Best Star Trek Board Games

In a galaxy far, far away…

Just kidding, we’re boldly going where one franchise has gone before. We’re heading to the vastness of all things Star Trek, specifically we’re looking at the best Star Trek board games this side of the Milky Way. 

Engage warp drives and let’s jump in. Check out the 14 Best Star Trek board games below.

Our Top Picks for Best Star Trek Board Games

In a hurry? Check out our favorites below.

06/04/2023 09:30 pm GMT

#1. Star Trek: Frontiers

Mage Knight was one of my favorite board games and probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing a solo-game. 

Star Trek: Frontiers takes the Mage Knight system and ruleset and transports it to the Star Trek universe. 

Star Trek: Frontiers uses a streamlined version of the ruleset so it’s easier to jump into the game. It includes solo, competitive, and cooperative scenarios as well as a host of fan-made content that will keep any Trekkie busy exploring the universe.  

Although Frontiers is a simpler version of Mage Knight, that’s not to say it’s not a massive world to explore. On top of that, there’s the Return of Khan expansion that adds Khan’s ship and a lot more content to the mix.

#2. Star Trek: Ascendancy

Star Trek: Ascendancy takes players out of the roles of their favorite captains and instead puts them at the helm of 3 iconic factions in Star Trek: the United Federation of Planets, the Klingons, and the Romulans.

Ascendancy is a strictly 3-player, 4X strategy game.

Players will need to eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate (4X) in order to win. It’s a much larger scale view of the Star Trek universe and gives the players a chance to run their own civilization. It captures a lot of the Star Trek lore by bringing in custom tech trees for each race and an incredible, explorable world to conquer. 

There’s an amazing amount of replay value but the only downside is that the game takes quite a while to finish… and it absolutely requires 3 players. If you have a consistent gaming group of 4, you can still play if you get the Borg expansion. It adds a semi-cooperative element to the game due to everyone having to fight off the Borg assimilation.

#3. Star Trek: Fleet Captains

Get ready for some ship-to-ship warfare. Fleet Captains is a nifty little miniatures game that uses a system similar to HeroClix, in which each model has a rotating base to determine stats and damage. 

Unlike a lot of other miniatures-based games, however, you won’t have to buy a ton of boosters to play a big ship battle. Everything you need comes in the box and you get a surprising amount of ships for the Federation and the Klingons. If you do want some other factions like the Romulans, you’ll have to get an expansion, though. 

The game is a little intimidating to set up but much easier after the first game or two. There’s a variable setup and ship-drafting mechanic so no two space battles will ever be the same, adding a ton of replay to your universe. 

#4. Star Trek: Attack Wing

Attack Wing… Now, where have I heard that name before? 

If you’re familiar with the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game then you’ll be right at home. Attack Wing reimplements the same system that’s been altered for the Star Trek universe. 

Personally, I love the system that they use here and it makes for an awesome dogfighting, ship-to-ship combat experience. 

The miniature design is one of my favorites in the Trekkie universe and they look fantastic on the table. 

The only real downside is that the system is completely incompatible with any others, so you’ll never be able to see which fandom would win in a fight, Star Trek vs. Star Wars. 

#5. Star Trek: Panic

On the lighter end of the galaxy is Star Trek: Panic. It improves (IMHO) upon the original which is called Castle Panic. 

If you’re unfamiliar, the Panic series puts the players in a defensible position at the center of the board with a swarm of enemies constantly moving in from all sides. It’s your job to work together to stem the tides, repair your defenses, and survive the onslaught.

Star Tek: Panic improves upon the original system by having players defend the USS Enterprise. Players now can use character cards to gain roles and abilities from the original series and there’s even a mission-based system that adds more flavor to the game. 

Some of the other games in the Panic series were criticized for not staying true to the original ruleset but I think the new rules added to the Star Trek variant improve upon the original system. 

It’s a fun re-theme of a great game that’s great for families and the younger crowd. 

#6. Star Trek: Catan

Star Trek comes to Catan but instead of a cute little island with a handful of sheep, you’ll instead be sitting in space at an outpost that’ll never be upgraded because “KAREN”  won’t ever trade Oxygen!

Seriously though, it’s a very thematic Trek-themed version of Catan that includes a host of heroes from all across the series. Each one gives players a significant boost or ability in-game and it really changes up the gameplay. 

I’m a huge fan of Catan and the Star Trek version is another great way to get a quick Trek fix while playing a great game. 

To add more Easter Eggs to your Catan game, you can check the Federation Space Expansion that changes up the board by adding the map used in the show that displays all of the known federation space. There are also a few extra goodies and variants thrown in as a bonus.

#7. Star Trek: Chrono-Trek Card Game

A Star Trek-themed variant of Looney Labs’ Chrononauts. 

Franchises, especially Star Trek, like to revamp timelines and alter the very fabric of time to reboot a series. Chrono-Trek lets you sit in the writer/director’s seat and take charge of your own Trekkie timeline. 

