How to Play

Fundamentally the game is played according to this simple diagram:

Technology -> Assets -> Actions


Or, in English, "Technology allows you to build assets which allow you take actions. "

Technology

Technology in the game controls what you can do and when.

Each technology allows you to build one asset and has one prerequisite technology. Each technology may, however, allow you to build more than one other technology which forces the player to make choices.

With few exceptions (you may get one or two "free" technologies at the start of the game) you must research a technology to own it. Owning a tech means that you get to use it; it does not prevent other people from also researching the tech.

Attempting research takes a certain amount of time (at this writing this is expressed in turns, but soon this will be in hours, although it will come to the same thing). It will also cost a certain amount of money. And the attempt may not be successful.

Once you own a technology you may research other technologies that require it and you may build the asset allowed by this tech.

Future Enhancements

  • Research will require at least one research facility.
  • The number of research different techs you can research in a turn depends on the number of research facilities. So you can research more kinds of tech with more facilities.
  • But you can't shorten the time to research a single tech no matter how many facilities you have.
  • There may be actions that you can take with a technology directly, regardless of any assets you have.
  • You will be able to buy technologies from other players through the use of Contracts.
  • The fact that someone owns a technology may make it easier for other people to research the tech. And the more people who own the tech may factor into this

Assets

You need technology to build assets. You need assets to take actions. There is a one-to-one correspondence between technology and assets. Each technology can enable one and only one asset and each asset is enabled by one and only one technology. Assets allow you to take actions. Principally, owning the right rocket and the right satellite will allow you to "Launch" the satellite and get money.

Future Enhancements

  • The entire premise of the game depends on there being a lot more assets than this (which necessary requires more technology).

Contracts

Contracts are the heart of Space Race - they're how you make money and progress through the game. Contracts define what you need to provide and what rewards you'll receive.

Contract Types

  • Government Contracts: Pre-built contracts with specific requirements like "deploy a communication satellite to GEO orbit"
  • Recurring Revenue Contracts: Provide ongoing income each turn as long as your satellite remains operational
  • One-time Contracts: Pay immediately upon completion

What Contracts May Require

  • Cash Payment: You pay upfront costs
  • Assets: Specific rockets, facilities, or equipment
  • Technologies: You must own certain research
  • Satellites: Deploy satellites with specific abilities to target orbits

What Contracts May Provide

  • Cash Payment: Immediate money upon completion
  • Assets: New equipment or facilities
  • Technologies: Advanced research you haven't unlocked
  • Satellites: Pre-built satellites for specific missions
  • Recurring Payouts: Ongoing revenue each turn (requires operational satellites)

Auctions and Bidding

Most contracts go through a competitive auction system:

  • Auction Creation: Contracts become available when prerequisite technologies are researched
  • Bidding Phase: Players bid cash amounts to win contracts
  • Winner Selection: Highest bidder wins and pays their bid amount
  • Contract Assignment: Winner must fulfill all requirements within the specified timeframe

Recurring Revenue System

Some contracts provide long-term income:

  • Satellite Requirements: Must maintain operational satellites in correct orbits
  • Ground Facility Limits: Each Ground Operations Facility supports 3 satellites maximum
  • Revenue Validation: Payouts stop if satellites fail or are destroyed
  • Duration: Some contracts pay indefinitely, others have limited terms

Contract Strategy

  • Technology Investment: Research unlocks access to more valuable contracts
  • Infrastructure Planning: Build facilities and assets needed for contract requirements
  • Satellite Design: Create satellites with abilities matching contract needs
  • Orbit Planning: Ensure you can reach required orbits with your rockets
  • Competitive Bidding: Balance bid amounts to win contracts while maintaining profitability

Actions

  • Build: if you have a technology you can build the asset. Currently you only can only build one copy of a thing per turn, but you can build multiple things as long as they are different.
  • Launch: if you have a payload (aka satellite) and an appropriate rocket, can launch them into orbit.
  • Research: you can attempt to research any of the technologies that are allowed given the technology you own.
  • Operating Satellites -- the hidden action: when you launch a satellite, it is automatically operated for you which brings in revenue.

Future Enhancements

  • There will probably be a facility that limits how many things you can build. Every facility that you have allows you to build one more asset per turn.
  • There will probably be a "launch facility" that limits how many rockets you can launch per turn.
  • Change orbit: I believe there will be a need for an action that will allow you to shift something from one orbit to another. This might be Leo to MEO, or it might be Earth to Mars or Jupiter -- if you think about it, it's all same action, although they should have very different requirements.
  • Remove Debris: It might be good in the late game to have the ability to remove dead satellites. I might even add a rule "when the total number of satellites is greater than X, there's a chance of collisions" so that smart players may create contracts to prevent this.

Money

Money is the core resource that drives all game activities. You start with initial cash and must manage it carefully to research, build, and ultimately profit.

