Gamelyn Games Tiny Epic Galaxies

This tiny game really packs a lot of action within it's small box! I was lured into buying this by the cute tiny wooden space ships and galaxy theme, but I discovered that it's actually such a fun and engaging game that I always reach for to play (both at home and when traveling).THE GAME: The game itself has so many different levels of strategy with each planet offering different abilities. However, there's also a lot of luck involved on what dice you roll and how you use those dice, and in what order. AND THE BEST PART - you can use your "culture" points to "copy" someone else's action. (Ha!) This mechanism keeps all the players engaged, even when it's not their turn, since they turn someone else's dice into their advantage. ALSO there's a solo version of this game built in, so you can play against the game itself when there is no one else to play with."EASY" to Learn? There are some intricacies on how to use each dice and how best to strategize that make it the slightest bit confusing. The first game or two, I would often refer to the rulebook just to double-check. With that said, I was able to play this with my friend and her brilliant board-game-loving 5 year old (reading the cards out loud for him and listing out his options). He was able to grasp the strategy very well and he fell in love with the game!While this is "Travel-Sized" aka it fits in a pretty small box that can fit in your travel bag, the game itself is NOT one to play while in an airport or on-the-go. While you can use the box to roll the die in, the cards would need to be set-up ideally on a stable flat surface.With all of that said, I've now owned this game for several years and it became and remains one of my all-time favorites to play. I still feel like there's plenty of strategies to play out still with all the different elements in the game and I highly recommend for anyone who enjoys board games (especially if you like space themes)!

Easy to Learn:The concept is easy enough to learn. Points are based on controlled planets and the first to cross the 21 "line" activates the ending round. Whoever has the highest points, win. Now getting there is a little more detailed...The upgrade mechanics are great and requires strategy in selecting the randomness of what your die roll provides. You command these ships and point them in the direction in which they need to go in order to maximize the overall spoils. Allocating your resources seem like a task but it all flows very nicely.There are two variants of play: Solo and Competitive. The AI featured within the game feels like it wasn't just tacked on after the multiplayer aspect was created and this is very important. It feels like a game you absolutely want to play solo every now and then.Traveling:There are not a lot of moving parts to this game and the box lid doubles as a dice tray (as all Tiny Epics do actually). I've personally taken this to the park and played while my girls ran around the playground. I would only caution against winds. If I were to add anything, it would be a player track that helps "hold" my pieces in place but this isn't game breaking by any means.I wouldn't play this in a car or anything moving but taking it to a restaurant is perfect. It's a quick setup and quick tear down. Game play isn't terribly long.Value for Money:Huge game in a tiny box for a small cost. I highly recommend. It's not a theme that everyone has to be on board with but helps. It's not terribly long and allows for multiple plays.Overall:At it's core, it is a game of points. In solo mode, you try to beat the varied "enemies" that are ranged in difficulty. There isn't a story arc and allows for a quick put up/tear-down game. Great start into the Tiny Epic catalog in my opinion. It shows how much can be in such a small box!

FIRST OF ALL: I paid $20.00 for this game in June 2017, so don't pay these scalpers $40+ for this game. This game sells for $25 BRAND NEW in other stores online, so you'll have to do a quick Google search, but trust me -- they're there.Anyway...I bought this game to play as a solo game.Everything in the box comes in a bunch of small, resealable, clear plastic baggies, so everything is well organized and not bouncing around. Also, I sleeved all of my cards and they STILL fit in the box comfortably (i.e., I don't have to force the box to close), which is another plus for me because not many games fit all of their cards if you sleeve them. The pieces are high quality wooden pieces with nice paint jobs.As for the game itself? This is why I give it 5 stars for solo gameplay--I bought this game because I wanted to buy something a little different than what I was used to. Space theme isn't something I'm really interested in, but the game had good reviews to be honest, so I gave it a shot.The truth is that I wasn't a huge fan of it to be honest, BUT I am giving this product a full 5 stars because, on top of what I said before, I felt the rulebook was very well laid out and easy to learn from. You can pick up this game in less than 20 minutes and it's quite challenging (at least in my experience). The size makes it ultra portable, too! Then there's lots of replayability. Lots of pluses here.So in my personal taste, no, I would not buy another game like this. I would give it a 2/5 stars in terms of how much I enjoyed it. BUT just because I didn't like it doesn't mean that it deserves 2/5 stars. I am considering the quality, learning curve, size, and ease of gameplay in my review, hence the 5 stars. I can't dock the rating just because it doesn't fit my personal style.*PHEW* All that said, you're really into space themed games (or interested in picking one up), this is probably a really, really good game to pick up. There is also an expansion pack that you may want to pick up which totally changes the gameplay, so consider that as well!