Review Details

Battlestar Galactica

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on December 13, 2008):

It has a great sci-fi setting, a foreboding atmosphere, well-differentiated characters that are true to the show, a cohesive narrative, and, refreshingly for an Fantasy Flight Games product, it's a fairly simple design that's easy to learn and teach.

And it is so much more nuanced, interesting, and deep than Shadows Over Camelot, a game that's often compared to this one since they both involve hidden loyalties as a focal point. But there's really no comparison beyond the superficial "co-op with a traitor" label. (I do think people who have played SoC will pick up on the meta-gaming of BSG a lot quicker than those who haven't, so I do like to introduce the idea of the Loyalty Deck as being very much like the Traitor in SoC when teaching new players.)

I've liked designer Corey Konieczka's previous designs that I've played (i.e., StarCraft, Warrior Knights), but often with some reservations. He absolutely nailed this one out of the park. An instant favourite that I would recommend whole-heartedly to anyone who's a fan of the TV show or enjoys "experience" board games.