Sunday, March 27, 2016

The Sunday Miscellanea - Tiny Epic Galaxies (2015)

In the past year I may have played and taught Tiny Epic Galaxies (2015) more than any other.  Even though I don't personally own the game, so many of the local gamers got in on the Kickstarter for it and it is so easy to bring along that there is almost always a copy at any gameday or event.  I still have yet to play it with the expansion and still have fun with it simply as is.  At a recent Burlington Gameday, I was asked to teach two new players who picked it up quickly as an experienced player and I joined in as well.


The description from Board Game Geek is as follows:
A thirty-minute game of galactic conquest, Tiny Epic Galaxies is driven by an exciting dice-rolling mechanism that rewards thoughtful programming of the results. Players control a home galaxy and a fleet of space ships. As players upgrade their galaxies, they gain access to more ships and more dice.
Each turn, a player rolls a set of dice; how many dice are rolled is determined by the level of that player's galaxy. Each side of the six-sided die represents a different type of action: Movement, Colony Action, Harvest from Culture Planets, Harvest from Energy Planets, Improve an Economic Influence, and Improve a Diplomatic Influence.
After the roll, the player sorts the results of the roll (one selective re-roll is allowed) and organizes the dice in a desired activation order. Each die, in order, is then resolved and the results are immediate, which allows the player to pull-off unseen combos and surprise other players. Other players have the option to copy other player's actions...at a cost!
As players expand their galaxy by colonizing other planets through economic and diplomatic influence, they gain victory points AND the special powers brought in by those planets! In addition to galaxy upgrades, effective resource management provides luck-mitigating options that can sway the game in a calculated player's favor.
Whoever achieves the most points from acquiring planets and upgrading their personal galaxy wins!


Another close game though one player fell behind a bit early in the empire building.  Those three points and not getting a mission complete can make a huge difference in the end unless your strategy compensates for it by gathering lots of planets quickly and using colony actions when others can't or don't have any worth using.  Culture and Following are still points to stress while teaching and even when a player doesn't take it immediately to heart, it quickly becomes apparent during gameplay and that reinforces the concept.


Essentially, a clearinghouse for topics on MFWARS.com
not covered elsewhere or wanting a particular focus.
Please Like, Share, Plus, Tweet, Follow, and Comment!

No comments: