Tiny Epic Galaxies
Amusing little game that way way overstays its welcome with five players, all of whom are deeply analytical, serious competitors. I thought this would be the warm-up before we played something more serious, but alas it was nearly 3 hours for something that’s supposed to last more like 30 minutes.
Basically it goes like this: you start with a small pool of dice, custom dealies with art on all the faces. You assemble your turn out of the die rolls, maximizing your turn but manipulating the order of your actions. There are some neat little economies at work that let you reroll or follow what someone else does on their turn. You’re either improving your “galaxy” our you’re trying to colonize new worlds. End game is triggered when someone earns a particular value, and then everyone checks to see if they fulfilled their secret goal. Very tight, very tidy.
I got to play this at RinCon last October with two other players and really enjoyed it. Honestly it’s probably an excellent 3-4p game. Small, cheap, very clever.
I like it, but a 3 hour game of it would be too much. I take it everyone was taking LONG turns?
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I’ve played this with two, three, and four players, and never failed to have a great time with it. It’s become a real favorite of mine. That said, I have discovered that it is a very polarizing game … some players are quite put off by it after trying it, while others are just as enthused as I am. It doesn’t seem to draw middle of the road reactions.
This is a big hit with our group too. But 4 and 5 player games can get really bogged down and tedious with certain combinations of planets popping up. 3 players I find is definitely the sweet spot.
How in the ever loving bejeezuz does this game last 3 hours? Ida been slapping some fools.
With 5 players and the right combination of planets that as an action give everyone else an action it can create some nasty chains of nested actions.
Our guys get way deep in the weeds of AP, too. This is the sort of game that’s catnip if you’re obsessive-compulsive about solving your turn.
The game reminds me a little of the vibe I get from Seasons. The tableaux at the endgame get so involved that it takes a while to work through the implications of any given play.
Chris Groff’s comment reminds me that I’ve pulled both Zavodnick (Perform any 1 action; all other players may follow that action for free) and Nagato (Spend 1 Culture to move 2 of your ships) from my copy. Both can seriously bog down the game and in the case of Nagato, create endless loops.
Oh lord that’s a thing in this game? I suppose we’d have discovered that eventually ourselves. Thanks for the heads up. Can you keep half of the loop?
Wilhelm Fitzpatrick we do the Zavodnick a lot in that game, but almost never Nagato.
One thing I keep forgetting to do is check the updated errata (not the box insert one). I have this vague recollection that they broke a couple of those loops.
Oh man I didn’t even think to look for errata.
Chris Groff there were lots of fiddly rulings on BGG to try break loops, but I find it simpler to just not have those cards in the game, so players don’t have to be aware of rules that aren’t on the cards in play.
Frankly, Nagato was just asking for trouble. Any time you have a “one action becomes two actions” mechanic, you’ll be chasing down loop edge cases forever.
Zavodnick is mostly just annoying. I believe it actually came out in one of my early games, and I was just “never again.”
I think you are probably right on that one and I agree. I’d rather just pull those planets for 4/5 player games especially then have to look up multiple rules sources for them.