Introduction
It’s been a while since I reviewed a game, but I thought Space Dealer deserved another review, so here goes. I got this game in about February from AdamSpielt. The game comes with a full set of instructions in English, and the text on the cards is easily translated even by non-German speakers (i.e. Reaktor = Reactor, Konverter = Converter, Roboterfabrik = Robot Factory). I’m not sure whether the cards on the copies now available in US distribution have English text, but lack thereof should not be a deterrent to purchasing this game.

Board & Bits
This game comes with lots of bits. Most are pretty standard quality – wooden cubes in five colors, big wooden cylinders in eight colors and lots of cards. The “board” is assembled from a bunch of thick cardboard components to make a central “map” of the players’ planets with neutral planets in between which doubles as a scoring track. Each player’s “planet” is a cardboard rectangle with arms extending to either side on which facilities can be built. There are also four cardboard spaceships and Space Dealer’s signature bits – ten sand timers. Beware: this game does take a huge amount of table space.

Two things need to be mentioned about the bits, one of which detracts from the game somewhat. First, the score track is pretty much useless as a score track. Players are reaching into the center of the board enough as it is when they take cubes from and return cubes to the resource bank, draw cards, and move their ships that moving markers around the scoring track just further clutters things and is prone to result in errors. Fortunately, this is not a big deal because scores are 100% verifiable at the end of the game. The simple solution, therefore, is not to use the score track. The timers are a bit more of a problem. I have yet to hear of a case where they were all in synch and ran at the same pace. The variability in mine is relatively small (one minute +/- about 5 seconds), but even small variations can make a difference when the timers are run 30 times in a game – that’s potentially three or more extra turns per timer for someone. The only solution that I have found short of replacing the timers (which I would seriously consider if I found a cheap/reliable alternative) is to pair up the timers so that each player has, on average, the same timer speed. This is somewhat dissatisfying, although not to the point where it ruins the game for me.

Gameplay
Basically, Space Dealer combines a simple economic engine that the players build out with lots of picking up and delivering. Every action a player takes requires the use of one of the two 60-second sand timers. A player places one of his timers on the location he wishes to activate. When that timer runs out, the corresponding action may be taken. There are four basic actions. First, a player may expand his planet by building mines or other useful structures that produce cubes, convert one color cube to another, store cubes, power the structures on the planet or otherwise improve the planet’s economy. Second, a player may upgrade the technology level of his planet, giving him access to better structures that may then be built. Third, a player may use one of the structures he has built to produce one or more cubes or covert the color of cubes. Fourth, a player may fly his spaceship (once loaded with cubes) to another planet to satisfy demand for different colored cubes and thereby score points. Turning in cubes to meet the demand is the only action that doesn’t require a timer – once a ship has used timers to fly to a planet, it may unload as many cubes as it wishes there without further timers.

The real-time aspect of the game, driven by the sand timers, is really its defining characteristic. The beginning is somewhat calm, as players make their first few timer placements and survey the situation. The game then gets increasingly more hectic as players undertake more tasks, which divide their attention among their ship, planet, card draws while scanning other planets for demand that they can fulfill.

Rating
Were it not for the real-time aspect, Space Dealer would be way too simplistic to be interesting. But the game works precisely because players are scrambling around to accomplish their tasks in real time. Mistakes get made, timers get forgotten, and players just aren’t as efficient as they could be. I believe that this game needs to be evaluated on its own terms – a thirty-minute game shouldn’t be analyzed for strategic depth, but appreciated for the fun it can bring. Analyzing the game's decision tree to death may not reveal an elegant game system, but there is no time for that with the sand timers running down. Space Dealer has always delivered an enjoyable, fast-paced, and close game for us. It isn’t a game that I would play every week for months and months, but I’m always happy when it does get played which has been on average about once a month. I rate Space Dealer an 8 out of 10.

Further Thoughts
A couple of somehat random further comments that didn't have a place in the body of the review, for what they are worth:

1. The game instructions include basic and advanced rules, but I don’t see much reason to bother with the basic. The additions in the advanced rules all improve the game, and don’t add complexity that will be overly challenging, even in a first game.

2. I’ve found that the best way to teach the game is to play about 5 minutes, stop, then start for real. This allows the new players to see the mechanics in action. The biggest problem with teaching the game is the real-time action – there is very little time to explain rules on the fly. Ideally, I suppose that one experienced player should “referee” the first game of new players, but that isn’t usually possible.

3. Despite the name, I’ve only seen a minimal amount of trading in the games that I’ve played. There are just too many other things to keep track of to take time negotiating a deal. I suspect that this may change a bit with experience, as there are real benefits to trading – helping someone fulfill demand on your planet scores you victory points (albeit not as many as the deliverer of the goods), so this ought to be a viable strategy.