Roll for the Galaxy Review
Roll for the Galaxy Review
Do you jump at the idea of competing with friends to see who could be the best at building an empire in outer space? If so, chances are that this game will be right up your alley!
In Roll for the Galaxy, you will be able to compete with others to build the best empire with random odds either for or against you. Will you rise to the occasion?
Read our full Roll for the Galaxy Review below.
- 2-5 Players
- 45 minute playing time
- Great strategy game
Brief Overview of Roll for the Galaxy
Roll for the Galaxy is a well-rounded dice game for 2–5 players where they will have the chance to build their own space empires. The aim of the game is to see who can best manage their growing empires with the resources given to them in each round. The person who builds the empire that prospers the most wins!
This game will have players vying for the victory points to show who is the best at managing resources. It is great fun that isn’t too difficult to learn to play. So, if you enjoy sci-fi casually and aren’t too concerned about the finer details, this could be the game for you!
Unboxing Roll for the Galaxy
It is quite likely that everyone who enjoys board games will get a little bit excited about seeing the size of the box. When you unwrap the box from its sealed plastic, you will immediately appreciate the feel of the quality of the box. The game developer really did well there.
Looking at the artwork, one can see that a great amount of effort was put into it, especially at the back cover side. One can also get an idea of what the game is about with the picture of the space builder out on the ship.
Looking at the size of the box, one will already have a suspicion that there are quite a few game pieces. And that suspicion is confirmed upon opening. Inside you will find:
- Player mats and screens
- Dice cups
- Phase strips and credit markers
- Faction, game, phase and world tiles
- A ton of dice (111 to be exact)
- Cloth bag
- Victory points
- All-important rulebook
How to Play Roll for the Galaxy
In order to get set up, each player needs the following:
- Initial tiles
- Player mat
- Player screen
- Dice cup
- Credit marker
- Phase strip
The faction and related home tiles must then be randomly handed out to each player. Those not taken can then be placed back in the box. Players must place their faction and homeworld tiles face up in front of them.
Players must then draw 2 tiles from the game bag and place them on their construction zone. The last thing that players will need to do is take the allocated number of dice that each faction requires. These can be found in the rulebook – just take a note that each does differ.
Gameplay
The number of rounds played will depend on the number of victory points gathered. But the average number of rounds for each game is around 11-15 rounds. Each round consists of 5 steps:
- Roll the dice
- Assign dice
- Reveal the dice
- Perform phases in order
- Manage your growing empire
All the above steps are done simultaneously, so players need not worry about who will go first. There are 1 or 2 small exceptions to this and are explained in the rulebook. These exceptions usually are quite rare.
As players progress through each of the steps above, they will see that they have specific color dice for their factions and workers. However, some dice a multi-colored. They can be played anywhere – almost like a joker die.
There are then 5 order-specific phases that players must go through with their chosen dice. These phases are:
- Explorer
- Developer
- Settler
- Producer
- Shipper
The phases are described in great detail in the rules and should be understood thoroughly before playing. The overall idea of the game is to use your faction’s unique abilities throughout the phases to obtain workers and then use them to build and manage the best empire against the other players.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Well thought out gameplay
- Exceptional value for game size and genre
- Visually appealing game
- Easy to understand
The game developers have spent an extraordinary amount of time in this game. It is so well balanced and it really shows in the gameplay. It is smooth and allows players enough time to strategize.
Considering the effort put into creating the game and the actual game pieces that you get with it, it is great value for a board of this genre. And another plus point is that even though it is so big, it can be played very easily without prior knowledge.
Cons:
- A lot of rules
- Lots of game pieces – could get lost
- Can be a long game to play for a casual game
There are a lot of rules for this game. But in saying that, they aren’t really that difficult to understand, but it is just very long.
It is nice to get a game with a lot of game pieces, but it comes with a downside, which means the chances of some pieces going missing are increased.
This game just fits in the casual board game category, but it really is on the limit with regards to the time needed for a casual game. But it does fit within the category, even if just so.
Conclusion: Verdict?
This game is exceptionally surprising. It is a sci-fi empire-building game that is very easy to understand with a gameplay depth associated with more niche-like games. It will be able to draw in people with a great variety of game tastes.
The game length could be a bit longer than others in its category, but we can confidently say that players will probably not notice as it is very immersive. It has been developed in such a way that players won’t struggle to flow through each round.
This is a must-have game for every gaming collection and is suitable for any small group of people. Your friends will thank you for this gem of a game.
- 2-5 Players
- 45 minute playing time
- Great strategy game
We hope you enjoyed our Roll for the Galaxy review! Have you tried Roll for the Galaxy or its card-based cousin, Race for the Galaxy? Drop a comment below letting us know your thoughts on these fun civ-building board games! We’d love to hear from you!
RELATED ARTICLES:
No comments