Income Sources

  • Contract Completion: Immediate payments when you fulfill contract requirements
  • Recurring Payouts: Ongoing revenue each turn from operational satellites serving contracts
  • Contract Bonuses: Additional payments specified in contract reward details

Major Expenses

  • Research Costs: Attempt costs for developing new technologies
  • Asset Construction: Building rockets, facilities, and equipment
  • Contract Bids: Auction payments when winning contracts
  • Contract Requirements: Upfront costs some contracts demand

Financial Strategy

  • Investment Planning: Balance research and construction costs against expected contract revenue
  • Recurring Revenue: Focus on contracts that provide long-term income streams
  • Competitive Bidding: Bid strategically to win profitable contracts without overpaying
  • Infrastructure ROI: Build facilities that support multiple revenue-generating satellites

Orbits and Launch Mechanics

Orbital Destinations

Space Race features over 30 different orbital destinations, ranging from Earth orbits to asteroids and planetary bodies:

Earth Orbits

  • LEO (Low Earth Orbit): Easiest to reach, lowest operational costs
  • MEO (Medium Earth Orbit): Mid-range difficulty and rewards
  • GEO (Geostationary Orbit): High-value orbit for communication satellites
  • Beyond GEO: Various high Earth orbits with specialized applications

Deep Space Destinations

  • Lunar System: Moon surface and Lagrange points (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5)
  • Asteroids: Mining targets like Ryugu, Bennu, Eros, Ceres
  • Planets: Venus, Mars, and their moons
  • Advanced Targets: Complex orbits with high delta-V requirements

Rocket Capabilities

Four rocket sizes determine your launch capabilities:

  • Small Rocket: LEO only, limited payload capacity
  • Medium Rocket: LEO and MEO, moderate payloads
  • Heavy Rocket: Up to GEO, large payload capacity
  • Super Heavy Rocket: Any destination, massive payload capacity

Satellite Classifications

Five satellite sizes affect launch requirements and capabilities:

  • Tiny: CubeSats and micro-satellites
  • Small: Standard small satellites
  • Medium: Mid-size platforms
  • Large: Heavy satellites with advanced capabilities
  • Huge: Space stations and major infrastructure

Launch Capability Matrix

This table shows which rocket/satellite combinations can reach each orbital class:

Satellite Size
Rocket Size → Maximum Orbit Reachable
Small
Medium
Heavy
Super Heavy
Tiny
LEO
MEO
GEO
Any
Small
LEO
MEO
GEO
Any
Medium
—
LEO
MEO
GEO
Large
—
—
LEO
MEO
Huge
—
—
—
LEO

Satellite Abilities

Satellites can be equipped with various abilities that determine their contract compatibility:

  • Communication Systems: Basic Radio, High-Gain Antenna, Communication Satellites 1-3
  • Earth Observation: Weather Sensors, Cloud Imaging, Surveillance Cameras
  • Advanced Missions: Signal Intelligence, Power Beaming 1-3, Asteroid Exploration
  • Orbital Requirements: Each ability has minimum orbit requirements for operation

Launch Strategy

  • Rocket Selection: Choose rockets that can reach your target contracts' orbital requirements
  • Payload Optimization: Balance satellite size vs. orbital accessibility
  • Technology Prerequisites: Ensure you've researched required rocket and satellite technologies
  • Mission Planning: Design satellites with abilities needed for available contracts

Space News

The Space News is a sort of a newspaper that reports out all the events of the game. Presumably this will be of interest to the players because they can figure out how their opponents are doing.

The Space News does not require you to log in. It's accessible to non-players. It forms a sort of a "rail" (a poker term) where non-players can watch the game.

Future Enhancements

  • Players will be allowed to insert messages into the news, probably for a fee and certainly only within certain limits.
  • There will be certain news articles that pertain to real information about space-related events in the real world. It will be up to players to work out the relevance. This relates to the Mission Statement of the game.
  • The veracity of news articles is not guaranteed. Obviously, player inserted messages may be incorrect but the game itself may insert fake messages.
  • Some day, the game will be required to make money. One way to do that will be to sell advertiser space. I dream of a universe in which such ads will be clever.
  • Premium accounts will, for a small recurring fee, be shown a nicer form of Space News. This will have pictures and video and sound.

User Interface

Actions

Every turn the game figures out what technology you can research (based on what technology you have), what assets you can build (based on what technology you have), what you you can launch (based on what assets you have on hand).

The game then puts this list of actions in a table called "Possible Actions You Could Take". There is a check box next to each action. When you click on "Add Commands" anything checked gets move to the 2nd table, "Actions you are taking".

If you click on "Remove Commands" it will move anything checked from the second table to the first table.

You can go back and forth, adding and removing actions from the list until you are satisfied.

The turn is executed by a server process that takes all your commands and executes them. They become news articles

Information

On the left hand side of the screen are various information tables.

    • Events from last Turn
    • Your turn (#)
      • Your Cash
      • Satellite Revenue
      • Assets You own
      • Tech You control
      • Tech you are researching
      • Satellites you are operating