Tiny Epic Galaxies Blastoff! Board Game Review

Tiny Epic Galaxies Blast Off is a streamlined revision of Tiny Epic Galaxies and while it makes most things clearer it sadly drops the secret mission cards from the original.

The Tiny Epic series of games has built itself around a set of respectable core principles: easy entry, short playtime, high replayability, high strategy, and a small footprint. All of which are definitely on show here as within 10 minutes of opening we had a game setup, understood the rules, and were already making meaningful strategic decisions all on a tiny camping table.

The main goal of the game is to earn 21 points by colonising planet cards. To do that, and anything else in the game, you roll a handful of dice and use the results to take the different actions: moving your cute rocket meeples, gaining energy and culture (the two resources of the game), activating planet powers, or moving up the life and gear colony tracks. It brings quite a bit of luck to the game but there are some clever mechanics to fuel strategic play. The first three actions a player performs are placed in yellow bordered squares, each of which other players can mimic by paying a point of culture. A feature that, combined with the once per turn dice convertor, does a great job at balancing out the randomness.

On top of the streamlined gameplay, Tiny Epic Galaxies Blast Off features some beautiful art and very easy to understand icons for gameplay. And if you’re tight on space (as I know I am), the small box is definitely appreciated. If you’ve enjoyed any of the other games in the series, this one is definitely worth picking up (unless you own the original that is). If you haven’t, then you’re in for a real treat here. 

ANNA BLACKWELL

PLAY IT? YES

Designer: Scott Almes

Publisher: Gamelyn Games

Time: 30-45 minutes

Age: 9+

Price: £24

Buy your copy here

What’s in the box?

• 4 Galaxy mats
• 1 Action mat
• 30 Planet cards
• 6 Custom dice
• 16 Wooden starships
• 8 Wooden resource tokens
• 4 Wooden galaxy sliders
• 1 Wooden first player token

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This feature originally appeared in Issue 52 of Tabletop Gaming. Pick up the latest issue of the UK's fastest-growing gaming magazine in print or digital here or subscribe to make sure you never miss another issue.

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