Game: Andromeda

Thread: Re: Where do used jokers go?

mintyh — 2008-10-20T20:08:25+00:00

Thanks for the guidance, James and Drew!

I still find it strange that in such a well-written rule book, we couldn't see this clarification (but perhaps we were just being dense).

They aren't added to the discard stack. Although that's a really easy slip-up, so you have to watch what gets discarded.

That's precisely what we found. It was hard, in the rush of blood when someone lays down a big hand to do some crucial action, to pause for a moment and roust out the jokers and return them to their respective piles.

Fun game- it's almost like this Alan Moon character's done some game design before. Looking forward to playing again!

Thread: Re: Where do used jokers go?

Drew1365 — 2008-10-20T13:47:56+00:00

The wild cards go back in stacks next to the board where they can be taken again. They aren't added to the discard stack. Although that's a really easy slip-up, so you have to watch what gets discarded.

The only way they run out is if players are keeping them for bonus points at endgame. So if the stack of gold bars is gone, and the play you just made would have given you one, tough luck!

But when you use them, you put them back in their original stacks immediately.

Thread: Re: Where do used jokers go?

JimF — 2008-10-20T12:18:56+00:00

Not sure whether this is correct, but we return them to their respective piles. Would be surprised if they went into the main deck discard pile to be dealt out later in the game. Only other option i can think of is they get permenantly discarded once used.

Even with the way we have played they can run out in a 4 player game. In particular towards the end of the game when they might be retained for their points value.

Thread: Where do used jokers go?

mintyh — 2008-10-20T10:58:41+00:00

Played our first game of Andromeda the other night and really enjoyed it, but none of us could see in the rules where jokers go when you play them as part of a hand. Do they return to their respective piles or go into the discard pile (and does that mean you might receive one in a card draw when the discard pile is shuffled when the draw pile runs out?) With the former way, it seemed unlikely that you would hit the "can't get a joker if not available" (perhaps playing with 3 also affected this).

Did we miss what the procedure is?

Cheers
Minty
NZ

Thread: Re: Fun Game with one of the best gimmicks there is.

Rokkr — 2008-10-16T03:18:19+00:00

Played this the first time tonight and had a blast.
The luck referred to in the above comments is mitigated by the fact that even if you don't pull your cube out of the ring, you still improve the odds by sending others cubes back to earth. So really you either have a small success or a large one.

Thread: Re: Fun Game with one of the best gimmicks there is.

lordunborn — 2008-10-02T18:54:32+00:00

rplea wrote:
I'm not sure whether 'luck' is quite the right word Larry; how about 'trying to maximise the odds in your favour', as in so many games?

I agree that there are ways to mitigate the "luck". Yes it is "Luck" in the fact that you may not pull the cube you want on the first pull BUT just like in those other games that feature NO-Luck you are are the mercy of outside forces which if those forces play into your hands it was good luck and if not then Bad Luck. If your opponent does some bonehead maneuver you got lucky, it has nothing to do with your abilities 99% of the time. Any time you have a human player there is a chance that you will get lucky some times and they will make a mistake. That is just as much of Luck as this is. If you play a set of 7 cards on a planet that you have the majority on then you will either place a cube or send everyone else packing back to earth. Which means you have a better chance to do it next turn.

This luck is not exactly beyond your control nor is it completely under your control.

Remember Luck is a chance happening, or that which happens beyond a person's control.

Most anything that you do not do yourself will fall into this category.

That and you may be doing to wrong cause it's all in the wrists. Lol

Thread: Re: Fun Game with one of the best gimmicks there is.

rplea — 2008-10-02T17:50:41+00:00

I'm not sure whether 'luck' is quite the right word Larry; how about 'trying to maximise the odds in your favour', as in so many games?

Thread: Re: Fun Game with one of the best gimmicks there is.

Larry Levy — 2008-10-01T21:55:36+00:00

I wanted to like this game, but the cosmic ashtray ruins it. Just too much luck for my tastes. I even tried to come up with some variants, but none of them panned out, so I traded it away.

Thread: Re: Fun Game with one of the best gimmicks there is.

The Warp — 2008-10-01T20:21:34+00:00

Andromeda: simple, fun, elegant. I love this game.

Thread: Re: Fun Game with one of the best gimmicks there is.

ixnay66 — 2008-10-01T18:17:23+00:00

This game is a blast. Someone always gets screwed by the puck though. My last game I always seemed to get the cubes I needed out of it. The game before I RARELY did. But I still love it.

Thread: Fun Game with one of the best gimmicks there is.

lordunborn — 2008-10-01T15:25:16+00:00

I recently received Andromeda in a Math Trade and finally after a few months got a chance to play it. I will start by saying that the game is fun. There isn’t a whole lot more to it other then that and I hope to help sway people from the fence on if they want to purchase this game or now.

Components:

I have the RGG version of the game. The game comes in a nice box with a GREAT insert. Most games have inserts that are worthless once you punch the cardboard or you unwrap the parts but this game holds everything very well. There is a space for the “Cosmic Ashtray” and spaces for all the cubes and cards. It also looks very thematic and was a great idea. I have to give extra kudos to whoever designed the insert.

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The game comes with 2 decks of cards, a board, cubes of player colors and the cosmic ring. Most everything in the box is of standard quality. The cards are an odd size and those that use card protectors may be disappointed. The Board is well laid out and has the tracks for spaceship size (hand limit) and Technology track on the board.

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The cosmic ring is the most interesting component in the box. It really does look like an upside down ashtray

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The ring also has a design on the backside that adds a nice touch to the overall presentation of the game.

The cards are pretty thin and may not hold up to a lot of games but I don’t think that will be a problem with this one. I said it was fun I didn’t say it was the, be all end all of gaming lol.

Gameplay:

Well what kind of game is this? It is an Area control / hand management / trading game. Each turn you have a couple of actions to try and gain the majority on a world and then you want to use the cosmic ring to try and land your trade stations (cubes) on the planets moons or orbital stations. That is the object of the game and the game ends when a specific number of planets have no available spaces.

Each turn you will draw your cards to your hand limit (people have different ways to do this to keep the randomness of the cards as random as possible) and start the round. Each player will have 2 actions except the start player who get 3 actions.

You may at this time play a transport card to move cubes around. You only have 2 cards for the whole game and it is voluntary for you to use them. Everyone gets a chance to do this action around the table before the round really starts.

