First let me start off by saying I am not a huge fan of the series Battlestar Galactica. I watch it and I do enjoy the show. It's always however been a little to much of characters wringing their hands with angst and then going to another character and listing to them talk about their personal angst. Mixed in through it though was just enough sci fi and adventure to make it worthwhile and truth is it's a bit better to have to much character exploration than have them all be 2 dimensional cut outs. It sure beats watching a bunch of idiots on Survivor.

The problem with most games based on a television series, film or something similar is they just aren't very good. Take a look in the BGG search engine and you'll find a good 30 Harry Potter games. None are what you would call well rated. Still there are the occasional exceptions such as Dune and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Game (US) where the games are more than just a pretty face. This is part of the reason for so long I was on the fence on this game. Would there be an actual game underneath the theme or would it be another all theme and no game piece?



Tell me about the eye candy

The components for the game are pretty much what you would expect from Fantasy Flight. Fantasy Flight has built a reputation for producing games with the highest quality components and once again they have come through. The game chits are thick and durable. The cards are made of good quality linen stock which is something I wish all game companies to step up to the plate and do. No need for card protectors with this game. The game even comes with plastic Vipers and Cylon Raiders.

I was a touch disappointed on their being no plastic Cylon Basestars seeing as the other ships were nice plastic models. The two Basestars in the game are flat cardboard punch outs. We can't have everything I guess but seeing as the game was lighter components wise than other similarly priced Fantasy Flight games that had a lot more components it would have been a nice touch. Maybe in the expansion we'll see some because here you have these nice plastic vipers and raiders and then two flat cardboard basestars. I know if an expansions comes out I'll be happy to pay a few extra bucks for some nicer basestars.

Besides the basestars my only real complaint quality wise as far as my copy of the game goes was the board. My board with the game came a touch warped. Not badly warped but noticeable enough that I will likely set it out somewhere and put some books on it for a day or two to flatten it out. Not a major issue but I was surprised as I have never had a board warp issue with any Fantasy Flight game before. With as many Fantasy Flight games as I own the fact that a little board warpage is the worst problem I can say about any of them speaks pretty well I think of their quality over time.

If there is any surprise to the game components it's not in the quality but in the quantity. If you own a number of Fantasy Flight games one thing you know is they like lots of stuff. Lots of cards, lots of chits and lost of...well stuff. Games like Android and especially Arkham Horror and Descent come with tons and tons of chits, counters and everything else to the point that a nice fat Plano storage tray is often required to keep everything sorted. It's one of the things I love about Fantasy Flight is they love excess and we love them for it. Battlestar Galactica however is much lighter in terms of components than similar Fantasy Flight fare, This isn't a problem as such because for the most part it has everything the game needs...almost. However that almost is more of a game play complaint so I'll save that for a bit farther down the review where I cover that area.

Suffice to say I don't think you'll be disappointed in the game's components. While you won't open the box and say "Wow! Look at all the stuff!" like you do with many other Fantasy Flight games you are going to be happy with the eye candy included.

Is this Shadows over Camelot in space?

Before I get to the actual game play let me answer this important question first and for many people this is a very important question. When I first read about this game and that it was a co-op game using a traitor mechanic I asked the same question. Is this Shadows Over Camelot in Space? The answer is no it is not. Battlestar Galactica is to Shadows Over Camelot as flying first class is to flying coach. I'll get more into the game play in the next section but in short Battlestar Galactica has a lot more depth of game play than Shadows Over Camelot. Yes, they are both co-op games with a traitor mechanic but in Battlestar Galactica there are far more choices than you have in a game of Shadows. So if you don't like Shadows over Camelot that doesn't mean you won't like this game.



Do I get to toss Cylons out of the airlock?

Actually no you don't get to toss Cylons out of the airlock. At least I didn't get to in the games I've played so far. You do get to toss people into the Brig from time to time and if you are the Admiral of the fleet you have 2 nukes to play with. If they Cylon attacks start to get a touch heavy you can always make them eat a nuclear after dinner mint. Keep in mind though, you only have two of those little toys to play with so make them count.



So this is a classic co-op right?

Game play wise Battlestar Galactica is a co-op for the most part with a traitor mechanic. The game starts with all the players being a character from the TV show with all characters having different special abilities. Some characters are pilots (Apollo, Starbuck), some have more political talent (President Roslin, Tom Zerik) while others are more command (Admiral Adama, Saul Tigh). Then there is Baltar who is...Baltar. All told you have 10 characters to choose from, all with varied talents. You will need a good mix of these talents to win the game.

When the game begins and you all have chosen your characters, players are dealt out loyalty cards which will tell you if you are or are not a Cylon. Now the number and mix of the cards in the loyalty deck varies depending on the number of players. There might be no Cylons at the beginning of the game or there might be one sitting right next to you.

As you can imagine paranoia is a part of the game as you simply do not know who if anyone at all is a Cylon. That is until halfway through the game when another round of loyalty cards is handed out. You may find at this point that you are a Cylon after all or that you are a sympathizer.

To keep the game thematic with this mechanic several characters get more than one loyalty card. Baltar for example gets 2 cards at the beginning of the game and thus is twice as likely to be a Cylon. In the second phase Boomer gets two cards thus making her more likely to start the game as a human and then discover she's actually a Cylon.

