Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
The remake of Battlestar Galactica has proven to be one of the most popular sci-fi shows on television and it has attracted a huge audience. Much of the draw surrounds the mystery over who the hidden cylons amongst the humans actually are. If you’ve ever wished you could be a part of the action then you might want to check out Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game. It recreates some of the subterfuge and action of the show and is a lot of fun.
This is an engrossing game with a choice of 10 characters. The action is set during the first series so the aim is for the humans to reach Kobol. In order to do this they need to make a series of FTL jumps and they have to pass eight worlds before they can reach their target. Each player is dealt a loyalty card at the beginning of the game and it tells them whether they are really human or are in fact a cylon agent. Another set of cards is dealt out again at the halfway stage.
If you are human the object is to protect the Galactica and reach Kobol. If you are a cylon then you have to try and stop the fleet which you can do by destroying the Galactica, taking it over with Centurions or reducing one of the resources to zero. The resources are fuel, food, morale and population.
This is a game of suspicion and secrecy as the human characters work together to reach their aim and try to reveal the spy in their midst. During the early part of the game it is best for the cylon agents to remain hidden. Their attempts at sabotage should be as subtle as possible. After four FTL jumps have been achieved the sleeper agents are activated by a second set of cards. Towards the end the cylons will come out of the shadows in an all out assault with the aim of stopping the humans once and for all.
The game is well presented with a big board, resource counters, 10 stand up character cards, 32 detailed plastic replica ships and lots of cards and tokens. The rules are fairly easy to pick up although they sound a bit convoluted at first. Each turn players can move and spend skill cards to perform actions however they must draw a crisis card. Crisis cards generally throw up problems the whole group has to deal with by playing cards of their own. The cards are played anonymously so of course the cylon can deliberately try to sabotage. If the skills are added up and the humans fail the crisis then something bad will happen from cylon raider attack to loss of resources.
The humans can fight back against the cylons and the player nominated president can play cards which replenish resources, provided they aren’t in fact a cylon. Players with viper skills can also launch themselves and attack cylon raiders in person. The agents can perform various actions to destroy the fleet’s chances of escape and if they are clever about it they will not be discovered until late in the game.
Paranoia and accusation always make for a great night gaming. This is quite a well designed game and best played with 4-6 players. It lasts around 3 hours or more depending on how things go.