The 1st thing you must do is have a trading round. The trading in the game is rather fun and it is mandatory for the start player to trade. The start player chooses a card from his had to trade and places it face down then around the table to his left each player must choose a card that is different from the start player and place it face down. Once it goes around then the start player must play a second card and it goes around again. At this point the start player may decide to trade his two cards for another player’s cards OR add another card to the trade. If he adds another card to the trade it goes around again. The start player must then trade his stack for another players stack. That player may then place what was traded into his hand or trade it to another player. That player may then trade what he received or place it into his hand. Trading is only mandatory for the start player. Everyone can, after the start player has traded, decide to either keep what he has been traded or if nobody wants to trade keep what he offered.

Each player then has the ability to play his actions.

Exchange Cards – Discard 1 or 2 cards (3 with technology) and draw as many cards back into your hand

Move Stations – Play a set of 3 – 7 cards as a set and move that many stations divided by 2 (rounded down) from earth to the planet in the set.

Establish Trade Center – Play a set of 3 – 7 cards to try and move a cube from the planets surface into orbit using the cosmic ring. The number of draws is the number of sets divided by 2 (rounded down).

Upgrade Ship – Play sets of cards to move up the ship upgrade track (you are not allowed to skip spaces)

Upgrade Technology – Same as Upgrade Ship only on the Technology track.

Exchanging cards is pretty cut and dry you may discard and draw cards.

Move stations action is when you play a set of cards, a set is 3 - 7 of the same type of cards, and move stations from earth to the surface of a planet. The amount of stations you can move is the number of cards in the set played divided by 2 (rounded down)

I guess I can clear up the types of sets also. You have 2 kinds of sets. Natural sets are when all the cards in the set are the exact same cards. If you do this you will receive a bonus card that goes into your hand. The bonus cards in your hand are considered wild cards and if unused at the end of the game are worth VP’s. IF you play a set that includes one or more wild cards then that set can not net you another wild card. So Natural sets are more better then wild sets.

So if I play 4 cards of the same type as one of my actions to move stations I would move 2 stations from earth (if available) to the planet shown on the cards. If that set is a natural set then I would immediately draw a 4point wild card if it is available. If it is not available (there are a limited number in the game) then I am out of luck.

OK, the Establish Trade Center action is my favorite action of the game. You will attempt to pull your cubes out of the cosmic ashtray but playing sets. Again sets are played from 3 – 7 cards (of the planet you want to try and establish the trade station on) and the number of cards in the set is divided by 2 and rounded down. Giving you that number of pulls from the ashtray. You then place all the cubes on that planet under the cosmic ring and place your finger over the ejection hole. You then swirl the ring around in circles mixing the cubes up and turn the hole pointing away from you. You then slowly pull the ring back until a cube appears. If it is yours then you get to move that cube to the orbital station of your choice (not sure shy you would want anything other then the highest one). If it is not yours it gets sent back to earth. We played that for each pull you mix up the ring each time. Rules state that you keep pulling back until either your color comes out or you reach the amount of cubes for the pulls you are allowed. Do it as you see fit. I like mixing them up each time as it lets you swirl it more then once.

This is where people say the game is too random. This randomness can be mitigated by placing an overwhelming number of cubes on the planet you wish to try and take all the trade slots on. You increase your chances with each opponent’s cube you pull out by sending it back to earth. Granted you have a finite amount of cubes and getting them back to earth to send to other planets is very difficult but if you really want a planet and all the points on it then you can do that.

Upgrade Ship action allows you to play a set of cards and move one of your cubes down the ship upgrade track, thereby increasing your hand limit. Larger hand limit means more cards to choose from to trade and make sets. You must upgrade 1 space to the right each time you perform the action.

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The technology track will allow you to break some of the hard limits in the game. One space will allow you to discard 3 cards on the exchange cards action. One will let you trade up to 4 cards in a round and one will let you round up on all sets (this is a great ability). Of course you have to get the other 2 before you can have the last one just like the ship upgrades. Also Technologies (unlike ship upgrades) are worth VP's at the end of the game.

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As I said when a specific number of planets have all the trade station established then the game ends and you add up VP’s. The person with the most wins.

Conclusion:

While this game may not be for everyone I did enjoy it. It is real light and has some of the mechanics that I enjoy. You can play this with most non gamers as the rules are real simple and they may like the cosmic ring. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys fun trading games with area control and hand management that doesn’t mind a bit of randomness. Playing with the Cosmic Ring is just plain fun. I found myself having to stop and not play cards just for a chance to swirl the ring.

Thread: Question: Using Wild Cards

Drew1365 — 2008-09-15T14:19:55+00:00

I'm wondering if there is any action for which one cannot use wild cards? In the rules, the use of wild cards is mentioned in every single action except when you establish an economic center. Is this merely an oversight? Can wild cards be used if you take that action, or is that the only action where they can't be used?

Thread: Re: Trading phase

Drew1365 — 2008-09-15T14:13:28+00:00

matthew.marquand wrote:
To clarify, the "next" person cannot take their cards back into their hand unless they were previously involved in a trade. I can choose to retrade cards given to me or keep the cards.

In other words, you can't keep your own cards unless you are either forced to (can't play a valid card to trade) or you are the only one left that hasn't traded.

At least that's the way I'm reading the rules.

I'd really love a clarification of this rule. It's clear that the start player must trade, but if you're not involved in a trade with the start player, must you also trade? Or is that optional for everyone but the player whose turn it is?

EDIT: Never mind. I just double-checked my rules, and it's clear that only the start player must trade. Anyone else who is not forced to trade with the start player may force a trade with another player or simply return his cards to his hand.

Thread: Re: Trading phase

matthew.marquand — 2008-08-13T03:30:54+00:00

rplea wrote:
My question relates to the trading phase.

After the first player has traded, the next player may either take his cards into his hand or trade them. If he has only two cards in front of him, can he play a third card (with the other players doing the same) as is the option for the first player?

To clarify, the "next" person cannot take their cards back into their hand unless they were previously involved in a trade. I can choose to retrade cards given to me or keep the cards.

In other words, you can't keep your own cards unless you are either forced to (can't play a valid card to trade) or you are the only one left that hasn't traded.

At least that's the way I'm reading the rules.

