Race for the Galaxy
| Race for the Galaxy | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Game data | |
| author | Tom Lehmann |
| graphic | Mirko Suzuki, Martin Hoffmann, Claus Stephan |
| publishing company |
Rio Grande Games , Abacus Games and more |
| Publishing year | 2007 |
| Art | Card game |
| Teammates | 2–4 (2–5 or 2–6 with extensions) |
| Duration | about 60 minutes |
| Age | from 12 years
|
| Awards | |
|
à la carte card game award 2008: 1st place |
|
Race for the Galaxy is a card game for two to four people, developed by Tom Lehmann . It was published in English by Rio Grande Games in 2007 ; the German first edition was published by Abacusspiele in the same year . So far five expansions have been published for the game, the first three of which are also in German.
Abacusspiele has meanwhile stopped the production of the German editions of the game and the extensions, according to game designer Lehmann a new licensee is being sought. Since August 16, 2018, the game has been distributed in a revised second edition by Pegaus Spiele.
In 2014, Roll for the Galaxy, an offshoot in the form of a dice game, developed by Wei-Hwa Huang and Tom Lehmann. The game takes up the theme and some mechanics of Race for the Galaxy .
Game idea
In Race for the Galaxy , players must try to build a galactic empire. This happens through colonizing and conquering worlds, through social and technological developments and through the production and consumption of goods. The players receive victory points for this ; the winner is whoever has collected the most victory points by the end of the game.
material
- 5 cards with starting worlds
- 109 playing cards (59 worlds, 50 developments)
- 4 sets of 9 action cards (7 for the regular game, 2 for the advanced game for two)
- 28 victory point chips
- 4 overview boards and instructions
Mirko Suzuki was responsible for the graphic design of the game material, while the illustrations on the cards were made by Martin Hoffmann and Claus Stephan.
Course of the game
At the start of the game, each player receives a starting world as a starting point and six cards in hand, four of which they keep.
The game runs in rounds, each round consists of up to five phases, which are played in this order: exploration, development, settlement, consumption and production. The actual phases to be played are determined at the beginning of a round by each player choosing a phase and placing a corresponding action card face down. Afterwards, all players only play those phases that have been selected by at least one player. The phases are:
- Explore: Draw new cards from your hand
- Develop: Possibility to play a development card
- Settling: Possibility to play a world map (settlement or military conquest)
- Consume: Exchange of produced goods for victory points and / or cards from hand
- Production: Production of goods on worlds on display
Development cards represent social or technological developments and henceforth give the player certain advantages in the game. Worlds can produce certain goods as the game progresses. Goods are divided into four categories and can be exchanged for new cards and victory points during consumption phases. Almost all development and world cards that are played also bring you victory points.
Playing developments and uninhabited worlds causes costs that the player has to pay by discarding cards. Some worlds cannot be settled, but must be conquered militarily. This requires the prior establishment of a sufficiently strong military power by playing out corresponding worlds and developments.
The game ends when a player has 12 cards or more or the victory point chips are used up. The player who was able to collect the most victory points then wins.
Criticism and Awards
Most of the reviews on Race for the Galaxy were very positive. The main points of criticism were the almost complete lack of interaction between the players and the rather difficult familiarization with the complex game system and the large number of map symbols used. On the other hand, however, there would be a successful presentation, varied games, the possibility of developing different strategies and a pleasantly short playing time for more experienced players.
In 2008 Race for the Galaxy received the à la carte award for “Best Card Game 2008”. It received the award “Games Hit for Experts 2008” from the Vienna Games Academy . It was also on the list of nominations for the International Gamers Award 2008 and reached third place in the 2008 Japan Boardgame Prize . In 2008, the French game magazine Tric Trac also gave it the "Tric Trac de Bronze" award.
Extensions
To Race for the Galaxy so far five extensions have appeared. The first three expansions can be combined with the basic game independently of each other and each add new cards and game elements. The fourth and fifth expansions represent special game scenarios and cannot be combined with the other expansions. Only the first three extensions were published in German.
Gathering Storm (The Gathering Storm, 2008)
The first expansion contains new cards, game material for a fifth player as well as additional material and rules for a solitaire variant in which the actions of the opponent are simulated with the help of dice. A new element of the game is formed by two types of target tiles , some of which are laid out before the start of the game and whose possession gives a player additional victory points. A player can loot target tiles if he fulfills certain conditions “first” (for example having three alien cards on display) or if he has “most” of something (for example the strongest military power).
Rebels vs. Imperium (Rebel vs Imperium, 2009)
The second expansion contains new cards and game objectives, game components for a sixth player and additions for the solitaire variant. Technically new is the possibility of conquering military worlds in the display of other players. This creates a little more interaction between the players, the lack of which has been criticized in the base game (see section Criticism and Awards ).
On the threshold of war (The Brink of War, 2010)
The third expansion adds prestige points to a new rule mechanism. These can be consumed with planets or developments to gain various benefits. Even though this expansion only requires the basic game, the combination with the two previous expansions is recommended, as many elements of this expansion are based on it.
Alien Artifacts (2013)
The fourth expansion was published for the English-speaking area at Rio Grande Games at the end of 2013 after the date was postponed several times. This expansion changes the base game considerably and therefore cannot be combined with the three previous expansions. Abacus, the previous German-language publisher of Race for the Galaxy , announced at the end of 2013 on request that no German version of the fourth expansion was planned. Meanwhile, the expansion was published in 2013 in France by Ystari Games and in 2014 in Italy by Giochix.it. Pegasus Spiele has announced a German-language version of the fourth expansion for June 2019.
Xeno Invasion (2015)
The fifth expansion was released in November 2015 by Rio Grande Games for the English-speaking area. The thematic background of this expansion is the invasion of the galaxy by a hostile alien race, the Xenos. The expansion consists of two modules: The basic module includes 51 new cards, including new starting worlds, as well as some rule changes. In the invasion module that builds on this, players have to defend themselves against the increasingly powerful attacks of the Xenos. Xeno Invasion only requires the base game and cannot be combined with the expansions that have been released so far. The expansion is aimed at advanced players.
Web links
- Game information on the Abacusspiele website
- Race for the Galaxy in the Luding games database
- Race for the Galaxy in the game database BoardGameGeek (English)
- Race for the Galaxy, 2nd edition on the Pegasus Spiele website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Forum entry by game author Tom Lehmann on BoardGameGeek , June 4, 2015 (English)
- ↑ PEGASUS SPIELE ONLINE: Detailed view - We're having fun. Retrieved May 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Review (base game) at Hall 9000 from June 23, 2008
- ↑ Review (base game) at spielbar.com ( memento of the original from November 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from January 19, 2008
- ↑ Review (basic game) at Pöppelkiste
- ↑ À la Carte 2008 - Award ceremony in Essen , October 28, 2008, Fairplay. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ^ Austrian Games Prize - Games Hits 2008 . Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ↑ International Gamers Award 2008 Nominees - General Strategy (English). Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ↑ Japan Boardgame Prize 2008 (English). Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ^ Tric Trac d'Or 2008 (French). Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ↑ Game information on On the threshold to war in Abacus games
- ↑ Information page on Alien Artifacts from the publisher Rio Grande Games
- ↑ Answer of the Abacus publishing house on the German implementation of Alien Artifacts
- ↑ PEGASUS SPIELE ONLINE: Detailed view - We're having fun. Retrieved May 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Designer Preview: Race for the Galaxy: Xeno Invasion , forum entry on BoardGameGeek by game author Tom Lehmann, October 12, 2015 (English)
