A Night with Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game

Author: Shawn Wolen

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is a semi-cooperative game for 3-6 players ages 10 and up that can be played in 2-3 hours. The theme of the game is devised from the recent remake of the 1970’s television show, Battlestar Galactica. The game picks up after Caprica and the surrounding planets have been decimated by a nuclear attack by the Cylons and the humans are running (flying through space) for their lives in search of Earth.

The game is enjoyable for fans and non-fans alike. If you are a fan of the new series you will enjoy detail and homage the game makers gave to the miniseries that launched the recent television show. The characters and their storylines from the show are weaved into the development of their characters and talents in the game. If you are not a fan or not an avid watcher of the television show fear not; it is not a requirement of the game to know the show or their story lines. You can easily pick up this game and start playing after reading through the games instruction manual. You do not need to know or understand any elements of the show’s stories to understand, enjoy, and play the game.

The game, as with most co-op games, has a “screw you” element. At the beginning of the game, cards are handed out to indicate if a player is human or a Cylon.

If you are a human, your goal is to survive until the last jump to earth.

If you are a Cylon, you have two options:

1. Embrace your robotic nature declare your metallic stature to the group, and spend the remainder of the game thwarting the human’s efforts of trying to reach Earth or
2. Remain quiet about your true identity and hinder the human’s efforts using subterfuge and malice.

Both options provide some interesting game play. There is no requirement in the rules that players announce their affiliation if they don’t wish. So, if you are a Cylon, you can continue to feign humanity in an effort to defeat from within (there is a caveat to this rule; during a later round, the Sleeper Agent Phase, if a player has a Sympathizer card they are dealt with immediately. To learn more about this phase, see the rule book). Some creative game play is required with this method. A player wants to cause enough havoc to prevent the human’s advancement without being so obvious as to be caught (being caught means being sent to the brig, but does not infer a need to reveal yourself a cylon).

If the player decides to announce their true selves, the thwarting can be completed in any number of obvious ways; destroying their main ship (Galactica), destroying enough civilian ships, boarding Galactica, or depleting any number of resources the humans need. As a reveled Cylon, you have much more powerful options available to you to prevent the humans from escaping.

Get your own copy of Battlestar Galactica.

Fantasy Flight Games – New Video Posted

Just wanted to let everyone know that Gary and I spent some time putting some videos together for you all over the holiday break.

There are a lot of informational videos coming about different game companies, game systems, and just stuff to help you determine if a game is for you or not. We are trying to be a little different than the average video guys out there and offer you something you may not have seen or heard.

The first one is a quick overview of Fantasy Flight Games. In this one, Gary goes over the basic characteristics of these games and tells you a little about what to expect if you decide to purchase one of their games. They are definately for a specific type of gamer!

New Games This Week – Battlestar Galactica, WOW minis, and Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition!

This is a big release week and we got ‘em!

Battlestar Galactica

The cooperative game, Battlestar Galactica, released on Monday. We should have some copies arriving today. If you want them, I suggest you pick them up quickly. This is a pretty popular game. It has similar mechanics to Shadows Over Camelot. Instead of a traitor, you have hidden Cylons trying mess with your teams success. There is intrigue, politics, space battles, and hidden dangers. What’s not to like?

Get your copy of Battlestar Galactica today!

World of Warcraft Miniatures

On Tuesday, Upper Deck released their new minatures game based on the insanely popular World of Warcraft. You get 4 minis in the basic core set – which comes with enough stuff for two people to play a solid game.

If you want to increase your collection, you can buy individual booster packs. These come with 3 minis each.

In December, they will release their deluxe core set. This comes with 6 minis for a two-player game.

Get your WOW minis here. We also have a bundle that gets you the basic core set and two boosters (10 minis in total.)

Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition

This is the big news item! This game releases on Nov. 18. We will have them in our hands and shipping to customers on Friday or Monday of next week. This game has been HOT! HOT! HOT! We have pre-sold 18 copies of this game and are SOLD OUT! The bad news about this game is that it is probably going to be a limited run. There may be another printing of this game in December, but this is only a rumor at the moment. So, if you have not gotten your own copy of the game, you may be out of luck.

If you pre-ordered a copy of this game from us, you can expect that you will get it some time next week! Hooray! I know there are some happy gamers out there excited about that news!

More Pre-Orders Posted

With Agricola coming out, we took another upcoming game out of Pre-Order status. So, it was time to update the list.

We have added these new games into the pre-order list:

• Pandemic – $22
• Battlestar Galactica - $27.50
• Descent – The Tomb Of Ice Expansion – $33.00
• Munchkin Quest – The Munchkin Board Game – $35.00
• Arkham Horror – The Black Goat in the Woods – $14.50

If you are interested in any of these games, based on what I have seen, I would suggest you put your order in. Games like Pandemic, and Agricola sold out fairly quickly. With both of those games, we only got two copies. Once they are gone, they are gone for a few months. If you are considering these as Christmas gifts, I would do it now and not put it off.