Thread: It's not all about luck.

wrkeech — 2008-08-01T16:15:16+00:00

So what do we know about space? Well, it’s big, it’s full of rocks, and if you can get there first, its full of money. Unfortunately, someone else has beaten you to the punch. Oh, don’t act surprised, it’s not like it was your very own little secret. I mean, how can you miss space? Just look up. But there is some good news. Someone may have gotten there first, but fortunately for you, all they did was survey the planets. Looks like making money in space just got a little bit easier.

The Planetary Union has recognized that seven planets in the Andromeda galaxy have the potential of making someone a tidy little fortune. To keep prices up and those pesky colonists at home, they have built three orbiting economic centers above each of these planets. Each one a little bit better than the last. This is where you come in. To use one of these economic centers you must build stations and place them on the planets’ surface. This is done by using and/or trading “Planet” cards and “Transport” cards. Herein lies the meat of the game. Where strategy will come into play above all else. But building stations on the planets surface is just part of the process. You still have to secure at least one of the three economic centers orbiting the planet to get your precious cargo back to earth and earn some money (points actually).

If you have at least one station on the planets surface, you can try your luck with the “Planet Ring.” This “hockey puck on steroids” looking device covers all of the stations currently on the planet, yours and theres. Move the planet ring in any direction until a station pops out of the little doorway on its side. If it’s yours, you get to move it to one of the economic centers, if it’s not; you get to move it back to planet Earth. The number of tries you get is determined by the number of matching cards you play. The odds of you pulling one of your own stations can be greatly increased by having more than one station on that planet.

You can also invest in bigger ships to increase your hand size or better technology to put a twist in your favor into the game. Oh and lets not forget the value of wild cards either. They are your friends, use them to fill in for a missing card or bank them for points at the end of the game.

In short, it’s a lot of fun. The learning curve is light, except for the trading part, but after a few bids, you realize how simple it really is. The board is drop dead gorgeous and the game as a whole is very well made, bright and colorful. Game play is never stagnant, as you’re always doing something and the turns are quick. I found the trade phase to be the longest, but that makes sense. It is the most strategic part of the game.

Some have panned this game as being too luck based, and while I do see the luck factor of certain actions being higher than normal, I do not see it as the overwhelming driving force behind the momentum of the game. As I stated earlier, the trade phase is where you should concentrate your efforts, and if done right, the luck aspect can be greatly reduced.

Will
www.gotdice.com

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Rokkr — 2008-07-11T22:43:17+00:00

the planets

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Rokkr — 2008-07-11T22:41:19+00:00

the imprint on top of the cosmic ring

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Rokkr — 2008-07-11T22:39:42+00:00

technology development track

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Rokkr — 2008-07-11T22:38:19+00:00

space ship development track

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Rokkr — 2008-07-11T22:35:23+00:00

rule book cover (includes inventory of parts)

Thread: Re: Trading phase

umber — 2008-06-26T19:50:21+00:00

No. Of course you could try it as a house rule.

Thread: Trading phase

rplea — 2008-06-26T19:38:36+00:00

My question relates to the trading phase.

After the first player has traded, the next player may either take his cards into his hand or trade them. If he has only two cards in front of him, can he play a third card (with the other players doing the same) as is the option for the first player?

Thread: Re: Is this game OOP?

KrisVerbeeck — 2008-05-05T14:46:22+00:00

If you enjoy the game and your wife wants to play. 30 dollar is a good deal.

You can also check

http://boardgameprices.com/ to see if a game is available and what the current prices are.

Thread: Re: How best to try and gain points

Mikey Boy — 2008-04-17T12:11:16+00:00

Brandon wrote:
Using melds to move units back to earth may happen on the last turn but in general is not an effective use of resources.

Is this even allowed? I thought you could use sets of cards to move units from Earth to planets, but not the other way round. I had a quick skim of the rules, and couldn't see any mention of moving them back.

As I understand it, the only way to move units back to Earth is to use one of your two transport cards.

Or have I misunderstood something?

Thanks for the post, by the way - especially the probabilities! I was trying to work them out in my head while playing last night, but I'm too rusty...

Mike

Thread: Re: Is this game OOP?

jtakagi — 2008-04-03T20:52:41+00:00

It's hard to say, it's been out for a while and it's not like the demand is very high, so I doubt it will be reprinted any time soon. I'm sure there's some stock around, though. It's still listed on Rio Grande's website, so it's surely not hard to find just yet. $30 is 25% off the MSRP, so that's a pretty good deal on a really fun game. Shake that ashtray!

Thread: Re: Is this game OOP?

Valien — 2008-04-03T20:34:24+00:00

I was just curious. My wife enjoys the game and found it at one of our FLGS for $30.00. I did some 'net looking after I posted this and am thinking she got a decent deal on it.

Thread: Re: Is this game OOP?

matthew.marquand — 2008-04-03T20:24:59+00:00

Game Surplus says they can special order it (2-3 day turnaround) for $26 plus shipping.

Thread: Re: Is this game OOP?

Oblivion — 2008-04-03T19:37:20+00:00

If we are all very lucky... YES!

Thread: Is this game OOP?

Valien — 2008-04-03T18:44:23+00:00

Is Andromeda out of print? I know that some 'net sites have it in stock and some don't.

Just curious...

Thread: Wise planning and Luck

hederj — 2008-02-06T19:14:07+00:00

I'd seen people playing Andromeda before, but didn't have the opportunity to play myself until recently. I didn't mind not having played it as I often shy away from space themed games.

But as I showed up to my gaming groups weekly get-together, and the only game that I could join was Andromeda - I mean there was only 1 other game going on and it had started, so I could play or wait for other people to show up.

There were three people starting a game, so I became a 4th. I almost regretted it when I learned that none of other 3 had played the game before and we were all learning it from the rulebook. I've learned that reading a rulebook at the start of a game can add 15 to 60 minutes to a game. But fortunately we got through it at a good pace and then played the game.

About 3/4ths of the way through the game a couple of the other players made comments like "Now that I've played a bit I have a better idea of what to do." But for me, from my starting deal, I knew what I wanted to do and in what order. It did change a bit, but in general it stayed true.

My starting cards gave me 2 sets of 3(or a set of 4 and a set of 3, I can't remember for sure) and they were both on planets that I didn't have a good presence on. So I figured that my first steps would be to increase my hand size, while trying to collect cards of planets that I was interested in - namely the red one with the 14, 12, and 10 point satelites, then the white/grey with red rings and the yellow with the 12, 10, and 8 point satelites - I had a fairly good number of cubes on those planets to start with - lucky for me.

