Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition)

2021

Experience Galaxy Trucker's thrilling space adventure! Build your spaceship, secure valuable cargo, outsmart pirates and compete to finish the journey first, all while keeping your ship intact!

30
minutes

2 - 4
player(s)

Medium

About the game

Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition) is a thrilling and adventurous board game that takes you across the cosmos on an exciting mission. As the name suggests, it’s all about trucking through the galaxy, with the players taking on the roles of space truckers who are tasked with building and navigating their own spaceship.

The game is set in a futuristic universe, where intergalactic travel is not only possible but also a thriving business. As a space trucker, you need to transport goods across the galaxy while facing a variety of obstacles including asteroids, pirates, and even bureaucratic red tape. The game’s whimsical sci-fi setting is one of its most endearing features, providing a backdrop that’s both fun and immersive.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition) is a thrilling board game that lets you build spaceships, dodge meteors, and fight off bad guys, all for profit and glory. It includes a myriad of components, each playing a significant role in the game. Here’s an overview of each component:

1. Game Boards: These are the central part of the game where players build their spaceship. Each player gets a game board that has a grid on which they place ship component tiles.

2. Ship Component Tiles: These are the building blocks of your spaceship. These tiles include a variety of components like crew cabins, engines, storage, shields, and guns. Each tile has a specific function:

Crew Cabins: Houses your crew. Some cabins can hold aliens who provide benefits.
Engines: Makes your ship go faster, which can be crucial in certain events.
Storage: Allows you to carry goods for trade at various planets.
Shields: Protects your ship from small meteors and lasers.
Guns: Helps in shooting meteors and fighting off pirates.

3. Adventure Cards: These cards determine the events that occur during the flight phase. They can contain planets (where you can pick up goods), meteors (that you have to dodge or shoot), pirates (who you have to fight off), and other events.

4. Astronaut and Alien Tokens: These represent your crew. You need crew to fly the ship, man the guns, and generate revenue at the end of the flight. Aliens can provide special abilities.

5. Goods Cubes: These represent the cargo you pick up from planets. They come in three colors, representing different values. You store them in your storage tiles and sell them at the end of the flight for credits.

6. Credits: The player with the most credits at the end of the game wins. You earn credits by being the fastest, fighting off pirates, and selling goods.

7. Dice: These are used to determine the direction of meteors and the strength of pirates.

8. Flight Stands: These are used to show the order of the ships during the flight phase. The order can affect who gets to a planet first, who pirates target, and who gets hit by meteors.

Each of these components interacts with each other to create a dynamic, exciting game where you are constantly making decisions, taking risks, and trying to maximize your profit while keeping your ship intact.

Game flow Round and round we go

Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition) is a fun and chaotic board game where players take on the roles of spaceship builders and try to outsmart their opponents. The game is divided into three primary phases: Building, Flying and Selling. Each round of the game consists of these three phases.

Phase 1: Building

Each player starts with a personal ship board and a pile of face-down component tiles. When the phase begins, the players quickly flip over the tiles and start building their own spaceship on their ship board.
Players have to connect components such as engines, shields, crew cabins, and cargo holds while respecting the connection rules.
The building phase is timed. Once the first player finishes their ship, they flip the timer to start the countdown for the other players.
When the time runs out, all players must stop building. The ships are then inspected for errors. Any mistakes result in penalties or removal of incorrectly placed components.

Phase 2: Flying

The flying phase is where players navigate their ships through the dangers of space. This phase is played out through a deck of adventure cards.
Players take turns drawing and resolving adventure cards which represent various events such as meteor showers, pirates, planets with goods to pick up, etc.
The order of the players is determined by the order of completion in the building phase.
Events may damage or destroy parts of the ship, remove crew members or cargo, or provide opportunities to earn credits. If a ship loses all of its crew or its last cabin, it is considered lost in space and the player is out for the rest of the round.

