Many people like me like to read reviews about a game. Even if I already own a game I still like to see what others think about the game. Many times I find there are more reviews than I have time to read. I have wanted a way to get a quick synopsis before I read the whole review. This is my attempt to provide this service.

Below you will find a list of reviews for this game with a short description about the review and a link to the full review. I have included a link to the reviewer and all their reviews. I want to promote the reviewers who did all the hard work. In addition, I have included the BGG rank if any that the review has given for the game. I have ordered the reviews base on thumbs. At the end you will see a very short review from my perspective. This is the third in a series of Review Digests. In the past review digests it mentioned that this would be most useful on games with lots of reviews. I agree, so I am doing a review digest of this game, but I am not going to do all reviews. I am going to try my best to get a good representation and include reviews form different view points. Please provide feedback on how I can make the future Review Digests even better.


Reviewer: Warren Forrest (W4st)
           Title: Beyond the Hype: a blissfully ignorant review of RftG
           Rated: 10
           Other Reviews by: Warren Forrest

"Without the benefit/detriment of knowing about all the hype beforehand, Race for the Galaxy has managed to become a huge hit with my gaming group based entirely upon its own merits as a game. We all love playing it. My goal in creating my personal game collection is to have a game for all occasions and player tastes, and RftG is definitely going to become my go-to game when I want a relatively deep game that will appeal to an audience more interested in constructive competition than in actively undermining each other."

Reviewer: Joe Huber (huber)
           Title: Card By Card - A Review of the 95 Different Cards in the base set of Race for the Galaxy
           Rated: 10
           Other Reviews by: Joe Huber

"I had the thought of doing a traditional review of Race for the Galaxy not long after my 100th play late in January, but I haven’t made it to it and I have recently completed my 200th play. Over those plays, I came to the conclusion that I’d rather write a card-by-card summary instead, so this is a strategy guide as much as anything. It’s just my thoughts – as much as I’ve played, I know many have played far more, and I’d welcome anyone’s thoughts and disagreements. I strongly suspect that this will be most amusing to read for those with ~20 plays (those with much fewer probably won't get much out of it) or ~2000 plays."

Reviewer: Christopher Rao (topherr)
           Title: Massive review: Brilliant despite its flaws (9 of 10)
           Rated: 9
           Other Reviews by: Christopher Rao

"As with most all great games, the math is simply dead on. The balance of all the cards, and the interwoven strategies, make the decisions painfully difficult. The game is a race, and feels like one. It’s over so fast I don’t really mind the “multi-player solitaire” aspect to it – and I suspect that as I play more and understand the game better I’ll feel able to effect other players more as well. The one other issue is the luck/player control issue, made worse by having several unique cards which seem integral to particular strategies. Frankly, this seems like less of an issue each time I play however."

Reviewer: Sheamus Parkes (Isamoor)
           Title: Deep Analysis of a Highly Addictive Game
           Rated: 10
           Other Reviews by: Sheamus Parkes

"The best parts of Race are the speed for the game, frequency of the meaningful decisions and number of strategies you can employ to win. You might want to steer clear if you don't want to invest the time to learn the iconography or need more player interaction than double think with only short term ramifications. ... There is also a bit of a conundrum with the competitive versus casual implications. The player interactions definitely lend themselves to a more gentle casual environment, but the time investment to learn the icons would be more likely to scare off the casual crowd. If you can reconcile these conflicting interests, then this is a game for you! I personally am really itching to get a hold of the expansions that promise to open up even more potential strategies!"

Reviewer: Rob Herman (Sitnaltax)
           Title: Five reasons to think twice; five plusses over Puerto Rico
           Rated: 9
           Other Reviews by: Rob Herman

"To start: I like Race for the Galaxy ("RftG") a lot. It is up my alley; I rate it a 9. But there are a lot of people out there who won't like it. In this short review, I give the 5 most important reasons you might not like it; then, for contrast, five ways it I feel it is better than Puerto Rico, an excellent "reference point" game that obviously inspired RftG and will be familiar to most."

Reviewer: When I get out of here I'll change this dumb avatar. (TheMadVulcan)
           Title: THE NEGATIVES: a Review of R4tG.
           Rated: 9.5
           Other Reviews by: When I get out of here I'll change this dumb avatar.

"There you have it. Are there negatives? Yes. Some are a matter of personal preference while others are not. If you want a game that's quick, highly strategic and replayable, won't risk you a night on the couch, has some random elements, and can fit in your pocket, then steel yourself and dive in. In my opinion, it's well worth it."

Reviewer: Brian Bankler (Bankler)
           Title: Tao of Gaming Review
           Rated: 10
           Other Reviews by: Brian Bankler

"By now you know that I love this game. Will you love it? I hope so, but who knows?. Who doesn't like it? People who dislike simultaneous action selection. People who prefer abstracts and games with simple rules and little-to-no chrome."