So I did exactly as I planned - This was good as I was able to get a lot of cards and be able to offer what I felt others wanted when trading. I picked up quickly that if I wanted what the first player was offering I should offer cards that I felt they would want, often in sets. I once offered one of the wild/point cards to make my offer a bit sweeter. This allowed me to gain several cards I felt I wanted to move cubes, to attempt a settlement (is that what they're called?) or to make an upgrade on hand size or the tech/point options.

I didn't make a settlement attempt (with the Cosmic Ashtray as I've learned is its unofficial monicer) until about halfway through the game, and that was for the big 14 pointer. I was then able to get two more 12 point settlements, a 10 and I don't remember how many others but it was several all together.

After I had been able to make a few of these settlements - for big points I must say - I began to notice that people were collecting the wild/point cards and were moving further up the tech/point tree for me and began to feel that if I had a lead it wasn't as comfortable as I thought as I was spending the wild/point cards and hadn't done much tech upgrades. At this point I began to concientiously work on those things - that is saving the point cards and moving up the tech/point track.

Through my wonderful planning and execution I did very well. I ended with 81 points. 2nd place had about 60/62, and last place had 41.

However it is extremely necessary to point out that I had EXTREMELY good luck. I don't think I missed more than one of my settlement attempts, and often ogt it on the first try, when I was lacking in cubes on Earth, others made attempts that moved a few cubes back there usually from planets that I didn't care about, I got good cards in the deal, and so forth.

The last settlement I made exhibits my good fortune. I wasn't the start player and didn't think the play would get to where I was. I had two sets of four in my hand plus a couple of the wild/point cards (which I wanted to save). There were 2 planets that had all three settlements made, and 3 or 4 planets that had 2 of the three. I had good presense on 1 of those and one cube on another that had 4 other cubes on it. I was able to get the first on my first attempt moving no other cubes to the planet, and then on the second, I was able to do the same a 20% likelyhood and I got it.

I feel I played well - I had a plan that I felt was good and I carried it out, but my luck only insured the victory. I feel that I would like to play it some more.

Thread: How best to try and gain points

Brandon — 2008-01-11T21:07:43+00:00

The main way to win is gaining economic centers.
Secondary ways include: holding bonus cards, expending melds to increase your tech level, and bringing units back to earth.

There is a fair amount of luck in the game, and any strategy can work during any given session. But over the long run we have found that because the game can end quickly (i.e. it’s not a long game such as would be the case if it ended when all economic centers were taken) it’s a losing strategy in general, to try and increase hand size and tech level. In a longer game the benefit of the larger hand size and tech level will be of much greater benefit. Due to luck one can win using these approaches, but in general they are not effective.

Holding a bonus card for any length of time has a very great hidden opportunity cost. You lose out on other potential melds. Having one bonus card at the end of the game is common, having two (or more) rare and probably not a good use of resources because you had so much of your hand tied up. The exception is if you are boxed out of any worthwhile centers (you have 1 piece and there are 5 opponents pieces, and the center is worth 6 or less). Then it may be worth forgoing a long shot and trying to gain 2 bonus cards.

The main route to victory comes in fighting for the economic centers. Depending on the number of opposing pieces on a planet, even if you fail to gain a center, you still send a competitor back to earth, resulting in a better chance for the later attempts. Concentrating on other endeavors may mean losing out on an 8-10 VP center. If that happens once during the game, it will probably more than wipe out any other gains you may make.

Taking an economic center denies it to competitors, tends to hasten the end of the game, and harms competitors trying alternatives such as increasing hand size, and tech level.

Of course there are exceptions. Due to the nature of the game, you tend to want to turnover your hand. If you have an opportunity to make a 3 card meld or carry over the 3 cards to the next turn, you are probably better off increasing your hand size. If you have a small number of units on a planet with many competitors, it may not be worth the attempt to gain 1 center. It may be better to wait and see what happens, i.e. an opponent makes an attempt and sends back some opponents while failing to take a center. Then you can try with a much better chance of success.

Another factor is how the players compete for centers. If you are pursuing a strategy of increasing your tech level, you don't want 3 planets to fill up quickly, thus shortening the game. It may be worth trying to gain lesser valued centers at other planets (extending the game by delaying its end).

We almost never use melds to move units to a planet unless it’s practically deserted. Having a planet with only 3 enemy pieces and a 3 and 4 meld set can allow you to move 2 units and get 2 attempts. Keep your eye out for this, but it’s not common on valuable planets. Using melds to move units back to earth may happen on the last turn but in general is not an effective use of resources. Better to gamble and try and get a resource card.

Note: a variant that changes the number of actions a player gets (such as reducing the number of actions from 3 to 2 for the player going first, or giving all players 3 actions) will have a big impact on the game because it will increase or decrease the hand limit and tech bonuses

Table of the Probability of success in gaining a center based on number of units on a planet compared to number of total units, and number of tries

# of units # of attempts with the cosmic disk
on planet 1 try 2 tries 3 tries
1 out of 6 17% 33% 50%
2 out of 6 33% 60% 80%
3 out of 6 50% 80% 95%
2 out of 7 29% 52% 71%
3 out of 7 43% 71% 89%
4 out of 7 57% 86% 97%
2 out of 8 25% 46% 64%
3 out of 8 38% 64% 82%
4 out of 8 50% 79% 93%
2 out of 9 22% 42% 58%
3 out of 9 33% 58% 76%
4 out of 9 44% 72% 88%

Thread: Bonus Cards & Bidding

Brandon — 2008-01-11T19:59:19+00:00

1) Proposed variant:
Bonus Cards with a value of 4 or more (requiring 6 or more cards in the same set) do NOT count against your hand limit.

The higher level Bonus cards (requiring 6 or more cards to get) are rather hard to come by (which is ok) but they count as a card against your hand limit, and are a real burden to hold.
This variant allows an alternative strategy of waiting a turn in the hope of getting another card in your set, and also of spending melds to increase your hand size.

It also rarely comes up since there is time presure to do other things.

2) Rather than randomly getting ~6+ bases at the start, allow players to place their pieces (during set up, before the game begins) (alternating one per player, round robin) at whichever planet they like.

This allows players to compete for the good planets or try and pick up the less valuable ones

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

OzGamer — 2007-03-19T02:30:15+00:00

The second method is not correct, because if the first cube to come out is yours you don't have a second go. You have two chances to get a single cube. If you get it out first time then that's it.

