Orbit War
BGG rank
BGG #27,084
BGG rating
5.7

Orbit War

1983

Rules assistance for Orbit War

Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

  • 2 players
  • 60 min
  • 12+
  • Complexity 2.6/5

For 2 players

Rules assistant for Orbit War

What would you like to know?

Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.

Orbit War is a board game released in 1983 for 2 players, 60 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Steve Jackson (I) and Wallace Wang and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Variable Set-up, and Grid Movement.

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About the game

Orbit War was a magazine game published by Steve Jackson Games in Space Gamer (Issue 66 - Nov 1983). This release was followed by an expansion published in Space Gamer (Issue 67 - Jan 1984) and later by the boxed edition. It is a simulation of satellite warfare in low Earth orbit. The players are the USA and the APU (Asian-Polish Union). The object is of course to destroy your opponent's satellites and such... The author wrote: "I had planned a Strategic Orbit War game where the goal is for players to explore, colonize, and mine the solar system. So I envisioned one big map showing the planets orbiting around, then a bunch of little maps showing the players' satellites orbiting the different planets, trying to blow the other guy's satellites out of orbit so they can claim the natural resources of that planet for themselves. Alas, with Orbit War failing, Strategic Orbit War never came to pass either."

Questions and answers

Orbit War supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.