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Amazon.com Search | |  | Rio Grande | Home » » » Race for the Galaxy - The Gathering Storm by Rio Grande Games | | | | | | WARNING:| CHOKING HAZARD -- Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs. |
| | | Description: | | As knowledge of JumpDrive spreads, an ancient race stirs, while another flees a world doomed by a dying sun. The Imperium grows in strength, provoking further resistance and the hiring of mercenaries. Can you build the most prosperous and powerful space empire in a galaxy on the brink of war? | | | Features: | |
• Race for the Galaxy - The Gathering Storm by Rio Grande Games
• Expansion for Race for the Galaxy (requires the original Race for the Galaxy game).
• 1-5 Players, Ages 12 and up
• 30-60 minutes
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 10.8 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.5 inches | | Product Height:
| 2.8 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.89 pounds | | Package Length:
| 7.5 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.5 inches | | Package Height:
| 2.7 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.9 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 11 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 11 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 Best expansion for Race For The Galaxy!Aug 30, 2011
By R. Newnham
Race for the Galaxy (RftG) is an excellent strategy card game with a fun space theme. In it, players settle planets and build developments. A game round starts with each player secretly selecting an action card, then revealing the actions selected together. Each action card selected means an action is available for all players that round, and the selecting player gets some privelege for being the one who selected it. Actions include Explore (drawing cards), Settle and Develop (for purchasing a planet or development card, respectively, among others. Game play continues until someone has played the twelfth card in their tableau (play area), after which victory points are added up.
An expansion to this game I cannot play it without is The Gathering Storm (TGS). TGS is the first of three expansions for the game. As expected, it adds a few cards to the pretty large amount in the base game. These cards are pretty well balanced and fill thematic and mechanical "holes" in the base game. For example, some cards have keywords that can be relevant when scoring happens. This adds more of those cards, which allow more interesting combinations. What really stands out, however, are the goal cards.
The goal cards are a set of goals that are randomly dealt out each game. Two large goals each worth five victory points and four small goals each worth three are in each game. The large goals function like the Longest Road/Largest Army cards in Settlers of Catan, in that they can change hands during the course of the game. One is for largest military, for example, and another is for largest number of large developments. The small ones are for the first person to reach the goal. These add some serious considerations for gameplay, since sometimes a few points can be the difference in first and second place in scoring. And if your draws aren't getting you the planets types you want, you can try focusing on the goal cards so that you're earning points while you're waiting to draw the next rare minerals world, or big development.
To summarize, I wouldn't play RftG without this expansion. The other two expansions don't seem as critical, as I can easily see playing without the additional rules from the Rebel vs. Imperium or Brink of War expansions (Prestige points and takeovers come to mind). This expansion really made Race for the Galaxy a better game. So, if you own the game, try this expansion if you haven't already. And share your thoughts! Tell us what you think of this expansion, or any other expansion for any game you cannot see playing without!
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Loved this game.Apr 28, 2009
By Lee Habig
This expansion allows an additional player to play Race for the Galaxy. The new cards and worlds added to the game by this expansion make new strategies viable. While the expansion is not required to play the base Race for the Galaxy game, once you have the expansion you will always be using it for your games.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Great expansion!May 13, 2011
By Aaron S
I love the original game and this expansion is almost perfect. The start worlds are new and balanced and there are some very interesting new playing cards. The single player Robot is well done. It's challenging and takes a different strategy than a human player but is plenty beatable; well on easy anyway, I haven't tried the hard version. The only negative is that there are not all that many new cards in this set. However there is almost no filler, all of the new cards are unique. Combine that with a well done single player mode and I highly recommend this expansion for anyone who likes the original.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Increases Interactivity and an Interesting Solitaire ModeOct 08, 2011
By jeffaudio
The Gathering Storm expansion adds two main things to the game: Goals and Solitaire Mode. There are a handful of extra cards as well which are nice too.
Goals
The goals addon is pretty simple: there are "first" goals which award 3 VP to the first player (or players if tied) to meet the requirements. This includes first to discard, first to one world of each production type, first to play a 6-cost development, and some others. The second type is "most" goals. These award 5 VP to the player with the "most" of a certain item. These are most developments, production worlds, windfall worlds, and largest army. These can be stolen from each other.
Honestly, this is something that should have been included in the original game and I think it adds interaction to what was essentially multi-player solitaire before.
Solitaire Mode
The solitaire mode looks incredibly complex upon first reading, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straightforward. Place your 2 actions and roll 2 dice to see what the "robot" does and follow the instructions. One of the main issues I have with it is that it takes a completely different strategy to beat, so you can't really use it for practicing strategy. It also can be frustrating as you can't effectively play production and consume actions without giving the robot a ton of points.
Overall, it's a nice addition to the original game, but for ~$18 it's definitely on the pricey side for what you get. Especially since the main game mechanic should have been included in the original.
4 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Fun Expansion for a Great GameDec 16, 2008
By Christopher H. Svara
"That Guy with a Shirt"
I am a huge fan of Race for the Galaxy and have played the basic game to death. The addition of new start worlds and new cards is great and adds to the playability of the overall game.
I am not sure that the solitair addition is great, the rules were difficult to understand and the 'robotic' opponent has crushed me every time, but still fun.
The cost for what you get in materials is a tough call, but overall I was too happy with the purchase to mind much.
See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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