Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game

Battlestar Galactica:
The Board Game

Cover of Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game
Designers	Corey Konieczka
Publishers	Fantasy Flight Games
Publication	2008
Genres	Board game
Languages	English, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Chinese
Players	Base game: 3-6 players (additional possible with certain expansions)
Setup time	Base game: 10 minutes (+ 5 minutes with expansions)
Playing time	Base game: 120–240 minutes (first time could be double)
Chance	Some
Age range	10+
Skills	Bluffing, Co-operative Play, Deduction, Dice Rolling, Negotiation, Hand Management
Website	Official website

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is a board game created by Corey Konieczka and first published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2008 based on the reimagined series.

There was an earlier board game of the same name released in 1978 based on the original series Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series) by Parker Brothers with a completely different game play design.

Gameplay

Battlestar Galactica is a semi-cooperative game for 3-6 players. Players play as one of ten possible characters, classed as 'Political Leaders', 'Military Leaders', 'Pilots', or 'Support', each character having benefits and drawbacks. Each player is dealt one loyalty card at the start of the game, and a second card midway through, which determines whether the players is a Human or a Cylon, which also decides their objectives.

The aim of the game for human players is to jump the fleet enough to reach eight distance, then executing one final jump to the legendary planet of Kobol, without running out of resources or destroying the Galactica. If the human players lose, the Cylons win. Each turn of the game features 6 steps:

1. The current players draws skill cards, generally five, according to their character's instructions. Skill cards are used to move between ships, avert crises, or execute certain actions.
2. The current player may move to a location on Galactica, Colonial One or in space protecting the fleet.
3. The current player executes one action. Actions can be activating the location that player is at, playing one skill card, utilising the powers of the Admiral or the President, or revealing oneself as a Cylon, among many other possibilities.
4. The top Crisis Card of the deck is drawn and resolved. Crisis Cards can require the players to make a decision between possible events, attempt to pass a Skill Check, where players contribute Skill Cards, trying to contribute enough without wasting excess cards, while also considering possible sabotage by Cylon players, or herald a major Cylon attack.
5. The Crisis Card drawn that turn instructs players to activate Cylon ships in one of four ways.
6. The Crisis Card may instruct players to help prepare the fleet for a jump

The game also features rules for players holding titles, namely Admiral and President, piloting Vipers, being sent to the Brig or the Sickbay, among other features taken from the TV series.

Expansions

Three expansions have been released: Pegasus (2009), Exodus (2010), and Daybreak (2013). Each expansion augments existing Crisis, Skill, Quorum, Super Crisis, and Loyalty decks with new cards, as well as adding new Characters, a new endgame (New Caprica, the Ionian Nebula, and Earth) each, and several new mechanics, such as the Battlestar Pegasus, the Final Five Cylons, and the explorer ship Demetrius.

External links

• Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game official site
• Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game at BoardGameGeek