents the main game board. Each hexagonal space can accommodate up to six domes. The first player to build in a specific hex must also construct a solar panel. Building domes is essential because they allow you to collect resources from the surrounding hexes. When you place a worker on the main board, they face a specific row of hexes and collect resources from every hex in that row that contains a dome. If you own a dome in a hex, you get the re

In this example, a red worker has been placed facing two occupied hexes. Both of these hexes contain my domes, which are marked in green.

Besides placing workers on the main map to gain resources, you can also place them in specific action areas to perform three types of tasks. Although these actions are color-coded, you can use workers of a different color, though you will not receive a bonus. Generally, it is best to use workers that match the action color. The yellow action is designated for construction. The red action allows you to purchase technology cards from one of the three active corporations. These cards provide various benefits and new actions. The blue action is known as the corporate action, allowing you to perform tasks associated with the corporations and the reputation track.

For operations at Shackleton Base to be financially viable, the three corporations must run profitable businesses. You are responsible for building the basic infrastructure on the moon, and this infrastructure must serve a purpose. For new players, a specific combination of companies is recommended: a mining company, a space tourism company, and a research company. All corporations utilize round blue tokens that can be placed onto the main board. These tokens represent resources specific to the corporations. When you use workers to collect resources from the main board, these are the corporation-specific resources you can gather. The mining company introduces Helium-3 to the game, while the space tourism company brings tourists into the gameplay.

Every corporation comes with a set of project cards, with three typically available for purchase at any time. These cards are worth points, but more importantly, they offer actions and abilities that directly or indirectly help you score more points.

This specific component set belongs to a mining corporation. When this corporation is in play, Helium-3 becomes a mineable re

Shackleton Base is fundamentally a development game. You need to build domes to increase the efficiency of re

One lesson I learned the hard way was the importance of deliberately planning to attract yellow workers to my domes to receive maintenance fee discounts. I noticed that everyone else was doing this. Because I failed to do so, I spent a lot of money on maintenance due to the lack of yellow workers on my board. I fell behind in developing basic infrastructure. You want to get many domes built quickly because domes on the moon improve efficiency in collecting resources and provide more space on your player board for workers.

I decided to focus on space tourism, which was quite enjoyable. I purchased several project cards that created a strong combo. Space tourism helped me score many points during the game. Unfortunately, my weak infrastructure meant I scored fewer points at the end of the game, and I did not perform well in the final tally.

Han (represented in pink) was the first player to build the largest dome complex, consisting of six connected domes.

I built significant capacity to bring space tourists on their trips.

Two large dome complexes are visible here.

Workers living in your domes provide benefits, provided they are the correct type.

Tourists, shown in white, can temporarily stay in your domes.

Everyone receives a character card that grants a unique ability.

These components are relevant to the research corporation.

A view of the game in progress.

It is very satisfying to see my happy customers.

This is an enjoyable heavy game. It feels rewarding to watch the base grow, almost as if it is developing organically. While competing with other players, you also want to make use of what they have done. A blue token placed on the board by an opponent is an opportunity for you to collect valuable resources. If they have charged up the communal battery, it might be the right time to use that stored power. Despite the competition, there is a sense of building something together. You do not win by damaging what others have built; you win by making good use of their constructions. Much of the competition involves grabbing opportunities and resources before your opponents do, such as buying project cards, mining natural resources, or fulfilling public contracts. Most of the game mechanisms here will be familiar to experienced eurogame players. What I enjoy most in the game are the symbiotic relationships among players and how you balance working with the corporations in play.