Ulysses, 403 words, 2009-04-23
So, we've been sick ever since Norwescon. It's not been all bad
though, because last weekend we picked up Race for the Galaxy,
and have been playing it incessantly ever since.
It's a really fun and really fast 2 to 4 person game. There
seem to be a lot of different strategies to pursue, depending
on which cards you draw. It's competitive, but there's almost
no interaction between players, and you do your moves simultaneously.
(There is a given order to go in, if timing becomes an issue, but
it rarely comes up.)
There's only been one thing that's come up that we've disagreed on,
that we couldn't settle by the rule book. That's how the card
Gambling World works.
I couldn't find an errata sheet for the game, but I finally tracked
down some game designer comments, which cleared the matter up. I'm
putting it all here so it'll be easier to look up in the future.
- The two consume powers are totally separate. You can do them both in one consume phase.
- There is no cost associated with the "name a number from 1-7" power. You just name a number and flip the card.
- If the number you name is the same as the cost/defense of the card, you get to keep the card. The chart is provided for reference only, and gives the distribution of costs and defenses of all the cards in the deck.
The game designer was Tom Lehman, posting to this
BoardGameGeek forum thread.
Here are the three relevant comments:
- Yes, you can use both of the Gambling World's consume powers in a single Consume phase (that's why the note on the power in the rules mentions that this card has an "additional" consume power).
- Nope, you keep it if the number you name (1-7) equals the build cost or military defense. The chart is just a reference.
- No, the first of the Gambling World's two consume abilities (Draw if Lucky) does *not* require a good to activate (the standard consume 1 good for 1 VP chip power does).
So, for example, if you settle this world on the first turn and another player consumes, then you can name a number, flip a card, and see if you get lucky even if you have no goods in your tableau.
All material Copyright © 2003–2009 Ulysses Somers, except where otherwise noted.