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ArtEmiSa64 — 2007-03-15T13:27:55+00:00

insert add

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eddyd — 2006-12-31T15:33:12+00:00

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eddyd — 2006-12-31T14:28:24+00:00

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Drew1365 — 2006-11-07T21:55:39+00:00

The wild cards which also score bonus points at game end.

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Drew1365 — 2006-11-07T21:52:52+00:00

The planet cards and a transport card for the blue player.

Thread: Re: Getting Spacey

Drew1365 — 2006-09-01T20:39:47+00:00

Still waiting to get my copy to the table.

Thread: Re: Getting Spacey

Majiken — 2006-09-01T20:19:56+00:00

Pretty good. The Friday night group likes it as well, but since I tend to show up with new stuff every week, it hasn't gotten played very often in favor of other stuff.

I still like it, though.

Thread: First 4 player game

Taryn — 2006-08-21T03:14:21+00:00

My mother-in-law just loves this game so I took it to her house today. Here's how it went.

Players:
Melinda - purple
Carl - blue
Wade - orange
Me - red

So I got the game set up and re-explained the rules. This was everyone's second time except for Wade. After we were all up to speed we were off. Carl got first go and totally messed up on the trade mechanic. I think he put down cards he'd like to keep or something.. anyway, he didn't do what he meant to. I told him the best way to remember what not to do was to suffer through it. It turned out to not be a problem anyway and he quickly remembered how things worked. There's always a lot of joking and stuff with us and sometimes it's not PG so I'll leave most of the comments out. Things looked good for me at the start because I had about 5 cubes on one planet and I happened to have 4 of that planets cards in my hand at the time. I was the first to claim an economic center but it went down quickly after that for me. Melinda couldn't get any of her cubes to come out of planet ring even when she had the better odds. Wade played a steady game and it looked as if he was doing well the whole way through. About mid way through the game he claimed 3 economic centers on one turn. It didn't really hurt anyone because they were the lower point centers and no one else was really on the planets he got anyway. I kept getting my cubes sent back to Earth and I think that hurt me the most in the long run. I did manage to claim the 2 12 point centers however and I thought I was cruising along pretty well. Then Carl took 3 centers in one turn and made it to where only 1 center was left on 3 planets. The ones he took were a 14 a 10 and an 8 point center I believe. I knew I was in deep trouble along with Melinda. Neither of us could get any of our cubes to come out of the ring. Then Wade managed to get two more centers seriously hurting our chances of getting the points we so dearly needed. Things went along for a bit with no one having any luck until Melinda managed to get one of her cubes to the last center to finish the game. Here's the scores:

Melinda - 31
Carl - 64
Wade - 50
Me - 34

It really didn't seem like it would be that a big difference in points but it was somehow. I like playing it with 4 better than 3 since it seems the trading aspect of the game works better along with the competion for each economic center on any particular planet. We all enjoyed the game and will happily play again with four players. It went well considering it's been about a month since most of us had played.

Although she did say we had to play Name That Tune '80s edition next time. But considering how many of my new games they've played with me I guess I can suffer through it.

Thread: Getting Spacey

Majiken — 2006-06-06T22:17:19+00:00

A slow, hot, Monday night combined with out-of-school, restless youth leads to Dad not getting his usual quiet evening. So when the boys started hounding me for a game of anything, we looked through the game closet and realized we'd played everything.

"El Grande?" I suggested. No, too long.
"Ticket to Ride?" No, too light and fluffy.
"Carcassonne?" No, we don't want any of the female members of the household playing. (They wanted an all-guys game).

Finding nothing to suit their interest, and needing a flimsy excuse to buy something new, we announced our departure and blazed out the door to our FLGS.

We browsed for awhile, and my wallet started to ache as they began pulling boxes off the shelves and hinting that I should fork out a wad of cash. They haven't quite learned that I still have to answer for purchases to their mother, and I have to present a reasonable argument for a new game, or I end up on the couch (not that I mind that much, the den is cooler and it's kind of like camping out).

Well, lookee here. On the 40% off shelves I spy something I'd been wanting for awhile now. ANDROMEDA. Big, bold, silvery letters on a rather small box, but who cares? 40% off! No discussion necessary. I'm at the counter and paying for it while they're still looking at other things. I let them know I'm leaving (astonished looks filed away for later enjoyment), and we returned to the car.

They examine the purchase, and frown. Jake gathers his thoughts and then summarizes the game in one sentence. "Looks like El Grande in space." Really? I'll know for sure when we get home.

Once home, I demand 30 minutes to read the rules and locate Tom Vasel's review for comparison. I figured the game out in half that time, and we set it up.

The board is gorgeous. A beautiful rendering of planets in space, and earth down in the corner. Cards are so-so quality, but look like they'll stand up to repeated plays. They examine the Cosmic Hockey Puck (best name for it), and agree that the game has potential. We dive in.

Oldest starts, so I passed on a transport action and went straight to trading. Joey offered two of the planet I needed, so I took his cards. He kept mine, leaving Jake to return his offered cards to his hand. I traded two cards in and drew a pair, giving me a set of three, and another of six. Turning in the six, I moved three cubes to the green planet (they named it Planet Fartimous, a name that will probably stick), then played three more to attempt a trade center on Planet Cheddar (the big yellow one), and luckily my own cube slid out of the puck. Things were off to a grand start.

Seeing how well I'd done, Jake took his two actions. Trade cards, attempt a TC, fail that but send one of Dad's units home to earth. Joey emulates his brother by trading cards, but manages a TC at Planet Ringo (2-ringed planet). He and I are now tied.

Deal passes to Jake, and he first transports ships to the single ring planet, which they christened, "Fred." Trade begins. He goes for three, accepts his brother's offer, and I'm stuck with my own cards. I winced as he laid down 6 for Planet Fred. Three attempts at a TC there. He gets it on the third, sending units from both Joey and myself back to earth. He now leads by 2. He then turns in three for the blue planet (Frigidaire), and moves his ship marker to the next level. Now he gets 10 cards in his hand.

Little brother has two sets of three. The first upgrades his ship, the second puts another TC at Planet Fred. Lucky little shrimp takes the lead!

My go, and my hand is lousy. I trade cards and get enough for two attempts for a TC at Planet Cheddar. I get it on the first one. I'm now tied with my youngest son, who is clearly not happy about it. I also notice that they're both holding onto their bonus cards and not using them for wilds. Yet.

