Image Courtesy of SuryaThis review continues my series of detailed reviews. I have tried to cover every aspect of the game and as such you may prefer to skip to the sections of most interest.
Summary
Game Type – Card Game
Play Time: 15-45 min
Number of Players: 1-5
Mechanics – Role Selection, Hand Management, Card Combinations
Difficulty – Moderate (Can take 5-10 plays to fully comprehend rules and the basic strategy)
Components – Excellent
Overview
Race for the Galaxy – The Gathering Storm is the first expansion to the base game Race for the Galaxy. If you are not familiar with the base game or would like to understand it better I would recommend reading my review, Race for the Galaxy - A Detailed Review before continuing on, as I will not be covering any of that ground again, which includes the general flow of play.
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The Gathering Storm (TGS) is an unusual expansion in that it does not do what one would expect for a card game, which is to add a tonne of new cards. Some new cards are certainly offered, but in addition TGS offers up two new elements that alter the play of the base game considerably in the form of Goals (used in multi-player games) and the ability to play the game Solitaire.
This review will look at the new card inclusions in a broad sense (how they change the game) but I will outline in detail the concept of Goals and the nature of the Solo Game. Having played well over 350 Solo Games, I feel I have a pretty fair handle on it.
The Theme
Thematically TGS does not go out on any major limb and try to flesh out the back story to RftG in any great way. The intro blur from the rulebook talks about the knowledge of Jump Drive becoming more widespread and then makes reference to some of the Start Worlds and specific cards, such as Space Mercenaries.
We do know that the galaxy is edging towards war and this is supported by the title and several of the cards such as Imperium Lords (6-Cost Development) and Space Mercenaries. In response to a new Imperium 6-Cost Development, we get 2 new Rebel cards and the advantage of hindsight tells us that the Gathering Storm was getting the galaxy ready for the 2nd expansion, Rebel vs Imperium.
But overall, looking at the new cards on offer there appears to be no particular focus on any particular subset of cards, although 3 Alien cards are added. Instead The Gathering Storm appears to focus more on maintaining a good balance within the larger deck (base game + 1st expansion combined) to ensure that the game still works as it was intended. 299
And of course it offers those new playing styles.
Components
The In-Game Cards - As mentioned above, very few new in-game cards were provided in TGS and I recall at the time the voices of dissent that felt the game didn’t offer good value for money. In all there are only 23 new in-game cards that come with TGS. This includes a replacement Gambling World to ensure that its stats are in line with the increased play deck and a 3rd Contact Specialist to ensure that play balance is maintained. Only 2 new cards get a double – Space Mercenaries and Improved Logistics. So in reality the game only offers 19 new and unique cards that we haven’t seen before.
There are 4 new Start Worlds in TGS and 3 of the 4 (Doomed World, Ancient Race and Damaged Alien Factory) all offer something a little unusual in regards to how they operate. Only Separatist Colony plays like a standard Start World with traditional powers like those seen in the base game.
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Player Cards - TGS offers up another set of Player Cards to allow the game to extend out to 5 players. I’m sure some groups have loved this inclusion but I must confess that I’ve never been able to get more than 3 other players into a game at any one time.
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Victory Point Chips - Additional Victory Point chits are provided to accommodate games featuring 5 players.
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Blank Cards - TGS was rather unusual in that it offered up 17 blank cards in the box. These were intended to allow players to personalize their galaxy with their own card ideas and a competition was run to allow people to submit new card ideas for future expansions.
The reality was that some people saw the addition of these blank cards and the relatively few new cards as a way to pad out the box and justify the cost.
I think I might go and design a card right now called, ‘Storm in a Teacup’. 92