Ok, right on the heels of the last post is about another “board” game called Race for the Galaxy. It is actually a card game about expanding your galactic empire by Exploring, Developing new technologies/establishments, Settling new worlds, Consuming goods to earn points towards victory, and/or Producing new goods for consumption later. Each player (from 2-4) plays out/builds their own empire mostly irrespective of the other players’ empires. They aren’t completely independent, however, because the game can be ended by any player and you have to be sure to have your strategy finished in time.
Jessica and I played it for the first time last night (bought it yesterday!), and it played through in a little over an hour (including most of the learning time), so it plays fairly quickly. It seems like it will give just enough time for you to decide (quickly) on a strategy and either finish it or come really close. In our first game, Jessica tried for the settle-a-ton-of-worlds strategy partly for lots of production and consumption. I went mostly military by building up government programs to have enough force to take over some rebel worlds. Jessica ended the game before I expected, and after I threw a tantrum because I didn’t get to take over the rebel homeworld, we tallied up the score. Turns out I had amassed more points (not by a large margin), so my tantrum was a bit embarrassing in hindsight.
All in all, it was a good game. We kind of wished there had been a little more interaction between our two empires, but it was kind of interesting to be so immersed in my own that I was able to get into the theme of it. Also, any game that illicits such viral responses as my outburst at the end is a good game indeed. We’ll see how it plays out in the future, but for now, we’re glad to have it.
The Splendiferous Zeppelin Escapades of the Jeppys 
We don’t own this one yet, but my sister does and we love playing it. The very first game that got us hooked to this type of game is called San Juan. Race to the Galaxy and San Juan are similar, but just different enough in theme and game play that they are both worth owning.
I love that you guys are into games now also.
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Yeah, I’ve heard San Juan and Puerto Rico are very similar. We’ll probably end up getting them eventually. On my list for next is probably Pandemic, then Arkham Horror, then something along the lines of Carcassone or Stone Age or even something more expensive like Fury of Dracula or Space Alert.
As we are pretty new to this, we don’t know anybody that we could have regular game nights with around here. I’m still trying to get a feel for what kinds of things people would be open to. If any of our friends in Oklahoma are reading this, please let us know if you’d like to play some time!
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We love Pandemic and Arkham! After that, I would completely suggest Stone Age. I think that one is my favorite of all the games that we own (or Ticket to Ride…it is a toss up). Don’t you love how addicting these games are?
We are going on a cruise at the end of the month to Alaska. We are SO excited. We are just hoping that it isn’t too cold and that I don’t get motion sick. We will let you guys know how it went. Where are you going in November? I sure it is the Carribean.
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We have Ticket to Ride. We love that one! We are so excited about the games. We love playing together. So, we’ve tried to find games that don’t require more than two. We don’t know which of our friends would like those types of games. 😉
You will have SOOOO much fun on your cruise. We want to go on an Alaskan cruise sometime too. But, when we can afford to go, it is much too cold for Alaska. We are going to the Carribean in November. I got motion sick on our last cruise really badly (especially at night). It probably didn’t help that I was pregnant, but still. What I have read and heard is that ginger helps. I think you can get candied ginger or take it as a vitamin supplement. And just in case I would get some Dramamine. That’s what I am going to be doing this year.
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How do you play Arkham for so long with a little one running around?!? That’s been one of my biggest questions for people who play a lot of games: How do you play some of the long ones that require so much concentration when you have other things (namely children) that demand attention? I’m thinking we’d have to get a babysitter just to play Arkham, but I’m so excited about it that I would be willing to do that.
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