Game: HeroCard Galaxy

Thread: Re: Defending controlled planets & Garrison

Peteloaf — 2008-07-03T21:21:04+00:00

carpetemporem wrote:

The rules say that only Fast Actions help defend the planet. So can I use Fast Attack Mods in a Garrison too? And do I need to have a Base Block if I use only the Garrison cards or do Block Mods (and possibly Attack Mods) count also alone?

You may only use cards of the class fast. Since Base Attacks are exclusive they may never be played by the planet. You may use base attacks as a bluff - ie to make the pile of cards look bigger - but they will have no game effect. Block mods and attack mods have no effect alone without a base block or attack.

carpetemporem wrote:

From the rules I think that I can only defend a planet with my hand if me hero is there. Do the cards played from my hand and from the Garrison just work together as if all were played from my hand? E.g. a Base Block from my hand and then a Block Mod from the Garrison? I understand that cards played from the Garrison don't use attribute points and are discarded after the attack sequence.

Yes you are correct. You may only use cards from your hand at the location of your pawn. If you are not on the planet you may not use cards from your hand.

If you ARE on the planet you may play cards from both your hand and from the planet in any combination. They work together seemlessly. You are also correct that the cards from the planet do not go on your attribute and do not sap your available power.

Thread: Defending controlled planets & Garrison

carpetemporem — 2008-07-03T18:53:08+00:00

How does Garrison work?

The rules say that only Fast Actions help defend the planet. So can I use Fast Attack Mods in a Garrison too? And do I need to have a Base Block if I use only the Garrison cards or do Block Mods (and possibly Attack Mods) count also alone?

From the rules I think that I can only defend a planet with my hand if me hero is there. Do the cards played from my hand and from the Garrison just work together as if all were played from my hand? E.g. a Base Block from my hand and then a Block Mod from the Garrison? I understand that cards played from the Garrison don't use attribute points and are discarded after the attack sequence.

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woodjh — 2007-10-25T23:38:25+00:00

Front of the beautifully illustrated manual.

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woodjh — 2007-10-25T23:06:31+00:00

Reference cards

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woodjh — 2007-10-25T23:03:02+00:00

Sample cards

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woodjh — 2007-10-25T22:40:03+00:00

The board

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Kevin C — 2007-06-21T11:50:46+00:00

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Sexy Amy — 2007-05-02T21:57:52+00:00

Back of box

Thread: [Review] HeroCard: Galaxy

TomVasel — 2006-12-22T02:25:41+00:00

The first four games from TableStar are unique in the fact that they all have the same basic "HeroCard" engine - a card dueling game that becomes the backbone for four very different board games. This is an intriguing idea, and I was very pleased to see the good quality of components from this new company - especially the themes of each game. I've played three of the games: Rise of the Shogun (samurai), Champion of New Olympia (superheroes), and HeroCard: Galaxy (TableStar Games, 2006 - Nico Carroll). The thing that drew me to Galaxy was not only the theme (I do love space games), but also the stunning artwork - artwork that certainly evokes the theme of a galactic, cosmic struggle.

HeroCard Galaxy is an average game, mixing a very neat HeroCard dueling system with a galaxy control board game. Players are attempting to capture enough planets to win the game, winning them from other players, fighting battles to do so. A few clever variations on the HeroCard theme, such as allowing upgrades to decks, make this game stand out - and I enjoyed playing it, although not as much as Rise of the Shogun. Gameplay is a little longer than I would like, and the rules are slightly obtuse; but those looking for an interesting space combat game might enjoy it.

Before I talk about the game, let me explain the HeroCard engine. Each player takes a deck of cards to represent their Space Commander hero. Interestingly, players can use decks from the other games (i.e. I can use a Shogun deck in the Galaxy game); and other than some theme clashing, they work fairly well. Three Attribute cards are included with each deck to represent the player's Body, Mind, and Attribute "X". These cards have a number on them that ranges from "3" to "10", showing the character's strength in those skills. The rest of the cards in a deck are "Action" cards and are associated with one of the three types of skills. Cards are Fast (play whenever you want); Restricted (play on your own turn); and Exclusive (play on your turn - limit of one.) Players arrange their attribute cards on the table.

In a duel, a player has four phases. They first discard as many cards as they want to from their hand, then draw up to three more - not exceeding seven. After this, players "clear" up to three cards that they've played on the table, placing them in their discard pile. At this point, the player takes their one exclusive action and as many restricted actions as they can.

