Trashdome - Galaxy Trucker VS RoboRally

Touche. But the fact remains, it has to be that empty promise of hot, oily robot love that bought your vote.

Michael Barnes wrote:

Touche. But the fact remains, it has to be that empty promise of hot, oily robot love that bought your vote.

Tigerman is not an animal, she is an manimal!

I've only played GT once, but it rocked and I'd love to play it again. Now, going along with the idea of talking about why you like the game you like, here's my thoughts.

I've played a couple other puzzle-type games before, but GT was by far the most entertaining, probably in part due to the theme. Though you know what most of the upcoming cards will be, the game has a nice 'exploration' type feeling to it. Seeing your ship be torn to pieces, but still cruise along through space and barely survive is cool and exciting.

The "Combat zone" cards or whatever they are called probably do a good job of simulating everybody getting caught in some kind of battle (some interstellar war going on or something?) and the weakest player get thrashed, but the "combat zone" cards don't give any context or anything, so I was left thinking, "What is happening here? Are we fighting each other? Are we all being attacked or something?" That card could of been done better.

The only other thing I can think of that would make the game way cooler would be some pasted-on Star Wars theme or something like that. Each player is a smuggler who is building/fitting their transport and trying to pick up illegal goods and make it back to Nar Shadda or wherever the start planet is to sell their stuff. Bounty Hunters, Imperials, Mynocks/space slugs, and local law enforcement try to blow you up. Throw in places like Kessel, Tatooine, etc., give the goods more flavor, like spice, weapons, stuff like that. I always called the brown aliens Wookies anyway; they should be Wookies!

Just a thought.

RoboRally, once I learned you don't have to sort all cards by that stupid number in the corner when you can just move the 3s first, 2s second, etc. Having to sort them all out was a big chore with a lot of players.

I guess it's one of those games that depends on the group, because in my experience everyone has a good time slamming each other into pits, insisting it was accidental, swearing revenge, and all that fun stuff. Though it's definitely awful with someone who can't comprehend how to make robots move the way they want.

Roborally.

GT is fun enough but is really pretty brainless once you're done figuring out how all the parts work.

Wow, this is a rough one.

I love RoboRally. It's chaos incarnate. The problem gets to be when one or two robots get way ahead early. The game can really drag if you've got no real reason to try. Not to mention the problem of the hand fu1l of turn cards which happens more often than you'll care to admit. But there are always those moments where you shove someone off the board or under the crusher. Or shove them into the double laser while they're shutdown.

Galaxy Trucker is an good game as is. The building phase is just piecing a puzzle and trying to guess what you need for the cards that are coming. Then you hope you get lucky when you hit something bad. One bad run doesn't knock you out of the game - one game I had zero credits at the end of round two and still won because I was the only one with the balls to go all the way through round 3. The expansion added a lot and really makes the game a chalenge - I think it's essential. The game is a lot more fun when you absolutely wreck someone or benefit because they chickened out at the screw you card in the pile coming up.

Hmmm. I'm going to have to throw my vote to Galaxy Trucker here. I think it's a little more forgiving than Robo Rally and more fun because it's not likely to drag even if you do use all six possible ships.

Wow, is this a tough call for me. Robo Rally got me back into boardgaming around 1996. I own every expansion (except Crash and Burn), ran a Robo Rally PBeM site for several years, and rate it a 10 on BGG. It's the only game I own where I've painted the minis. I can easily make a board to last 1.5 hours with crossing flags to keep the action flowing. It supports 8 players. Great stuff.

However, I really love Galaxy Trucker. It's got a great expansion which allows for a lot more tactics during the race, my wife loves it, and it's getting played much more than Robo Rally. It works well with 2-5 players. The expansion allows for handicapping.

So, do I vote for my favorite classic, or one of my favorite newcomers?

Vote: Galaxy Trucker (but just barely)

Space Alert is a better real-time programming game than both of them.

Love them both!

Roborally I've played a billion times, and I don't get the people who say it's too analytical, "right-brain" oriented: whaaaa? It's the most random and chaotic game I own, except for maybe Dungeonquest and Talisman. The game does NOT bog down when you:

1) Use a timer (included and in the rules for the Avalon Hill edition)
2) Refrain from making a gigantic track that uses all the boards (once again, the AH edition includes a whole bunch of preset maps)

That having been said, I think it is more shallow than Galaxy Trucker, there's more of a runaway leader problem, and with a lot of players it can get a little fiddly executing the orders. But you can't even PLAY Galaxy Trucker with the number of players it takes for Roborally to start getting fiddly!

...but I still like Galaxy Trucker better. Just had to defend Roborally a bit.

Vote: GALAXY TRUCKER

Shellhead wrote:

And then there's this guy:

"I dunno, you gotta be pretty desperate to do it with a robot." - Homer Simpson

Vote: RoboRally

RoboRally rocks. I love slamming robots around, falling into pits, shooting lasers at each other and moan while my robot runs around in circles because I got a crappy hand. I like making robot noises. I like robots.

That being said, I really look forward to trying out Galaxy Trucker some time.

Ro(blow) Rally sucks

Reading a description and looking at the components tells me it should be a hoot. When I muster up the confidence to try it again (and again) I find the actual game just doesn't live up to the sum of its fun factor components.

Vote: Galaxy Trucker because it is FUN and has spaceships getting ripped apart.

For me RoboRally is a game that has consistently disappointed. I've played a few times, and each time, because of its great reputation, I have really wanted to like it, but it's never really satisfied. If anything, it's far less chaotic than what I keep expecting. Programming the robots is fun, especially when you use a timer to make it more hectic, but for me the game always seems to grind to a halt as the movements are resolved.

I've never played Galaxy Trucker, but I am intrigued by the concept and it seems to be well-liked.

Therefore I will vote against the game I know I don't like.

VOTE: Galaxy Trucker

Tamburlaine, here's an easy way to try Galaxy Trucker without shelling out the money:

1. Buy 4 jigsaw puzzles.
2. Distribute the puzzles to three friends. Keep one for yourself.
3. Get together and assmeble your puzzles.
4. When they're finished, flip the table over.
5. The person whose puzzle is the least messed up wins.

If all your friends have cell phone cameras, you don't even need to get together.

mjl1783 wrote:

Tamburlaine, here's an easy way to try Galaxy Trucker without shelling out the money:

1. Buy 4 jigsaw puzzles.
2. Distribute the puzzles to three friends. Keep one for yourself.
3. Get together and assmeble your puzzles.
4. When they're finished, flip the table over.
5. The person whose puzzle is the least messed up wins.

If all your friends have cell phone cameras, you don't even need to get together.

Don't listen to the guy with a paper bag head for an avatar.

Hey, I didn't dream this thing up! What happened to the old pawns anyway?