Rio Grande GamesRio Grande Games Roll for The Galaxy Board Game

I decided to get 'Roll for the Galaxy' for a few reasons.1.) I love 'Race for the Galaxy' but it is hard to get into the gaming rotation with any of my gaming circles, because 'Race...' requires a bit of dedication and a few play throughs for casual gamers to get comfortable with it.2.) It seemed to get some good reviews and watching play-throughs of it, made it seem it didn't lose too much of the heart of the game while making it more accessible.For those that have 'Race' and want to know if 'Roll' is worth it. Here are my thoughts...- If you are someone that loves 'Race' but similarly have a hard time getting it on the table, because there is always someone new there, etc. Get this game.- If you want the basic feel of 'Race' but get through it quicker, probably get this game. I have a few friends that believe this takes longer, but I believe that unless you are playing with all hardcore 'Race' players, once you get past the dice assignment/reassignment mechanics, this game flies regardless the type of gamer you are playing with, hardcore or otherwise.Will I still play both? If I ever have an option to play 'Race', I still will. This doesn't totally kill 'Race' for me. However, practically speaking, 'Roll' is going to get much more play for me. Easier and faster to teach (the dice assignment/reassignment/dictate mechanics created the only hiccups and were easily worked out in the intro game. This game has all of the icongraphy of 'Race', but for the new player it is not even remotely as overwhelming for some.Some will toss the caveat that it is easy to 'cheat' in this game, because your rolls are hidden. A few responses to that:a.) Obviously, if you are gaming with someone that has a compulsive cheating problem. Do not play this. Play 'Coup' or 'Sheriff of Nottingham' instead. ;)b.) If you want to play it anyway, I think the assignment/reassignment/dictate mechanic really dilutes just how far a cheater can benefit by switching dice faces.c.) One of the fun aspects of the game is figuring out brilliant ways to assign/reassign dice to make great moves. It is a mini puzzle to solve every turn.d.) You still do not know the actions your opponents are going to back, you can just guess.In my opinion, for the reasons above, in ways it is actually harder to benefit to cheat by changing dice in this game, than it is in others. Or to put it differently, you can survive the cheating with more success.Now, for those that have no experience with either 'Race' or 'Roll':It is a typical euro-esque game where you are playing for the most Victory Points. In addition, you are building a space empire. (The end game is triggered when a player gets 12 tiles in play that are a mix of settlements(planets) and developments(technologies))The dice represent your workers. Your workers can do 5 different functions:- Explore (Gain money or scout for new tiles to eventually build)- Develop (Spend dice to build a development. Developments give you VPs plus powers the augment general rules)- Settle (Spend dice to build planets. Planets give you VP's plus various types of new dice/workers)- Produce (Put production on a legal planet.)- Ship (Take production from a planet and trade it in for money or VPs)Money is used to put exhausted workers back into your cup to roll them into their activities again.The activities that you get to do each turn are the active activities the players pick. Each player can only pick one, but dice rolled for the other activities are used if your opponents pick them.Additionally, there are assignment/reassignment/dictate rules that allow you to assign your dice to the various activities/functions above in different ways. Definitely watch a review or a playthrough to get a better idea how it works.Once you get the hang of it, the game moves fast, most of the time, players taking their turns at the same time. Yet, each turn there are always decisions to make, and some turns some very interesting decisions. And yet, the interesting decisions are not so complex that the AP (analysis/paralysis) traps are not very long.It is a fun game. It can be played casually, but has some nice depth if you want to wade in it.Go get it. Get it now! Most of you that do will be glad you did.

About the Roll:Good quality parts!!! The cardboard tiles and other parts are really durable and thick. This will last a long time. The tile sheets were cut clean and some almost fell out, Nice! The dice are amazing, good even coloring, and symbols vary for the color blind as well. High Res photos, and lots of icons show you what to do on tiles, to save time on reading each one. The randomness of rolls and selected tile let this game have a lot of replay value. It does affect game play based on Phases others choose besides your own. If you produce, and someone else ships, while you have some shippers anyway, than in one turn you can ship the produce you just created, and not have to ship next turn.The only thing I wish it clarified a little more on was the 6+ tiles. They cost 6 to add in your tableau no more, but at the end of the game they grant you extra Victory Points (VP) by having so much of something. This is not explained all that well. I needed to google it. But there is a picture showing the outcome of having a 6+ tile on page 8.To explain: Developments are the Diamond Numbers, Worlds are the Circle numbers, Victory Points are the Hexagon Numbers. So the "Galactic Federation" tile gets you 1/3rd of your Development total (Rounded Up) in VPs, not 1 VP for every 3 Development. So if you have 13 Development, a 3rd is 4.333 (rounded to 5) that's 5 VP. The 3Dev.-->1VP is a bad illustration it should be 1/3Dev.->1 VP. Unless you just think of it as take your total of 13Dev. and for every 3 Dev you have you get 1 VP. So 5 VP (12Dev.=4VP, and 1Dev. rounded up is 3Dev=1VP, totaling 5VP) Then the illustration makes sense. I'm sure this is what they intended, but to me the description on the tile makes it confusing.Though the "New Galactic Order" tile gets you +2VP for every 3 RED dice (Rounded Up) you own, so if you have 4 red dice that's 4VP (3 Red dice = 2VP, 1 Red dice rounded up to 3 = another 2VP, totaling 4VP). Which makes this illustration and description perfect to understand.Personal Experience:Read through the rule book 1 time and was able to start playing. The other night I played a 4 player game. It went really smooth, and my wife played as well, who does not like these kind of games that much (too many rules and things to remember). Although she had more VP than me at the end and and came in second place with 32 VP, losing to 35 VP by our friend. It took her a few rounds to remember everything, and I helped her pick a strategy. She had fun, even though she does not like these kind of games. To me, that says a lot about how fun this game is.