Most exclusive actions are attacks. The player must play one "Base" attack card and as many attack modifiers as they wish. However, each card played has a cost in one of the three attribute types. As a player plays a card, they place it on the table, where it stays until cleared. The total cost of all cards on the table cannot exceed the number of the attribute. Therefore, players who play many cards have fewer options available to them on turns. The player being attacked then may play one "Base" block and as many Block modifiers as they have room for, still making sure they stay within their attribute limits. Both players may continue to add modifiers until they have no more or decide to play no more. If the attacker's total is higher, then they "hit" the opponent; otherwise, play passes to the next player.

Now, to combine this with the main game: Each player selects a Hero pawn and takes the corresponding action deck, setting them up in front of them. A game board is placed on the table next to two decks of cards - Discovery and Technology. The top three Discovery cards are placed face up, revealing planets, in three numbered "Discovery Queue" spaces, and one player is chosen to go first.

On a player's turn, they first discard, draw, and clear cards in the same manner as a duel. They then take one Exclusive action, as many restricted actions as they want, and move once.
- Move: A player may move from any of the four discovery spaces on the board to any planet that a player has in their "Control Row", etc. There are some restrictions on how far a player may move, depending on their initial location.
- Discover (Restricted): If a player's hero is on an empty discovery space, they may place the first planet in the Discovery queue into that place, drawing another planet, and moving them accordingly.
- Claim (Exclusive): A player may claim a planet if they begin their action phase alone on that planet. The player takes the planet and places it in their "Control Row", along with the hero.
- Garrison (Restricted): A player may place cards from their hand under one of their planets that their hero occupies. Any cards may be placed face down here, but only "Fast" actions will actually be able to be used.
- Attack (Exclusive): A player may attempt to capture an opponent's planet by attacking it. This is done by fighting a duel - attempting to expel the opponent's hero from the planet. If a player does not have their hero on a planet that is attacked, they may use cards from their garrison (if any) to defend. Captured planets are placed in the attacker's Control Row.
- Technology (Exclusive): A player may draw four technology cards, keeping two and placing the other two at the bottom of the deck. Technology cards are either action cards that can be used and then kept in a player's action deck to customize it a bit, or are garrison cards used to defend a planet.

When a player has finished their action phase, the next player takes their turn. The game continues until one player
- Controls all four planets of one color
- Controls one planet of each of the five colors
- Or controls three planets of one color and two of another.
The first player to this is the winner!

Some comments on the game…

1.) Components: As I mentioned in my intro, I really enjoyed the space artwork all over the box, board, and cards. From the very evocative planet cards to the flashy cards of the EGG alien, everything has a wondrous and alien feel to it, making you really believe you're playing a space game. The hero tokens are hard, durable plastic; and the board, while not exactly necessary, is useful for tying all the cards on the table together. Everything fits easily in the smallish, sturdy box.

2.) Rules: The twenty-six page rulebook is split into three sections: a Quick start section, the rules for the actual board game, and a section that simply goes over the Duel rules. There are several examples and full color illustrations; but while I found the game fairly easy to understand, the rulebook was slightly obtuse when explaining how to play the game. Even with the reference cards and sheets, not everything was as clear as it could be. The use of the terms "restricted" and "exclusive" is not very intuitive and, perhaps, could have been better used in the sense of the game. When teaching the game, I find it easiest to simply play a duel with new players first - just so they understand that - then move onto the board game. Duels are very easy, and the game is just a step up above that - easy for teenagers and adults alike - although a good teacher is necessary.

3.) Duels: Since the duels are an integral part of the game, they better be good; and I'm happy to report that they are quite fun. If a player overextends themselves on an attack, they will have little leeway to defend against an attack; so one must be careful. You can clear three cards each turn, which is a great number, because it's useful; but a player isn't always able to get rid of the cards they want to. The decks seem to be extremely well balanced; although I haven't tried the space and hero decks in the game, it would be too big of a breach of theme for me. Two decks are included with the game - the Cosmic Cult and the Mechagen, while the EGG and the Crab races are added in expansion packs. The decks are different numerically but aren't too far apart in gameplay - at least until technology shows up.

4.) Technology: For me, one of the most interesting features of the game was the technology deck. A player could add some potentially cheap, powerful cards to their action deck, allowing them to take more fast and restricted actions. At the same time, a player who simply concentrates on technology each turn will be sadly defeated by other players who focus on expansion and conquering. A balance must be struck, but the technological option allows players some neat customization of their decks.