Phase 3: Selling

At the end of the flying phase, players who have survived can sell any cargo they have collected during the journey.
Players also receive credits based on the order they finished the flight, with bonuses for the most beautiful ship, and penalties for any damage taken.
After selling and scoring, the round ends. Any remaining ships are dismantled and a new round begins with a larger ship board for the next building phase.
The game ends after three rounds. The player with the most credits is the winner.

The game of Galaxy Trucker is a wild ride, where careful planning in the building phase can be thwarted by the unpredictable dangers of the flying phase. Despite the chaos, the most successful truckers will be those who can build robust and efficient ships, make the best of their adventure cards, and manage their credits wisely.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

In Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition), there are two main phases in a player’s turn: the Building Phase and the Flight Phase. Each phase requires different strategic decisions and actions.

Building Phase:

Choosing Ship Components: Players have a limited amount of time to grab tiles from the center of the table and try to build the best spaceship they can. Each tile represents a different part of the ship: engines, shields, crew cabins, batteries, etc.
Placing Components: Once a player selects a tile, they must decide where to place it on their ship. This decision is crucial as the position of the components can affect the ship’s performance during the Flight Phase.
Completing the Ship: When the time runs out, or when a player decides their ship is complete, they must stop building. It’s important to note that a well-constructed ship can earn the player ‘prettiest ship’ bonus points.

Flight Phase:

Revealing Adventure Cards: Players must face the challenges presented by the adventure cards. These can include obstacles like asteroids, pirates, or even a plague. The player’s choices during the Building Phase will greatly impact how well they can manage these challenges.
Resolving Challenges: Players resolve the challenges in the order they are revealed. They may need to use their ship’s engines to avoid hazards, use shields to protect from attacks, or even lose parts of their ship if they can’t mitigate the damage.
Earning Credits: If a player successfully navigates through the challenges, they earn credits based on how far they traveled, the condition of their ship, and any cargo they managed to keep hold of. The player with the most credits at the end of the game wins.

In Galaxy Trucker, every action and strategic choice impacts the game. The frantic pace of the Building Phase contrasts with the tension-filled Flight Phase, creating a unique and exciting gaming experience.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition) is a thrilling board game that takes you on an adventurous journey through space. In terms of game ending, the game concludes after three building and flight phases, each increasingly challenging. Let’s discuss the ending, victory conditions, and pre-scoring actions in detail.

Game Ending:

The game of Galaxy Trucker ends after the completion of the third round – that is, after the third ship-building phase and subsequent flight phase. Each round represents a journey through space, with players encountering various challenges and opportunities. After the third round’s flight phase, the game comes to a close, and final scoring takes place.

Victory Conditions:

The player with the most credits at the end of the game is declared the winner. Credits are earned in several ways throughout the game:

By successfully delivering cargo – different types of cargo have different credit values.
By having the most aesthetically pleasing ship, as determined by fellow players.
By being the first to arrive at the destination, with bonus credits awarded to the fastest players.
By having the least damaged ship at the end of each flight phase.

Note that players may also lose credits due to penalties, such as damage to their ship or lost crew members.

Actions Before Final Scoring:

Before the final scoring, players must perform the following actions:

Calculate their credits earned from the last flight phase.
Add up all the credits earned from each flight phase.
Subtract any penalties, such as credits lost due to damage or lost crew members.
Compare their total credits with the other players to determine the winner.

Remember, the player with the most credits after the final scoring is crowned the winner of Galaxy Trucker!

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

In Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition), players earn cosmic credits (points) through various aspects of gameplay. Scoring is calculated at the end of each round, and the player with the most cosmic credits at the end of the third round is declared the winner.

Earning Cosmic Credits

Delivering Goods: Players earn credits for each good delivered. The value of the good is determined by its color: Green goods are worth two credits, yellow goods are worth three, and rare red goods are worth four.
Space Travel: Players earn one credit for each day they spent traveling in space. This is calculated based on the flight days indicated on the adventure cards.
First Arrival: The player who arrives first at the destination earns four additional credits.
Best Looking Ship: The player with the least damaged ship earns four additional credits. In case of a tie, the credits are divided among the tied players.

