GALAXY TRUCKER
When we first picked up this game I learned that there was a digital version of the game so I purchased it to try it out and gain a basic understanding. Well, I played a few games of it when I first got it (back in Sept. 2020) but then forgot about it and went on to other digital games to occupy my time.
After playing the physical game this week, I have come to the conclusion that I was an idiot for waiting so long to play.
BGG Description
In a galaxy far, far away... they need sewer systems, too. Corporation Incorporated builds them. Everyone knows their drivers -- the brave men and women who fear no danger and would, if the pay was good enough, even fly through Hell.
Now you can join them. You will gain access to prefabricated spaceship components cleverly made from sewer pipes. Can you build a space ship durable enough to weather storms of meteors? Armed enough to defend against pirates? Big enough to carry a large crew and valuable cargo? Fast enough to get there first?
Of course you can. Become a Galaxy Trucker. It's loads of fun.
Galaxy Trucker is a tile laying game that plays out over two phases: building and flying. The goal is to have the most credits at the end of the game. You can earn credits by delivering goods, defeating pirates, building an efficient ship, and being the furthest along the track at the end of the flying phase.
Building happens in real time and has players build their personal space ships by grabbing tiles from the middle of the table before the timer runs out. Tiles start out facedown so they won't know what they have until they take it, but they may choose to return it faceup if they don't want it. They must place the tiles they keep in a legal manner in their space ship. Usually this just means lining up the connectors appropriately (single to single, double to double, universal to anything) but also includes proper positioning of guns and engines. Tiles represent a variety of things including guns, engines, storage containers, crew cabins, shields, and batteries. They may also peek at the cards they will encounter in phase 2, but they must sacrifice building time to do this. At any time players may call their ships finished and take an order marker from the center.
Once building is completed, and ships have been checked for errors, the flight begins. The flight cards are shuffled and player markers are placed on the flight board according to the order markers taken. Cards are revealed one at a time and players interact with them in order. They may include things such as pirates, abandoned vessels, disease outbreaks, meteor showers, worlds with goods to pick up, player-on-player combat zones, and other various things.
Most of the cards will cause players to move back on the flight track and they must decide if the delay is worth their efforts. When all the cards are encountered players sell any goods they have collected, collect their rewards for finishing in first, second, or third place or having the most intact ship, and then lose some credits for damaged components. Space can be a very dangerous place and it is not uncommon to see your ship break into smaller and smaller pieces or lose some very valuable cargo off the side. If your ship gets damaged too much you can get knocked out of the race, so be careful!
3 rounds of this are done, and in each round players get a bigger board to build a ship that can hold more components. After the 3rd round the player with the most credits wins!
Weight 2.33/5
What we like about the game
The description above says it all regarding game play and what to do. During the build phase, you are making a customized ship to include the amount of specific components that you want; no two ships will ever be exactly the same.
Trying to find the right balance between all the parts for your ship can be the hard part though. To aid with that, you can look at most of the upcoming flight cards (some are keep a secret) which is wonderful, however, because all players can look at the cards you are still fighting over getting the tile you may want for your ship.
Once the build phase is over, time to take flight on your galactic mission. Based on who completed the build first and continuing down the order is where you start out on the time track. Sometimes being in the lead is great and sometimes it is not because if you can’t complete the task the penalties can be harsh. Your position can change throughout the mission which also effects end of the round bonuses.
After the last card is fulfilled, you earn credits based on your position on the time track, a bonus if you have the least amount of damage to your ship (exposed joints), and then you earn the credits for all the good you have left in your ship minus the number of damaged tiles from the mission. After the third round, the player with the most credits is the victory.
What we don’t like about the game
Playing the game with my wife and sister this past week, we played the game without using the timer for the build portion of the game. The reason is because my wife has neuro issues and the stress from trying to process drawing and placing tiles rapidly is not healthy for her.
So we all agreed that the timer, though could be fun for a “normal” person, is not really needed. The downside to that is the game will drastically increase in time because the build phase takes a lot longer especially when the size of the ships increase from round to round. The flight phase is just a quick as the normal game.
EXPANSIONS
We own a few of the expansions (bolded) but have not played them as of yet. I will list the expansions and the year it was released and if you want to learn more about them you can look them up on BGG.
Galaxy Trucker: Rough Road Ahead (2007)*
Galaxy Trucker: Bonus Cards (2007) *
Galaxy Trucker: The Big Expansion (2008)
Galaxy Trucker: Even-Steven Cards (2012)**
Galaxy Trucker: Another Big Expansion (2012)
Galaxy Trucker: Latest Models (2013)
Galaxy Trucker: Missions (2015)
*Included in The Big Expansion
** To be used with the Another Big Expansion
GALAXY TRUCKER ANNIVERSARY EDITION (2012)
This release (per description) included the base game and all the expansions to date.
GALAXY TRUCKER 2nd EDITION (2021)
Last year CGE reprinted the game with some changes to it. I couldn’t tell you much more then what is written below about it. For now, we will stick with the first edition and the expansions that we have (until I am able to find the rest of the 1st edition expansions).
BGG Description
Here is the last paragraph that talks about some of the differences:
This version of Galaxy Trucker is a relaunch of the original 2007 release by Vlaada Chvátil that features new art, more ship tiles, tweaked card effects, and streamlined gameplay that consists of only a single flight through space. That said, should you want a longer, more challenging experience, you can play a three-flight game known as the "Transgalactic Trek".
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is a fun game to play but not necessarily the easiest if you have trouble trying to put together a “puzzle” quickly. I can agree with my wife and sister that using the timer could be a huge turn-off for most people, especially those with neuro issues and/or anxiety.
As I stated above, not sure why we waited so long to actually get this one to the table because I really enjoyed that you design your ship and then you take your ship cruising on a galactic mission.
With the randomness of the cards you draw, no two games will ever be the same so you can play this game “to infinity and beyond.”
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