Why an ‘honest review’ you may ask? Well, I often try and convince my GF many times to play various games and although she isn’t really a gamer she accommodates me, usually beats me and sometimes she admits to enjoying a game. She is intrinsically a very good gamer and often beats me as she calculates and organises her strategy far more thoroughly than I do. So as a judge of balance and mechanics she is a good litmus test of games as her patience and love for them is far below my zeal. I’m not going to describe the game in detail as this has already been done what I will do is take you through my experiences from opening the box to having played about a 30+ games.

Initially you read the rules and I was thinking ‘there is no way my GF is going to play this’. It seems that the icons are cryptic beyond comprehension and that the play style is pretty much lifted from San Juan. It simply does not have an instant appeal for some people. I personally love ‘decoding’ a game mechanic or system then working it out in my head before I play. Twilight Struggle certainly doesn’t have an instant appeal when I first opened it but like RFTG when you start understanding the rules you think ‘I’ve got to play this’.

Our initial three or four games were quite interesting but not gripping, floundering with the icons and seemingly being forced to adopt strategies we didn’t understand the game immediately presented itself with its weakest initial offering but incredible long-term strength – choice. You have many choices and many options to score highly, often you have to adapt to not only what your opponent is laying but also your own scoring strategy in a very dynamic way. At first it seems aimless then you start developing game strategies that constantly surprise you. This was the strategy development from early game to later games.

1. Military or Consume with intensive explore to end game rush.

It seems when you start developing your early strategies that you think ‘well if they are military I will go trade’. This is a common mistake which often leads to the other player taking advantage of this approach when more advanced strategies become apparent. Intensive explores lead to free draws for the opponent and end game rushing means you are often are only capitalising on one aspect of your planets/developments using one 6 point endgame dev bonus.

2. Combination Searching and Economic End Game

Searching for complimentary cards become a major aspect after your initial strategies start failing rifling through with explores to get 6 point developments with the planet type matches allowing your opponent free pick ups every time. Also once you realise that consume can rush the game forward without laying planets and dev its often a race to secure the vp chits. This however has its drawbacks if this if your only strategy, again a good combination of some VP chits and card lays starts becoming apparent.

3. Balanced Strategy
After about 15 games we started having a slower balanced strategy making sure we make use of windfall bonuses and concentrating on early production and trade to draw cards forcing production on an opposing player when they least needed it. Minimising explores unless necessary and leaving strategies relatively open unless a strong hand is drawn early. Even so, if you still rely on one strategy you will allow the opposing player to take blocking moves against you by holding and discarding needed cards and by this stage they will be fully aware of how effective this is.

4. Unusual Scoring Cards
Now we have played this game quite a lot my GF has developed much more subtle scoring tactics that make my guesses at her strategy very difficult. A little like Ticket to Ride (keep drawing until you have a reasonable strategy), getting draws up to the maximum from trade or special abilities is paramount. Holding needed opponent cards is normal. Even bluffing tactics have developed, it feels like you have more control rather than a game that leads you; by approximating probability you start to get a real grip on the potential of some cards that you had always considered useless and combining them subtly with other 6 point development cards. Of course there is the random factor and a continual good draw will always win out but this is rarer than you think. It seems a decent 6 point dev, some consume chits with bonus, and some military is a good approach.

5. Go back to 1
This is really when the game starts to shine, in a recent game just as this posturing, complex play had developed between us I though bugger it and went for a simple military win exploring until I had every card I needed (rebel military win) laying predictably thinking that maybe this simple strategy does win out and the game is far simpler than I was giving it credit for. Nope, the worst move I have ever made, after notching up what I thought was a good score (can’t remember now), my gf with less cards down (as I had rushed), trounced me with a score that would make you sick. She managed to get 4 6 point development down tripling up some planet final game bonus scores. A very humiliating experience. One I deserved as I was ignoring 6 pointers rifling the pack so that the discarded 6 pointers that were non-military bonuses appeared again once the discard was shuffled in allowing my gf a chance to combine a powerful set of bonuses and enabling her to hold the top 7 and 6 point rebel planets which she discarded at the end for her final 6 point dev.

Suffice to say we love this game, it is addictive, it is sometimes painful, and often than not it makes you hate your opponent when they reveal their end game cards holding those critical one’s that would have given you a decisive win. It does have multiple strategic developments and becomes much less forgiving the more you play but you still have many choices and there are still many scoring approaches I have not taken yet. The chronological development above does not predict how you will eventually end up playing the game as I think many people revert back to earlier strategies if the cards are not favourable. The trick is not to adhere to just one strategy and really think about what planets and developments you have laid. Brain burn is a problem if you are efficiency obsessive but sometimes you just have a hunch and go with it. The random factor like most games is a bonus (excitement, tenseness, surprises and so forth) but also a downer in that lucky draws could seal a game. If you hate any randomness then stay well away. Strategy, I think, still plays a major part as you must take the probability aspect into your calculations like most card games.

We played San Juan a fair bit before this and I must admit I think Space Race is superior even though I initially considered the card management would get a bit cumbersome (selecting action cards each turn) but I really like this now and it often makes the simultaneous revealing of actions a little blip of excitement each turn especially if you have bet on your opponent taking an action you need. The card artwork is great, the flow is pretty fast once you get used to the symbols the ‘race’ theme really kicks in towards endgame creating a tense and exciting finish. I have only played 2 player so far and its a great game, looking forward to playing with more players in the future. That should create a whole new level of strategy.

Suffice to say my GF loves this game. It is a solid move on from San Juan, with more depth and the theme also appeals to my sci-fi side. I tend to like games with a little more direct player interaction but this, I must admit, has tugged my gaming beard. If I want more direct action I get her to play Tide of Iron, although last time she flamethrowed my poor Germans into Wiener Schnitzels.