10-4 Space Buddy: A Review of Galaxy Trucker
Game Name: Galaxy Trucker
Designer: Vlaada (Vladimír) Chvátil
Publisher: Czech Games Edition from Rio Grande Games
Year: 2007
Players: 2-4
Ages: 10+
Playing time: 60 Minutes
Retail: $74.95
Contents:
1 Flight Board
8 Two-Sided Ship Boards
60 Adventure Cards
64 Cosmic Credit Pieces
144 Space Ship Components
4 Numbered Tiles
40 White Figures
8 Alien Figures in Two Colors
8 Rocket Markers in 4 Colors
36 Battery Tokens
56 Goods Blocks in 4 Colors
1 Two-Sided Card with Rules
2 Dice
1 Timer
From Rio Grande Games:
Corporation Incorporated is an interplanetary construction firm that builds sewer systems and low-income housing on the less-developed planets of the Galaxy. For years, Corp Inc. has tottered on the brink of bankruptcy: transporting building materials to the edge of the Galaxy, where the need for their services is greatest, is a risky business.
The company was saved by a few visionaries on the board of directors. Instead of shipping materials to the Periphery, they reasoned, why not build the materials into spacecraft and let them ship themselves? Furthermore, why hire pilots if there are nut-cases who will do it for free?
That’s where you come in. Just sign the contract, and you gain unrestricted access to a Corp Inc. Warehouse. Build your own space ship from the available prefabricated components, and fly it to the Periphery. Of course, you may have to eat a loss, but any profits you make along the way are yours to keep, and Corporation Incorporated will pay you a bonus for quick delivery.
It’s possible that you will end up with an insurmountable debt and finish your days panhandling on the streets of Deneb III, but if Lady Luck should smile upon you, you just might find yourself among the 10 billion richest people in the Galaxy!
Galaxy Trucker is an original concept mixed with racing, danger, and fun. The object of the game is to have the most money at the end of round 3, and as the saying goes, getting there is half the fun. In each round, the players will build space ships out of parts in the community pile, and then fly these ships to their destinations. Along the way you might run into some horrible dangers and get blown out of space, so be careful.
At the beginning of a round, each player gets a board which shows an overlay where the players will construct their ships. The pieces are placed face down on the table, and when a player says “Go!” everyone begins picking up tiles and placing them on their boards face up. Each player can either add the piece to their space ship, or return it to the middle of the table face up. You can’t take another tile until you do something with the current one. The first player to complete their ship grabs the #1 player chit. Then each other player in turn finishes their ships and take a player # tile. There is a timer as well to help eliminate analysis paralysis.
The ship parts have many functions, and they all need to connect together properly based upon the connectors shown on the tiles. Some have propulsion, some have shields, cannons, storage, alien life support, cabins, and batteries. Each part can be added to your ship. You need to try to provide the best balance of protection and profit that you can create in a limited time alotment.
Once you all have your ships, you have to double-check them to make sure they are legally built. After a few times you’ll know what you can and can’t do, but you might get penalized if you make a mistake. Now you put together an 8 card adventure deck for this round and place your ship pawns on the flight game board in the order determined by the number you got in the building round.
The leading player draws the leading card and you are off. You can have bad things happen, like a meteor swarm. The leader rolls 2 dice for each meteor to determine which column and row on each ship the meteor might hit. It could bounce off your ship, or you could use your shields, or shoot it down if you must. If it gets through and hits the ship, it will damage whichever piece it hits. That piece falls off. Any pieces that were attached to it that are no longer attached also fall off. You could get attacked, and more bad things happen. You could pick up some cargo to sell for bonus credits at the end of the round, which is nice, but you’ll lose valuable time by stopping and picking it up.
Each player also gets to move according to the information on the adventure card. Then the new leading player chooses a new card. This continues until the destination is reached, at which point any surviving ships get their cash for delivering the ship intact and bonus cash for good picked up along the way. Then you pick new ship boards and go on to round 2, and finally round 3. Round 3 has the biggest ship that you can build, but it also is the most vulnerable to damage, so you’d better be good and you’d better be fast. After round 3 you add up your credits and the player with the most credits wins the game.
Let me just say that the is a heck of a fun game. Building the ships is hectic and you usually will screw something up. Your ship could possibly explode if you leave an exposed connector in the wrong spot and it takes a hit. You build the best ship that you can and watch it get blown to pieces in the race part of the round. Many times, you will be happy if your ship makes it to the end at all, let alone makes a lot of money. There is a lot of tension and you really get that feeling of “Whew” when you dodge a potentially bad juju.
The components are first rate. If you haven’t seen the quality of Czech Games you are missing out. There are tiny ship pawns, alien pawns, a timer, tokens, multiple boards, and a bunch of cards. The rules help add to this feel. The artwork is excellent, and the whole game has a tongue-in-cheek feel to it. There is a quick start section so you can get playing in a few minutes. The rules are laid out very well with lots of pictures and examples.
The only detriment I see with this game is if you have players who do not like being under pressure. My daughter hated this game because she was rushed building her ship and as a result ended up getting blown out of the sky. So if you are looking for a relaxing, easy going game, this isn’t it. If you are looking for fast paced fun with explosions than go for it.
The game is currently being reprinted and the anticipated arrival date is this month (November 2010). There is also an expansion available that add a fifth player and a bunch of other new stuff.
Pros: The components and artwork are excellent. The game is fun, fast paced, and the rules make it easy to learn.
Cons: It takes a little time to get used to the icons that represent everything. If you have players who don’t like pressure, then they won’t like this game.
Score: 8.5 (out of 10) I love it.
You can pick up Galaxy Trucker at Funagain Games for 20% off!
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