- Age range: 10 and up / Number of players: 3 to 6 / Play time: 60 to 180 minutes
- Manufacturer: Kenzer and Company
- 1 game board, 8 control consoles, 186 cards, lots of counters, space ship tokens, dice, rulebook
Product Description
At the speed of light no one will hear you scream! A short time ago in a galaxy not too far away powerful aliens gave the six most inept species a choice — win the Great Space Race or be destroyed! As one of these alien racers you must use speed tactics and luck while avoiding hazards such as black holes and space amoebas (not to mention the missiles and deadly weapons of your opponents) to ensure the survival of your species!
 | US $22.00 (0 Bid) End Date: Thursday May-24-2012 18:15:46 PDT Bid now | Add to watch list |
The Great Space Race is a highly entertaining board game published by Kenzer & Company [...]. The Great Galactic Emperor presides over a space race held on a periodic basis, featuring the most inept races of the galaxy in a winner-take-all showdown. For the winner and his/her people and home planet are allowed to continue on, while the losers and their homeworlds are snuffed out of existence.
The players represent a specific inept race (races not named or even needed), along with the best ship their planet could provide. The goal is to complete 3 laps around the intergalactic route. Each ship has its own special advantage, which has legitimate impact on your strategy. Actions are separated into 5 segments, with the number of actions dependent on your ship’s speed. Some players aim to win by outracing their opponents. Other players aim to win by taking out their opponents.
Ships have their own advantages, such as the ability to hold extra cards, to scoop up mines in ajacent hexes, and to take reduced damage due to heavy armor plating. Players can control their ship speed directly at the start of each turn, and can choose actions contingent on the actions cards in their hand. Action cards consist of movement cards, equipment cards (such as mine launchers, plasma shields), activation cards (such as reloading mines and re-energizing shields), as well as events. Events, and their more devastating Major Events, introduce a night element of chaos and anarchy into the race. From adding components like wormholes, to summoning cosmic dangers like a Black Hole or a giant Space Amoeba.
Game play can start off slow as you get acclimated to how the movement cards work in conjunction with the ship facing. Once you are comfortable with the movement, the fun really begins. Kenzer has a free rules PDF on their website, along with free supplements to the game that you can print and use. Among the enhancements are a new ship (the Barracuda), 3 planetoid counters that should have been included with the game, an extra black hole counter (since you can have multiples on the board), and a major event card and counter for a Space Station. We’ve played this game many times and have had a blast every time.
Amazon User Rating: 5 / 5