2026Ernest Kiedrowicz, Krzysztof Piskorski
- Videos
- 129
- Creators
- 39
1 - 5 players90 - 270 minHeavy weight

2022Andrzej Betkiewicz, Krzysztof Piskorski, Paweł Samborski, Marcin Świerkot
Mainly playthroughs and reviews. ISS Vanguard is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 58 reviews, 29 how-to-play guides, 75 recorded sessions, 41 unboxings, and 13 other videos.
From BoardGameGeek
ISS Vanguard is a co-operative campaign Game. It brings players into epic Sci-Fi adventure, as they play as 4 sections (security, recon, science, engineering) onboard the first human ship with the potential to reach outer space. The campaign introduces a unique story full of hard player choices, twists and branching storylines. The game comes with over 100 different Crew members, each with unique characteristics. A game session takes you through a Ship Management phase - in which you choose your destination for your ship then research technologies, produce equipment, recruit crewmembers and resolve situations - and then a Planetary Exploration phase. During Planetary Exploration, players complete a daring landing procedure with your Lander, explore the planet for information or resources, fighting back a barrage of threats as well as a running timer of supplies depletion before you have to run back to the Lander to lift off back to ISS Vanguard. What follows is the remainder of the Ship Management phase, when players unload discoveries and resources from the Lander, heal or memorialize crewmembers, take apart the game board and record changes to the planet you've just explored, preserving its status for future games. The Ship Management phase allows players to make strategic decisions as to their resources and a way forward in the unknown galaxy chasing the mystery encoded in human's DNA. The Planetary Exploration draws the focus to the tactical, as players decide on cards, dice, crewmembers and equipment to bring to fulfill dice checks on the planet's Places of Interest. The players also decide which of the variety of specialized Landers they want to use and how to outfit their Lander for the perilous descent into the chosen planet's atmosphere (or lack thereof). Throughout the game, the narrative system relies on a web of structured and linked Mission Logs, often snippets of journal entries or dialogue, to provide gameplay choices and storyline information as well as keep track of progress throughout the universe. The goal is to survive your missions and complete the campaign.
ISS Vanguard has 216 videos from 86 creators: 58 reviews, 29 how-to-play guides, 75 playthroughs, 41 unboxings and 13 other videos. They date from 2020 to August 2026.
To learn the rules, start with "ISS Vanguard - Tutorial & Playthrough" by Gaming Rules!, which runs 3 h 23 min. For a quicker teach, "ISS Vanguard: New Recruit Training (Part 1) - spoiler-free" by Adventures in Creative Software runs 21 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "ISS Vanguard Final Thoughts After 8 Hours of Play" by Man vs Meeple. 40 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "ISS Vanguard Playthrough Preview" by Ant Lab Games, one of 75 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Dragon Eclipse and Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin, also by Andrzej Betkiewicz, or Lands of Evershade, also by Krzysztof Piskorski, or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The Board Game, also by Paweł Samborski.
8 of 86
2026Ernest Kiedrowicz, Krzysztof Piskorski
1 - 5 players90 - 270 minHeavy weight
2025Andrzej Betkiewicz, Kamil 'Sanex' Cieśla, Wojciech Frelich
1 - 2 players60 - 120 minMedium weight
2024Andrzej Betkiewicz, Michał Lach, Krzysztof Piskorski, Konrad Sulżycki
1 - 4 players90 - 120 minHeavy weight
2025Paweł Samborski
1 - 4 players120 - 180 minHeavy weight
From BoardGameGeek:
ISS Vanguard is a co-operative campaign Game. It brings players into epic Sci-Fi adventure, as they play as 4 sections (security, recon, science, engineering) onboard the first human ship with the potential to reach outer space. The campaign introduces a unique story full of hard player choices, twists and branching storylines. The game comes with over 100 different Crew members, each with unique characteristics. A game session takes you through a Ship Management phase - in which you choose your destination for your ship then research technologies, produce equipment, recruit crewmembers and resolve situations - and then a Planetary Exploration phase. During Planetary Exploration, players complete a daring landing procedure with your Lander, explore the planet for information or resources, fighting back a barrage of threats as well as a running timer of supplies depletion before you have to run back to the Lander to lift off back to ISS Vanguard. What follows is the remainder of the Ship Management phase, when players unload discoveries and resources from the Lander, heal or memorialize crewmembers, take apart the game board and record changes to the planet you've just explored, preserving its status for future games. The Ship Management phase allows players to make strategic decisions as to their resources and a way forward in the unknown galaxy chasing the mystery encoded in human's DNA. The Planetary Exploration draws the focus to the tactical, as players decide on cards, dice, crewmembers and equipment to bring to fulfill dice checks on the planet's Places of Interest. The players also decide which of the variety of specialized Landers they want to use and how to outfit their Lander for the perilous descent into the chosen planet's atmosphere (or lack thereof). Throughout the game, the narrative system relies on a web of structured and linked Mission Logs, often snippets of journal entries or dialogue, to provide gameplay choices and storyline information as well as keep track of progress throughout the universe. The goal is to survive your missions and complete the campaign.
Designers
Andrzej Betkiewicz, Krzysztof Piskorski, Paweł Samborski, Marcin Świerkot
Artists
Piotr Gacek, Patryk Jędraszek, Ewa Labak, Pamela Łuniewska, Dominik Meyer, Ingram Schell
Publisher
Awaken Realms
Categories
Mechanics