Some games just have it all. Great components? Check. Great artwork? Check. Easy to learn? Check. Can be played multiple times without being boring? Check. And so it goes with the Tiny Epic series of games from Gamelyn Games. Tiny Epic Defenders and Tiny Epic Kingdoms (click here for the review) were the first two, and now this review takes a look at the latest game, Tiny Epic Galaxies.
At first sight, a gamer might not be impressed by the size of the box but break out the colorful cards, custom dice, wooden pieces and galaxy mats and a rich and rewarding game begins to unfold. Tiny Epic Galaxies puts players in the roles of supreme commanders of an entire galaxy involved in an intergalactic war. The game plays in about 30 minutes and accommodates one to five players.
Each player is given a galaxy mat to keep track of ships, dice and resources in the game. The cool wooden pieces representing ships, empires, energy and culture come in five colors and look cool on the table populating the varies cards and mats. A series of colorful and unique planet cards are dealt face up to the center of the table representing planets available to be colonized by players.
The goal of the game is to colonize as many planets as possible because each planet is worth a certain amount of victory points towards the end goal. This goal is present amid a galaxy full of options such as unlocking more powers, gathering resources and rolling more dice.
Planets can be interacted with in two ways. A player can land a ship on the planet's surface and take a special action unique to each planet. To colonize a planet, a player must orbit the planet by advancing on an orbit track. But a ship in orbit can't use the planet's special power. Orbit tracks have a variety of lengths. Some are hard and some are quite easy to complete. Each captured planet gives its power to the captor as a possible action on future turns. This game requires people to make tough choices at every moment.
A player turn consists of rolling a certain number of custom dice depending on the power of his or her empire. The dice have symbols that show a variety of possible actions. Actions include gathering resources, moving ships, utilizing captured colonies or helping ships conquer a planet. Sometimes players can't always roll what they need, so dice can be converted for anything on a two for one basis. Players can also take a much-needed action during another player's turn for a price.
The game clips by at a fast pace as players compete to collect 21 points which then triggers the end of the game. The thing that's great about this game in comparison to others is that in other games sometimes gamers get bored when it's not their turn. In Tiny Epic Galaxies, rewards are given to the attentive gamer by allowing actions on other players' turns.
All in all this is another solid game from Gamelyn Games for the moderate price of $30. The game is infinietly replayable, and different strategies can be tried out each game. This game has a lot going for it and is worthy of a hard look. it's important to note that Gamelyn Games announced the next game in the series called Tiny Epic Westerns. It is being funded on Kickstarter just like the previous games in the series. See more here.
At first sight, a gamer might not be impressed by the size of the box but break out the colorful cards, custom dice, wooden pieces and galaxy mats and a rich and rewarding game begins to unfold. Tiny Epic Galaxies puts players in the roles of supreme commanders of an entire galaxy involved in an intergalactic war. The game plays in about 30 minutes and accommodates one to five players.
Each player is given a galaxy mat to keep track of ships, dice and resources in the game. The cool wooden pieces representing ships, empires, energy and culture come in five colors and look cool on the table populating the varies cards and mats. A series of colorful and unique planet cards are dealt face up to the center of the table representing planets available to be colonized by players.
The goal of the game is to colonize as many planets as possible because each planet is worth a certain amount of victory points towards the end goal. This goal is present amid a galaxy full of options such as unlocking more powers, gathering resources and rolling more dice.
Planets can be interacted with in two ways. A player can land a ship on the planet's surface and take a special action unique to each planet. To colonize a planet, a player must orbit the planet by advancing on an orbit track. But a ship in orbit can't use the planet's special power. Orbit tracks have a variety of lengths. Some are hard and some are quite easy to complete. Each captured planet gives its power to the captor as a possible action on future turns. This game requires people to make tough choices at every moment.
A player turn consists of rolling a certain number of custom dice depending on the power of his or her empire. The dice have symbols that show a variety of possible actions. Actions include gathering resources, moving ships, utilizing captured colonies or helping ships conquer a planet. Sometimes players can't always roll what they need, so dice can be converted for anything on a two for one basis. Players can also take a much-needed action during another player's turn for a price.
The game clips by at a fast pace as players compete to collect 21 points which then triggers the end of the game. The thing that's great about this game in comparison to others is that in other games sometimes gamers get bored when it's not their turn. In Tiny Epic Galaxies, rewards are given to the attentive gamer by allowing actions on other players' turns.
All in all this is another solid game from Gamelyn Games for the moderate price of $30. The game is infinietly replayable, and different strategies can be tried out each game. This game has a lot going for it and is worthy of a hard look. it's important to note that Gamelyn Games announced the next game in the series called Tiny Epic Westerns. It is being funded on Kickstarter just like the previous games in the series. See more here.
