BSG

I think it's easiest to split points up into three categories. First, there are the VPs earnt by the players through consumption. Two players went for consumption in earnest, namely omnis and askye. Conversely, Connie's Evil Empire-building left little time for consumption. That's reflected in the points earned:

Consumption VPs
omnis: 24
askye: 17
Connie Neil: 1
chrismg: 9

The next category is the value of the layout. Each card in one's layout has a point value, in most cases a fixed amount. This is where being the Evil Empire really pays off. Points earned in this category:

Layout Value
omnis: 16
askye: 18
Connie Neil: 30
chrismg: 13

But there are some cards with variable points values. these are the 6-cost developments. Each such development has its own formula to determine its value, which depends on, for the most part, the rest of one's layout. askye didn't get any 6-cost developments down, but the other players all did.

omnis played Free Trade Association. This card rewards a focus on Blue good production and consumption. omnis scores 8 points for it.

Connie played Trade League. This rewards trade powers, and she scores 4 points for it.

chrismg made this the centrepiece of his strategy. He played three 6-cost developments. Galactic Renaissance rewards consumption VPs. It's worth 6 points here. Merchant Guild rewards production worlds, and is also worth 6 points. And then there's Galactic Federation. This one rewards playing developments - especially 6-cost developments. It adds 9 points to his total.

Points for 6-cost developments are therefore:

6-Cost Developments
omnis: 8
askye: 0
Connie Neil: 4
chrismg: 21

RftG

Let's put them all together now. What are the totals?

omnis_audis
Victory Points: 24
Layout Value: 16
6-Cost Developments: 8
Total: 48

askye
Victory Points: 17
Layout Value: 18
6-Cost Developments: 0
Total: 35

Connie Neil
Victory Points: 1
Layout Value: 30
6-Cost Developments: 4
Total: 35

chrismg
Victory Points: 9
Layout Value: 13
6-Cost Developments: 21
Total: 43

Connie and askye tied for third place with 35 points. In such a situation, the tiebreaker is provided byt hte number of cards in hand plus the number of goods on the layout. Connie's last-minute trade on her Trade League power gives her 10 cards in hand to edge out askye.

chrismg scored some reasonable points in every category; his 6-cost developments move him into second place with 43 points.

But the winner of our very first game of Race for the Galaxy, with a powerful consumption showing, is omnis with a total of 48 points!

Congratulations to all the players on a hard-fought game. Interesting especially that we saw some very different strategies, all of which performed respectably. How did the players find the experience?

RFTG

I am grateful for two things. One, the insights and knowledge of our amazing GM. And Two, beginners luck! Every time I thought I was getting a handle on what the heck was going on, I would get a "well, you know..." note from BT. My favorite was the military cost ± military defense. Um. Ooops.

On the whole, I did enjoy the game. It made me think a heck of a lot more than I was anticipating. And reading the tiny writing on the cards makes me feel old. That said, like I said a few posts ago, totally want to play again. Seems there are many strategies one could go with. It all depends on what you draw. I think I'm back down to about 65% understanding what the heck is going on.

RFTG

I didn't know how fast things would be developed, so my strategy (such as it was) was based off what I had in the first draw. Plus I kind of hoped I'd have the chance to invade other people (I know . . .), and I got caught up in the storyline I was building in my head. Next time I'll try to diversify a little.

So the last two episodes of Critical Role [link] had Felica Day and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn sitting in with regular players Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel and Taliesin Jaffe at Matt Mercer's D&D table. It was a riot and a fairly self-contained adventure, so new watchers shouldn't worry about lack of knowledge of the backstory.

This week and next, the remainder of the crew (Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, and Orion Acaba) will be playing with Wil Wheaton and Will Friedle. I'm looking forward to it.

RftG

Before we start another game, I'd like to call attention to on aspect of game play from the previous game. That's card flow. There are a number of different strategies one can pursue, but all of them benefit from getting to draw more cards. Looking at how it played out this game, Connie mostly had card draw bonuses when trading cards. She drew 6 bonus cards during the game. (That's in addition to the base draw for trading goods. She consistently traded more valuable goods than the other players.) However, she also needed fewer cards to pay for her layout because of her military focus.

askye had more discounts than card draws; she didsn't pay full price for either developments or worlds. (Replicant Robots can be a great card.) she saved a total of 8 cards off the regular price, and drew another 6 cards from production bonuses.

chrismg wound up with card draw bonuses from developing, trading and producing. All together, he pulled 20 bonus cards during the game. He also saved 3 cards off playing worlds, from the Contact Specialist discount; and saved 6 cards when playing developments.

However, the star performer here was omnis. At just 5 cards in his layout, he could pull bonus cards in Phase II, Phase III, Phase IV and Phase V. He drew a whopping 30 bonus cards over the course of the game.

There was a very strong relationship this game - the players that drew the most bonus cards were also the players that managed the highest scores. It doesn't have to be so ironclad; but it does illustrate, card flow is an important consideration in this game.

RftG

One other thing I wanted to check on, how is everyone going with understanding the cards? The symbols they use to convey the various powers, and the other properties of the cards, is highly consistent and easy to use - once you're used to what all the symbols mean and how they function. But that's a highly variable learning curve. Some people pick it up very quickly, other people can take some time for it to coe together.

I have a reason for asking, and that's the time it takes to put together emails to all the players. The biggest time investment is in writing up the cards' properties and powers. Of course, I'm happy to do so as long as it's needed; but as players feel able, it'll be a time saving just to send out the card images. (Of course, if you find any particular card to be unclear, you have but to ask.)

RftG

And with that, I will open things up for game 2. As with game 1, we can have up to four players. I feel we should use the pre-selected starting hands for at least one more game, unless players feel strongly otherwise.

Who would like to be in game 2?

I'll be in the second game.

Your summaries of the cards and advice was very, very helpful. What I need to do is download the images of the cards so I can blow them up and read them. I think I'm getting a better handle on what everything means now.

Count me in! My ego wants me to say "pfft, I got a handle on this", but reality has proven otherwise a few times there. And the images did help a couple times when at work, for me to flip between emails to see what was on the table, and in my hand.