Image Courtesy of RokkrThis 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: 2-4
Mechanics – Role Selection, Hand Management, Card Combinations
Difficulty – Moderate (Can take 5-10 plays to fully comprehend rules and the basic strategy)
Components - Very Good
Overview
The obvious question is, ‘Why do another review of this game when something like 8-9 pages of reviews already exist?’ It’s a fair question and one that I have asked myself for several months before deciding to do one. Having played over 500 games of RftG, I feel that I need to cover this game as it is one I enjoy very much. In addition, with those kind of play statistics, I hope that my review will offer a strong sense of analysis and foresight given the time that I have spent trying to unlock its secrets. How well I achieve that goal is up to you, the reader, to decide.
Race for the Galaxy was originally released in 2007 and offered the gaming industry something of a new approach to strategy/specialty games as it used a card game format combined with a rather large deck (109 in game cards to be exact). I say ‘almost’ as Race for the Galaxy is quite reminiscent in its play to San Juan, the card game version of Puerto Rico, and this fact is well documented.
What sets Race apart though is the incorporation of the Science Fiction theme and the use of iconography to depict the many elements that make up each card. The combination helps to make the game’s theme stand out from the pack and the game play feel very unique, not to mention elegant.
Race seems to invite as many comparisons as it does contradictions when trying to explain what it is. The best I can do is the following –
It uses a role selection mechanic like that used in Puerto Rico (selecting an action offers a bonus but still affords all other players a lesser ability). The game play creates a sense of excitement that reminds me of the feeling I got when playing Magic: the Gathering over 10 years ago, as each player tries to find the card combo’s that will bring about benefits and Victory Points to secure the win. 299
It creates the excitement of a light civ game as the players must explore the galaxy and expand their little chunk of it, which in turn can offer additional benefits on subsequent turns.
It can be a challenge to learn and understand how to play well, often requiring 10+ plays to understand and then another 10-20 plays to fully appreciate. Despite its short play length this kind of time investment can see many new players pass it by.
This review will not seek to explain every rule in detail, which may well be impossible anyway in under 10,000 words. Instead I hope to cover the key elements of the game, the feel, the interesting decisions and my thoughts on how the parts make up the whole. I hope fans find it of interest and those unfamiliar can gain a better understanding of what is on offer from Race for the Galaxy.
The Theme
Well we know that Race utilises the Science Fiction theme but what is the back story? Well in truth the base game does not offer too much by way of back story and I think that is a wise decision as it heightens the sense of mystery about the game and allows the players to explore and learn about the RftG Galaxy as they play and discover new cards.
What is provided in the rulebook intro is that the players represent the former colonies of Earth as they race each other to Explore, Settle and Develop the Galaxy. In doing so they will also be required to Trade, Consume and Produce goods if they are to be successful. I have deliberately used a capital letter for each of these important actions as they form the 6 actions that can be selected by a player each turn.
In terms of specific card types the deck consists of 10 Alien cards, 4 different Uplift Races, 2 Imperium cards and 7 Rebel cards. In addition to these specific card types the game offers up 4 different varieties of goods which act as the income of the Galaxy, but more on those later.
Components
The In-Game Cards - Obviously these are the stars of the show and the game offers up 109 cards in all. In preparing for the review I must admit I was a little surprised to discover that 19 cards from the deck were a double (a 2nd copy of a paticular card). This was higher than I had realised and reduces the number of unique cards to 90. Looking at these doubles here in front of me however, I can see why it is necessary, as they offer many powers and abilities that are critical to building your civilization and combining with other cards. 237