5.) Strategy: The many options a player has on a turn are interesting, and they must decide whether to seek out new planets, claim some already discovered, research technology, or attack the other players. All of this is good and works together well. The only problem that I could see with this is that all of this seems to take a long time to accomplish. Since a player can really only do one major action a turn, they must wait until the other players go until they follow up on that. Moving in for an attack is something everyone can see, and the speed of space really isn't represented in the game.

6.) Time and Players: Galaxy seems to be best as a three-player game, as the two player game is a little dull, and the four-player game is a little too chaotic. Gameplay can take over an hour, depending on how much combat is in the game, and the whole thing can drag out just a little longer than its welcome - I could tell that some of the players in the games I've played got a little fidgety.

7.) Fun Factor: The game certainly does feel like a space game but, perhaps, isn't injected with enough theme to be a favorite of those looking for a space epic. The mechanics are interesting, but it almost feels sometimes like two different games are included in the box, the duels and a rummy-like planet collection. I found the game enjoyable but was in the minority when I played the game - mostly because of its length. People would have enjoyed the game had it been shorter and slightly easier to grasp.

TableStar Games has really done a unique thing here, making their games compatible with one another, yet giving each a distinct, unique feel. While Galaxy isn't the best game of the series - that would be Rise of the Shogun - it does a decent job of bringing a space theme to the gaming table. Granted, much of that is dependant on the artwork and the clever dueling combat, while the length of the game and the slight mishmash of mechanics may bog it down for some. HeroCard: Galaxy certainly is a "try-before-you-buy" game, as it's difficult to truly understand what's going on until you play it.

Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.thedicetower.com

Thread: Re: Various rules questions...

Lance_Steele — 2006-09-19T19:38:48+00:00

Hello, this is the designer of Galaxy. I thought I'd stick my nose in to verify that the answers given above are pretty much all correct. In summary:

1. Exhaustion only makes a card more "expensive" to clear. It has no effect on the resolution of the current attack. And just to clarify, exhaustion twists action cards, not attributes.

2. Yes.

3. Yes, you may play a fast action on any player's action phase. However, you must play cards in the proper sequence. Unfortunately, the current rulebook could be clearer about how this works. But via the power of the internet, you can get some quick pointers here: http://tablestargames.com/faq.html#herocard

4. No, dimensional shunt oly works against base attacks and attack mods, as stated on the card. Every card has an information bar beneath the picture and above the text. This will identify what type of card it is. You can also use the icons in the upper left corners, as mentioned.

Thread: Re: Various rules questions...

Zelgadas — 2006-08-27T14:00:45+00:00

RoamDog wrote:

4. Does Dimensional Shunt work against Opportunistic Attack (which is a Special Attack rather than the regular Base Attack that seems to be indicated on Dimensional Shunt)?? What about against Independent Motility?? What about against Accelerated Entropy??

Dimensional Shunt wouldn't directly affect either Opportunistic Attack of Indpendent Motility, because neither is a base attack. However, Opportunistic Attack allows you to play a base block as a base attack, which you could then play Dimensional Shunt on. Similarly, Independent Motility allows you to play a base attack, which could be affected by Dimensional Shunt. As for Accelerated Entropy . . . that's a good question. I'd say that the effects stack. Dimensional Shunt would have a value equal to half the value of one of your opponent's attack mods. Once Accelerated Entropy is played, that value increases, which increases your block value accordingly. The card is still going to help your opponent more than it helps you, but it's a useful bit of semi-synergy.

Thread: Re: HeroCard Galaxy (Part 2 of 2)

Zelgadas — 2006-08-24T14:18:23+00:00

That's very true; the HeroCard system is pretty flexible in that sense. I can't wait to play Galaxy with my space ninja.

Thread: Re: Various rules questions...

RoamDog — 2006-08-20T16:29:15+00:00

What about the explosion symbol with an "S" rather than a "+" inside it?

Cinnibar wrote:
#1: Exhaustion only impacts during the Clear Phase of the turn. So it has no effect on any current Attack Phase. Perhaps you are reading that someone can not *play* cards on the attributes if Exhausted? Incorrect, they just can not clear such cards until the attribute is twisted back using a Clear action itself.

#4: The explosion-symbol-without-a-plus is the indicator of a Base Attack. See the upper-left corner of the card to determine what 'type' of attack card it is. The Dimensional Shunt works on all Base Attack and Attack Mod (explosion-symbol, with or without the plus) cards as stated.

Thread: Re: Various rules questions...

Cinnibar — 2006-08-20T14:50:02+00:00

#1: Exhaustion only impacts during the Clear Phase of the turn. So it has no effect on any current Attack Phase. Perhaps you are reading that someone can not *play* cards on the attributes if Exhausted? Incorrect, they just can not clear such cards until the attribute is twisted back using a Clear action itself.

