Two ships. One screen between you.
Both crews shouting coordinates in real time while trying to work out where the other one is.
Hunt down the enemy ship across a grid of space before they find you first.
Star Trek: Space Hunt Game Overview
Quick Rules Summary
Star Trek: Space Hunt is a 2-4 player real-time hidden-movement game for two teams. A large privacy screen divides the table so neither side can see the other’s map.
Each team picks an iconic ship: The Enterprise, Reliant, Defiant, or a Borg Cube and a character duo such as Kirk and Spock or Picard and Data.
Each combination gives the team asymmetric stats, unique system abilities, and different energy costs.
Within each crew, one player is the Captain, and one is the Second.
The game runs continuously with no downtime. The Captain draws their movement secretly on their grid map; ships cannot cross their own path unless they perform a system reboot.
The Captain loudly announces every movement direction. Every step also generates one energy point, which charges the ship’s systems on a tracking panel.
The Second doesn’t watch the Captain’s map. Instead, they listen to the opposing Captain’s announcements, tracing the enemy’s movement pattern on a transparent overlay sheet.
By sliding that sheet across the map and eliminating impossible positions, the Second narrows down where the opponent actually is.
When a system track is fully charged, the Captain shouts “STOP!” and the game pauses to resolve an ability.
Systems include Torpedoes (attack a coordinate), Scan (force the enemy to reveal positional information), Cloak (move secretly without announcing directions), Blackout (disrupt enemy tracking), and Hyperspace Warp (jump across the grid to reposition).
How do you win?
First destroy an enemy base with a torpedo hit, then hunt down and destroy the enemy ship itself.
The game ends immediately on a fatal hit. A time limit variant scores total damage if neither ship is destroyed in time.
Main Mechanisms
Real-time hidden movement, team deduction, resource management, asymmetric ships.
USP
There is no USP really. The game is a remake of Captain Sonar, and the Star Trek IP has been widely used.
Theme
The Star Trek licence. Ships and characters aren’t cosmetic; each plays differently. The Borg Cube regenerates but moves slowly. The Defiant is agile but fragile.
Setup
Quick. Screen in the middle, maps out, character sheets chosen, starting positions marked secretly.
Components & Artwork
Everything is functional and purpose-built.
The art is also functional.
Ease of Teaching
The concept is simple: move, announce, track, shoot.
Academy Mode offers a turn-based variant for learning the mechanics before the real-time pressure kicks in.
Similar Games
Captain Sonar is the obvious and unavoidable comparison.
Space Hunt is the compressed version: shorter play time, tighter map, Star Trek theme and smaller teams.
Star Trek Space Hunt Review
Positives
The Star Trek theming is genuinely integrated rather than just printed on.
Different ships and character duos change how the game plays, adding replayability.
Trimming the runtime down to 25-40 minutes makes it much easier to get to the table than Captain Sonar.
Also, smaller teams than Captain Sonar (2 players each max instead of 4), making it easier to get played
Negatives
If you own Captain Sonar, the case for this alongside it is harder to make.
The real-time coordination demand means one distracted or overwhelmed player can drag the whole team down.
Summary
A well-licensed, tightly designed real-time game that compresses the Captain Sonar experience into a bite-sized but improved format.
Jesta ThaRogue