SPACE ARK

SPACE ARK is a miniature-agnostic skirmish wargame of space naval combat, pitting force against force in a war of attrition for command of the frontier.

Players alternate activation through 5 key turn phases, navigating their 3-10 ship forces through the depths of space, issuing gunnery orders, managing crew stress, and repairing the massive amounts of damage the come so easily at the other end of kinetic weapons in zero gravity. 

Game mechanics are crunchy, but quickly learnable, attempting to straddle the line between the deep simulation complexity of Battletech and the immediacy of contemporary games like Bolt Action. 

SPACE ARK is designed to be highly customizable and expandable. Complete rules are provided for ship design, along with a detailed armory for weapon and equipment selection. Narrative campaign rules and a basic solo ruleset are also provided.

The game is designed for hex maps but measurement-based play is also possible. 

The 53-page rulebook contains:

• Core rules complete with rules for command and control, inertial movement, damage control, and a key Stress mechanic that forces players to choose their actions wisely
• Customizable ship design toolkit
• Pre-built scenarios
• Narrative campaign ruleset with advancement system
• Optional rules for solo play
• Optional rules for measurement-based play

Downloads include:

• Rulebook in single page and spread formats
• 3-page quick reference sheet
• Ship Hangar supplement with 14 pre-built ships
• Blank stat sheet in print-ready and PDF form-fillable formats
• Ship design worksheet

Custom ship builder now available in Google Sheets.

Print copies are available at Etsy.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Feel free to expand on the game as you see fit and publish your expansions. Expand the armory, add scenarios, create optional rules, or even modify existing core mechanics. The universe of Space Ark belongs just as much to the players as it does to its original creator.