Mark Mitchell
United Kingdom
Brighton
Unspecified
-
Why an ‘honest review’ you may ask? Well, I often try and convince my GF many times to play various games and although she isn’t really a gamer she accommodates me, usually beats me and sometimes she admits to enjoying a game. She is intrinsically a very good gamer and often beats me as she calculates and organises her strategy far more thoroughly than I do. So as a judge of balance and mechanics she is a good litmus test of games as her patience and love for them is far below my zeal. I’m not going to describe the game in detail as this has already been done what I will do is take you through my experiences from opening the box to having played about a 30+ games.
Initially you read the rules and I was thinking ‘there is no way my GF is going to play this’. It seems that the icons are cryptic beyond comprehension and that the play style is pretty much lifted from San Juan. It simply does not have an instant appeal for some people. I personally love ‘decoding’ a game mechanic or system then working it out in my head before I play. Twilight Struggle certainly doesn’t have an instant appeal when I first opened it but like RFTG when you start understanding the rules you think ‘I’ve got to play this’.
Our initial three or four games were quite interesting but not gripping, floundering with the icons and seemingly being forced to adopt strategies we didn’t understand the game immediately presented itself with its weakest initial offering but incredible long-term strength – choice. You have many choices and many options to score highly, often you have to adapt to not only what your opponent is laying but also your own scoring strategy in a very dynamic way. At first it seems aimless then you start developing game strategies that constantly surprise you. This was the strategy development from early game to later games.
1. Military or Consume with intensive explore to end game rush.
It seems when you start developing your early strategies that you think ‘well if they are military I will go trade’. This is a common mistake which often leads to the other player taking advantage of this approach when more advanced strategies become apparent. Intensive explores lead to free draws for the opponent and end game rushing means you are often are only capitalising on one aspect of your planets/developments using one 6 point endgame dev bonus.
2. Combination Searching and Economic End Game
Searching for complimentary cards become a major aspect after your initial strategies start failing rifling through with explores to get 6 point developments with the planet type matches allowing your opponent free pick ups every time. Also once you realise that consume can rush the game forward without laying planets and dev its often a race to secure the vp chits. This however has its drawbacks if this if your only strategy, again a good combination of some VP chits and card lays starts becoming apparent.
3. Balanced Strategy
After about 15 games we started having a slower balanced strategy making sure we make use of windfall bonuses and concentrating on early production and trade to draw cards forcing production on an opposing player when they least needed it. Minimising explores unless necessary and leaving strategies relatively open unless a strong hand is drawn early. Even so, if you still rely on one strategy you will allow the opposing player to take blocking moves against you by holding and discarding needed cards and by this stage they will be fully aware of how effective this is.
4. Unusual Scoring Cards
Now we have played this game quite a lot my GF has developed much more subtle scoring tactics that make my guesses at her strategy very difficult. A little like Ticket to Ride (keep drawing until you have a reasonable strategy), getting draws up to the maximum from trade or special abilities is paramount. Holding needed opponent cards is normal. Even bluffing tactics have developed, it feels like you have more control rather than a game that leads you; by approximating probability you start to get a real grip on the potential of some cards that you had always considered useless and combining them subtly with other 6 point development cards. Of course there is the random factor and a continual good draw will always win out but this is rarer than you think. It seems a decent 6 point dev, some consume chits with bonus, and some military is a good approach.
5. Go back to 1
This is really when the game starts to shine, in a recent game just as this posturing, complex play had developed between us I though bugger it and went for a simple military win exploring until I had every card I needed (rebel military win) laying predictably thinking that maybe this simple strategy does win out and the game is far simpler than I was giving it credit for. Nope, the worst move I have ever made, after notching up what I thought was a good score (can’t remember now), my gf with less cards down (as I had rushed), trounced me with a score that would make you sick. She managed to get 4 6 point development down tripling up some planet final game bonus scores. A very humiliating experience. One I deserved as I was ignoring 6 pointers rifling the pack so that the discarded 6 pointers that were non-military bonuses appeared again once the discard was shuffled in allowing my gf a chance to combine a powerful set of bonuses and enabling her to hold the top 7 and 6 point rebel planets which she discarded at the end for her final 6 point dev.
Suffice to say we love this game, it is addictive, it is sometimes painful, and often than not it makes you hate your opponent when they reveal their end game cards holding those critical one’s that would have given you a decisive win. It does have multiple strategic developments and becomes much less forgiving the more you play but you still have many choices and there are still many scoring approaches I have not taken yet. The chronological development above does not predict how you will eventually end up playing the game as I think many people revert back to earlier strategies if the cards are not favourable. The trick is not to adhere to just one strategy and really think about what planets and developments you have laid. Brain burn is a problem if you are efficiency obsessive but sometimes you just have a hunch and go with it. The random factor like most games is a bonus (excitement, tenseness, surprises and so forth) but also a downer in that lucky draws could seal a game. If you hate any randomness then stay well away. Strategy, I think, still plays a major part as you must take the probability aspect into your calculations like most card games.
