
- BGG rank
- BGG #5,035
- BGG rating
- 6.2
504
- 2–4 players
- 30–120 min
- Complexity 3.5/5
- 2015

2016
Rules assistance for Lunarchitects
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 1 player

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Lunarchitects is a board game released in 2016 for 1–5 players, 45–60 minutes per game, and ages 13 and up. It was designed by Dan Cunningham and its main mechanics are Set Collection, Tile Placement, and Grid Movement.
You and your fellow players are architects at Luna Mare, the architectural firm planning the first base on the moon. You will compete with your coworkers for access to building blueprints, astronauts, and construction resources- all to develop the most successful moonbase! Lunarchitects is a medium-weight strategy game that has players moving their pawns forward in a refilling circular queue to claim building blueprints. Players use the claimed blueprints to build personal moonbase plans in front of them. But instead of turns proceeding clockwise, the player furthest behind in the queue always takes the next turn. This makes blueprint choices a matter of quality over quantity. Blueprints from four stages are shuffled then stacked, with stages increasing in both cost and power. Each time all players complete a lap of the blueprint queue, scoring occurs- and the game ends after the fourth round of scoring. The player who has collected the most points is the winner, and their plans will guide the creation the first settlement on the moon! Unknown tile arrangement and variable scoring schemes (determined before the start) makes the game very replayable, as there is never a single most-powerful strategy. Inspired by the well-loved game Glen More, Lunarchitects is a family game for 1-5 players that plays in about an hour.
Lunarchitects 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 Lunarchitects is 45–60 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 Lunarchitects for ages 13 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.
Lunarchitects has a complexity rating of 2.6 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.
Lunarchitects belongs to these categories: Territory Building and Science Fiction. Its main mechanics are Set Collection, Tile Placement, and Grid Movement. 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 Lunarchitects are: Dan Cunningham. 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 Lunarchitects 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.