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Vital Stats

3-6 players, 120 minutes play time. Published 2008 by Fantasy Flight Games.

Core Gameplay

Players try to keep a spaceship from exploding, except two or three aren’t. So it’s like Shadows Over Camelot, except the traitors could have control over your entire nuclear arsenal and the presidential line of succession.

The game is all about resource management and teamwork. The significant dynamic is events, which usually require a skill check of some kind. Players must spend cards — the cards that let them take special actions — to pass these checks. On top of that, for every skill check two random cards are added, Cylons get to add their own, and cards that don’t match the check reduce its chance of success. So there can be a pretty good deal of suspicion and backstabbing.

Thoughts, Notes & Musings

Let me just get this out in the open: I have never won at this game. Not as Cylons, not as Colonials. So take all my notes here with that grain of salt.

The game is constructed very well. Really, I have no criticisms. Sometimes the tiny plastic Cylon raiders get a little warped, but they’re shaped so oddly you can hardly blame the producers.

Thematically the game is solid. Usually games-based-on-a-tv-show-stroke-movie-stroke-book meander down the ‘casual family game’ route — Indiana Jones Akator Temple Race Game!? Fuck yeah! I guess they sold the rights to Fantasy Flight when the producers realized nerds were their only demographic, and nerds love good board games too. Good call.

I guess my biggest gripe is that it seems to play the same way every time. The lost utility for falsely imprisoning a friendly player is pretty high, so it rarely occurs without total information of that player’s loyalty cards. So people wind up playing passively a whole lot, with the belief that active Cylon infiltrators would do less damage than neutralizing a potentially friendly player.

On the whole it’s still pretty fun, but man, it can be slow going, especially if your group has players who try to optimize their every move.

Cons

• Serial gameplay. See note about slow players. Also, what is it about cooperative games that compels people to provide input on others’ moves? I’m a fighter pilot battling Cylons in space, I’m not going to tell the deck chief to repair the small arms lockers.
• Stacked. Maybe just my opinion, but Cylons seem to win more often than not — and sometimes they don’t even have to do anything. Face it, that Battlestar just really wants to explode.

Pros

• Screw-you factor. It’s pretty easy to hose people once your loyalty has been discovered. “Vengeance is mine,” sayeth the Lord.
• Theme. Sometimes I felt like I was an insidious traitor to my adopted people.

What Makes It Fun

As an undeclared Cylon, using your human super-ability to screw over the other players.

Noobisms

Simple, effective strategies that might work against simple people:

• As a human, intentionally dropping one of your critical resources into the red. This prevents a Cylon sympathizer from joining the game on their side in a six-player game — pretty helpful.
• Everyone who plays a “Launch Scout” card is a Cylon. Hands down. They’ll look like they’re helping, but they’re probably burying the good event cards.

Vital Stats

3-6 players, 120 minutes play time. Published 2008 by Tablestar Games.

Core Gameplay

As near as I can tell, WoN is an American amalgamation of several Eurotrash economic games. The concept is simple; players build structures that provide resources on a hexagonal grid. The difficulty lies in maximizing the efficiency of your industrial grids, as structures can be validly placed in only a few different ways. Also, you have to develop carefully such that you don’t flood or inflate the market with particular goods, lest your value diminish or other players seek alternatives to purchasing from you.

Thoughts, Notes & Musings

There are six people in my weekly gaming group, so we’re always on the lookout for 6+ player games. The published capacity be damned; this game supports four players and no more. The game can take exceptionally long to play — or at least seem to — and adding more players makes things go that much slower.

The construction of the game leaves a little to be desired. The cardboard pieces are fine, but the quick-reference sheets are flimsy paper and the market boards tend to warp easily. On the plus side, the instructions are very thorough and well-organized.

Thematically the game is confused. It seems like the designer had an idea for a theme, and an idea for a game, but never realized they didn’t quite match up. At no point do you feel like you run the economy of an entire country; just a piece of a larger one.

So let’s get down to brass tacks. I always like to cover the bad news before the good, am I right?

Cons

• Serial gameplay. The game can take very, very long, and you have to wait while other players take their turn before you can do anything. It’s very similar to Settlers in this regard, except, somehow, even slower.
• Player-order dependent. Not so bad, just make sure that you’re to the right of your nemesis and the left of a patsy.

Pros

• Deterministic. Entirely. There’s no randomness in the game at all, which in my book is a good thing — players win on their laurels instead of luck.
• Varied and balanced strategies. There’s so many resources in the game it’s hard to generate a killer strategy when playing with experienced players.

What Makes It Fun

Building 2/3rds of a bank, having an opponent block its completion, then moving it into his cordoned-off territory as a counter-screw-you.

Noobisms

So you don’t know how to play. Your friends probably don’t either. What are some effective, simple strategies that just might pay off?

• Flagwhoring. The game ends when you plant all of your flags on the board. If you have academies and food, you can make this happen very quickly.
• Banks. $90 per turn isn’t insignificant, although the initial investment can be pretty steep. It’ll usually take several turns to pay off the debt you acrue to build them, but if you do it properly it’s a game-winner.