- BGG rating
- 7.2
Darkrock Ventures: Expansion Pack #1
- 1–5 players
- 25–45 min
- 2016
- BGG rank
- BGG #9,650
- BGG rating
- 6.8
Darkrock Ventures
2016
Rules assistance for Darkrock Ventures
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–5 players
- 30–45 min
- 14+
- Complexity 2.3/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Darkrock Ventures
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Darkrock Ventures is a board game released in 2016 for 1–5 players, 30–45 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by Michael Eskue and Andrew Christopher Enriquez and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Dice Rolling, and Area Majority / Influence.
Expansions
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About the game
DESCRIPTION: Darkrock Ventures is a worker placement game about mining and exporting in a hostile outer space. Players will be controlling a mining company working in harsh conditions to acquire the most credits. GENERAL INFO: A euro game for 1-5 players that plays in about 30-45 minutes. THEME: Science Fiction. Space is a hostile environment with a known alien presence. Resources are scarce and it is commonplace for companies to mine asteroids to acquire them. It is known that aliens raid these asteroids and therefore mining companies are geared accordingly in preparation of being attacked. Lives are lost in this line of work daily, but if you run a good crew you can make it out alive and rich! HOOK: Richly thematic euro incorporating dice and dice manipulation, with worker placement, resource farming and exporting. WINNING CONDITION: Highest Credits when the end of the game is triggered. Credits are acquired primarily from exporting minerals mined from the asteroid. MECHANICS: A round begins with rolling a set of Power Dice, these are community dice that players will use in order to successfully mine the asteroid. Players then take turns placing workers throughout different space stations and on a mineral rich asteroid. After all the workers have been placed a third and more volatile Power Die is rolled. A player starts his/her turn by rolling his/her Rig Dice, these represent the a power element of his/her mining equipment that is to be paired with the community Power Dice in order to successfully mine resources from the asteroid. Then he/she resolves all his/her workers. As soon as players begin exporting minerals, hostile alien ships begin patrolling and will attack every round making it more difficult to resolve all the workers successfully. Throughout the game, players will be increasing their worker count, gaining and spending credits (which are the victory points), gaining additional Rig Dice and acquiring explosive Neutronium bombs to protect them from the alien attacks. When 3 of the 6 resource nodes on the asteroid are void of minerals the end of the game is triggered. The round is finished and the player with the most credits wins the game. Darkrock Ventures will also include special 2-player game rules, as well as a Solo/Co-Operative variant.
Mechanics
Publishers
- Gamelyn Games
- Magic Meeple Games
Questions and answers
Darkrock Ventures supports 1–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Darkrock Ventures is 30–45 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Darkrock Ventures for ages 14 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Darkrock Ventures has a complexity rating of 2.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Darkrock Ventures belongs to these categories: Dice, Farming, and Science Fiction. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Dice Rolling, and Area Majority / Influence. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Darkrock Ventures are: Michael Eskue and Andrew Christopher Enriquez. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Darkrock Ventures as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.