Fuel to Burn - release 2026-03-14

"Fuel to Burn" is a minimalistic retro-style, pen and paper, space battle game where players plot the course of ships and ordnance through a star system with planets, asteroids and spacestations. Easy to get in to and start playing, deep and complicated once you start layering movement, combat and ordnance.
In the sneak-peak images on this site you can get a glimpse of the rules style with the first "boxes" of the double A3 free rules; as well as an example of a short encounter between a Destroyer, Cruiser and a Battleship.

Fuel to Burn is set to release on Pi Day, March 14th 2026
with free downloads on this site.

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Compact rules

Double A3  PDF. These 2 pages contain all the rules you need to play the game.
Click the image above to download (pending release).

Combat cards

A4 sheet with the 4 combat cards (print, cut, fold, sleeve and play). 
Click the image above to download (pending release).

Gravity template

A4 sheet with a set of templates for gravity deflection and asteroid field boarder.
Click the image above to download (pending release).

Quick reference sheets

4 A4 sheets containing the most often referenced rules such as Turn sequence, Orders and Combat resolution rules.
Click the image above to download (pending release).

Q&A

A4 sheet with frequently asked questions and their answers.
Click the image above to download (pending release).

Errata

A4 sheet listing any updates made to the current revision. If it is blank, the A3 sheets are up to date.
Click the image above to download (pending release).

ADDITIONAL CONTENT
The rules are highly condensed but allow for a huge range of scenarios, additional rules, narrative campaigns, challenges and scripted solo play scenarios. It is also possible to play Fuel to Burn in different scales and in different constellations (teams, Game Masters etc.). The necessary rules, instructions, examples and build files (3D-print and LASER-cut) will be published on this website as soon as it is available. In the future, if there's enough interest we may gather all of it in a proper book, but a humble beginning is better than no beginning at all.

Scenarios

Pending release

Red on Blue narrative rules

Pending release

Campaign rules

Pending release

Game tips

Pending release

Multiplayer games

Pending release

Material

Pending release

Midnight Ink

Midnight Ink is our corner of the world where we, Angua and Daniel Vintersvärd, explore the universe and put pen to paper to quell the creative madness. We tell stories, we draw stories, we play stories! Come join us!

Fuel to Burn

Fuel to Burn is the first game we "properly" release at Midnight Ink but it is not our first design, nor last. We have plenty of old skeletons in the clauset and a lot of ideas for the future!
Midnight Ink website