#4: The explosion-symbol-without-a-plus is the indicator of a Base Attack. See the upper-left corner of the card to determine what 'type' of attack card it is. The Dimensional Shunt works on all Base Attack and Attack Mod (explosion-symbol, with or without the plus) cards as stated.

Thread: Re: Various rules questions...

Cinnibar — 2006-08-19T05:52:28+00:00

#2 and #3, the answer is yes, you can play a Fast card during any time on any player's turn. The effects must be In Range, so the Fast can't target an opponent unless the opponent is at the same location as the Fast-card player.

#1 and #4 I leave for right now until I dig out the set for the cards listed.

Thread: Various rules questions...

RoamDog — 2006-08-19T05:06:50+00:00

1. Exhaustion: If player "A" has attacked player "B" and played both an attack card with Mind and an Attack Mod with Body and then afterwards player "A" plays Exhaustion, do the values of the current Attack + Attack Mod cards still count toward the attack?

2. Several decks have cards that allow the player to draw cards (that are Fast). So, can these draw cards be played any players turn (regardless of whether the player was involved in an attack)??

3. I guess that the generic question is can a player play ANY Fast card on ANY players turn?

4. Does Dimensional Shunt work against Opportunistic Attack (which is a Special Attack rather than the regular Base Attack that seems to be indicated on Dimensional Shunt)?? What about against Independent Motility?? What about against Accelerated Entropy??

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tablestar_rob — 2006-08-08T22:37:54+00:00

Stormtroopers

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tablestar_rob — 2006-08-08T17:16:53+00:00

Comic-Con Photo2

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tablestar_rob — 2006-08-08T16:47:01+00:00

Comic-Con Photos

Thread: Re: HeroCard Galaxy (Part 1 of 2)

tablestar_rob — 2006-07-31T16:21:41+00:00

I'm glad to hear that you liked the cards. The demo game (Shogun) I played at ComicCon San Diego had cards that were rather thin and flimsy. Sounds like they have rectified the problem.

Hey Rob,

Just to respond to the Rise of the Shogun Game you played at Comic-Con. The Shogun game we had at the con was a prototype copy from our manufacture. We were not happy with the weight of those cards either, the final card weight will be the same as Galaxy and Champion when Rise of the Shogun is released later this summer.

Thanks for the comments,
Rob

Thread: Re: HeroCard Galaxy (Part 2 of 2)

Robrob — 2006-07-31T04:29:40+00:00

Did you mention that each of the four base games has two additional expansion characters (figure + cards)? You can use any character in any base game so you have a total of 16 available characters to use at a time.

Thread: Re: HeroCard Galaxy (Part 1 of 2)

Robrob — 2006-07-31T04:26:02+00:00

The cards are sturdy and high-quality

I'm glad to hear that you liked the cards. The demo game (Shogun) I played at ComicCon San Diego had cards that were rather thin and flimsy. Sounds like they have rectified the problem.

Thread: Re: HeroCard Galaxy (Part 2 of 2)

Sexy Amy — 2006-07-31T04:02:26+00:00

I had seen this game in a store, and wondered about it. Thanks for the review. It sounds like it might be worth purchasing.

Thread: HeroCard Galaxy (Part 2 of 2)

Zelgadas — 2006-07-30T23:20:33+00:00

In this review, I’ll be talking about the HeroCard Galaxy board game, by TableStar Games. If you want to know what I thought of the basic HeroCard card game, go read Part 1 of this review.

The HeroCard Galaxy Board Game
Once you know the rules of the card-battle system for HeroCard, learning the rules for the board game is pretty easy. For starters, the board game utilizes the same four phases of play: Discard, Draw, Clear, and Action. The first three phases are identical to the card game, and the Action phase is very similar, but allows you some additional actions. Before I get into that, though, I should probably tell you the point of the game.

Each player takes on the role of one of the heroes, with the goal of trying to take over the galaxy. You do this by accumulating planets of various different colors in the attempt to create a winning ‘hand’ of planets. You can win with one planet of each of the five colors, four planets of the same color, or two planets of one color and three of another; in essense, a straight, a four of a kind, or a full house, respectively. The HeroCard battling system is used for combat resolution, and combat occurs primarily when there’s a planet that more than one person wants.