And the game went on. There were failed attempts at TCs, everyone upgraded their ships to the third level, Joey got his technology to where he rounded up instead of down, and most of my units ended up returning to Earth, requiring the use of my transport cards to get them back out in the great beyond. Quicker than I imagined, the last TC needed to end the game was played by me, and they finished their turns, eager to see who won. We add up the score -

Dad - 61
Jake - 50
Joey - 40

A fairly even spread. I pointed out mistakes both had made. Joey could have gone for TCs when he upgraded his tech, and Jake's use of the CHP was just plain lousy. The kid just couldn't seem to get his own cubes to cooperate. Still, they both played reasonably well.

Even as first-time players we finished in just over an hour, and the general consensus was that the game was pretty good. Did we make mistakes and have to consult the rules? Repeatedly. Did we forget some things and play others wrong? Of course. Did we have a great time doing it? Naturally.

ANDROMEDA will see at least two more plays this week at home, and at least one at my group meeting on Friday. That bunch is always up for a game that involves player-screwage, and although in ANDROMEDA it's not a major part of the game, there's enough in there to satisfy.

My overall impression is that it's a fairly decent game, not overly complicated, and fun. Since that's all I require of a game, I don't think I'll pass up too many opportunities to play it again.

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

PsyJam — 2006-03-23T23:46:28+00:00

Ah, new life in this old thread!

First off, I don't quite understand the post that's immediately above me..

Second, I have to agree with an earlier post - seeing as there is statistically no difference in either method, and seeing as the cosmic puck is the gimmick in this game, you might as well shake it around a pile of times. It works for me..

..now if only I could get this game to the table again..

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

myopia — 2006-03-23T04:08:13+00:00

The best use is an actual ashtray.

This game makes baby jesus cry.

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

Wraith — 2006-03-23T03:01:00+00:00

shawn_low wrote:
Geez, I wouldn't want to be playin with your friends.
My friends are great to play with, and one of the reasons they are so good to play with is because they also prefer to avoid that sort of ambiguity. Much better to recognise and deal with the problem than to wait until we one day find ourselves playing with someone new who takes advantage of us, or even find ourselves saying, "Wait, don't we normally shake twice? You should put that back a shake again." - "No, I always do it this way."

(But most of us prefer to avoid playing Andromeda. Yuck.)

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

Windopaene — 2006-03-22T06:45:37+00:00

Pretty sure the rules say to only allow one cube to escape the puck. So that would suggest you should give er two shakes/

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

shawn_low — 2006-03-22T06:29:40+00:00

Wraith wrote:
The method you use doesn't matter as long as you specify which method before using it. Otherwise you might get some players who will turn a two-cube draw into a three-cube draw (two chances, two come out, but neither is the one I want, so I guess I was using the one-per-shuffle method, and get another draw).

Geez, I wouldn't want to be playin with your friends.

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

dougadamsau — 2006-03-22T04:32:03+00:00

PsyJam wrote:
Hiyas,

Among the owners and avid players of this game, I was wondering if there are any of you who know (or have a serious preference towards) the correct use of the space puck when attempting to colonize a moon.

In my recent game, we were unsure. The question arrived that player 1 wanted to colonize a moon around planet A. So, on player A's action, he plays 4 cards of the same suit, matching the planet he wishes to colonize (no wilds) and earns two chances to do it.

(.. we're correct so far, right..?)

Next, player 1 places the puck over the pieces on the planet, shuffles it around, moves the opening away from him, and begins to draw the puck towards him to reveal new squares ..

NOW! Seeing as he has two chances, does he simply go use the puck twice, and on each different occaision, consider the first cube out to be the 'deciding factor'? (if he had made 3 chances, he'd use the puck 3 times)

OR.. Does he pull the puck once, and his 'two chances' are simply the first two pieces that appear out of the puck? (if he had made 3 chances, he'd choose the first three pieces out of the puck)

Does it matter? Is there a difference? Is there a general preference?

Cheers!

It's not a puck - it's the Galactic Ash Tray!

We reshake between each draw, but it doesn't matter.

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

Wraith — 2006-03-22T02:02:41+00:00

The method you use doesn't matter as long as you specify which method before using it. Otherwise you might get some players who will turn a two-cube draw into a three-cube draw (two chances, two come out, but neither is the one I want, so I guess I was using the one-per-shuffle method, and get another draw).

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

shawn_low — 2006-03-22T01:37:45+00:00

PsyJam wrote:
Hiyas,

NOW! Seeing as he has two chances, does he simply go use the puck twice, and on each different occaision, consider the first cube out to be the 'deciding factor'? (if he had made 3 chances, he'd use the puck 3 times)

OR.. Does he pull the puck once, and his 'two chances' are simply the first two pieces that appear out of the puck? (if he had made 3 chances, he'd choose the first three pieces out of the puck)

Does it matter? Is there a difference? Is there a general preference?

Man, I really like this game and the use of the Puck!

I guess there isn't a real difference in your two methods. But the gambler in us likes to 'reset' the puck after a failed effort.

Also I don't like the texture of the baord for shuffling, it's often too close to other planets to do vigorous shuffling and I don't want to scuff my board. So I usually take all the cubes on a planet off the board to a clear space on the table and use the puck there.

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

sbszine — 2006-03-22T00:20:38+00:00

The puck is the gimmick that makes Andromeda fun, so I say shake it as many times as possible. Also, remember that opposing cubes drawn get sent back to Earth. So, if the green player draws (say) three cubes in one go, with the order red green red, he or she must remember to only send back one of the red cubes. Whereas with the individual shakes method slightly less brainpower is required, as you stop shaking when you get the colour you're after. The former method might confuse the sort of person who has trouble with Carcassonne, of which there are many.

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

NickDanger42 — 2006-03-21T23:38:16+00:00

We always shake the Cosmic Hocky Puck each time. I suppose it don't matter, statistically, but it's SO FUN TO DO!

Thread: Re: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

cymric — 2006-01-19T17:25:03+00:00

PsyJam wrote:
(.. we're correct so far, right..?)Yes.

Next, player 1 places the puck over the pieces on the planet, shuffles it around, moves the opening away from him, and begins to draw the puck towards him to reveal new squares .. NOW! Seeing as he has two chances, does he simply go use the puck twice, and on each different occaision, consider the first cube out to be the 'deciding factor'? (if he had made 3 chances, he'd use the puck 3 times) OR.. Does he pull the puck once, and his 'two chances' are simply the first two pieces that appear out of the puck? (if he had made 3 chances, he'd choose the first three pieces out of the puck)
There is no difference between the two options. The probabilities stay the same. It's akin to rolling two dice a single time, or a single die two times; and recording the outcomes. Practically, to keep the game going (and the noise down somewhat), I shuffle just once.

