I Was A Toaster: A Geek About Galactica
Article by Wahini of Fire, Babe of Desire: Blue --- Read more from this authorSo a couple of weeks ago I sat in on a friend’s inaugural run of the Battle Star Galactica board game (also known to some as Shadows Over Caprica for its similarities to Shadows Over Camelot.) Both games are from the fine folks at Fantasy Flight.
I came into this game fond of Shadows Over Camelot, but somewhat ignorant to BSG. I didn’t watch the original series and I’ve not watched this latest iteration. I have several friends who’ve gotten sucked into it and I plan on watching it at my leisure. So when we started the game I had an interesting point of view: game I’ve never played based on a show I’ve never seen.
The Basics:
The game supports 3-6 players. At our sitting we had 5. The players each choose their own character from a few selected crew members from Galactica. Based on the character chosen a player will draw cards from skill decks (Engineering, Leadership, Piloting, Politics and Tactics). Based on the characters in the game and a seperate list in the rule book, an Admiral and President are chosen and given special concessions pertaining to those roles.
A separate deck of cards is shuffled with a predetermined number of “You Are A Cylon” cards added to it. This number is based on the number of players in the game. Each person blindly picks from this deck. The result is known only to that character. If you’ve drawn a Cylon card, you are a traitor. Your job is to screw up everything possible for the ship and crew.
Now, it’s time to play. At the game’s start, Galactica and a few civilian ships are under attack by various Cylon ships. A standard turn will involve a movement to a part of the ship…drawing a “crisis card”. These cards mean something bad has happened. Sometimes, the effect is instant while others can be avoided with skill checks. These crises have specific skills that will counter them (Tactics, Politics, et all from above) and a predetermined number of points (listed on individual skill cards) needed to avert the crisis at hand.
From there, it’s pretty basic. Bad things happen. Make them stop (or if you’re a Cylon, make them worse). Game play goes on until Galactica is a dead stick, Cylons have taken over the ship or the crew of Galactica has made it safely home. This is made more difficult as if a Cylon is found, they get a “Super Crisis” card to play on Galactica at a time of their choosing. This Super Crisis could fizzle or it could kill the crew. It all depends on what cards you have, what characters you’re playing and what the Super Crisis is offering to do to you.
Game play is about 2-3 hours. Our session ran long because it was new and … well it was late and we were punchy.
The Good:
-Great concept. Basing a game on BSG was bound to happen many times over, but the characters and technology lend themselves rather well to this system. This was a good fit, especially with the “traitor mechanic” borrowed from Shadows over Camelot.
-And about that “traitor mechanic”… it lends itself well to a whole separate level of game play. This is beyond the typical “screw your neighbor” scenario found in some games. In this case, the Cylon can do things to cloak their plays and thus lay suspicion on others. This psychological game is at times just as fun as playing a game in the first place.
-The run-time was good. While we ran a little longer than the box said we would, I didn’t feel chained to my chair or anything. I wasn’t begging for it to be over, either. It was engaging all the way through.
-You’re kept busy throughout the game. It’s not just waiting for your turn to roll back around…everyone contributes on each turn in one way or another.
-The over all look and layout. Simple, elegant. Easy to read and not too much. It’s not daunting to look at this game set up on the table. (And, I admit, the game pieces are easy on the eyes.)
The Questionable:
-Getting started takes time. If you’ve never played, it takes a little more time. It was helpful to have someone on hand who had played before, a native guide, so to speak. Like I said above, it’s not that there are a ton of pieces to set up like some other games (Descent), but there are a lot of rules to go through. My suggestion – if you’ve played this and you’re running a game for noobs, run a sample turn so that everyone knows what’s going on.
-That traitor mechanic. If you’ve never played a game with something like this before, it can be a bit daunting. You’re not openly trying to make life hell for everyone else at the table… you’re being subversive. And if you’re new to the game, you don’t know what all the rules and nuances are, so playing the intrigue for all its worth can be a bit tricky.
This was the situation I found myself in. New to the game, new to the show itself and I drew a Cylon card right off the bat. For the first part of the game, I was doing okay. I was making life hairy for the Galactica but not overtly so. Then, I got a little sloppy and my lack of finesse outed me as a Cylon.
-End game/balance. One of the guys playing with us was concerned that there was no way for the humans to win. With the crises doing damage to the ship and her resources and a traitor/traitors in the midst of things…it seemed unfairly balanced to the side of Cylons. However, having played a Cylon for this game, I could say the opposite was true. Really, I can’t answer this at this point. I’d need to play the game a few more times to get a good opinion. However, I think the fact that our crew survived as long as it did says something for the resolve of humanity and the balance of the game itself. In the end, though, the humans were thwarted. But, I will say that they were in no real danger of losing up until that last turn where I made winning a lot more difficult. In our game it came down to timing. The Super Crisis I happened to be dealt was one that was crippling at that exact moment in game play. Had I used it a few turns earlier, the humans may have survived.
I can’t come up with any true gripes for this game. Nothing stands out as utterly horrible about it. Upon further play, something may jump out or become highly unnerving rather than annoying, but the fact is that I want to play again. The replay value with this game is terrific. Different people play differently, obviously, but with 10 characters to choose from (each character with their own special rules and restrictions) and the fact that someone is a traitor… yeah, this game has a good shelf life.
And, on a side note, the game made me want to watch the show.
Over all…. good job Fantasy Flight. I dig this one.
Tags: Fantasy Flight, Galactica, gaming