As a lifelong Trekkie and avid gamer, I’m thrilled to share what went in to making Star Trek™ Panic®. My history as a fan of Star Trek™ goes all the way back to the early ‘80s, when I still remember watching late-night syndicated reruns. I was hooked instantly by the adventure, hope, and wonder of Gene Roddenberry’s vision. Flash-forward more than thirty years, and to be able to help design an officially-licensed Star Trek™ board game has been such a thrill and honor. On top of that, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the brightest minds in the gaming community through our partnership with Fireside Games.

My first interaction with Justin and Anne-Marie of Fireside Games was at BGGCon in 2014. We talked over dinner about partnering to pair Castle Panic® with one of our upcoming licenses. After finalizing partnership details, we shared with Fireside our desire to put out Star Trek™ Panic® in 2016 as part of the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Star Trek™ franchise. Justin is just as big of a Star Trek™ fan as I am, so I knew that this was going to be a really fun collaboration. It was decided that Justin would do the initial concept and design, given his experience with previous Panic® games. I would take that initial design and develop it, working closely with our visual design team to marry up look and feel with the gameplay, to make the most “Star Trek-y” and “Panic-y” game possible.

One thing I have learned as a game designer over the years is that it’s often more about what you choose to leave out than include.

I think what is most revolutionary about Star Trek™ Panic® is the re-imagining of what the castle ‘walls’ and ‘towers’ would be. We knew it would be a challenge to make the idea of the ship as your ‘walls’ and ‘towers’ work, but we were committed to the concept. By doing so, we realized that it opened up a whole new design space. We simplified the ring and arc game board arrangement to use three rings instead of four, and got away from color-specific arcs. Instead, each of the three rings had a designated color, representing short-, medium-, and long-range. When combined with the relative position of the Enterprise, the ‘hit’ cards became directional (front, side, and rear) with specific ranges, based on the facing of the Enterprise.

We gave the players the ability to maneuver the Enterprise by rotating it one arc clockwise or counter-clockwise on their turn, meaning players would be able to attack a target they would otherwise be unable to by rotating the ship to change its facing. This restricted the use of the cards, but gave players even more tactical flexibility by maneuvering the ship, which really enhanced the Star Trek™ overlay.

Having the Enterprise as the centerpiece, and putting it on a moveable base let us run wild!

We even applied this idea of maneuvering to propelling the ship forward! Obviously, the Enterprise couldn’t actually move on the board, so instead maneuvering forward brings all tokens in the two front arcs one ring closer to the ship. Tokens on the side and rear were unaffected. While it may not have been completely accurate from a physics perspective, it worked really well and also allowed us to include maneuvering as a requirement for some of the Missions.

Another change to gameplay was the introduction of Mission cards. Instead of the same end game condition as Castle Panic® of finishing off all the enemies to win the game, players have specific Missions and have to accomplish five missions to win the game. We played around with a lot of different ways to execute the Mission aspect with ideas like some of the Threat tokens triggering Missions, or having a separate mini game board for away missions.

We settled on a deck of oversized cards and revealed one at a time. Each represents a specific episode and plotline from the original series. This felt like the best way to infuse more Star Trek™ flavor, as it triggered memories of favorite episodes like The Trouble with Tribbles, The Doomsday Machine, and Space Seed (yes, Khan does have a presence in the game. Khaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!) Along with that, we added Division Credit icons to some of the cards, to use as specific requirements to complete some Missions. This added some nice tension to the game, as players had to choose how best to use their cards – either for completing Missions or for defending the Enterprise from threats, since both are critical for winning the game.

We also added Character cards, allowing players to take on the role of one of the crew members of the Enterprise. Each has a unique ability that reflects their character and effects gameplay. Sulu, for example, can maneuver the Enterprise twice on his turn, and Scotty gets to repair a section of the ship for free!

In the end, we are all extremely happy with the game we’ve created, both as fans of Star Trek™ and Panic®! If you’re a fan of Castle Panic®, you’ll find an entirely new way enjoy the tower defense gameplay, and if you’re a Star Trek™ fan, you’ll reconnect with the original crew in an exciting, engaging way that you’ve never done before. May you boldly go where no one has gone before!

About the Author: Andrew Wolf is Creative Content Development Manager for USAopoly. He once won second place in a trivia competition at a local Star Trek™ convention and still has the prize (a Star Trek™ encyclopedia) to prove it!