I have to admit I had never heard of Galaxy Trucker until a few months ago, when I began to hear about this game coming to iOS. If you read Pocket Tactics or iOS Board Games (two of my favorite
sites), you will know that this is an incredible game.
The game is currently on sale until next Monday and if you enjoy board games, then you need to truck over to the App Store and purchase this game.
In Galaxy Trucker your job is to construct a spaceship and then take that ship out and compete against the other players. If you survive and have the most money at the end, you win.
If you are a fan of the physical board game, then you will know exactly what to do. If you are a newbie, like me, there is an excellent tutorial you can play to help you out. In addition to the tutorial, there is a very nicely done help section that explains the rules, the cards, everything you need to know.
Before I go into game play let me comment on the app itself. It really is very, very well done. The game plays in portrait mode only but the graphics, layout, music are great. The app has the
following options, which will provide literally hours of game play:
Single Player Mode:
- Campaign – you play through a series of games (not sure how many but it is a ton)
- Custom games – you play against the AI here with the options you choose
Multiplayer mode:
- Pass and play
- Quick duel
- Online game
In addition to all of this, you can have multiple profiles so your kids can play too!
On to game play. When you begin a custom game, you choose, real-time vs turn-based, number of flights, and number of players. There are a number of different style AI bots you can play against. I am still working on easy! Once you get this setup, then the game begin.
The first thing you need to do is construct your ship. You do this by choosing cards from the heap of components. All players choose from the same heap so you need to be fast and efficient. No two ships will ever be the same and trust me you will never be satisfied with what you construct. The key here is to be familiar with the different components which comes from simply playing.
Once the ships or the collection of components are done, then you will take it out for 1-3 flights (8 turns per flight) and see how it does vs your opponent(s). As you travel you will find planets that you need to collect goods from. It is these goods that you will earn money and the player with the most at the end of the flights wins. In addition to competing your your opponents for these goods, you will need to deal with pirates, asteroids, abandoned ships, and more.
If this sounds a bit complicated, do not worry, the game plays quickly and you will get the hang of it after one or two tries.
Galaxy Trucker has quickly become one of my favorites and has a earned a permanent spot on my iPad. It is another excellent example of a physical board game being ported over to the mobile environment. The developer, CGE, has gone the extra mile in creating an excellent game for the iPad. and one that I can easily recommend.
So fly over to the App Store and see if you can be a successful trucker for Corporation Incorporated, the largest sewer-system contractor in the Galaxy. Yes will be coming to Android soon.
