Space Station Zero

What is Space Station Zero

Space Station Zero is a sci-fi survival skirmish game from Snarling Badger Studios, written by Adam Loper and Vince Venturella. It came out on 26 August 2022 as the studio’s second game, after Reign in Hell.

A failed hyperspace jump has left your crew stranded in a huge, ancient space station. You explore it, fight what lives there, and try to work out what the place is and how you got there. The press release lists “hideous mutants, haywire robots, and other pitfalls” waiting inside.

It’s miniatures-agnostic. The studio says to use any sci-fi models you like, whether they’re bought, 3D printed, or kitbashed. It’s built for solo and co-op play, with an adversarial skirmish mode for playing against each other.

How it plays

Pick a crew size. Crews come in 4, 6 or 8 members, and a Commander joins on top of that, so five, seven or nine models in all. The crew roster also has you pick a crew type, a ship type, a secondary agenda, and an edge.
A branching campaign. The solo and co-op game is 24 scenarios, called Challenges, that branch as you go. The adversarial mode adds six more scenarios on top.
The station runs itself. Enemies follow an enemy AI, so you don’t need an opponent to play.
Crews grow, and crews die. Your crew earns experience and equipment through play: new technology, better skills, and allies. Gear can be swapped between Challenges and wounds heal between them. Crew members put out of action roll on an Injury and Death table, though, and if your whole crew is killed the run is over and a new crew starts again at Challenge 1.
It’s meant to be hard. Vince Venturella says the challenges drew on roguelikes and Dark Souls, and that reaching the end “may require multiple attempts and different crews.”

How to start

Get the rulebook. It’s 124 pages. The PDF is $13, or $20 plus shipping for the PDF and a printed softcover, both through WargameVault.
Grab the free sheets. The crew roster and the FAQ and Errata are free on the Space Station Zero page.
Build a crew from your sci-fi models. Anything goes. The studio’s model-finding post points to Infinity, Stargrave, and Reaper figures among others.
Find some enemies. The FAQ says you need six robotic enemies and six organic or mutant enemies for each crew playing. It also lists the full set if you want a model for every enemy type, and recommends 25mm to 40mm bases.