Thread: On the correct use of the cosmic space puck..

PsyJam — 2006-01-19T15:45:01+00:00

Hiyas,

Among the owners and avid players of this game, I was wondering if there are any of you who know (or have a serious preference towards) the correct use of the space puck when attempting to colonize a moon.

In my recent game, we were unsure. The question arrived that player 1 wanted to colonize a moon around planet A. So, on player A's action, he plays 4 cards of the same suit, matching the planet he wishes to colonize (no wilds) and earns two chances to do it.

(.. we're correct so far, right..?)

Next, player 1 places the puck over the pieces on the planet, shuffles it around, moves the opening away from him, and begins to draw the puck towards him to reveal new squares ..

NOW! Seeing as he has two chances, does he simply go use the puck twice, and on each different occaision, consider the first cube out to be the 'deciding factor'? (if he had made 3 chances, he'd use the puck 3 times)

OR.. Does he pull the puck once, and his 'two chances' are simply the first two pieces that appear out of the puck? (if he had made 3 chances, he'd choose the first three pieces out of the puck)

Does it matter? Is there a difference? Is there a general preference?

Cheers!

Thread: Re: The Cosmic Ashtray of Doom

Wraith — 2005-09-09T01:42:32+00:00

cymric wrote:
Wraith wrote:
Transporting cubes to a planet is rarely more beneficial than attempting to claim a planet immediately. The increase in the probability of establishing a base on a later attempt gained by moving new cubes to the planet is rarely greater than the increased probability of gaining a base through simply making two attempts. Furthermore, the probabilities involved are easily calculated. There are rare cases in which the choice is non-trivial, occurring when a player may have the opportunity to establish multiple bases but lacks the cubes to establish all the available bases, but for the most part the option of moving cubes to a planet is easily dismissed.
I never really considered this, to be honest; I just mucked about (while still enjoying myself).
And I think this is perhaps the most important difference between those who enjoy Andromeda and those who don't. Andromeda gives some reasonably involving mechanics to play with, which I can see being fairly entertaining for those who want to "muck around" while watching to see how the game unfolds. However, those mechanics don't really give the players many meaningful choices, and skillful manipulation of those mechanics lead to only quite minor improvements in a player's chances, so those who want to find a strategic challenge in their games, to strive for a particular outcome rather than just watch the game, find Andromeda lacking.

Or to put it another way, those who don't consider the above might enjoy the game. Those who do, often see a problem.

I guess that putting in extra cubes before attempting to get the right one out of the ashtray is not really worth it until you have reached the 'rounding up' technology advance.
Even with rounding up, it still isn't generally worth it. The number of cubes which can be moved always equals the number of attempts at establishing a base, and that fact unpins the mathematics.

Did you perhaps miss the subtle rule that you are allowed to play those 'useless' cards to obtain bonus cards without having to move stations to the planet? My Dutch rules, as well as those from Rio Grande (available as a PDF from this site) mention under the heading of what to do with full planets and useless cards: 'A true set could also be played to move no stations to the planet, but to acquire a bonus credit card.'
Actually, yes, I had missed that. I've even gone specifically looking for such a rule in the past, and hadn't managed to find it. When I looked again last night (and I had been meaning to check again before you mentioned it), I finally found the appropriate rule.

The rules I have don't have a heading concerning full planets and useless cards, though.

(I wasn't playing the game in the above session report, BTW.)
So in effect, most of the time the options for using a set of cards are limited to attempting to establish a base, upgrading technology or upgrading hand size. Often, one or both of those last two will not be available, because the size of the set won't match the requirement, and as the game goes on even that first option is sometimes not available.
Or acquiring a bonus card at no cost---which pretty much yanks away the carpet from underneath your argument.
Not really. While it does mitigate the circumstance of a player who gets stuck with lots of useless cards, it still won't usually add a meaningful decision to the game. Turning in a set of useless cards to acquire a wild card is generally another no-brainer. Doing so dumps bad cards faster than trading with the deck and gives a valuable wild card in addition. If upgrading hand size or technology is available, those are still clearly better options than turning in the cards for no effect.

That is probably indeed the case. But from all of Moon's games (with just perhaps the exception of TtR:E, as I haven't played this yet) I am very much charmed by the presentation of this luck fest.
Oh, I agree that the presentation of the game is wonderful. I just don't see that my participation in the game really matters. It is a game in which I feel that I am a spectator, but I still have to work hard to even have something to watch.

Thread: Re: The Cosmic Ashtray of Doom

cymric — 2005-09-07T07:32:34+00:00

Wraith wrote:
Upgrading your ability to trade with other players, upgrading your ability to trade with the deck and buying a technology which allows you to round up when dividing your sets are all examples of upgrading your technology. Technology upgrades must be bought in order. Hence, when you come to take any action, only one of these three options are available.
True.

Trading with the deck is generally a desperation move, taken when you don't have a set with which to take another action. In general, you are far better off using a set for some useful action than trading cards with the deck. Using a set still gives you new cards (with just a slight delay in getting them, because you can't use them this turn), does something useful, and cycles more cards through your hand.
I wouldn't call it a 'desperation' move, although it is the last option you should consider. It sounds too... well, desperate . But this is just semantics.

Transporting cubes to a planet is rarely more beneficial than attempting to claim a planet immediately. The increase in the probability of establishing a base on a later attempt gained by moving new cubes to the planet is rarely greater than the increased probability of gaining a base through simply making two attempts. Furthermore, the probabilities involved are easily calculated. There are rare cases in which the choice is non-trivial, occurring when a player may have the opportunity to establish multiple bases but lacks the cubes to establish all the available bases, but for the most part the option of moving cubes to a planet is easily dismissed.
I never really considered this, to be honest; I just mucked about (while still enjoying myself). I guess that putting in extra cubes before attempting to get the right one out of the ashtray is not really worth it until you have reached the 'rounding up' technology advance. But still, I'd have to run a few numbers to say for certain. Perhaps you are right that the choice is indeed trivial, but given the facts of a limited amount of cards, and that you have to gamble in order to win, I'm really not so sure.

