Race For The Galaxy: The Gathering Storm Immediately

"The Gathering Storm" is Rio Grande's first expansion for Race for the Galaxy a card game where players eke out a space civilization by exploring, conquering, settling and developing technologies.

Players simultaneously select a role card. The roles are respectively: Explore, Develop, Settle, Consume and Produce. The role cards are revealed and resolved in role card order. If you play a role card, you get the bonus for playing it. If you didn't play a role card (i.e. your opponent played it), you get to use the role's general effect. For example: if you play "Explore", you draw 3 cards and may keep 2; otherwise you draw 2 cards and may keep 1.

Players play planet cards during the Settle phase and technologies during the Develop phase. Once a player has played 12 cards (called a tableux) the game will end. Players score points for their planets, developments and for consuming goods. The player with the highest score wins.

With experienced players, this game can play quickly (around 30 minutes or less). However, the iconography of the cards is counterintuitve and thus the learning curve is surprisingly steep. This is a minor consideration if you are a hardcore gamer. But it should be noted: Race for the Galaxy makes a poor gateway game for your non-gaming friends and family.

This expansion adds more cards and a couple of new mechanics. The new cards are merely new planets/developments. The new mechanics include a solo version of the game. A player may play against a "robot". I find this to be quite silly. Race for the galaxy is already a game of solitaire even when you have 4 people playing. The clunky robot mechanic is something that only the most diehard Race fans will ever use.

The expansion also includes objective tiles. Players can score bonus points for completing these. This is a nice addition. You can plan your long term strategy around scoring these objectives. Also, the expansion includes enough pieces to play up to 5 people.

My biggest gripe with Race for the Galaxy is that there is virtually no player interaction. There is no conflict. No auctions, no bidding mechanics, no way to screw over your opponents who have a lead. This is effectively a four player solitaire game with interstellar chrome.

Race for the Galaxy hits our gaming table with some regularity. It's a quick game and thus is a decent filler. But if you want an interstellar game with player interaction you will need to look elsewhere.Get more detail about Race For The Galaxy: The Gathering Storm.