Observed arrival · 2026-10-22
Before This Decade Is Out: a space-program playtest
A free browser game puts you in charge of America’s space program from Sputnik through the Moon landing, making decisions in quarterly turns.
- For
- Historical strategy-game players
- Worth noticing
- Each quarter moves from a briefing to decision cards, optional room visits, and a resolution phase; some effects stay hidden until later.
Field notes
Each turn advances a quarter: the player reads a briefing, answers decision cards, may visit two rooms, then resolves launches, tests, and Soviet moves. The campaign is organized into six acts from Sputnik through Apollo 11, with choices whose effects can stay hidden until later. The creator says the demo records anonymous run length, choices, progress, and ending for tuning; the page estimates a full run at about an hour and says play can resume in the same browser.
Observed signals
Read the marks
Editorial observations of this landing page, not a rating.
One card from the complete issue