Penalties

Lost Components: Players lose one credit for each component lost during the journey. This includes both components lost due to hazards and components voluntarily jettisoned by the player.
Unpaid Loans: Each unpaid loan reduces a player’s credits by seven. It’s important to note that loans can only be paid off during the game, not at the end.

Tie-Breaking Rules

In case of a tie at the end of the game, the player with the least number of loans is the winner. If there is still a tie, the player who arrived first in the last round is the winner. If a tie still persists, the player with the fewest lost components in the final round wins. In the rare case that there is still a tie, the victory is shared.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition) is a unique and dynamic board game with several special rules, exceptions, and clarifications that might be important for players. Here are some of them:

Building Phase:

During the Building Phase, players are allowed to look at their ship blueprints at any time. However, they are not allowed to look at the components in the warehouse until they remove their hand from the bag.
Players must adhere to the connection rules when placing components. For example, a component with a universal connector can be connected to any other type of connector. But a single connector can only be attached to another single connector or to a universal connector.

Flight Phase:

In the Flight Phase, players can use a single battery token to power all shield generators on their ship. This is an exception to the rule that each component must be powered individually.
When a player encounters a ‘Planets’ card, they can choose not to land on a planet and collect goods. This is an important rule clarification as many players mistakenly believe that landing is mandatory.

Open Space:

When a player encounters an ‘Open Space’ card, they must use one of their engines to continue moving forward. If a player does not have any working engines, they will remain stationary until the next card is drawn.
Another rule clarification for ‘Open Space’ is that players can choose to use additional battery tokens to power their engines for extra movement. This is optional and not a requirement.

Combat Zone:

When players enter a Combat Zone, they must follow the instructions on the Combat Zone card in order from top to bottom. If a player cannot perform a required action, they must skip it and move on to the next one.
If two or more players have the same number of crew members or the same number of gun connectors facing the enemy, the player closest to the front (with the smallest numbered ship) wins the tie.

End of the Round:

At the end of each round, players can choose to discard any number of goods from their cargo bays. However, they cannot discard goods to make room for the bonus for the Most Beautiful Ship.
In the case of a tie for the Most Beautiful Ship, no one gets the bonus. This is a unique exception to the general rule for ties in Galaxy Trucker.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Advanced Strategies:

Ship Building: Prioritize building a well-constructed ship. Aim for a balanced ship that can withstand meteors and has strong firepower. Remember, the strongest ships are the ones that make it to the end.
Component Variety: Utilize a variety of components. Batteries, shields, and engines are just as important as cargo holds and crew quarters. A diverse ship will be prepared for any situation.
Card Counting: Try to remember which adventure cards have been played. This will give you a better idea of what dangers remain in the deck and allow you to prepare accordingly.

Beginner Tips:

Take Your Time: Start the game at a slow pace. It’s more important to understand how the components work together than to rush through the ship-building phase.
Balance Your Ship: Make sure to balance your ship with both cargo and crew. A ship without enough cargo will not be profitable, but a ship without enough crew will not be able to operate efficiently.
Use Your Shields: Don’t forget to use your shields. They can protect your ship from meteors and enemy fire, ensuring your survival in the game.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

Ignoring Components: Each component has its own unique purpose. Don’t ignore any component as they all have their own benefits.
Rushing Through Building: Take your time during the building phase. A hastily built ship is more likely to fall apart during the game.
Ignoring Adventure Cards: Pay attention to the adventure cards. They can provide valuable information about what dangers lie ahead.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay:

Plan Ahead: Before starting the building phase, have a plan in mind. Knowing what type of ship you want to build will make the building process smoother.
Manage Your Resources: Be mindful of your resources. Make sure to use your crew and batteries wisely.
Learn From Mistakes: Each game is a learning experience. Learn from your mistakes and adapt your strategy in the next game.