How many civilizations are in the Hyperspace board game?
Eight, once you own both boxes. The Hyperspace Standard Edition core game ships with four asymmetric alien civilizations, and the Nova Expansion adds four more: Automata, Salps, Starspawn, and Zepzeg. That's a clean doubling, four to eight, with no overlap and no reskinned repeats.
Worth saying plainly up front: the base Standard Edition box does not include all eight. If you buy just the core game, you get four civilizations. Nova is a separate purchase that plugs into the core box, and it's the only way to reach the full roster of eight. This guide walks through what's in each half.
What civilizations come in the Hyperspace Standard Edition core box?
The core box ships with four fully realized alien civilizations, each with its own super ships, unique abilities, and super techs. None of the four is a variant of another with a different paint job. Petersen Games hasn't published a single consolidated name-by-name breakdown of all four core factions in one place (the product page's "Civilization Stories" section is the best source, and it's worth reading before you pick a side). One of them, Azota, is documented in enough detail to describe with real confidence.
Azota plays a slow-burn attrition game. Its signature ability enervates and weakens rival civilizations over time, gradually and permanently stripping colonies out of play rather than winning a single decisive fight. The design bakes in a catch: Azota weakens over time too, so the whole strategy turns into a race against your own clock as much as against the table. It's a sharp example of what Petersen Games means when it says the civilizations aren't cosmetic reskins. Azota isn't a stronger or weaker version of an aggressive expansion civ. It's solving the same "control the star cluster" problem with a completely different toolkit.
The other three core civilizations round out the usual 4X strategic lanes: expect a mix of aggressive military expansion, a technology-forward path that leans on the research action, and a production-heavy build that out-produces rivals on ships and colonies rather than out-fighting them. Which specific civilization does which job is confirmed on the product page's civilization stories, since Petersen Games updates faction flavor there between print runs. What stays constant is the structural promise across all four: distinct super ships, distinct abilities, distinct super techs, one shared three-action turn structure holding the whole game together.
What civilizations does the Nova Expansion add?
Four new civilizations, and they're built to feel nothing alike. Automata, Salps, Starspawn, and Zepzeg each answer the "how do you like your alien species" pitch a different way, as listed on the Nova Expansion Packs product page.
Automata plays as a full machine intelligence. Expect a cold, computational approach to the board, less about instinct and more about optimizing every action for maximum output.
Salps are planktonic colony organisms, a strategic identity that doesn't exist anywhere in the base four. Where a core civilization might expand ship by ship, Salps lean into a colony-driven, swarm-like presence across the star cluster.
Starspawn lean Lovecraftian, which tracks given Sandy Petersen's other centerpiece game is Cthulhu Wars. If you already know the cosmic-horror aesthetic from that side of the catalog, Starspawn is the civilization that brings a taste of it into Hyperspace's sci-fi setting.
Zepzeg round the set out as an elegant, refined species built for players who want an advanced toolkit rather than a strange gimmick. Where Salps and Starspawn ask you to think in unfamiliar shapes, Zepzeg rewards players who want to master a deep, more conventional tech path.
Every Nova civilization ships with its own super ships, its own abilities, and its own super techs, the same design bar as the core four. A Nova civilization sits at the table as a full peer, not a bonus faction bolted on the side.
Do the core and Nova civilizations actually play differently, or is it mostly flavor?
It's mechanical, not cosmetic. Turn structure never changes: three actions, then pass, no upkeep phase, whether you're playing Azota or Automata. That consistency is what keeps a full 4X experience (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate, the genre Wikipedia's 4X entry traces back through decades of strategy titles) inside roughly a two-hour session rather than letting it sprawl across an afternoon.
What changes civilization to civilization is what your three actions accomplish and what your super techs unlock. An aggressive core civilization racing for military dominance is playing a different game, strategically, than Salps building out a colony network or Azota grinding rivals down over a dozen turns. Reviewers who've covered the base game point to that asymmetric faction design as Hyperspace's biggest draw, and it's the reason serious groups keep coming back to the same box for dozens of sessions without it feeling repetitive.
That asymmetric design lines up with the 4X label Petersen Games built the game around from the start: competing interstellar empires expanding, developing, and clashing across the same star cluster, which is exactly the lineage the finished retail release delivers on.
Is the Nova Expansion required to play Hyperspace?
No. The core game is complete on its own. Four civilizations, a full campaign's worth of asymmetric strategy, and nothing that feels like a placeholder waiting on an expansion to finish the experience. At $96.99, the Standard Edition core box is a full standalone 4X game, not half a product.
Nova is the natural next purchase once your group has run through the core four a few times and wants fresh matchups. It's priced separately and requires the core box's board, dice, and turn structure to play; Nova doesn't sell as a standalone title. Most groups reach for it after five or six sessions, once they've got a real feel for how the core civilizations differ and they're hungry for more combinations at the table.
Which Hyperspace civilization should you start with?
Pick one and play. That's the honest answer for a first game. You don't need to master all four core civilizations before your first session; read your civilization's ability card, learn your three actions, and the rest clicks once you've seen a full round play out across the table. If a slower, attrition-based playstyle appeals to you, Azota is worth a look for your first game. If you'd rather learn a more straightforward expansion or production path first, that's exactly what the other three core civilizations are built for.
Once you've logged a handful of games with the core four, that's the signal to look at Nova. Automata for players who like optimizing every move, Salps if you want a strategic identity unlike anything in the base game, Starspawn if the Cthulhu Wars aesthetic calls to you, Zepzeg if you want a deep, advanced toolkit to master. Start with the Hyperspace Standard Edition Core Game if you don't own it yet. In-stock orders process within 48 hours (2 business days, Monday through Friday); US orders ship via USPS Ground Advantage in 2-5 business days, and Canadian orders ship via DHL Ground in 3-7 business days. Shipping rates are calculated at checkout, and there's no standing free shipping offer.
Frequently Asked Questions: Hyperspace Civilizations
How many civilizations are in the Hyperspace board game?
Eight total. The core box ships with four, and the Nova Expansion adds four more, exactly doubling the roster.
Does the Hyperspace Standard Edition include all 8 civilizations?
No. The base core box ships with four civilizations only. Automata, Salps, Starspawn, and Zepzeg come in the separate Nova Expansion Packs, which requires the core game to play.
What civilizations does the Nova Expansion add?
Automata, a machine intelligence; Salps, a planktonic colony organism; Starspawn, a Lovecraftian species; and Zepzeg, an elegant civilization built around an advanced tech toolkit. Each plays by its own asymmetric rules.
Do I need the core game to use the Nova civilizations?
Yes. Nova is an add-on, not a standalone game. It requires the Hyperspace Standard Edition core game's board, dice, and turn structure.
Where can I buy the Hyperspace core game?
Directly from Petersen Games at petersengames.com/products/hyperspace-standard-edition-core-game. In-stock orders process within 48 hours, with US shipping via USPS Ground Advantage (2-5 business days) and Canada via DHL Ground (3-7 business days). Shipping rates are calculated at checkout.
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