Solar Expansion

Stardate 1800, five years after the first permanent human settlement on Mars. Regular trade routes are established between the inner planets, and the spaceports grow into major cities. Helium-3 mined from the ice giants becomes our most valuable resource, as fusion reactors become the radiant heart of the asteroid-cities far from the warming rays of our sun. Meanwhile, a shadow economy is growing stronger. Space pirates patrol the inky void, employing new versions of classic tactics. Solar Expansion is a space-themed 18xx game with simple navigation and complex corruption. Three tiers of operating company (private minors, pirates, and full-cap public) provide creative embezzling opportunities and increase player interactivity. Pirates run protection rackets to benefit themselves (and occasionally the businesses they protect), while the minor companies are pocket-to-pocket cash delivery missiles. This game borrows the East Asia Expansion engine, removes all the safeties, and takes off like a rocket! —description from the designer