5/8 Featured Games

Greetings everyone!

On May 8th we will be hosting our regularly scheduled game night at 6:30 PM.  There is another event happening at the church that night, however as of right now I have not been told of any location change, so unless you hear otherwise we're going forward assuming we're in the normal spot.  If a change happens, we'll be moved the children's atrium where we were this past session - if you were there, you know this is not a big deal at all.

For this upcoming session, in honor of the ever-important and quickly-approaching holiday of May the Fourth, we will be featuring games that involve space!  (I'd love to do just Star Wars games, but there aren't enough good ones yet!)

First, if you haven't watched the new Star Wars trailer, watch it now - that will definitely get your blood flowing for some good space games!  (I'll decline to share how many times I've watched this trailer, but know that it's in the double-digits.)

Okay, now I think you're ready to hear about the awesome space games we'll be doing.  Again, since I think it's a fun format, I'll list them in the form of my 'Top 10 Favorite Space Games.' Of course that is incredibly subjective and you are more than welcome (in fact, you're highly encouraged) to bring your own space games!  You're also welcome to forget the theme entirely and bring whatever games you want!

So, without further adieu, here we go....

10.  Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game

This game is incredibly popular and while I enjoy it, it's not my favorite game.  Nevertheless, it is a very good and fun game in which players simulate the dogfights of the Star Wars universe.  It can be played as a 2-player game, in teams, or even with three sides with the newly released bounty hunter content.  I will have my personal set which contains only rebel and imperial ships but others are welcome and encouraged to bring theirs.  The miniatures are stunning and Fantasy Flight continues to knock it out of the park with the production quality of this simple miniatures game.

9.  Imperial Assault

This is the only game on this list I don't own and have never played, however I have played (and own) Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition, which is essentially the same game with a fantasy feel (and I know at least a couple of people in our group that own Imperial Assault).  Imperial Assault takes characters into the Star Wars universe via tactical ground combat.  Most of the players take on the roles of heroes while one player acts as the Imperial side.  The games excels as a campaign-style game but works quite well in a stand-alone even for the evening.  Yet again, great miniatures and components really help bring this Fantasy Flight production to life.

8.  Among the Stars

I suspect with more plays this game will go higher as it combines two of my favorite things in games - space and drafting.  In this game you are 'drafting' cards, much like in Sushi Go or 7 Wonders, in order to build the most efficient space station. I backed the recent Artepia Games release on Kickstarter so my set has not only the Ambassadors expansion, but all of the promos as well.  There are so many cards and the artwork is awesome.  By the end you have a really need, functioning space station in this relatively simple game.


7.  Alien Frontiers

Speaking of Kickstarter, Alien Frontiers, the next game on this list, is the first game to make it big on Kickstarter.  Circa 2010 this game first hit the aforementioned publishing site to terrific success.  Since then a number of subsequent campaigns have gone up, featuring expansions, better components, and plenty of promos.  In this game you are rolling dice and then using those dice to take actions (the dice are space ships, of course).  Ultimately the goal is to control the bulk of a planet that is being colonized.  If you reach a certain number of victory points, largely through area control, you win the game!  There are a lot of parts that intertwine in this and the expansions really add flavor to the game.

6. Galaxy Trucker

Galaxy Trucker is definitely the silliest game on this list.  In it you are taking on the role of a space trucker who is delivering different types of sewage parts to a foreign planet.  Your company is full cheapskates, though, and your ship is actually made of the parts you're delivering.  This game is broken into two phases - the first is a timed free for all in which players are desperately trying to get pieces for their ship and make sure they actually fit together!  After this, players test their hastily made ships in the rigors of space - a number of event cards are revealed and if your ship survives them all, you can make some serious space bucks!  If not, well... You probably had some laughs along the way!  I do have the Anniversary Edition complete with both expansions!

5.  Cosmic Encounter

Cosmic Encounter could give Galaxy Trucker a run for its money in terms of 'silliest game' on this list.  In this game players take control of one of a great variety of alien races, then attempt to be the first to take over five total planets controlled by opponents.  The game mechanisms are very simple - you send ships, invite allies, offense and defense pick a card with a number on it, the highest number wins after combining the number on the card with the number of ships on your side.  The thing that makes this game so great is the alien races - each one has a unique way in which you can 'break the rules' and this creates for interesting and often hilarious situations.

4.  Twilight Imperium Third Edition

Okay, so it's really unlikely this will get played at our game night, but I had to put it on the list.  This is the epitome of the epic space game.  It is a long, 5-8 hour slugfest between different alien factions.  You build ships.  You explore.  You conquer.  There's political intrigue.  Trading occurs.  Everything you could possibly want in a space game is in this box.  Why isn't higher?  Because it takes so long that I barely get to play it.  Nonetheless, this game is absolutely terrific and if people really want to try it out, it is possible to get it done in 4 hours, but people will have to be quick!

3.  Eclipse

Eclipse is similar to TI3 in a number of ways - you have unique alien races, you build ship, you research technologies.  However, Eclipse is significantly shorter than TI3, usually coming together in 2-4 hours, rather than 5-8 hours.  In addition, Eclipse is a lot more of an economic game than TI3 is, so just because you like TI3 does not necessarily mean you'll like Eclipse.  That being said, I like Eclipse just a touch better, largely because of the blueprint system with the ships. Not only do you get to research ways to make your ships better, but you get to decide how they fit onto your ships.  Want a ship that has so much hull it's basically invincible?  You can do that.  Wanna light your opponent up with a million missiles before they get a shot off?  You can do that!  Eclipse is a lot of fun and is a beautiful looking space game.

2.  Roll for the Galaxy

This is the newest game on this list by far.  Roll for the Galaxy just game out in the late moments of 2014 but really didn't hit stores until January of 2015.  It is the successor to an immensely popular space card game called Race for the Galaxy (which I'm not a huge fan of, hence it not being on this list).  In this game, players roll a lot of dice in an attempt to be the person with the most points.  It's really a euro-game, unlike many of these other games, and is based around building your economy, trading goods, and building/settling.  It's a little thinky and the rules are not super simple to grasp, however I find this to be a highly rewarding game.  Plus it's fast!  A group that knows what they're doing can knock it out in 45 minutes!

1.  Battlestar Galactica

Finally, we have one of my all-time favorite games: Battlestar Galactica.  I love this game because it combines a cooperative game (which I like), with Battlestar Galactica (which I really like), with a traitor element (which I love).  This is, in my opinion, the premier traitor-game.  Dead of Winter is nice, but it doesn't touch Battlestar Galactica in terms of tension.  This game produces an element of stress and paranoia that no game can rival as everyone works together, except one or two people depending on player count.  There's a lot of lying.  A lot of backstabbing.  A lot of manipulation.  It is incredibly fun and well worth the 3 hours or so it'll take to play.


Conclusion

As in the past, this is a list based on my on subjectivity and personal collection!  There are a lot of great space games on here that I simply don't own!  Race for the Galaxy, Starcraft, Rex, Star Trek: Fleet Captains, Space Alert, Space Cadets, Dune, Xia: Legends of a Drift System, Merchants of Venus, Firefly: The Game, Eminenet Domain, Core Worlds, Starfarers of Catan, and more all come to mind when it comes to terrific space games!  Not to mention other Star Wars titles that I don't own yet - Queen's Gambit, Star Wars the Card Game, Armada, and more.

Again, if you don't like space game, then play whatever you want!  If you're interested in these games, they'll definitely be available and at least a handful of them will be played.

Hopefully we'll see you out!!

Many blessings!