John Butterfield has been hard at work on SpaceCorp: Ventures, the first expansion to his hit space-exploration game SpaceCorp. Developer Jason Carr is here to share the second of four sneak-peeks at what comes in the Ventures box. This week, he looks at a Corporation pushing the boundaries of human evolution: Next Generation.

Last week we looked at the most basic of the 14 unique HQ boards included in SpaceCorp: Ventures. This week, we are looking at a much more complex Corporation; while SpaceCorp stuck to the usual paths to victory, Next Generation goes off the rails.

While advancements in human capabilities have been explored for hundreds of years, it took the technology and discoveries of the space race to launch humanity to a new frontier of evolution. Next Generation began as a group of scientists lobbying for transhumanist research but quickly became the premiere for-Profit company exploring human augmentation, evolution, and genetic manipulation. Now, they take their research to the stars as they seek to become a new breed of human: Homo Galactus.

Next Generation has a major edge in grabbing Adaptation cards; they move their Genetics marker for free at the start of each Era, enabling them to easily grab an Adaptation card at the start of Planeteers (or even 2!). This is necessary because they can’t use their 3rd Infra Slot until the get that second Adaptation, which is a major limitation. Additionally, they will have to use their hand of cards or Infra to get shielding for most of their Move and Build actions, as they have only 1 Shield Factory. In Planeteers, Adaptation becomes even more important; whenever Next Generation gains an Adaptation card via a Genetics action (but not via Gene Editing or Recombination), they get to take another turn (Rapid Adapt). This can allow Next Generation to build up a powerful hand of cards through chaining turns. They will need this advantage during Starfarers, since they can’t use other players’ Infra unless those players have an Adaptation card; other players will often forgo these cards in order to limit Next Generation.

Additionally, Next Generation can sell their patents on the Genetics Market,for a hefty Profit. However, as they become less and less… human, other Corporations are less likely to buy their findings, and their rate of Adaptation necessarily slows. Whenever they are the Leader, they do not get their Rapid Adapt and Genetics Market advantage, so they have to make sure they have the right Adaptations in hand to overcome this limitation. At the end of the game, Next Generation has the option to Gain 1 Profit for each Adaptation and Bio Lab they have on the board instead of scoring Colonies. This can make the Adaptation heavy strategy pay off big time.

Next week we will look at a faction that directly competes with Next Generation, keeping humans fully human as they reach for the stars.

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