Roll for the Galaxy

Today's review is of the 2014 release, Roll for the Galaxy. For 2-5 players, it takes 45 minutes.

Overview

Build your space empire! In Roll for the Galaxy, you manage your workers (dice) to develop technologies, explore worlds, and ship goods. Can you do so wisely and have the most prosperous civilization (Victory Points- VPs) at game's end?

A simplified turn structure:

• all players roll their dice (that they have in their dice cup) and secretly assign them to the phases (explore, develop, settle, produce, ship), choosing one to happen for certain
• all players reveal their dice and chosen phase. Phases that nobody chose are not done that round (any dice assigned to those go back in the dice cup)
• all chosen phases (described below) are then carried out sequentially ("do phases") by all players and they manage their empire. Once an end-game condition is triggered (like having a player complete their 15th development), the final points are totaled.

an example dice board showing worker distribution; image from here

The phases simplified:

• Explore: scout for a new tile (pull one randomly out of the bag) and place it in the appropriate zone (development or constuction) OR gain 2 credits
• Develop: move workers to the topmost tile in your development zone. If completed, move that tile to your tableau and return workers to the 'citizenry'
• Settle: move workers to the topmost tile in your construction zone. If completed, move that tile to your tableau and return workers to the 'citizenry'
• Produce: produce a good on a suitable world in your tableau
• Ship: trade a good on your tableau (to gain 3-6 credits) OR consume a good (to gain 1-3 VPs) 

Before the next round begins, recruit more workers from the citizenry into your dice cup for 1 credit each. The different-colored dice represent different focus areas (like military, etc.) and correspond to  differing probabilities for rolling certain phases (which are spelled out on the player cards).

game example; image from here

Putting tiles onto your tableau can get you benefits during the game and VP at the end.

The complete rules are here.

Review

This is a solid game. I don't care for the 'space/alien theme', but that personal preference aside, the mechanics are fun. The game moves quickly. Choosing phases secretly introduces a neat twist to things; I have never played a game were some phases might not be performed on a given turn, and it is adds a psychological component ("what might my opponent choose and can I leverage that?"). In all, this is a resource management/worker placement game that is done well.

Rating: A-