Now, back to the Action phase. During the action phase you can attack other players, claim unoccupied, uncontrolled planets, draw technology cards, discover new planets, garrison your owned planets, and move around the board and amongst the planets. Attacking, as I’ve said, is handled using the HeroCard system; you declare your intentions to attack a hero or planet, and you play your attack cards as normal. If another hero is present, that hero gets the chance to respond with block cards. If you occupy a planet in Discover Space (four boxes in the middle of the board where unclaimed planets show up), you can claim that planet for your own; the planet has to be empty except for you in order for this action to work, and if it’s not you’ll have to attack. You can draw technology cards as well. When you do so, you draw four and take two, which helps to cut down on random chance, and technologies can really turn the tide of a game. Technologies come in two flavors: actions and planetary defense cards. Actions are used like any other action card, and use up your attribute points. Planetary defenses, on the other hand, are put in garrisons on your planets, and help to defend them (as the name implies). If you’re out in Discover Space, you can discover a planet from the planet queue, moving it to your part of discovery space. If you’re on one of your own planets, you can garrison the planet in order to put cards from your hand under that planet for its defense. This is extremely useful and often used, as otherwise you have to actually be on a planet in order to defend it from someone else’s attack. Finally, you can move once per turn, either throughout discovery space or amongst the claimed planets. These actions, of course, add to the resource management aspect of the game, as some of them (claiming a planet or drawing technology) are Exclusive actions. This means that, if you perform one of these actions, you generally can’t perform the other, or attack, during that turn.

Opinions
As with the basic card game, I like the board game version of HeroCard Galaxy a lot. The strategy is deeper and the gameplay a little less abstract, and it’s generally pretty difficult for a player to get into a position that they just can’t dig themselves out of. I like the addition of technology cards, which are typically low-cost, high-effect cards, and even get put in your own discard pile once they’re used (which gets shuffled and used as your action deck when your action deck runs out). Be warned, though, that the game is long; the box indicates 1-2 hours, but I played a game recently that took three and a half hours to complete. Also be warned that strategy is king in this game. You have to keep your eye on the goal, and think a few steps ahead.

One thing that I was concerned about before playing was the fact that the players could, in theory, simply sit in discovery space claiming free planets until someone won, with little to no interaction. In practice, this simply won’t happen. If you’re playing with people who have any desire whatsoever to win, once somebody looks like they could win soon, the others will try to prevent that. Preventing a quick win is usually pretty easy; as easy as taking away one of the leader’s planets, in fact. I have seen players turtle their planets, fortifying them with garrisoned cards until attacking the planet was simply a bad idea. However, there are technology cards (EMP Disruptor and, to a lesser extent, Orbital Bombardment) that can counter this strategy pretty handily. In fact, it was discovered that two technology cards (EMP Disruptor and Hyperdrive), when used in concert, could pretty much get you any claimed planet in play without a fight, provided nobody else was occupying that planet first.

The heroes each have their own advantages in card play, but these differences become more pronounced in the board game. The Cosmic Cult is still the easiest to play, while the Mechagen’s ability to attack multiple times in a single round can be quite devastating. The Crab’s strength comes in powerful garrisons for owned planets, combined with a strong offense for taking other peoples’ planets awy. The EGG is still the hardest to play, primarily because it’s such a reactionary hero. Most of its attack and block cards are dependent upon the opponent already having some cards in his attribute stacks, which can be either problematic or incredibly powerful, in equal portions. However, the EGG does have the advantage of having the most ‘special effect’ type cards; that is, cards that do things other than simple attack and defense. Some of these cards (like Exhaustion or Energy Drain) can be very useful in combinations.

What I Liked
The components are great; very sturdy and attractive. Not only that, but the quick-reference cards that come with the game are extraordinarily useful and well-designed. As for the game itself, I enjoy the depth of strategy and the constantly shifting landscape that the game provides. I like getting new, shiny things every turn, and the thrill of taking an opponent’s planet by force or, better yet, without firing a shot is great.

What I Didn’t Like
Not much that hasn’t already been mentioned. I’m not sure that the EGG is as useful in the board game as it is in the card game (I’ll have to look further into that). Also, this game takes a fair amount of time to play with more than two people, and that might turn some people off. Finally, the heroes in Galaxy seem a little abstract in terms of what they do. It’s difficult to imagine the battle when terms like ‘Warding Intelligence’, ‘Dimensional Shunt’, or ‘4D Weapon’ are the norm; they’re not that descriptive. Some of this, however, is due to the limitations of the genre.

The Bottom Line
You could do a lot worse than HeroCard Galaxy. It’s a fun, deep, involving game that can be played either as a fast-paced straight combat game or as a slower-paced strategic board game, and it’s got a cool sci-fi theme (for those who like space sci-fi). I have no problem recommending this game, and I’m itching to try some of the other games in the HeroCard line.

