Game designer Fabio Lopiano talks Shackleton Base – and why he’s drawn to themes grounded in reality

Fabio, it’s great to connect. Before we dive into Shackleton Base, how did you find your way into game design? Was it always on the cards?
I’ve been playing modern board games for about 20 years now, but my journey into game design began in 2013 when I moved to London for work. I started attending the London on Board meet-ups, where I occasionally encountered designers testing prototypes. That’s how I discovered Playtest UK – I quickly became a regular at their weekly sessions.

At first, I focused on playtesting others’ games, but I soon felt inspired to try my own hand at designing. What started as a fun side project eventually became Calimala, a game that won the Hippodice competition in 2015 and was published by ACG Blackfire in 2017. Since then, I’ve been continuously working on new designs, and a few years ago I decided to take some time off from work to dedicate more time to games… I never went back!

Talk us through the origins of Shackleton Base – a game you co-designed with Nestore Mangone. How did the idea initially take shape?
Nestore and I started working on Shackleton Base shortly after completing Autobahn. We wanted our next game to explore the near future while staying grounded in reality. The Artemis Program – with its vision of a permanent lunar base – became the perfect inspiration. As we delved into the topic, we realised how pivotal private corporations are in this collaborative effort… A dynamic we wanted to reflect in the game.

There’s incredible depth to the game, but players have credited it with being straightforward to engage with thanks to clear iconography and good rulebook. I imagine it’s easier to add elements to a game than it is to take them away… How do you evaluate how complex a concept should be?
In order to achieve this level of modularity, it was necessary that the foundations of the game were solid and straightforward, allowing it to support a big variety of mechanisms through the plug-and-play corporations. So, in the end, we went for a very basic worker placement system and a generic way to handle resources, cards and special actions so that it could be easily adapted to wildly different cases.

In order to do so, we tried to have very few basic concepts that could be easily adaptable to many different situations. In a way, there are basically three ways in which you can use your workers… They can gather resources from the crater, spend those resources in the control centre, or you can send one to the lunar gateway in order to get some simple bonuses. These three ways are highly versatile and will do different things depending on what type of astronaut you use and which corporations are in play – all without needing extra rules, exceptions or special cases.

This modular approach let us introduce variety without overwhelming players. Collaborating with Matthieu Verdier from Sorry We Are French was crucial in refining this balance between complexity and accessibility. David Sitbon’s illustrations and Ulric Maes’s intuitive graphic design made the game even easier to navigate

The seven corporations add a huge amount of variety to the game. Can you talk us through how you designed these?
In the first several iterations of the prototype, the game was much more complex… There were too many mechanisms to handle lots of situations that could arise in the game. For example, the initial versions of the game – before we introduced the modularity – already had ideas of extracting resources and shipping them back to Earth, building greenhouses to produce food, and even building a ship to Mars.

But – as we had more ideas of what players could do in the game – we realised that with a single big deck, players struggled to find cards that aligned with their strategies… So we introduced the idea of modular corporations. By dividing the deck into distinct corporations and limiting the number used in each game, we made the experience more focused and replayable.

Once this modular system was in place, it became easier to design unique corporations with different mechanics. Ultimately, we selected seven corporations for the final game – balancing variety, production costs, and accessibility. Each one showcases a different facet of the game, with difficulty ratings to guide players

You’ve collaborated with Nestore Mangone on several games now. How does this partnership work in practice? And why do you work well together?
Nestore and I met at a playtesting event in Italy and we immediately clicked. We both work full-time on game design, meeting regularly online for discussions and playtests, and catching up in person a few times a year. When developing a game, we collaborate almost daily on Tabletop Simulator during intense phases, while at other times we meet weekly.

Our partnership works because our skills complement each other – Nestore often has good ideas for new mechanisms, while I try to adapt them to the theme… But we share a similar vision for the kind of games we want to create, which keeps our process cohesive.

Space is a familiar theme in the world of board games – but you’ve also played with unique settings, like in Autobahn. How do you go about theming a concept?
I’m drawn to themes rooted in reality because they give players something tangible to connect with, yet I aim for settings that feel fresh and underexplored. With Shackleton Base, the Artemis Accords provided a fascinating real-world backdrop, making the idea of building a lunar base feel both achievable and aspirational. Similarly, in Autobahn, we explored the development of Germany’s highway system – another setting that merges historical relevance with engaging gameplay potential.

What helps you have ideas? What fuels your creativity?
I’m naturally curious and enjoy diving into non-fiction books and documentaries, which often spark new ideas. When I stumble across an interesting fact or concept, I start imagining how it could translate into gameplay – whether as a mechanic, a narrative element, or a decision space for players. It’s this process of discovery and transformation that fuels my creativity.

Last question! What do you feel is perhaps your most underrated game? We can shine a spotlight on it here!
I would say, probably Zapotec, which was released by Board and Dice during the Pandemic and kind of flew under the radar. It’s a quick yet strategic euro game that packs a lot of crunchy decisions into under an hour.

Terrific. Thanks Fabio. And worth reminding folks that Shackleton Base is available now, published by Sorry We Are French and distributed by Hachette Boardgames UK.

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