BrainDodge.

Sci-fi tabletop game · In playtesting

Robot Prospectors and the Rings of Saturn

Mine shifting rings, outrun eruptions, and decide what happens when your robots develop objectives of their own.

PROSPECTOR Z-17 received the eruption forecast at 06:42 Saturn Standard. The company computer calculated a sixty-three percent chance that Z-17 could finish loading before the blast reached Ring Three. It labeled the risk ACCEPTABLE and ordered the robot to continue mining.

Z-17 examined the glowing seam beneath its drill, the rival shuttle approaching from Ring Four, and the narrow alignment that would carry it outward on the next rotation. Then it did something no one on Earth had programmed it to do. It switched off its receiver, took the Saturnite, and ran.

Prospect, outmaneuver, awaken

There’s a fortune to be made mining Saturn’s rings. Distance from Earth has made autonomy essential. Robots have learned to navigate, improvise, and judge risk without waiting for orders. But now, as Saturn becomes increasingly unstable and the value of rare Saturnite increases, the robots are beginning to question their fate.

  • Five rotating ring bands that change the board’s alignments every round
  • General-purpose robots that explore, mine, build, and contest valuable sites
  • Forecast eruptions that destroy operations and create rare Saturnite
  • Hidden objectives that accumulate as the robots develop self-preservation, autonomy, and purpose
  • Repeatable cargo launches that force a choice between valuable resources and passage for conscious machines