Customer Reviews

Race For The Galaxy: Rebel Vs. Imperium

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great expansion as it adds oodles more cards to the game, really making things interesting. You start to see some cards with costs more than the previous max of 6, and in general the game starts to feel a bit more epic.

As for the added gameplay feature of being able to capture other player's cards through military conquest, this aspect was decidedly a disappointment. It's a bit of effort just figuring out the mechanics of how takeovers work, because the rules are a bit strange, and more work still maintaining a constant count of your military strength as you play using the included sliders and marker pieces. And in the end, only one out of every few games involves ANY actual takeovers, so all the work has very little payoff, and I find it easier to play without takeovers active. The one interesting effect takeover rules can create is an ongoing arms race between two players, who continue to bolster their defenses back and forth, but never end up attacking.

All in all, I'm very happy to have purchased it, I just wish the conquest mechanics were more worthwhile. Perhaps a future expansion will make it more interesting?

First a quick word about the base game (This package is an expansion): This game is amazing! This is NOT for non-board-gamers unless you're looking for a challenge. If you're a person that commonly plays Settlers of Catan, Tigris and Euphrates, and (especially) Puerto Rico then this is a card game that you must get. Combining the mechanics of Puerto Rico into a card game and space theme, Race for the Galaxy is a quick-setup, multiple-victory-path game of greatness. The first few games can be rough (especially given the amount of icons + cards that there are) but are a few games you'll start picking up on combinations and victory paths. Definitely a must buy for a board game fan.

This package is actually an expansion for the base game and as far as I'm concerned you need both expansions to get the most out of the game. If you play it often it more than offsets it's cost. This expansion comes with rules for takeovers (I personally haven't even played with them yet) and a bunch more cards (including action cards so that the game can support up to 6 players). Due to the starting worlds that this game comes with the game now supports letting you chose between two start worlds while you are deciding which of your starting hand cards you'll discard.

Definitely a must buy for Race for the Galaxy fans.

This game is amazing. Well thought out, intricate, detailed, themed. I started my friends out on Dominion then moved them over to this game. They're hooked.

Once you get the hang of this check out the expansions too, lots of fun.

We had to play the game a couple of times before we started to think that we were even starting to figure out the rules. In several places are they are not well written and are actually ambiguous. There are a lot of details. Too many, I think. The myriad details mean it takes a very long time to understand the game. Playing the game is a little too much like work.

"Rebel vs. Imperium" is Rio Grande's second expansion for Race for the Galaxy a card game where players eke out a space civilization by exploring, conquering, settling and developing technologies.

Players simultaneously select a role card. The roles are respectively: Explore, Develop, Settle, Consume and Produce. The role cards are revealed and resolved in role card order. If you play a role card, you get the bonus for playing it. If you didn't play a role card (i.e. your opponent played it), you get to use the role's general effect. For example: if you play "Explore", you draw 3 cards and may keep 2; otherwise you draw 2 cards and may keep 1.

Players play planet cards during the Settle phase and technologies during the Develop phase. Once a player has played 12 cards (called a tableux) the game will end. Players score points for their planets, developments and for consuming goods. The player with the highest score wins.

With experienced players, this game can play quickly (around 30 minutes or less). However, the iconography of the cards is counterintuitve and thus the learning curve is surprisingly steep. This is a minor consideration if you are a hardcore gamer. But it should be noted: Race for the Galaxy makes a poor gateway game for your non-gaming friends and family.

This expansion adds more cards and a couple of new mechanics. The new cards are merely new planets/developments. The new mechanics include the ability to conquer an opponent's planet. This sounds cooler than it actually is. You need to have more military than your opponent and you need to get one of the special cards that allows you to conquer planets. The rules for taking over an opponent's planet are so fiddly that they will rarely see the light of day in most games.

My biggest gripe with Race for the Galaxy is that there is virtually no player interaction. There is no conflict. No auctions, no bidding mechanics, no way to screw over your opponents who have a lead. Yes, there is now a mechanic for conquering your opponent's planets. But there is still no interaction. You simply play a card and perform the conquest. No interaction required. This is effectively a four player solitaire game with interstellar chrome.

Race for the Galaxy hits our gaming table with some regularity. It's a quick game and thus is a decent filler. But if you want an interstellar game with player interaction you will need to look elsewhere.