Reviewer: Mark Mitchell (gamecat_uk)
           Title: An Honest Review of Race for the Galaxy
           Rated: 8
           Other Reviews by: Mark Mitchell

"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."

Reviewer: Thomas Taylor (Tygo)
           Title: Race For The Galaxy - Not For Me
           Rated: 5
           Other Reviews by: Thomas Taylor

"I would like to reiterate, I mean no disrespect to the author, publisher or anyone else involved with the game, and I simply feel a dissenting opinion on this game needs to be shared amidst the hype. ... It’s simply not my cup of fussy acquired taste cup of tea. "

Reviewer: J R (Beowuulf1)
           Title: Race for the Galaxy - A Game Theorist's Delight
           Rated: 10
           Other Reviews by: J R

"Race for the Galaxy is a fantasic game. Like in all good strategy games, players continue to improve with play. After 50 or so games, I still find myself improving. Unlike many other strategy games, improved skill does not lead to scripted playing, and I find I enjoy the game more the more I play it. Throw in an average game length of 30 minutes, and I am left with a game that hits the table in every get together."

Reviewer: Roland Wood (Roliander)
           Title: Roland's 20-point review
           Rated: 9
           Other Reviews by: Roland Wood

"... The game is a joy to play if you enjoy empire building, variable power, ramping up of abilities type games. I love how at the start you can barely keep five cards in your hand but by the end you struggle to spend them fast enough to keep within your hand-size limit of 10 cards. I like direct conflict games with "take that" components but I also appreciate games that allow each player to build something with the victory going to the one who built it best without interference. Did I also mention that at times I feel like a Sith Lord with "everything proceeding as I have forseen"?"

Reviewer: Emile de Maat (Purple)
           Title: An Early Review
           Rated: 8
           Other Reviews by: Emile de Maat

"I really like Race for the Galaxy. As with most card based games, there’s a lot of luck involved, but as the game takes less than an hour, that doesn’t bother me to much. The fun part of the game is that there are many different strategies to attempt. If you are looking for a light game that still involves some thinking, I can really recommend this game."

Reviewer: Dave Lartigue (Legomancer)
           Title: Very Nice, Except Where It's All Pointless
           Rated: ~5
           Other Reviews by: Dave Lartigue

"This is pretty much a textbook definition of "multiplayer solitaire", a condition among Eurogames in which each player does his or her own thing and only vaguely (if at all) inconveniences the others (usually through hackneyed auction mechanisms or by having X-1 fantoozlers, where X is the number of players, so that someone's going to be without a fantoozler.) Many gamers like this; they feel that if they lose a game it should be because they didn't plan well enough, not because someone else screwed with their plans. Many gamers are weirdos. Me, I like for there to be a reason other people are playing, and it's not just to provide three pace cars for me."

Reviewer: Doing the 100 (Stormparkiet)
           Title: The Definitive Guide to RftG
           Rated: 9
           Other Reviews by: Doing the 100

"For us this game was a huge hit because it hit just the right sweet spots: high playability because of fast play and no set-up, varied enough to play again and again, and plenty of interesting decisions to make every game. My wife likes it a lot as well, which is a sweet spot all on its own."

Reviewer: Chad Ellis (Chad_Ellis)
           Title: Race for the Galaxy -- a skeptic is won over
           Rated: 9
           Other Reviews by: Chad Ellis

"Race for the Galaxy is the real deal. I’m seeing constant improvement in my own play and understanding of the game, consistent with the predictions of the game’s elder statesmen, and I suspect that my rating will continue to tweak upwards over time. It is engaging, challenging addictive and a game you can grow with."

Reviewer: Troy English (Tut_613)
           Title: The unthinkable. A negative review of a top ranked game.
           Rated: N/A
           Other Reviews by: Troy English

"What the designers did was very simple, they decided that to save money on selling a product into many countries that they would put icons instead of text on the cards. What this caused however is a HUGE learning curve in figuring out the icons. ... But, in the end, was it fun?: 3"

Reviewer: Ron Olivier (rantinronrevue)
           Title: Is this your kind of game? Not really mine...
           Rated: N/A
           Other Reviews by: Ron Olivier

"... before you jump onto the spaceship – er, bandwagon – for this game, be aware that it is not a game for everybody. Consider your likes and dislikes and the preferences of your group before going out and buying this game. You may find out, as I did, that it’s not for you."

My Thoughts

I did not like San Juan, so it makes no sense for me to purchase the game. Yet, sometimes I get caught up in the hype and I have to have the new game. So, I purchased the game. I like the game but I have to relearn it every time I play since I don't remember the icons. In addition, I don't play the game often enough to get good at it. This is the problem I have with many games where people have played lots more times than me and I just don't stand a chance. Reminds me of my days of Magic:The Gathering but at least with RftG we all have the same cards. The game is a very good game which I doubt I will get to play much. If I do get to play it I hope it is not against the real fans who have 50+ game plays.

I hope you found this review digest useful. If you can think of things that I should add to the next review digest, please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks.