Deep Space D-6 is a dice-based single player game available in a free print and play version here: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/183571/deep-space-d-6/files
Upon downloading and printing, I had a positive first impression of it – the play board is attractive, well-organized and gives a sense of adventure. Gameplay is essentially resource-based – each turn the player rolls up to six dice, the outcome of which provides the player with the crew members that will be available to them for that round. Crewmen are assigned duties to clear out “threats” both internal (pandemic) and external (large ships with big guns). New challenges stack up each turn, and players have to survive everything the game throws at them to claim victory (literally, as you have to make it through the entire deck of threats.) This win condition has a downside in that seeing all threats in each game makes them all feel a bit familiar.
The learning curve is a bit sharp – I wasn’t personally sure about the utility of some of the crew members at first and found myself forgetting steps in the turn order, but it clicked after a while. The game is somewhat punishing, especially if you choose to leave out some of the “Nothing Happens” cards to add to the challenge – it really does feel like your ever-so-few crewmen are coping with an entire armada at times. The challenge seems fair, though, and the game does feel quite well balanced overall, especially with “Commander” crewmen to reassign the others to meet emergency needs (like bringing your shields back online to cope with the flagship that just appeared…).
All in all, Deep Space D6 is a fun, engaging game, and certainly one to try. A warning, though – while it advertises as “Print and Play,” you are assumed to have dice on hand – seven D6, in fact. A die roller app will not suffice since you physically move around and group them.
A multiplayer version, Deep Space D6: Armada is supposedly in the works. Since a game like this screams for a cooperative multiplayer component, it’s certainly something to watch for!
This game will be available on July 20th from Amazon.
The game is a lot of fun to play (see my session report if you want to read what it is like). The components are excellent. The box itself is fun. The space-ship play mats are wonderful and of high quality. The dice are good. The rules are light but manageable. It took me less than five minutes from opening the rule-book to playing the game. Also, the game is challenging, which I like.