Time to shoot Cylons....ok, they shoot back

One complaint often about co-ops is they are to easy to win. Arkham Horror until it added the Dunwich Horror expansion wasn't really difficult to win (Try it with the King and Yellow expansion complete with the herald and that's another story. It's brutal). Battlestar Galactica on the other hand is much more difficult. The game is not extremely forgiving. I have yet to see the humans win and in fact the game tonight we barely got to halfway before we were pretty badly beaten. This is a game where you really have to be on your toes and play smart because if you don't you'll quickly find yourself in a hole.



Ok, what are the basic mechanics?

The basic mechanics of the game are this. Each human player (or unrevealed Cylon) begins his turn by drawing cards from a variety of decks based on that character's skills. For example Admiral Adama draws 3 cards from the leadership deck and 2 cards from the tactics deck. President Laura Roslin draws 3 cards from the politics deck and 2 from the leadership deck. You can still get cards from outside your skill area in the game but often that requires you to go to locations within the game and use an action to draw skill cards associated with that area such as the research lab where you can get engineering or tactics cards.

After drawing their cards the player then may move to another location and take an action. That action may be an action from the location or it could be an action taken from one of their skill cards. The possible actions a player may take is various. You may move to a damaged section of the ship and use a repair card to repair it if damaged. You could go to the armory and fight any on board Cylon Centurians. You can go to Colonial One and try to get elected President!

This is where I say this game is greatly different than Shadows Over Camelot. In Shadows Over Camelot you go to a location and flip cards until the task is complete or you run out of cards. It really doesn't matter much if you are Lancelot or another knight sitting at a location because you basically just flip cards over until you need to move one. In Battlestar Galactica you have more choices and who your character is can greatly effect which choice you take. Yes, you could run down to the hanger deck and launch some Vipers but if you aren't a pilot you can't get into one and pilot it so you might be better going to someplace else where your skills are more valuable.

After moving and taking their action a player draws a crisis card. This card usually lists some problem the players must address in one way or another. Sometimes one player makes a hard choice such as the Admiral (It won't always be Adama. He could get tossed in the brig or be a Cylon) or the players as a group must pass a skill check to stave off a nasty outcome.



What is a skill check?

Skill checks are an extremely important mechanic in the game. The above image is an example of a crisis card that requires a skill check. The number in the top left corner of the card is the number that players must meet in order to pass the skill check. The colors along the left side represent the type of skill cards that may be used to help pass the skill check successfully. For example the skill check on this card requires tactics (purple) piloting (red) and engineering (blue). The total points from the skill cards must be 15 in order to pass.



That may sound easy but of course this game isn't easy because you have other cards that will subtract from that total. Specifically cards taken from what is called the destiny deck (a deck of random skill cards) and of course the Cylons. Hidden Cylon players get to toss in cards too (even an unhidden Cylon can toss in one card) and since all cards are played face down and then shuffled you don't know who has played what and any cards played outside of the skill areas required to pass the skill check subtract from the final total. So you may toss in 15 points worth of cards but the hidden Cylon player has tossed in a pair of political cards worth 5 points and thus you failed the skill check.

Thus it's a game of hand management. Tossing in enough points worth of cards without overdoing it and leaving yourself short of cards for the next skill check.

How do I win?

If you are a human you win by jumping the fleet and reaching Kobal. Each time you jump the fleet you draw a card to see how far you move which varies from 1-3. Once your jump total reaches 8 or more all you have to do is jump one last time and you win. The Cylons win by keeping the humans from reaching their goal which they can do by running them out of resources like food, fuel or even population.

Alternatively during the game of course the Galactica comes under attack from Cylon fleets that attack the Galactica, destroy civilian ships (They killed Kenny!) and even board the Galactica with Centurians. To many Centurians on board and it's the way of the Dinosaurs for the humans. Finally the Cylons could simply blast the Galactica until it's so badly damaged that it is destroyed.



Any complaints?

While I do like the game I did find the card decks to be thin in terms of number of cards and variety, especially the skill check card decks. Tonight for example I played Adama and as a result pulled a lot leadership cards every turn. The problem was I ended up with a hand of pretty much the same skill cards. They may have had different numerical values on the corners for skill checks but when you look at your hand with 6 cards in it and 5 of the 6 are basically the same card then you have to think there needs to be a bit more variety in the deck. The number of cards in each skill deck is definitely on the thin side and while it is not a game breaker this is an area I think that will need attention come time Fantasy Flight does an expansion (you know they're going to). The decks just need some variety.

Conclusion

In the end I think this is a good game. I would not rate it up there with such Fantasy Flight titles as Arkham Horror or Android but I do think fans of Battlestar Galactica will enjoy it. Being familiar with the show does help with the enjoyment of the game I think but there is enough here that even someone who hasn't seen the show will enjoy themselves. You may however have to explain to them what the word frak means and why you called them a toaster.

The components themselves are up to the usual Fantasy Flight standard although the more I think about it the more I want plastic Basestars. The game play is good, however there needs to be more variety in the skill cards which seem to have to much repetition.


I rate this game an 8