Terra Nullius

Terra Nullius is a competitive strategy board game that combines deckbuilding, area control, asymmetric factions, and exploration in a hard sci-fi setting shaped by corporate rivalry. A rogue planet drifting through the Solar System has been declared an extrajurisdictional zone — a world beyond governments, treaties, and oversight. Deep beneath its surface lie the remains of a long-dead alien civilization, along with active systems and forgotten technologies that may reshape the future of humanity. No humans set foot on the planet. Instead, powerful corporations, industrial conglomerates, scientific consortia, and transhumanist networks remotely command robotic forces from Earth, competing to exploit the planet before it leaves the Solar System forever. In Terra Nullius, players control rival factions with distinct philosophies, technologies, and strategic approaches. Throughout the game, they will: expand across a modular hexagonal map, control strategic territories and alien ruins, harvest resources, construct infrastructure, excavate archaeological sites, develop advanced technologies, deploy robotic units, and engage in open conflict with competing factions. The game features a combination of systems: Deckbuilding: players improve their command deck over time with advanced faction-specific orders and alien artifacts. Area Control: territorial dominance is essential for resource production, infrastructure, and victory. Asymmetric Factions: each faction possesses unique strategic identities and technological priorities. Open Conflict: combat is direct, tactical, and driven by positioning and long-term planning. Exploration & Archaeology: alien artifacts can be integrated into a faction’s systems or secretly dispatched back to Earth for victory points. Time Pressure: the planet’s passage through the Solar System is temporary, forcing players to balance expansion, exploitation, and consolidation before the final cycle ends. At its core, Terra Nullius is a game about opportunism, technological ambition, corporate ideology, and the moral consequences of exploiting a world treated as ownerless — even when evidence suggests it once belonged to something far greater. —description from the designer

Players: 2–6 best 6
Playing time: 90–180 min
Age: 10+
Complexity: 3 / 5