Base price: $XX.
1 – 5 players.
Play time: 15 – 30 minutes.
BGG Link
Check it out on Kickstarter! (Will update link when Kickstarter is live.)
Logged plays: 3
Full disclosure: A preview copy of Point Galaxy was provided by Flatout Games. Some art, gameplay, or other aspects of the game may change between this preview and the fulfillment of the Kickstarter, should it fund, as this is a preview of a currently unreleased game.
Editor’s note: Saturday was my birthday, so we’re doing just one review this week. Don’t get used to it.
Yeehaw. I don’t think I’ve started a review with yeehaw yet, and as we approach the 1100+ mark, it feels like mixing it up a bit would be a good idea. Plus, saying yeehaw as a transition is just a nice way to kick things off. Try it out sometime; this is a free pro-tip from yours truly. Just yeehaw more in your life. At work, at the grocery store, on trial; see where it takes you. But speaking of heading to new places, we’ve got some new small-box games from our buds at Flatout this week. Already talked about Propolis, which is excellent, but now we’re heading back to the Point series of games with Point Galaxy!
In Point Galaxy, you’re done with the Milky Way and you’ve decided you want to start your own. Thankfully, that’s actually on the table, but they do have to open it up to some other folks (unless you play solo; then it’s entirely on you). Grab some planets, maybe a sun (none of those binary systems; get real), and possibly a moon or something? Make all of that work for you. Craft the stars and spin up a new galaxy to score points and see where it all ends up! Will you be able to get the points together?
Contents
Setup
This one’s pretty easy. Set out a number of face-up Rocket Tokens based on your player count:
- 1 – 2 players: 10 Rocket Tokens.
- 3 players: 12 Rocket Tokens.
- 4 players: 14 Rocket Tokens.
- 5 players: 16 Rocket Tokens.
Then, shuffle up the cards and remove some, again, based on player count:
- 1 – 2 players: 59 cards (remove 81).
- 3 players: 89 cards (remove 55).
- 4 players: 111 cards (remove 29).
- 5 players: 137 cards (remove 3).
Make three approximately-equal stacks, space-side up:
Flip two cards planet-side up below each stack to form the Market. Give each player a Starting Sun:
You’re ready to start!
Gameplay
This one’s nice and easy. You’re making a galaxy, which will be a collection of solar systems with planets and more!
On your turn, you’ll draft two cards. The 3 x 2 set of planets and the 3 x 1 row of space cards are yours for the taking. As soon as you draft a card, replace it (unless it’s in the row of space cards, which are naturally immediately refreshed) and place the drafted card in your galaxy.
Generally, cards can be placed almost wherever, but there are certain rules:
- Planets: Planets have to be placed either in an existing galaxy or in a new galaxy. When placing one, if there are already planets there, the new planet must be above or below (in value) the current existing planets. You can make a stack of planets in increasing or decreasing order, and you can place planets behind or at the front of a stack, which is a little confusing but you know, kind of keep it consistent.
- Moons: Moons are placed between planets, and they indicate how they score. Some score as long as the planet above or below them is the matching color, and others score as long as the planet above and the planet below are separate matching colors.
- Wormholes: Wormholes restart the numbering for a solar system! It means you can start again from whatever number you want or repeat numbers.
- Suns: Suns can be used to start new solar systems! They’re fun.
- Asteroids: Asteroids are placed behind suns (one per system) and they will help you score points for the majority, later on.
Some cards have Rocket symbols on them! For every five in your galaxy, you’ll get to collect a Rocket Token from the center and earn those points later in the game. Those also (unless otherwise stated) apply to your whole galaxy. Certain cards also have Research Symbols on them; more on that later.
The game ends once you run out of cards in the market and it can’t be fully replenished to nine cards (13 turns). Once that happens, score!
- Research Symbols score for the number of unique symbols in your galaxy.
- Similarly, Planets in a given solar system score for the number of unique numbers on planets in that system.
- Moons score if the adjacent planet(s) meet their conditions!
- Asteroids give points to the players with the most, second-most, and third-most.
- Suns score based on the condition on the sun for their solar system.
- Rocket Tokens score based on their condition for your entire galaxy!
The player with the most points wins!
Player Count Differences
The nice thing about Point Galaxy is that, similar to Point Salad, the major components of the game don’t change that much as the player count changes. Instead, you mostly just have a “more is more” philosophy going: more players, more cards, more rocket tokens. This mostly benefits you, the player, since there’s more to choose from and more strategies that emerge, but even abundance has its drawbacks. You now have to compete with more players, so your golden path of ideal strategy may get messed up by a player with their own ideas, and that’s somewhat more liable to happen with more players just because there’s … more players. More is more, after all. I wouldn’t say this means I prefer fewer players, though Point Galaxy is quite fun with two; it just means you need to be mindful of how the player count changes your options and strategy. No major preference otherwise.
Strategy
- I find if you’re going for unique values in a solar system, it’s often easiest to build from both directions. Can’t necessarily validate this with evidence, but it definitely feels like there are more 3s and 4s than other numbers, which makes some sense. Having a middle-of-the-road card means you can play lower or higher cards as needed, rather than being limited to building in one direction.
- You can try to appeal to other players on Asteroids. It’s a thing where the player with the most / second-most / third-most get points, so if you manage to tie another player you can just enter a detente if you want and agree to not take any more Asteroid Cards. It’s definitely an arrangement of convenience, though, so expect the other player to break it at their first opportunitiy.
