All you need to know about Roll for the Galaxy
Players: 2 – 5 players | Game Duration 45 – 45 mins | Min. Age 13+ | Game complexity: MEDIUM Genre: Civilization, Dice, Economy / Industry, Science, Space Solo game mode: No | Co-op: No | Online Version: No
What is Roll for the Galaxy about?
Roll for the Galaxy: A Dice Game Odyssey in Space Strategy
Roll for the Galaxy is a masterful blend of chance and choice, invoking the pioneer spirit of space exploration and economic conquest.
The Game Setup
Roll for the Galaxy, designed by Wei-Hwa Huang and Tom Lehmann, puts you into the roles of space-faring factions seeking to build your intergalactic empire. You start with a dice pool, representing your workers, or ‘dice citizens’, ready to be assigned to various tasks.
The game setup is simple and elegant, consisting of several phases, each with its own objectives.
The Basics of Colony and Ship Settlement
Upon gaining control of your dice pool, you roll to determine what actions your citizens are capable of performing. Dice results correspond to different actions, with symbols like dollar signs for economic development, and dice faces with a star for planet development.
During the Launch phase, you explore new worlds and secretly allocate workers to different options: explore or develop new technology, settle or produce goods, or build up your military power to conquer new territory.
In the Citadel Phase, players simultaneously reveal their choices. Successful actions move the game forward, but failure means lost opportunities.
Each turn, players collect income and profits, invest in better shipping and settling to keep up with their expanding empire, and boost their economy with new and improved technologies.
Understanding Dice Rolling and the Dilemma it Presents
Roll for the Galaxy embraces the chaos and randomness of dice-based mechanics, where every roll can be the birth of new possibilities—or the doom of carefully laid plans. This unpredictability reflects the nature of innovation and risk in exploration and conquest.
Despite the randomness, you have the means to alter your fate. The versatility of workers (dice) allows for contingencies and multiple paths of action. The ability to reassign them based on the outcome of other player’s actions or the revealing of new options keeps the game dynamic.
Risk-Taking and Strategy
Understanding the odds and when to gamble is key. Each action has potential risks and rewards, and the element of chance keeps the game engaging. But wise use of powers and synergies can mitigate the randomness, making for a deeply strategic experience.
Strategy and Building Your Galaxy
Roll for the Galaxy is ultimately an economic game, where players aim to build the most lucrative and efficient empire. To achieve this, they need a finely-tuned economic engine.
Expansion can bring in short-term gains, but a balanced approach to simultaneously developing technologies and establishing colonies provides a more sustainable and profitable long-term strategy.
Understanding market trends is crucial. If everyone races to produce a particular good, its value drops. Identifying and capitalizing on less popular goods creates lucrative opportunities.
You can customize your dice to suit your needs by building developments and worlds with certain abilities. This layer of customization greatly enhances replayability and allows for a range of specialized approaches.
What makes Roll for a Galaxy fun?
The game is deeply thematic but devoid of a strong narrative, which may deter some players who seek more immersive storytelling.
Roll for the Galaxy is a visual spectacle. As you build your galaxy, see it expand on the board which makes it very rewarding.
The game’s rules are moderately complex, but once understood, gameplay flows smoothly. Roll for the Galaxy rewards repeated plays as players get a better handle on the strategies and synergies at their disposal.
Who Will Enjoy Roll for the Galaxy?
Roll for the Galaxy caters to those who enjoy strategy and economic games but also appreciate the element of chance. The game’s depth is more likely to be appreciated by experienced board gamers and tabletop enthusiasts, although its straightforward mechanics make it accessible to novices.
Rulebook and How to Play Guides
How to Play Roll for the Galaxy and Review Videos
Awards Won by Roll for the Galaxy
2015 International Gamers Award – General Strategy: Multi-player Nominee
2014 Meeples’ Choice Winner
2014 Meeples’ Choice Nominee
2014 Golden Geek Most Innovative Board Game Nominee
2014 Golden Geek Board Ga
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