Review: Race for the Galaxy

Front Page Discussion
#41

Did the tutorial and played a game against the easy AI.

Really really liking the game…my worries were totally misplaced.
The theme does everything for me and so far I got very distinctive games…with stories on my mind going from a diplomatic production Star Trek approach to a destroy and conquer everything one.
Ace.
I’ll play a bit the vanilla game but I’m already planning to buy the expansions.

Tons of options but turns go fast…can’t wait to dive in multiplayer and surely be trounced by you all.

Which friend code should I use?
iPad or iPhone? I linked the devices but unless I’m dumb I see two different ones (I guess it’s for proper notifications).

#42

Just a question for those of you with some games under the belt: do you prefer to use the “advanced” two-player rules? Tom Vasel over at the Dice Tower seems to swear by them, but I’m not getting the hype. With the two-action variant, I feel like too much can happen in one turn and it really takes away from the tougher decision-making when you can only take one action, and it might just be what your opponent(s) pick.

Thoughts?

#43

Just won my first game against easy AI.

I feel like Picard after defeating the Borg.

Woah…I’m really liking this game.

#44

I prefer the advanced variant, personally. Without it I feel like I can’t really develop / implement strategy before the tableau is filled up.

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#45

Once you play it a couple of times, you’ll never go back. It just feels like the right way to play two-player RftG.

Unofficially, most players seem to agree. If you scan a day’s worth of two-player online games, you’ll see that the vast majority are advanced offerings. The ratio is like 8:1 or even 10:1.

#46

I like the advanced rules because they allow me to link actions together. Otherwise the game seems sluggish with only two actions each turn.

I have a question about the advanced rules. If your two actions are both the “I” action, 5 cards keep one, and 3 cards keep 2. The game combines them and gives me 8 cards (IIRC), but I can only keep 2. It seems that I should be getting 8 cards and keeping 3. Should it not be combining the two actions, should I be getting 3 cards? Or is this dealt with in the rules.

#47

That’s just a game rule. No mistake in the app.

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#48

IMG_8501.jpg1600×1200 373 KB

first bonus is “Draw +5 cards. in total, you draw 7 cards and keep 1.”
(it’s just and only “draw +5 cards”, not “keep +1” too)

add the second bonus [+1/+1] to this and you end at: Draw 8 and keep 2 :smirk:

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#49

I wasn’t thinking of them as bonuses. Thanks everyone for the explanation.

#50

Thanks for everyone nudging me into buying the game.
I’m LOVING it.
Possibile my CGOTY already. (Card Game of the Year).

In a really crowded space with many awesome entries, I must add.

Of course it was all @Neumannium fault I didn’t buy it in the beginning because he mentioned euro in the very first paragraph of the review, so I skipped it :stuck_out_tongue:

Looking forward to be trounced in MP by you all.

Will probably buy expansions soon.

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#51

As I am on the fence as well, how long does it take to learn the game and be able to enjoy it? From 1 (very fast) to 10 (very long).

#52

2 - the game is relatively simple to learn and play.

Caveat: Card games click with me. That said, this game is not difficult at all. The biggest learning cure is the card iconography, which is mitigated in-app since it is all explained in text. On the table, I’d rate the game an 8.

#53

I would say a 2 or 3 at best too.

Some things weren’t super clear to me after the tutorial…but 5 games in everything was natural, beat easily the easy AI and now moved to the normal one (which trounces me).
It’s way easier at first to play military worlds imho.

Everything has clear tootips but I’ve noticed that after a while I can discern and understand the general meaning of icons and position at a glance.
At first I found super handy the fact you can zoom in a card and then swiping you move to the next/previous one to read and decide what to keep/what to deploy (this should be standard behavior on ALL card games on iOS but sadly it isn’t).

The real life game must be a real nightmare tough.

#54

I may have missed something, but the one bit of information that I did not see quickly explained was the planet iconography. It is in the rules but not displayed on the card. It isn’t difficult, but you do need to learn to read the planet iconography.

#55

Ok thanks guys… /*goes to AppStore

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#56

It’s a fantastic app, which is the important part for me. Because RftG is Exhibit A for games I would never play in person. I’d put my fist through the back of some neckbeard’s skull, for sure.

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#57

The iconography on the cardboard version is definitely a stumbling block. IIRC, it comes with player aids and the entire back of the rule book defines the icons!

#58

all new players are invited to join the 1on1 and/or the three-way challenges.

but what we really need would be a tourney, elimination or round-robin or combination of both.

and we got it:
RftG League