Race for the Galaxy (2007)

In the card game Race for the Galaxy, players build galactic civilizations by playing game cards in front of them that represent worlds or technical and social developments. Some worlds allow players to produce goods, which can be consumed later to gain either card draws or victory points when the appropriate technologies are available to them. These are mainly provided by the developments and worlds that are not able to produce, but the fancier production worlds also give these bonuses.

At the beginning of each round, players each select, secretly and simultaneously, one of the seven roles which correspond to the phases in which the round progresses. By selecting a role, players activate that phase for this round, giving each player the opportunity to perform that phase's action. For example, if one player chooses the settle role, each player has the opportunity to settle one of the planets from their hand. The player who has chosen the role, however, gets a bonus that applies only to him. But bonuses may also be acquired through developments, so one must be aware when another player also takes advantage of his choice of role.

Race for the Galaxy's development began when Thomas Lehmann, at Alea's request, started work on a card game version of Puerto Rico in parallel with Andreas Seyfarth's own. Their independent efforts resulted in some degree of collaboration, and though some of Mr. Lehmann's design ideas did make it into what eventually became San Juan, he continued to develop his concepts, taking the theme and other elements from an unpublished customizable card game he had previously designed.

Race for the Galaxy benefits from an unusually thorough development process, involving thousands of test games and the deliberate design of an unusually coherent iconography (by onigame and the graphics designer, Mirko Suzuki) as well as a unique approach to player interaction that prevents direct conflict and encourages "parasitic conflict".

Expansions and BGG FAQ

Four expansions have been published, adding new cards, game features, start worlds, as well as supporting up to 6 players and solo play.

• The first is The Gathering Storm (2008), adding goals, solitaire play, another player, and drafting rules.
• The second is Rebel vs Imperium (2009), adding military takeovers and another player.
• The third is The Brink of War (2010), adding prestige and search rules.
• The fourth is Alien Artifacts (2012), adding new cards and Alien tokens.

A BGG FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page for Race for the Galaxy and its expansions can be found at the Rules FAQ or by setting the BGG search to "wiki" and entering "Race FAQ".

Online Play

Race for the Galaxy AI:

Rio Grande Games granted permission to release a Race for the Galaxy AI to the public. Great for solitaire play and refining your RftG skills, it also now features online play. Posted by mrkeldon, may he be granted much Thumbs and GG!.
BGG Thread: Race for the Galaxy AI
AI Link: http://keldon.net/rftg/

• Board Game Arena (real-time)

Comparison to San Juan

Some of the significant differences between San Juan and Race for the Galaxy include:

ROLE SELECTION
San Juan: Players pick roles one at a time in turn order. A role that is picked is unavailable that round to be picked by other players. Each role has exactly one bonus for the player who picked it.
RftG: Players pick roles secretly and simultaneously. Multiple players can possibly pick the same role; that phase occurs once, but each selecting player receives a bonus. Two roles have two versions with different bonuses.

TRADING
San Juan: Selling goods is limited only by number, you do not need a card or a role to sell your good. Nevertheless both are able to let you sell more goods.
RftG: Selling goods is limited by card abilities, i.e. you need not only the good but a "customer" card too, i.e. you need a good and a card which consumes the good for new cards or VP, however the number is not limited as long as you have the goods and the customers.

THEME & GAMEPLAY
San Juan: Tightly linked to Puerto Rico creating a gameplay experience that feels like a simplified, faster version of the boardgame (with no shipping).
RftG: Space theme is completely independent of Puerto Rico, taken from the older, unpublished CCG that RftG is descended from.

6-COST CARDS
San Juan: Their only function is to generate end-of-game victory point bonuses in exactly the same spirit as the "big buildings" of Puerto Rico.
RftG: Function as end-of-game victory point bonuses, but also provide benefits and advantages during the game.

EXPANDABILITY & PLAYERS
San Juan: Two expansions available in Alea Treasure Chest that add new buildings and events (which work like roles, but are used once and then discarded).
RftG: Three expansions have been released, with each one adding more cards and some new game features. The base game is for 2-4 players; the first two expansions each add one more player.

Awards :

• 2010 http://www.ludotecaideale.it Ludoteca Ideale 2010
• 2009 Games 100 Best Family Strategy Nominee.
• 2008 JoTa Card-Game Winner
• 2008 A la carte 1st Place, Fairplay Magazine prize for card games.
• 2008 BGG Golden Geek Award, Best Card Game.
• 2008 International Gamers Award Multi-Player Nominee.
• 2007 Dice Tower Awards, Best Game of the Year Winner.
• 2008 Tric Trac d'or (France), Game of the Year, Tric Trac de Bronze (3rd place)

Microbadges:

• Race for the Galaxy fan
• Race for the Galaxy fan
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• RftG - Keldon's AI fan
• RftG - Game Genie Server benefactor
• Race for the Galaxy fan

Components:

• 5 Start World Cards
• 109 Game Cards:
  • 59 World Cards
  • 50 Development Cards
• 4 Sets of 7 Player Action Cards (28)
• 8 Duplicate Action Cards (For Experienced 2 Player Games)
• 4 Summary Sheets
• 28 Victory Point Chips (18 x "1"; 6 x "5"; 4 x "10")
• Instructions

Sleeve information
150 cards 63mm by 88mm