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Roll for the Galaxy

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01 Mar 2018 23:58 #264319 by Gary Sax
Roll for the Galaxy was created by Gary Sax
Yeah, I know this is old. Fuck you, I like that I can talk about old games. Saw this on the fb group.

Something about me is that I like dice games. And a good, reasonably short dice game with some fun decisions, if it plays two, would get massive play in my house. Anyone care to chime in with their opinion? How long does the game play? How confrontational is it? This version holds a lot more attraction than the deck builder just on account of the dice; shit, quarriors still gets play in my house.

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02 Mar 2018 00:33 #264323 by boothwah
Replied by boothwah on topic Roll for the Galaxy
I love this game. My favorite game for like the last couple of year. It plays really fast. First play through starts cruising after 3 or 4 turns. Two vets can play a game in 25ish minutes if you wanted too. We usually drink beverages and take our time. Clean ups easy. Stack some tiles, throw some dice in the bag and stack the cups.

I just got my own copy for my birthday this week, and the expansion (which I’ll wait a half dozen more plays before introducing.

I love the hidden phase selection. It plays fine with two, but t I have the most fun with 3 or 4.
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02 Mar 2018 01:25 #264324 by Sevej
Replied by Sevej on topic Roll for the Galaxy
I don't think it's confrontational? The main part of the game is figuring out what your opponent want to do so you can get the most free actions. With 2 players, you'll negate each other out (either both of you don't get "free" action or you both do). So, yeah, better with 3 or 4.

But I could be wrong (playing this like years ago, and that's only 2-3 times). But it was pleasant to play.

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02 Mar 2018 06:44 #264327 by Msample
Replied by Msample on topic Roll for the Galaxy
Zero confrontation but still fun.

Just picked up Nations Dice game. Very fast, and some mild confrontation in the form of drafting tiles. Plays in an hour.

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02 Mar 2018 07:49 #264332 by SuperflyPete
Replied by SuperflyPete on topic Roll for the Galaxy
Sorry I can’t help, never played but I have always wanted to. FWIW, Alhambra the dice game is fun for three+; confrontational and nasty. I want Pandemic the Cure based on everyone’s talk of it.

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02 Mar 2018 08:27 #264335 by Michael Barnes
Replied by Michael Barnes on topic Roll for the Galaxy
I’m not trying to play Mephistopheles here, but it sounds like SW Destiny would be right up your ally. 2 players, about 20 minutes per game, lots of fun decisions, nothing but confrontation. You ought to at least try the 2 player game they have at Target.

If you fall for it, you might get an Asohka from the boosters...
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02 Mar 2018 08:49 #264338 by charlest
Replied by charlest on topic Roll for the Galaxy
I'm a huge fan of Race for the Galaxy (and now Jump Drive). I went into Roll bright eyed and optimistic. I gave it three plays spread over a period of time, and it never grabbed me. It feels unintuitive and very slow. It's never been snappy, even when playing with experienced players as everyone sits behind their screen calculating where they should place their dice.

Jump Drive, on the other hand, blew me away from the first play.

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02 Mar 2018 09:14 #264344 by Legomancer
Replied by Legomancer on topic Roll for the Galaxy
I supposedly like dice games, but I'm a weirdo. If I'm playing a dice game, I want there to be dice in it. I want to roll the dice and find the best way to deal with what I roll. Sometimes there's nothing there and I'm screwed. That's fine, it's a dice game.

What I don't like is a dice game that is terrified of its own dice, so it gives you all these ways to manipulate them, essentially de-randomizing them. I don't want a dice game in which the strategy is to gradually remove the dice and do whatever you want. If you dislike randomness and don't want to play with dice, don't play a goddamn dice game. It drives me crazy the people who bitch that a dice game doesn't have enough ways to mitigate randomness.

Roll For The Galaxy I started out liking, but it was already very close to what I don't like, and the more I played, the less interesting I found it. I got the expansion, which just made my issues with it even worse, as they gave you even more ways to derandomize the dice. I played it a couple times, disliked it, and then sold the whole shebang.
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02 Mar 2018 09:27 #264348 by Michael Barnes
Replied by Michael Barnes on topic Roll for the Galaxy
Remember that game To Court the King (another Tom Lehmann one) that everyone loved for a minute? You rolled dice and then spent the entirety of the game using special tiles to change the results.

Man, I hated that game.

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02 Mar 2018 09:41 #264351 by charlest
Replied by charlest on topic Roll for the Galaxy
That was re-released as that Pharoah/Pyramid game wasn't it?

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02 Mar 2018 09:45 #264352 by Legomancer
Replied by Legomancer on topic Roll for the Galaxy

charlest wrote: I'm a huge fan of Race for the Galaxy (and now Jump Drive). I went into Roll bright eyed and optimistic. I gave it three plays spread over a period of time, and it never grabbed me. It feels unintuitive and very slow. It's never been snappy, even when playing with experienced players as everyone sits behind their screen calculating where they should place their dice.

Jump Drive, on the other hand, blew me away from the first play.


I was under the impression that Jump Drive was just a simplified version of RFTG meant to ease you into that game. I like RFTG and own it, so I didn't see much point in pursuing Jump Drive. Am I wrong, and it offers something different?

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02 Mar 2018 10:26 - 02 Mar 2018 10:27 #264361 by charlest
Replied by charlest on topic Roll for the Galaxy
You could justify that perspective as it is a streamlined, cut back version of RFTG.

I think RFTG is much more sophisticated and nuanced, but I actually prefer Jump Drive. Cards still cost other cards to play and there's no action selection thing at the beginning. Instead, everyone selects one planet, one development, or one of each from their hand to play for the turn. Then everyone discards cards to pay for them. If you only play one development and nothing else, it costs 1 less. If you play one planet and nothing else, you draw a card after paying for the planet.

Each card gives you income which is how many cards you draw at the end of the turn, and VP that you collect at the end of your turn. That's basically it. Some cards have special effects they list in text (no iconography issue), and there are many synergies such as each copy of Galactic Trendsettings amplifying other instances of that card in your tableau.

It's less strategic and you're more reliant on luck as it's a much shorter game, not allowing you to overcome poor draws like RFTG can. But, for a 15 minute engine builder it feels so damn good. You explode from nothing to drawing 10 cards and raking in 20-30 VP a round near end game. It's the engine builder with the fastest pace and simply nails those good feels with such a breezy commitment that I think it may be the best non-social filler ever designed.

It's much easier to teach, plays equally well with all player counts (unlike RFTG which I vastly prefer at 2 player using 2PA rules), and is so easy to get to the table.
Last edit: 02 Mar 2018 10:27 by charlest.
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02 Mar 2018 10:44 - 02 Mar 2018 10:47 #264364 by repoman
Replied by repoman on topic Roll for the Galaxy
I really like Roll for the Galaxy.

I hate Race for the Galaxy.

Let me tell you why. The thing I hate about Race for the Galaxy is that the minute I get the engine set up that I've been working towards all game, the game ends. Every single time. "Ah at last I can start doing cool shit!" Nope, game over. Enjoy your free case of blue balls. See you next time.

I find that insanely frustrating.

In Roll for the Galaxy, I am able to set something up and get at least a couple of turns of utilization out of it. Even if I lose, I'm not frustrated because I feel like I accomplished something. I get "engine satisfaction"

To address Gary's questions. It's not confrontational really. You are often trying to piggy back off others activations (role selection) ala Glory to Rome and the like so you do have to pay attention to what the other players are up to. It plays pretty fast. Not sure how well it plays with two, though others have chimed in on that score, as I've only played it with 3 or 4.

Also, it's pretty darn cheap for a board game.

I dig it.
Last edit: 02 Mar 2018 10:47 by repoman.
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02 Mar 2018 10:56 #264365 by Msample
Replied by Msample on topic Roll for the Galaxy
The expansion is worth getting IMO - not only do you get more world tiles to draw, more importantly it greatly increases the number and variety of starting worlds in your tableau.

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02 Mar 2018 13:04 #264374 by jpat
Replied by jpat on topic Roll for the Galaxy
We quite like RollFTG too, never having quite clicked with Race. Ambition isn't strictly necessary, but it adds quite a bit with a pretty low rules overhead. While I've played Roll 3p, most of my games have been with just two.

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