Thread: HeroCard Galaxy (Part 1 of 2)

Zelgadas — 2006-07-30T23:18:55+00:00

HeroCard Galaxy , by TableStar Games , is actually two games in one; as such, this review is going to be broken into two distinct parts. Part 1 will cover the basic HeroCard card-battle game, while Part 2 will cover the tactical board game. So, without further ado . . .

The HeroCard Game
The card-battle system present in HeroCard Galaxy is, by all reports, present in all of the HeroCard games. In this game, each player takes control of a hero, and gets that hero's corresponding action deck. The action deck contains 33 cards, three of which are attributes for your hero, which start in play. There are three different attributes (Body, Mind, and Attribute X), each with a rating (typically between 4 and 9). To launch an attack you play a base attack card along with attack mods and special attacks, while your opponent defends with a base block card, block mods, and special blocks. Each of these cards uses up a certain number of attribute points, and is keyed to a specific attribute. There's a significant resource management aspect to this game, as the total number of action cards that you have played on a given attribute can't have a total cost greater than that attribute's value. So, for example, the Mechagen deck's Body attribute is Robotics, which has a value of 8. If you were to play the base attack Iron Arm Saw, which has a cost of 2 Body, that would leave you with 6 Body points to play other cards with. The trick comes in with the fact that, once you've played through an entire attack/block sequence, those cards stay in play but have no effect on the game other than to use up your attribute points. You can clear up to three cards away from your attribute stacks each turn, before your action phase (which is when you play cards), but it's conceivable that you'd have to launch an attack or block an attack with some of your attribute points already used up.

A card battle involves the players taking turns going through the four phases: Discard, Draw, Clear, and Action. During Discard you can discard as many cards as you want to from your hand, while Draw allows you to draw up to three cards from your deck, provided you don't go over the seven-card hand limit. As mentioned before, Clear allows you to clear away up to three cards from your attribute stacks, while Action is where you actually play attacks, blocks, and specials. In addition to having a hand limit and a limit on how many cards you can have in play at a time, you have to worry about what type of action a particular card is. A card could be a Fast (play as many as you want, during anyone's Action phase), Restricted (as many as you want on your own Action phase), or Exclusive (one per turn, on your Action phase) action. Since most base attacks are Exclusive, this means you can only really launch one attack per turn, with a few exceptions for specific heroes. To win, you earn victory points by successfully attacking an opponent. The first one to the victory point limit wins.

HeroCard Galaxy comes with two heroes. The Cosmic Cult are psychic zealots who spread the word of God, by force if necessary, while the Mechagen are a hive-mind of robots who want to assimilate everything. In addition, there are two expansion heroes you can buy: the Crab is a giant mutant-cyborg crustacean, while the EGG (Energy Garnering Gyrosphere) is a space probe infected with electronic parasites. All four heroes have their own play styles; the Cosmic Cult is probably the most basic and easiest to play, with only a few special rules, while the EGG is probably the most advanced and hardes to play, with lots of special rules that depend on the actions of other players.

Opinions
Now, all this explanations is all well and good, but what do I actually think of the game? I like it, quite a lot. The basic card game is easy to learn and play, but requires a fair amount of strategy to succeed. As I mentioned before, there's a fair amount of resource management in this game, and it's very important to manage your resources effectively in order to succeed. When you're playing a card battle, you really have to weigh the value of attacking during a given turn versus defending. Do you pour all of your resources into a massive assault to earn a victory point, possibly ceding a victory point to your opponent in turn when you don't have enough attribute points left to block? Do you discard that extra base block card in the hopes of getting something that will help with an attack? Do you attack now, or do you wait until you've got more attack mods, and can mount a more effective offense? These are the decisions that the game forces you to make, and they're often very hard decisions. In my experience, there can be a fair amount of hand-wringing involved, and launching an attack is often a gamble.

It should be noted that the two-player game is significantly different (and shorter) than the three-player game (though I didn't get a chance to try it with four). A two-player game is straightforward and fast-moving, and is generally over in about a half hour. There's plenty of strategy, but you only have to adjust your strategy to account for a single player, and you can afford to take more risks with your card plays. In the three player game, though, there's a lot of opportunistic attacking. What do I mean? Let's say Player A attacks Player B. Player A has then used up a fair number of his cards and attribute points attacking, while Player B has done the same with his blocking. Player C can the swoop in, attack whoever is the the worst shape, and score a victory point. This often has the effect of one player being the 'whipping boy' for a turn or two. To the game's credit, though, the whipping boy usually recovers after a turn or two, and the role often shifts to someone else afterward.

