After nearly two decades and a stack of expansions, Tom Lehmann is finally finishing the story arc he started with Race for the Galaxy: Xeno Invasion. The new Xeno Counterstrike expansion lands at retail on 30 April from Rio Grande Games with an MSRP of $39.95, completing the third and final arc of the long-running space card game.
Stop juggling Meetup, WhatsApp, and spreadsheets. One platform for your gaming group's events, RSVPs, and member management.
See how it worksThe expansion adds more than 40 new frontier worlds in two separate decks and a longer-form Counterstrike scenario where you start by defending against the Xeno hive worlds before turning the tide and going on the offensive. Per Rio Grande's product page, it slots into the base game for 2-4 players in under 30 minutes, or hooks into the existing Xeno Invasion expansion to push player counts to five.
For anyone who hasn't kept up: Race for the Galaxy is Lehmann's 2007 strategic card game that started life as a card-game version of Puerto Rico, then evolved into a customisable space-themed game that scooped the BoardGameGeek Golden Geek Award for Best Card Game in 2008 alongside Fairplay Magazine's À la carte award the same year. Nearly two decades on, it still sits comfortably in BGG's top card-game rankings with tens of thousands of ratings. Lehmann's other credits include Roll for the Galaxy, Res Arcana, and a string of Pandemic expansions (including On the Brink) co-designed with Matt Leacock.
Got a regular group? Create a private community, poll for the best date, vote on games, and let your friends RSVP in one place.
Set up your group for freeThe third arc has become a fan favourite for keeping rules light while adding genuine strategic variety, and Counterstrike continues that approach. No fiddly new subsystems, just bigger tableaus, longer games, and a satisfying sense of payoff for anyone who has been building rebel fleets across all three arcs.
If your group has Race for the Galaxy gathering dust, this is a good excuse to pull it back to the table. Rally a few people for a card game night and see how the new frontier worlds shake up your usual openings.
Sources: Rio Grande Games | BoardGameGeek | Miniature Market
