aka pastor guy: #2: Race for the Galaxy (Mark's 100

Race for the Galaxy

Mark's Ranking

Print Status

Why It's On The List

After you climb the iconography mountain to figure out the game, Race for the Galaxy is an amazing adventure in hand management & reading your opponents' mind - made even better by clever card design & interaction as well as great sci-fi art.

Tips & Tricks:

Learning Race for the Galaxy can be a bit of a chore - of course, since I've ranked it #2 on my list, you know I think it's worth it - but there are some things you can do to make it easier.

Third, don't get obsessed about winning your first few games. Use them (they're short!) to explore the gamespace & see how cards can work together.

There are four expansion sets available for Race for the Galaxy, all of which add numerous cards to the deck:

The Gathering Storm (which adds a fifth player, goals & a robust solitaire system)
Rebel vs. Imperium (which builds on the previous expansion, adding a sixth player & rules for takeovers)
The Brink of War (which builds on the previous two expansions, adding prestige & the prestige/search action)
Alien Artifacts (the newest expansion - it does NOT build on the previous expansions but instead is meant to be combined solely with the base game. It adds a fifth player & a new mode of play in which you explore the Alien Orb.)

Someday, maybe we'll get an iOS app - until then, the best computer AI for board games out there is Keldon's AI - a free download for PC & Mac. I estimate I've played a couple thousand (2000+!) games against this over the years.
My favorite way to play is 2 player advanced with goals & prestige... and no takeovers.

Extras

I'm surprised how little I've written about Race for the Galaxy - evidently, I've been too busy actually playing the game to blog about it!

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If you feel a need to catch up on my admittedly-aging Top 100 as of February 2012 list, you can check out:

aka pastor guy