- Wormholes are a great way to hit certain Sun Bonuses. You can use the Wormhole cards to restart your numbering pattern, meaning that you can play the same color planets over and over in one solar system for more points, for instance. You may find yourself better served by just getting the unique number scoring for the solar system, but that’s mostly a context-based decision.
- Research Symbols are just generally good. More points for more unique symbols, but set across your entire galaxy. So that’s nice. Get more of those.
- You don’t have to go for Rockets, but they’re generally worth pursuing if you can benefit from the bonuses. Not all of the Rocket Bonuses are going to jive with your galaxy. If you see one that does, however, jump on that as quickly as you can. Other players aren’t necessarily going to just let you have it.
- Sometimes there’s just not going to be much you want. In those cases, I usually start a new solar system and just try to have a generic set of unique values there. I can slap on a sun that gives me a few extra points eventually.
- Don’t forget that the planets don’t necessarily need to be consecutive. If you’re going for certain bonuses or color bonuses from Suns or whatever, you don’t need to wait for a 3 to go between that 4 you have and the 2 you want; you can just slap a 2 in there and go for it. You’ll miss out on some unique value points unless you use a wormhole, but them’s the breaks.
Pros, Mehs, and Cons
Pros
- Space! I love space games. They’re one of my favorite themes and they usually have a bit of fun sci-fi or fantasy and some great art. This is no exception! The colorful planets are a delight to look at.
- The art is very cute and fun, and I enjoy all the little easter egg references when they pop up. It’s a pleasant-looking game that fits in with the vibe of the other Point games in the family, but my favorite thing is just having all of the silly planet names that are themed after other things (some of the artists / designers / friends of Flatout, other Flatout Games, things like that). It’s a game that’s aware of itself, and that’s always pleasant.
- There’s something very satisfying about the quick play of all of this. You just take two cards every turn, so you can really fly through this one quickly.
- I like the overall complexity level here quite a bit. If you recall my Point City review, I found that the complexity didn’t necessarily blend as well with the game as I would have liked, and Point Salad really is quite fun, but I wanted a bit more strategy with my salad. This is perfect for me. Just the right level where I’d be down to play this basically any time, if I had the time and bandwidth to actually repeat games and if I didn’t have to send this back to Flatout so that they can likely do their Founder’s Edition (which I find charming, to be absolutely clear).
- Purple boxes are also great. It’s a box color we don’t get a lot! I like the variety.
- My current favorite way to end the game is to introduce my solar system like they’re dudes in my gang since all the planet names are silly. “If you mess with me you mess with all my boys” and then list them off. It’s stupid. It’s also fun. Some things can be both things.
- Very easy to teach. The Point family has a great system and I do love introducing it to new players because it’s just straightforward and most players find it rather intuitive. This has been no exception. Love teaching this game.
Mehs
- You’re either going to want a playmat or you’re going to regret messing up your cards, given how much lifting up of splayed stacks of cards you’re going to be doing. Very Innovation-core, since your solar systems are splayed stacks of cards that you’re either playing above or below each turn. Players tend to mess up the card edges with their nails on flat tables, so having a playmat for this game will keep your cards looking pristine in the long-term.
- As with many point salad-type games, scoring can be a bit annoying. Just pick a place to start and be methodical so you don’t miss any scoring categories for any players.
- I understand the math of why cards need to be removed, but I’m lazy and generally don’t want to count higher than like, 30 when I’m playing a game. I’ve become very very very specific in my old age, alas, but dropping eighty-something cards does lend itself a bit to players making mistakes, so be careful when you count. Thankfully, it’s easy to fix; you just end the game when you have only 7 cards left in the market. If you have 8? End it. 9? End it. The more difficult ones are when you’re not sure, so try to keep your counts consistent if you can.
Cons
- It was initially hard to figure out some of the symbols on some cards. The thing that threw us off was the Generic Planet symbol vs. a Moon; the Generic Planet symbol is a white celestial body with craters, which looks almost exactly like what you’d imagine the moon to look like. A Generic Moon is a white crescent, you know, moon-shaped. We figured it out eventually.
Overall: 8.5 / 10
Overall, I think Point Galaxy is my favorite of the Point family! There’s a bit of a Goldilocks problem, now, with the Point Salad / Point City / Point Galaxy series, since there are three of them (that doesn’t always happen, though). Point City being the most complex, Point Salad being the least complex, and Point Galaxy being right in the middle. There’s something really gratifying, for me, about Point Galaxy: it’s a perfect level for a light game and it has a little extra to reward some strategy and planning. Plus, I love a space game. Games about space are some of my favorites. The extra constraints make the game feel exciting, in some ways: I like having to split my planets into unique solar systems and figuring out how to place moons and get rockets. There’s an order and a process to all of it, and that’s kind of exciting. Random chance can still bring you down, a bit, but that’s how the Point game family works! Sometimes you never get to see the cards you need. No 1s, no 7s, no moons. Them’s the breaks. Light games that trade a little bit of strategy for random outcomes can still be pretty fun, and I love the way Point Galaxy manages that pseudo-drafting system with nine cards to choose from. Also, it’s got great art. My last recommendation, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, is that it’s very fun to finish the game by making every player present their galaxy. I usually go with “if you mess with me, you mess with my boys” and then rattle off the top card from each solar system. It’s stupid. I can’t recommend it enough. But if you’re looking for a quick and fun game, you want a mid-level complexity game in the Point family, or you just love a space game, Point Galaxy will likely be up your alley! I think it’s great.
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