That said, the game isn't perfect; there are a few rough edges. For example, there are some typographical errors on some of the cards (colons where there shouldn't be any, or a card referred to as a 'Block' rather than a 'Base Block'). There are also some cards that are open to different interpretations, and you have to figure out whether the spirit of the rule is different from the letter of the rule. The manual, too, has a few problems; for example, I had a really hard time trying to figure out how many cards are in your hand at the beginning of the game. As it turns out, it's seven, but you don't find this out until page 23 of the 27-page manual; you'd think it would be at the beginning, under 'Setup'. Most of these flaws are easy for me to forgive, though, and don't really change the fact that I do recommend this game pretty highly. Aside from the typos and occasionally unclear rules, the game's presentation is quite nice. The cards are sturdy and high-quality, the pieces (which are only used in the board game) are very nice, plastic pieces, the manual is attractive and glossy, and I rather liked the art (though this is very much a matter of taste, and I can see why some people wouldn't like it).

What I Liked
The game is easy to learn, takes about ten minutes to explain to your friends, and doesn't take too long to play with two players. However, the game's got a good depth of strategy, and forces lots of hard decisions, which I like a lot. It's a great combination of heavy and light that I find very appealing. I also like the space sci-fi theme, and even the sheer geekery of the game. Let's face it, any game that has a card called 'Cybernetic Space Crustacean' has to be good, right?

What I Didn't Like
The typos and unclear rules are a strike against the game, though not a big one. In addition, the rulebook inexplicably repeats a lot of the rules for the basic card-battle game. Finally, some cards make reference to terms like 'waste a card', which make no sense until you look through the glossary at the end of the manual and find their definitions.

The Bottom Line
HeroCard Galaxy's card-battle system is a well-designed, fun game, and I enjoy it thoroughly every time I play it (even though I usually lose). It's easy to learn but takes some effort to master, and has a nice, modular component that I find appealing. Finally, if you're not too fond of the sci-fi theme, there are other HeroCard games available from TableStar : Rise of the Shogun , Cyberspace , and Champions of New Olympia . Each game uses the core HeroCard rules and comes with its own, unique board game component and two heroes.

Thread: Initial Review

tomg — 2006-06-07T20:05:52+00:00

During Kublacon I was able to try out TableStar's new
game HeroCard Galaxy. This is one of four games which use
the same basic rules on top of which is added rules
specific to each game. The other games, to be released
soon are, HeroCard CyberSpace, HeroCard Rise of the Shogun
and HeroCard Champion of the New Olympia. TableStar Games
is currently promoting these games, including a tourament
of HeroCard Galaxy held at Kublacon that had a first prize of
$1,500. I did not participate in this tourament, but did
play in a demo earlier that day.

Overview:

HeroCard Galaxy is a card game which can be either played
as a simple duel or as an interplantary conquest game. The
dueling rules are quite simple. I was able to learn the rules
and play a couple of duels in 15 minutes. These dueling rules
are common all all the HeroCard games. The interplantary
conquest game build on top of the dueling rules and are where the
players attempt to be the first to collect a set of planets.

The base game is for two players and there are two expansion
decks for a third and fourth player. Each player controls
one Hero. The base set heroes are Cosmic Cult and Mechagen.
The expansion deck heroes are the Crab and Egg. The game is rated
for players age 10 and up, and the full game takes from 1 to
2 hours.

Components:

The base set consists of:

- Galaxy Board
- Cosmic Cult Hero cards and matching figure
- Medagen Hero cards and matching figure
- 20 Discovery cards
- 22 Technology cards
- rule booklet

The expansion deck consists of a set of Hero cards and the
matching figure.

The Board:

The board is make of cardboard with a nice background illustration.
Its purpose is to hold up to 5 discovery cards, i.e. planets, which
the players attempt to gain control of.

The Cards:

The cards are very well illustrated and of good quality. The
information on the cards is well laid out. The illustrations
on the cards fit the theme well and are quite interesting.
There are four types of cards used in the game.

For each hero there are three attribute cards that represent that
hero, each card represent one attribute of that hero. The attributes
are mind, body and attribute X.

Then there is the action cards which form the hero card deck. Each
card in this deck give the hero an attack, defense or special ability.
Each hero has their own deck and the cards in these decks are different
which gives a unique personality to each hero.

Each Discovery card represents a single planet. There are
five different planets each with its own color and illustration.

Last are the Technology cards, these cards can be drawn by the
heroes during the game and give special technology abilities or actions.

