Pyramid Review
Galaxy: The Dark Ages
Published by GMT Games
Created by Don Greenwood and Reiner Knizia
Boxed card game with 120 cards, 25 chips, four combat dice, and a plastic draw/discard tray; $25.00
Galaxy: The Dark Ages from GMT Games is a strategy card game for two to five players that plays in just over an hour. A descendant of Titan: The Arena, Galaxy depicts a power struggle between the players for influence among the eight worlds. Designed by Reiner Knizia (Tigris & Euphrates, Modern Art) and developed by Don Greenwood (Up Front, Squad Leader), Galaxy shows both European and Avalon Hill influences and makes an excellent game for hobby gamers and regular folk alike.
The game starts with the eight world cards in a row, heading eight columns. Players do not play individual worlds; they are behind the scenes manipulators -- galactic illuminati, if you will. Players have five bases which they place during the game onto one world or another, representing influence in the different worlds. You can place one base per turn, and bases played earlier in the game give more influence than those placed later. Of course, since one world is eliminated in each of the five rounds, bases placed early in the game may disappear with their world. Bases can be "improved" or "damaged" (moving them up and down the columns and increasing or decreasing their influence and score) during play.
Each player begins with eight cards, nearly all representing ships with strengths of zero through ten belonging . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: December 1, 2000
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