Each player becomes a secret agent that needs to travel through the entire Star Trek timeline and create their own alternate realities to suit their own needs. It’s a very simple and quick game that lets you reminisce and relive a lot of the fun Star Trek moments that you know and love. Then you can change them all in a series of what-ifs.

It asks the important questions, like “What if the Federation was assimilated by the Borg?” 

Chaos, that’s what. 

#8. Star Trek: Deck-Building Game

Deck-builders have always been among my favorite games. They allow for a ton of customization and they’ve grown steadily in complexity and mechanics throughout the years while still staying true to the core game mechanics.

The Star Trek Deck-Building Game adds a bit more Trekkie flair to the genre by having players take on the role of captains on a salvaged ship. It’s the perfect platform for a deck-builder. You have an empty ship ready to be filled with iconic crew members and equipment from the Star Trek Universe.

There are 3 different stand-alone versions that can be combined with any others for a more mix-and-matched galaxy to explore. Each one represents a different Star Trek era from the Original Series or the Next Generation.

Each version comes with 3 thematic ways to play, free for all, teams, and cooperative. They’re all thematically linked to their respective eras, so you may be finding yourself fending off the Borg with Picard or picking up allies for your fight in a Klingon civil war.

#9. Star Trek: Fluxx 

Fluxx is a dumb game. It’s completely random, wacky and full of puns. So although it’s dumb it’s a ton of fun and easy to play.

Players start the game out with 2 simple rules: draw a card then play a card. That’s it. There’s literally no way to win yet. As the game goes on, new crazy rules will come into play along with goal cards that actually give the win condition.

It’s a super weird game but fun to play. If you enjoy it, there are also a ton of different thematic versions, like zombies, Cthulu, and even a generic Sci-Fi version that has even more Star Trek puns. 

#10. Star Trek: Conflick in the Neutral Zone

No that’s not a typo, the game is called “Conflick”.

Conflick is a dexterity game where players flick their pieces to into position on a board. Similar to shuffleboard, you can also knock away players’ pieces. 

I’m normally not a big fan of dexterity games because I’m as graceful as a moose trapped in a bedspread. Conflick, however, has some neat mechanics that go along with flicking prowess. Players need to manage resources, by positioning their ships near planets, while managing their number of actions. It makes for a rather exciting tabletop experience.

#11. Star Trek: Expeditions

Star Trek: Expeditions is based on the 2009 reboot of the series and thus uses all the fancy bells, whistles, and lense flairs you’ve come to expect from the new series. 

In Expeditions, the USS Enterprise is dispatched to a distant world that is under attack from Klingons, undergoing a civil war, and is about to say no to an alliance with the United Federation of Planets. Cue the “So you had a bad day” soundtrack.

Players have to work together to solve all three problems before things get out of hand and the Enterprise is forced to withdraw.

Expeditions is a very social game in which you’ll spend a lot of time talking with your friends and trying to solve this sad sack of a planet’s problems… and it’s really fun. 

The few downsides to this one are that there is a lot of randomness and luck involved and the name of the game should have been “Expedition”. There’s a bit of randomness to the sidequest but the overarching mission will always have the planet in a civil war, threatening to back out of the alliance and a Klingon war party on the horizon. It’s the same scenario every time you play. 

There is, however, an expansion that adds Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov into the mix along with a few new side missions to contend with, which does add more variety.

#12. Star Trek: Five Year Mission

Star Trek: Five Year Mission seems like a lightweight Pandemic/Party game. 

In Five Year Mission, players must choose whether to play as the cast of the Original Series or the Next Generation. Each player takes on the role of a crewmember from their respective ships and together they’ll need to solve casualties and alerts. 

How do you solve alerts?

Lots of dice. Five Year Mission relies heavily on dice to resolve alerts and therefore has a lot of randomness built into it. It can get very chaotic as crewmembers become injured while the Enterprise is burning down around you.

#13. Star Trek: Adventures

I always enjoy a good RPG system.

I’m one of the weirdos that spend their time reading the core rulebooks of various systems. It’s really fun to get lost in new worlds. 

The Star Trek: Adventures is a full-fledged pen and paper RPG that uses a 2d20 system. Players will be able to create their own stories as members of the Federation. 

The number of resources in the core rulebook is amazing. There’s a ton of information spanning the entire history of Starfleet. The artwork is pretty incredible too.

Being a traditional RPG, the stories and events are only limited by your imagination, but there are also several modules written by Star Trek veterans.

I personally can’t wait to play a game based on John Scalzi’s Redshirts.

#14. Star Trek: Road Trip

Star Trek: Road Trip is a very simple, family-friendly game. (Maybe even good for a family road trip too?)

Players are cadets of Starfleet completing the Enterprise Challenge. They’ll need to move around the board to collect tokens to move towards the center of the board. The player to return with all 4 tokens is the winner.

It’s not the most exciting game in the world, but it’s extremely simple and has a nice retro vibe from the Original Series.

Wrap-Up

After exploring the far reaches of the galaxy with us we hope you had fun exploring a universe and fandom that has inspired millions of people throughout the world. 

Did your favorite Star Trek game not make the list? Leave a comment below.  We’d love to hear about your favorite Star Trek board games!