Solar Quest and Spaceopoly

 Solar Quest is a Real Estate game set in space released in 1985. It is based on the Landlord's Game, I no longer say based on Monopoly since we now know that these types of games originated from the Landlord's Game. Players build monopolies by purchasing planets, moons, and fuel stations. There are 11 color groups to build monopolies from and 48 properties to own all together.

Players roll dice and move along blue dots to get from planet to planet. There are also black dots which represent the planets gravitational pull, players must use fuel to get past the black dots. At times a player maybe stuck rotating around the same planet/moon. The game play is not as linear as Monopoly.

Players must also fuel their spaceships, they can buy fuel stations, and both refuel/charge others to refuel their spaceships. If a player runs out of fuel with no way to replenish, they are out of the game. 

 Game play also involves laser blast and laser battles. Players that are close enough to each other can fire lasers upon an opponent. If a player rolls double 6 on the dice, they destroy the opponents ship and that player is knocked out of the game. 

The Federation Station spaces can't be bought but players landing here must complete the printed action. They collect cash and may also collect lasers. 

When a player rolls double they pick up a Red Shift card. There are 36 Red Shift cards total. These may direct players to move to a specified space, award property, take property from another player, roll again, etc. 

Unfortunately in 1994 Hasbro purchased the company that produced Solar Quest. Hasbro is also the owner of Parker Brothers and Monopoly. They decided to sell and market a Star Wars edition of Monopoly instead of Solar Quest. This led to the demise of this once popular game.

In 1995 Universal Games released an Apollo 13 Edition of Solar Quest featuring art from the 1995 Universal Pictures movie "Apollo 13." There were many small differences from the earlier version. Most noticeably players only draw a Red Shift card when rolling a 1 and 3 together.

In 1997 Valen Brost Game Co released a simplified spin off of Space Quest called Spaceopoly. This version included Mission Cards, specifying a mission the player could complete to win the game. Now there were several ways to win, complete your mission first, be the last player left on the board, or the wealthiest if there is a time limit. My overall impression about both Space Quest and Spaceopoly is that they would be really fun to play. It seems more complex, needs a more in-depth strategy, and involves refueling, laser battles, and planets gravitational pull. If your bord playing Monopoly this would seem like a good  game to progress to.

Also worth noting this is a great game for younger kids to learn about the various planets. Information such as the planet's moons, size, days to orbit, temperature, etc is included both on the deed cards and the back of the instructions. This would be great to play at a space themed birthday party.