Forum Overview :: Reviews :: Battlestar Galactica

[quote name="Lizard_King"]Battlestar Galactica: It doesn't matter if you like the show or not. All you need a is a minimal affinity for space themes (even a bare tolerance will do), and an appreciation for the fundamental benefits of coop games while understand their limitations. By that, I mean as much as I like Arkham it gets old because I must frequently choose between doing what is more likely to win the game and what is more interesting, and I don't like that being something that other players have no incentive to mess with. In contrast, BG gives you the initial setup of a human fleet running from the Cylons as in the beginning of the new series, so you are all ostensibly working together. The highest ranking military player will be Admiral (which comes up the most in terms of deciding when to employ nukes, which of two secretly drawn locations will be the next one, and decisions where they have a choice), the highest ranking political player will be president with corresponding powers, and everyone else has a shot at those jobs in chain of command order. However, there's an initial draw of 1-2 secret loyalty cards depending on your character, and in a five player game (the best number, imo) that can mean 0,1, or 2 traitors already depending on luck. You have a number of means of deducing who the traitor is, but all of them can be laden with uncertainty by clever or lucky players. For instance, there are different skill type cards based on your character's abilities (eg military leaders have military "tactics" card, politicians have yellow "politics" cards, pilots have red "piloting" cards" and then a secondary, tertiary etc skill set). For each skill check, some colors will be positive and some will be negative. Thus, you can either help or hinder the human side depending on what you throw in (face down), and the skill cards also have abilities on them that you can use outside of their specific value in a variety of situations. The more high profile your position is, the more scrutiny you will undergo, but the damage you can do makes it an interesting balancing act. Anyway, point is, by the time you get halfway to safety there will be another loyalty draw, after which there will definitely be the max number of traitors for that player number. Should a cylon get busted, they have a wide variety of options depending on whether they reveal voluntarily or are brigged/airlocked/otherwise neutralized. Once they are out, they then command Cylon actions which can be extremely damaging as they enhance what the game is already throwing at the humans. There's space combat, there's politics, there are wild accusations and phenomenal shit talk, and it works with 4-6 players although I think 5 is ideal. I'd say the expansions are well worth it, most notably Exodus which adds the vital pilot captain job, makes space combat exponentially more interesting by giving the cylon enemy fleet persistence over time (so it's a problem that must be dealt with at some point), and vastly expands cylon options after revealing. The nebula addition is fun for experienced players who want a winner-takes-all endgame should the humans make it that far. The Pegasus expansion is much less strong because at least half of what it adds is the useless and rightly ignored "New Caprica" endgame approach, which is utter shit in comparison to other alternatives. For my money, the Cylon Leader characters are also worthless since their personal missions are usually focused on gaming the mechanics and it's no fun to trade a hidden cylon for an overt one that you know has some stupid win condition (eg humans must win but lose x amount of resources). But the characters, the additional Pegasus board, and the new crisis cards are ultimately worth it for people who find they like the game, it just can't compare to the extraordinary overhaul that Exodus represents. Either way, the base game is perfectly enjoyable and a fine start. Figure 2-4 hours on average, depending on analysis paralysis. It's one of the few long games that I've played with non-gamers, the elderly, etc in mixed groups and still been able to have an experience with fairly sophisticated mechanics and a lot of borderline griefy strategies that are mostly well handled by the ruleset. It's cruel but fair, and ultimately makes for memorable narratives. [/quote]