Race for the Galaxy
Cover Art
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| Designer(s) | Thomas Lehmann |
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| Illustrator(s) | Claus Stephan Martin Hoffmann Mirko Suzuki |
| Publisher(s) | Rio Grande Games |
| Players | 2 to 4 |
| Age range | 12 and up |
| Setup time | 2 minutes |
| Playing time | 30–60 minutes |
| Random chance | Medium |
| Skill(s) required | Economic management, Strategic thought |
Race for the Galaxy (abbreviated "RftG" or simply "Race") is a card game designed by Thomas Lehmann that was released in 2007 by Rio Grande Games. Its theme is to build galactic civilizations via game cards that represent worlds or technical and social developments. It accommodates 2-4 players by default although expansions allow for up to 6 players, as well as solo play. The game uses iconography in place of language in some places, with complex powers also having a text description. While appreciated by experienced players for being concise, some new players find the icons difficult to learn and decipher.
The game won Boardgamegeek's Golden Geek Award for best card game, Fairplay Magazine’s À la carte award for best card game of 2008, and was described by the magazine Tric Trac as "LE jeu de cartes de cette année 2008" (THE card game of the year 2008).
Like many other Euro-style games, players win Race by having the most victory points at game end. VPs come from three sources: worlds and developments placed on a player's tableau, and VP chips earned by consuming goods from worlds. To place a world or development, players pay a cost in cards from their hand. Keeping a steady income of new cards throughout the game is important to victory.
At the start of each round, all players simultaneously and secretly choose one of five phases: Explore, Develop, Settle, Consume, or Produce. Selections are revealed simultaneously. The only phases which actually occur in a round are those selected by players. Additionally, the players who picked a certain phase get a special bonus during that phase, such as the ability to look at more cards during the Explore phase.
Every card in play has powers which are active during various phases. For instance, the development "Investment Credits" has a Develop power which makes placing developments one card cheaper.
Within a round, phases (those selected by players) happen in the following order:
After all phases are complete, players discard down to a hand limit of 10 cards. Unusually among card games, cards discarded due to the hand limit or when paying a cost are placed face-down (in a "messy" pile to distinguish them from the draw deck), concealing information that could be used to deduce upcoming draws.
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