We played San Juan a fair bit before this and I must admit I think Space Race is superior even though I initially considered the card management would get a bit cumbersome (selecting action cards each turn) but I really like this now and it often makes the simultaneous revealing of actions a little blip of excitement each turn especially if you have bet on your opponent taking an action you need. The card artwork is great, the flow is pretty fast once you get used to the symbols the ‘race’ theme really kicks in towards endgame creating a tense and exciting finish. I have only played 2 player so far and its a great game, looking forward to playing with more players in the future. That should create a whole new level of strategy.
Suffice to say my GF loves this game. It is a solid move on from San Juan, with more depth and the theme also appeals to my sci-fi side. I tend to like games with a little more direct player interaction but this, I must admit, has tugged my gaming beard. If I want more direct action I get her to play Tide of Iron, although last time she flamethrowed my poor Germans into Wiener Schnitzels.
-
-
Great review!
Quote: 3. Balanced Strategy
I am exactly on this stage after having almost 15 games. I started to think that this game is NOT a mere card-combo, drawing-luck game...
-
Mark Mitchell
United Kingdom
Brighton
Unspecified
-
Thanks, it was my first!
-
Alec Chapman
United Kingdom
South London
Love movies? Love TV? Love Free Content? Please try our free Movie and TV Podcast at 3m3.posterous.com.
-
Great review! Thank you. I have not yet got my wife interested in the game, but I know I will get her in the end. You, sir, are a legend.
Us Brits have got to stick together!
A
-
Jim Krohn
United States
New York
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Ahhh....my misspent youth...
-
Good review of a good game.
The amount of choice and replayability is fantastic.
-
Brian Thompson
United States
Tucson
Arizona
-
This is one of the best game reviews I have read in a long time.
It conveyed the experience of playing the game and figuring out strategies. I liked how you explained how your knowledge and appreciation for the game grew. Excellent job. I'd give you some Geek Gold if I had any. Sorry.
-
Toasted Jones
United Kingdom
Rugeley
Staffordshire
-
Nice review, while you mention the San Juan similarity, you effectively show how different Race actually is.
-
Mark Mitchell
United Kingdom
Brighton
Unspecified
-
Thanks again everyone, if you get chance look at the comments people have made when they have rated the game 3 or lower. It simply astonishes me that some of them have played and rated very complex games but look at this game and run away complaining its too complex. Maybe it is a visual complexity that people do not like; I am a visual person in my work and pleasure so maybe my fondness of this game is something to do with that? Interesting to see though.
-
Will Pell
United States
Minneapolis
Minnesota
-
Your review is extremely long and somewhat dry, but it makes for a very thorough analysis and shows that you have a genuine passion for the game.
As to the game itself, RFTG seems to be unique. Some people just pick it up instantly, and others are incredibly confounded by it. Two of my best friends said that they got it immediately and have remained addicted ever since (interestingly, one of them has repeatedly said he doesn't like abstract strategy games, and yet he can't seem to get sick of this one); conversely, another friend who I consider probably the smartest man I know, basically unbeatable at Chess or Gipf or any other intellectual game, played the game once and was like, "Okay, totally confused, worst game ever, I'm never playing again!" and has been as good as his word.
Me, I split the difference. My first game, I was nearly confused as the aforementioned brainiac, finding the cards illegible and the strategy impossible to guess. My second game was little better. My third game I was starting to get it, and by the fourth game I was hooked. It's probably an issue of learning styles, linguistic skills or visual cues or something, but some folks just can't get past the peculiar way information is encoded onto the cards. Once you get it down pat, though, or if you're one of the lucky ones who figures it out immediately, once you're able to play and know what you're doing - I swear, this is one of the most replayable games imaginable. No matter what strategy you pick to pursue, it never plays the same way twice; you're constantly forced to diverge into other lines, ensuring that perhaps 5 or 6 basic strategies end up being woven into a mosaic of 25 - 36 or even 125 - 198 potential game layouts.
Past the sometimes-steep learning curve, my only complaints with Race for the Galaxy are:
1. I wish there were more than five homeworlds; seems like every freakin' game I get Alpha Centauri, and having played them all I'm about out of surprises when we start playing our first turns. At least five more would make things a whole lot more interesting.