Furthermore, playing cards to move cubes to a planet which already has three bases established is actively detrimental to the player's score. This means that once a planet is filled, no player wants to move cubes to that planet, and players cannot use the cards to attempt to establish a base there. The only way to get those cards out of play are to trade them with the deck, upgrade hand size or upgrade technology. If a player has already upgraded hand size and technology to the max and continues to draw the useless cards, he is pretty much stuck with them. Even playing a set of seven "useless" cards to move cubes from Earth to that planet and gain a wild card only gives a net gain of 1 point! (5 for the wild card, -4 for the cubes moved.)
Did you perhaps miss the subtle rule that you are allowed to play those 'useless' cards to obtain bonus cards without having to move stations to the planet? My Dutch rules, as well as those from Rio Grande (available as a PDF from this site) mention under the heading of what to do with full planets and useless cards: 'A true set could also be played to move no stations to the planet, but to acquire a bonus credit card.'

So in effect, most of the time the options for using a set of cards are limited to attempting to establish a base, upgrading technology or upgrading hand size. Often, one or both of those last two will not be available, because the size of the set won't match the requirement, and as the game goes on even that first option is sometimes not available.
Or acquiring a bonus card at no cost---which pretty much yanks away the carpet from underneath your argument.

Andromeda may not be your cup of tea but it provides many, many options when deciding how to spend your cards. Almost all of them will improve your position later in the game.
Almost every option you take will indeed improve your position later in the game. However, the option which is most beneficial is trivially obvious most of the time, and when it isn't the choice basically concerns whether to upgrade technology now or later.
That is probably indeed the case. But from all of Moon's games (with just perhaps the exception of TtR:E, as I haven't played this yet) I am very much charmed by the presentation of this luck fest. I think it also has to do with the fact that you will always get at least two actions, and that you have the possibility of trying to work your way around the luck. I am actually quite fond of this game and happy that I bought it despite the rather negative comments and sneers it usually attracts.

Thread: Re: The Cosmic Ashtray of Doom

Wraith — 2005-09-07T05:38:01+00:00

robartin wrote:
It sounds like you may need to play a few more times before passing judgement on the game.
I don't. My wife is a big fan of the game, so I get roped in to play it periodically.

The game provides many ways to deal with a poor hand of cards. You can upgrade your hand size, you can trade with the deck, you can trade with other players, you can send more ships to a planet you don't have many ships on, you can upgrade your ability to trade with other players, you can upgrade your ability to trade with the deck, you can buy a technology which allows you to round up when dividing your sets, and you can play natural sets of cards to earn wild cards.
By listing it this way, you make it sound like there are more options than there really are. Let's have a look at those options.

Upgrading your ability to trade with other players, upgrading your ability to trade with the deck and buying a technology which allows you to round up when dividing your sets are all examples of upgrading your technology. Technology upgrades must be bought in order. Hence, when you come to take any action, only one of these three options are available.

Trading with the deck is generally a desperation move, taken when you don't have a set with which to take another action. In general, you are far better off using a set for some useful action than trading cards with the deck. Using a set still gives you new cards (with just a slight delay in getting them, because you can't use them this turn), does something useful, and cycles more cards through your hand.

Transporting cubes to a planet is rarely more beneficial than attempting to claim a planet immediately. The increase in the probability of establishing a base on a later attempt gained by moving new cubes to the planet is rarely greater than the increased probability of gaining a base through simply making two attempts. Furthermore, the probabilities involved are easily calculated. There are rare cases in which the choice is non-trivial, occurring when a player may have the opportunity to establish multiple bases but lacks the cubes to establish all the available bases, but for the most part the option of moving cubes to a planet is easily dismissed.

Furthermore, playing cards to move cubes to a planet which already has three bases established is actively detrimental to the player's score. This means that once a planet is filled, no player wants to move cubes to that planet, and players cannot use the cards to attempt to establish a base there. The only way to get those cards out of play are to trade them with the deck, upgrade hand size or upgrade technology. If a player has already upgraded hand size and technology to the max and continues to draw the useless cards, he is pretty much stuck with them. Even playing a set of seven "useless" cards to move cubes from Earth to that planet and gain a wild card only gives a net gain of 1 point! (5 for the wild card, -4 for the cubes moved.)

So in effect, most of the time the options for using a set of cards are limited to attempting to establish a base, upgrading technology or upgrading hand size. Often, one or both of those last two will not be available, because the size of the set won't match the requirement, and as the game goes on even that first option is sometimes not available.

Andromeda may not be your cup of tea but it provides many, many options when deciding how to spend your cards. Almost all of them will improve your position later in the game.
Almost every option you take will indeed improve your position later in the game. However, the option which is most beneficial is trivially obvious most of the time, and when it isn't the choice basically concerns whether to upgrade technology now or later.

Thread: Re: The Cosmic Ashtray of Doom

dougadamsau — 2005-09-07T00:39:35+00:00

It sounds like you may need to play a few more times before passing judgement on the game.

Yes, this is a good point. The first outing for a game has to spark if it's to hit the table again - sounds like it didn't happen here. I'm not Alan Moon's greatest fan, but this is a game we keep returning to, and have had a lot of fun with over the years.

Thread: Re: The Cosmic Ashtray of Doom

Friendless — 2005-09-06T23:16:43+00:00

Andromeda may not be your cup of tea but it provides many, many options when deciding how to spend your cards. Almost all of them will improve your position later in the game.

I actually did every single one of the things you mention. However for the last round there were two planets completed, and I had 8 cards in my hand (of 13) for those. I had every technology at the highest level, and had enough ships on other planets to achieve what I wanted. However even on my own turn, I only managed to find one set of 3 for a planet that I was able to attack. Maybe that is just how the game goes, but it seems like you spend the entire game dealing with bad cards. And the game went way too long for me to try it again to see if it gets better.

Thread: Re: The Cosmic Ashtray of Doom

robartin — 2005-09-06T14:00:25+00:00

It sounds like you may need to play a few more times before passing judgement on the game. The game provides many ways to deal with a poor hand of cards. You can upgrade your hand size, you can trade with the deck, you can trade with other players, you can send more ships to a planet you don't have many ships on, you can upgrade your ability to trade with other players, you can upgrade your ability to trade with the deck, you can buy a technology which allows you to round up when dividing your sets, and you can play natural sets of cards to earn wild cards.

Andromeda may not be your cup of tea but it provides many, many options when deciding how to spend your cards. Almost all of them will improve your position later in the game.