F#¢& Race for the Galaxy

Today, Race for the Galaxy, aka RftG aka Space Card Game.  I am going to review the game with how it played after each expansion; there are 3 that we have played:  Gathering Storm, Rebel vs. Imperium, and The Brink of War.

Plot:

You are a faction within the galaxy trying to gain fame and influence by settling new planets and developing new technologies.

 

Goal:

It’s a game about victory points.  Nearly everything built (settled or developed in RftG speak) earns you VPs.    Many have powers that allow you to turn resources into VPs.  The game usually ends at the end or a round that the 12^th item (planet or development) is placed.  It is possible to have more than 12 items in the tableau, there is no cap.  The game can also end with the limited VPs becoming exhausted or in The Brink of War expansion when a player reaches 15 prestige.

Mechanics:

The currency of buying planets/developments is the cards in your hand.  Buying something that costs 3 means that it costs you 4 cards total.  The one you are putting into play and the three required to buy it.  Military worlds don’t require card forfeiture; instead your current military strength must be greater than the cost associated with it.  In other words, a 6 cost military planet requires the player to have +6 military previously acquired through other settlements and developments.  Most of these items grant an additional benefit during one of the play phases.  Along the lines of if you participate in this phase, draw a card.

The game starts with the player drawing 2 home worlds and 6 regular cards.  One of the 2 home worlds is selected and immediately placed in the tableau and 2 of the regular cards are discarded.

Once a turn you choose an action, everyone picks simultaneously and multiple people can choose the same action.   If an action is selected, all players may participate but the action selector gets an additional benefit.

Phase I – Explore.  Everyone chooses two cards and keeps one.  The selector gets to look at five additional cards then keep one OR look at one additional card and keep two.

Phase II – Develop.  Everyone may build a development.  The role selectors development costs one less.

Phase III – Settle.  Everyone may settle or conquer a new planet.  Settling is paying out of your hand, conquering is comparing military values.  The role selector gets to draw a card after he settles.   There are several types of planets.  Military and colonizing planets are mutually exclusive, and military worlds are highlighted by a red border around their cost.  Production and Windfall can be either military or colonized worlds, production worlds have solid color fill in their costs while windfall worlds have a colored halo.  When a windfall world comes into play, it starts with a resource.  Production worlds generate resources during the production phase.

Phase IV – Consumption. Everyone MUST consume all the goods that they can.  A consumption power may be utilized only once, and if you have excess goods they do remain in play.  The consuming may choose the order in which goods are consumed, and in this way it is possible to ‘save’ a good for later use by killing the powers that would use it first.  The selector gets to either ‘Trade’ a good for more cards or gets double victory points for goods consumed.

Phase V – Production.  Everyone who has a production world generates a corresponding good.  The selector may also produce on one windfall world.

Not every phase must happen during a turn; in fact it is a rare turn that every phase occurs.

Tactics:

RftG has something along the lines of 150-250 different cards, depending on which expansions are played.   There are quite a few powerful synergies to develop. 

The most common way to win is with special VP developments, generally referred to as 6 cost developments.  Getting a complimentary 6 cost to your tableau is a very powerful move.

Ratings:

Original game:  8/10.  The original game had some flaws; it was hard for military to win without perfect draws.  But the game was really elegantly designed and I could see the potential.

Gathering Strom:  8.5/10.  GS provided more cards and introduced goals.  Goals earn you VPs by being the first to do something or having the most of something.  Goals changed the game but in a fairly balanced way; the tableau is still important, if all you do is chase goals you will probably lose.

Rebel vs. Imperium:  9/10.  RvI provided more cards, more goals and introduced PvP planet takeovers.  Takeovers are lame, but the cards and goals introduced really helped make military strategies viable. 

The Brink of War:  7/10.  TBoW Introduced prestige, and prestige actions as well as more cards and goals.  These completely change the game and inflated scores.  It’s still a decent game, but unlike goals, prestige is way too powerful, and the people that draw cards the generate prestige have a significant advantage. 

NF played this game a lot, like a couple games a week for a year lots.   It is out of regular circulation now, because we really have explored all the nuances.  But something that kept our interest for a long long time.

Tips:

*Pay attention to what the table is doing.  You don’t need to select settle if your opponent decides to build something.  Likewise, if you have a good in play and a consume power 

available you are risking cards because any consume phase action is going to use the good.

*Military decks need to get to 12 spots on the tableau ASAP.  The longer the game goes, the more likely your opponents can afford high value cards. 

*VP grind tableaus are hard to win with.  You simultaneously need to empty the VP reserve quickly while still getting enough cards to participate in build  phases.