2. It's a pain in the butt getting the "messy" discard pile condensed back down into a deck so you can shuffle it and replace the draw pile. And for that matter, I don't know why you have to discard face-down in the first place, nor why you have to use cards as Goods when you could just put a penny on the planet or something. There's a feel of screwage in the possibility that the card you need might be somebody else's Rare Element or the card they just Explored and ignored; it frustrates me if I think about it too much. Fortunately, this isn't really necessary.
Overall, the ability to constantly surprise you without being frustrating is a rare achievement. Race is one of the absolute best games (10 or 20 of them let's say) that I have ever played, once you get used to it. Me and about five of my buddies are all chomping at the bit for the expansion to come out.
-
Big Guy
United States
Cary
North Carolina
-
Very good job of conveying the depth of the game and discovering the many layers through play after play.
One question - have you been playing the "basic" 2-player (one action apiece) or the "advanced" (two actions apiece)?
-
Philip Thomas
United Kingdom
London
London
-
Quote: I wish there were more than five homeworlds; seems like every freakin' game I get Alpha Centauri, and having played them all I'm about out of surprises when we start playing our first turns. At least five more would make things a whole lot more interesting.
Luckily for you the expansion contains 4 new Homeworlds.
If you can't wait for the expansion, you can start playing with the new home worlds now, if you're prepared to use a proxy card for them- of course you'll want to have written down what they do.
Also, you don't have to pick totally randomly. Try picking two Home Worlds and choosing one to play with. That way you need never get AC if you don't want to. Of course, this doesn't really work with more than 2 players at the moment!
There are also some variants on the geek which don't used homeworlds but start with (e.g) 6 devs instead. Probably less balanced but worth trying out for change.
-
BT Carpenter
United States
Reston
Virginia
-
willpell wrote: It's a pain in the butt getting the "messy" discard pile condensed back down into a deck so you can shuffle it and replace the draw pile.
We tend to have the draw pile turned one direction, and the discards turned 90 degrees to it, and only 'slightly' messy. The discards are in between the DECK and the VP pile and that's enough to remember which is which.
We also tend to designate a 'dealer' who keeps the deck 'near' them. Slows the game slightly, but makes some feel like the game is more digestable.
Quote: And for that matter, I don't know why you have to discard face-down in the first place, nor why you have to use cards as Goods when you could just put a penny on the planet or something. There's a feel of screwage in the possibility that the card you need might be somebody else's Rare Element or the card they just Explored and ignored; it frustrates me if I think about it too much. Fortunately, this isn't really necessary.
That 'feeling of screwage' is the precise reason for the face down discards. You only know those cards you've personally seen, via Explores (where you then discarded) or outright draws. If you knew that the three high value rebel worlds were already in the discard, you would not be inclined to fish for them.
Perfect knowledge would, in my opinion, ruin the play of this game.
-
Philip Goldfarb
United States
Chicago
Illinois
-
Great review. I agree with the strategic evolution you describe; it seems to describe my group as well (although alas, not all of us are at the same points on the curve, which presents a small problem).
-
Jim Nave
United States
Canby
Oregon
-
Drat... i was so hoping for a dishonest review.
-
Philip Thomas
United Kingdom
London
London
-
Actually, replacing goods by counters would change the game, at least a little: it would slow down the rate at which the players go through the deck, which in turn would make the moment when the dsicards become the deck later in the game.
-
Nate Owens
United States
Olathe
Kansas
-
I've only played two games of this, and they were back-to-back two-player games. The first one was an absolute fog; I felt like I was staggering around unable to connect anything to anything else. Thankfully, it was such a short game that I felt I could take another crack at it. I won my second game, and it made a LOT more sense.
It may just be one of those games that requires two plays to understand. Other games like that (for me) have been Tigris and Euphrates and Goa.
-
Usta Playalot
United States
Nashville
Tennessee
-
Meh. I prefer dishonest reviews.
-
Mark Mitchell
United Kingdom
Brighton
Unspecified
-
sbarrera wrote: Very good job of conveying the depth of the game and discovering the many layers through play after play.
One question - have you been playing the "basic" 2-player (one action apiece) or the "advanced" (two actions apiece)?
We have been playing the 'advanced' rules.
-
Christof Hauwaert
Belgium
Leuven
Vlaams Brabant
-
We had a bit of the same experience. The first games were played without knowing what the hell we were doing. The next couple of games gradualy added layers and layers of complexity and strategy.
It's a nicely balanced game, a real winner.
-
-
Quote: Luckily for you the expansion contains 4 new Homeworlds.
If you can't wait for the expansion, you can start playing with the new home worlds now, if you're prepared to use a proxy card for them- of course you'll want to have written down what they do.
Where can I find these? We played the game recently and found it to be much superior to San Juan in terms of replayability and depth.
Thanks
-
|
|
Posted Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:02 pm
