
- BGG rating
- 7.0
Mining Colony: Objective Pack
- 1–4 players
- 30–60 min
- 2021

2021
Rules assistance for Mining Colony
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 1 player

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Mining Colony is a board game released in 2021 for 1–4 players, 40 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by Steve Finn and its main mechanics are Auction / Bidding and Tile Placement.
Your home world is running low on resources. To survive, you send teams of workers to a nearby resource-rich planet, but one with a harsh and inhospitable environment. Will your teams outperform the others to build the best mining colony? Mining Colony is a tile laying game for 1-4 players in which you use excavation cards to compete for resources. With these resources, you develop your colonies and attempt to build science stations and outposts. The game is played over ten rounds, each of which consists of three phases: discover, excavate, develop. In the discover phase, a resource card is flipped and resources are placed in excavation zones. In the excavation phase, players use their excavation cards to compete for those resources. In the development phase, development tiles (which are won in the excavation phase and come in a variety of shapes) are placed on the player's individual colony board. The resources, which also include ships, colonists, and crystals are placed in designated spots on the tiles. In the competitive game, players score points by creating the best mining colony, i.e., having various resources, people, and ships that are determined to be more valuable. In the solo mode, the player competes against a dummy player while they attempt to complete their colony. —description from the publisher
Mining Colony supports 1–4 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 Mining Colony is 40 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 Mining Colony 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.
Mining Colony has a complexity rating of 1.9 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a 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.
Mining Colony belongs to these categories: Territory Building and Space Exploration. Its main mechanics are Auction / Bidding and Tile Placement. 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 Mining Colony are: Steve Finn. 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 Mining Colony 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.