The Figures:

Each hero has a matching plastic figure. Each figure is unique
in design and color. These are used during the game to mark
which planet the hero is currently located on. Each is sculpted
to look like the hero.

Rules Booklet:

This is a well illustrated booklet of 27 pages. It covers both
the Quick Start rules, i.e. dueling game, and the Board Game, the
game of interplantary conquest. There are also rules on making custimized
hero decks, and a glossary at the end.

Rules:

Note a full set of the rules can be found on TableStar Games
website at http://www.tablestargames.com. I am giving a very simple
overview of the rules here and leaving out many details.

The Quick Start rules cover the dueling game. In this game only
the hero attribute cards and action cards, i.e. the hero deck, are
used. Each hero has three attributes, Body, Mind and Attribute X.
Each attribute has a value that seems to run from 4 to 9. This value
limits how many action cards can be played using that attribute.
The cards played have a Action Cost and the total Action Cost of all
cards played on an attribute cannot be greater than that attributes value.

Each player draws action cards from their deck into their hand.
When an action card is played, it is placed next the corresponding
attribute card. Each action card gives an attack value, or defense
value or a special abillity. Note that the attack/defense value is
not the same as the action cost. Some cards can only be played during
the player's turn while others can be played at any time, typically
defense cards.

In a duel one player will play attack cards during their turn and the
player being attacked will play defense cards. The winner is the one
with the highest total value, with ties going to the defender. The
special action cards can be things like nullifing the attack value of
one card of the player attacking you, or doubling the attack value of
some of your attack cards.

In the board game the goal is to control a set of planets.
The winning sets are one planet of each of the 5 colors, or
4 planets of one color, or 2 of one color and 3 of another
color. The board is set up in the middle of the playing area
and is where planets that appear that players can then attempt
to control. Each player lays out their 3 hero attribute cards
and draws action cards from their hero's action deck. As
players gain control of planets, those planets are placed
in front of them in a row. Action and technology cards may
be played under planets to help prevent them from being
taken over by another player.

Each turn a player will discard and draw action cards and
then take actions. The possible actions are to move to
another planet (only 1 move per player turn is allowed),
discover new planets (can be done multiple times during your
turn), Garrision a planet, Claim a planet, Attack, or draw a
Technology Card. Note that only 1 of Garrision a planet or
Claim a planet or Attack or draw a Technology card may be done
in a player turn.

Movement allows a player to move their figure to any of their
controlled planets or any planet on the board available to be
claimed. They may also move to another player's controlled
planets, but there are restictions on which planets can be
moved to, unless the Hyperspace Technology card is used allowing
movement to any planet.

Discover is drawing a Discovery card which makes another planet
available on the board to be claimed. There is a maximum of 4
planets at a time that can be avaialble on the board for claiming.

Garrision is playing action cards from the players hand under
a planet they control. These cards then are used if another
player attempts to land on or try to claim that planet.

Claim is whan a player attempts to take control of a planet on
the board. If the player is the only one on that planet then
they automatically take control of it. If another player is
also on that planet then neither may attempt to gain control.
First they must force the other player off the planet with an
attack.

Attack is used to force another player off an unclaimed planet
on the board, or to claim a planet controlled by another player.
In order to attack the hero's figure must be on the planet where
the attack is to take place. Attacks are resolved by conducting
a duel.

Players take their turns in order until one player has meet
the victory conditions by controlling one of the winning
combinations of planets.

Summary:

This is an enjoyable card game. The theme of fighting for control
of planets is fairly superficial. This game could just as easily
been about companies competing for big contracts or even botonists
attempting to be the first to bring back rare orchids. It is easly
to learn and playing time is short. There is not much down time waiting
for others to make their move, both since a turn does not take very long
and can involve an attack on another player. The game appears to be
well balanced with no problem of leader run-away. The game I played
in had one player just beating out two others to win, so it seems that
the games can be close and exciting.

The game looks to have a good amount of replayability. First each of the
heros is different in their attributes and by having different action cards
in their decks, and there are rules for custimizing the hero's deck.

So for a fairly light card game for 2 to 4 players that take 1 to 2 hours,
this may be a good choice. Personaly I am not planning on buying this game,
but I would play it occasionally. I am interested though in buying one of
the other related games, HeroCard The Rise of the Shogun, which looks to a
bit deeper game. Take a look at TableStar's web site for more information
and a downloadable copy of the complete rules. I do appreciate companies
that make the rules available like this. It makes deciding if the game is
worth buying a lot easier.

Image

tablestar_rob — 2006-06-06T21:23:13+00:00

HeroCard: Galaxy Box