Tiny Epic Galaxies

2015

In Tiny Epic Galaxies, strategize to expand your space empire, acquire contested planets, and leverage unique abilities for victory. Will your empire reign supreme?

45
minutes

1 - 5
player(s)

14+

Medium

About the game

Welcome to the awe-inspiring universe of Tiny Epic Galaxies, a strategic and engaging board game that will transport you to the infinite realms of outer space. This unique game is not only about winning, but it also offers a wonderful journey through the cosmos, where every decision you make can shape the course of an entire civilization.

The theme of Tiny Epic Galaxies is set in a vast universe, teeming with galaxies waiting to be explored. As players, you represent your civilization’s galactic empire, and your ultimate goal is to expand your empire’s influence and power among the stars. It’s a race to see who can accrue the most victory points by managing resources, expanding your fleet of starships, and colonizing new planets.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Tiny Epic Galaxies is a strategic board game filled with interstellar exploration, planet colonization, and resource management. Here’s a list of all the components included in the game and their functions:

1. Rule Book: This document contains all the information on how to play the game. It includes setup instructions, gameplay rules, and scoring details.

2. 5 Galaxy Mats: Each player receives a Galaxy Mat that represents their galaxy. These mats have tracks for energy and culture (the game’s primary resources), slots for your dice actions, an Empire Track, and spaces for your ships.

3. 40 Planet Cards: These cards are drawn from a deck and represent the different planets players can explore and colonize. Each planet has its unique ability and victory points.

4. 12 Secret Mission Cards: These cards provide players with unique objectives that will give extra victory points if accomplished by the end of the game.

5. 7 Custom Dice: These dice are rolled to perform different actions such as moving ships, increasing resources, advancing on the Empire Track, and utilizing planet abilities.

6. 20 Wooden Ships: Each player has four ships that are used to explore and colonize planets. They can be moved from your galaxy to different planets and back.

7. 1 Control Mat: This mat is used to place the Planet Cards and keep track of which planets are currently being colonized or have been colonized.

8. 40 Resource Tokens: These tokens are split into two types – Energy and Culture. Energy is primarily used to reroll dice, while Culture is used to follow other player’s actions on their turn.

9. 1 Round Marker: This marker is used to keep track of the current round of the game.

10. Score Track: This track is used to keep track of each player’s victory points throughout the game. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Each component in Tiny Epic Galaxies is designed to work together to produce a deep and strategic gaming experience. Players must manage their resources, make strategic decisions about when to colonize planets, and carefully plan their actions to earn the most victory points and win the game.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Tiny Epic Galaxies is a strategy-based board game where players take on the roles of galaxy explorers, aiming to acquire planets and build a space empire. Follow the steps below to set up:

1. Prepare the Game Components:

Galaxy Mat: Each player receives a Galaxy Mat. This is where you will track your empire’s resources and actions.
Dice: A set of five dice are included. These will be used for activating actions during the game.
Planet Cards: Shuffle the Planet Cards and place them in a deck face down.
Secret Mission Cards: Shuffle the Secret Mission Cards and deal one to each player. Players should keep their mission secret until the end of the game.

2. Initial Resources:

Each player starts with two ships on their Galaxy Mat, placed on the galaxy track.
The resources each player starts with are dependent on their starting position. The first player starts with two energy and one culture, the second player starts with two of each, and so forth.

3. Board Placement:

Place the Control Mat in the center of the play area. This will track the overall progress of the game.
Deal a number of Planet Cards equal to twice the number of players plus two. Place these planets face up in the center of the play area, forming the galaxy.

4. Player Roles:

Each player, starting with the first and continuing clockwise, places one of their ships on any uncontrolled planet in the galaxy.
Players take turns clockwise, with each player using their dice to perform actions such as gaining resources, advancing ships, or colonizing planets.

5. Random Elements:

Planet Cards: The planets available in each game are randomly selected from the deck of Planet Cards, adding a level of unpredictability to each game.
Dice Rolls: The actions available to each player during their turn are determined by dice rolls, introducing an element of chance.

Once the game setup is complete, players may begin taking turns, rolling their dice, and expanding their galaxies!

Game flow Round and round we go

Tiny Epic Galaxies is a fast-paced game of interstellar exploration and conquest, where players control their own galaxy and compete to accumulate the most victory points. The game is structured in rounds, with each player taking turns in order.

Game Setup:

Each player selects a galaxy mat and places it in front of them. This mat represents their home galaxy.
Shuffle the planet cards and create a face-up row of seven cards in the center of the table.
Each player receives two ships, which they place on their home galaxy, and one secret mission card.
Players set their dice, energy, and culture to the starting levels indicated on their galaxy mat.

Gameplay:

Each player’s turn consists of the following phases:

Roll Phase: The active player rolls a number of dice equal to their galaxy’s current level. The results determine the actions available to them this turn.
Action Phase: The player may perform actions based on their dice results. They can do this in any order and may choose to pass their turn at any time. The available actions include:

Move a spaceship.
Earn resources (energy or culture).
Upgrade their galaxy (increasing the number of dice they roll and the maximum number of spaceships they can have).
Follow other player’s actions by spending culture.

Manage Empire Phase: The player can use any remaining energy to upgrade their galaxy or to re-roll their dice in future turns. They may also choose to convert culture into victory points.

End of the Game:

The game ends when any player reaches 21 points. After that, each other player gets one final turn. The player with the most victory points after this is declared the winner. In the case of a tie, the player with the most colonized planets wins.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

During a player’s turn in the board game ‘Tiny Epic Galaxies’, they can perform a variety of actions. These actions influence their game strategy and affect the gameplay in various ways. The possible actions a player can take are:

Rolling Dice: The player begins their turn by rolling a set of dice. The number of dice rolled is determined by the player’s galaxy level. Each dice face represents a different action the player can take.
Activating Dice: After rolling, the player can activate one of their dice to perform an action. Actions include:
- Energy: This action allows the player to gain energy, which can be used to re-roll dice or upgrade their galaxy.
- Culture: This action allows the player to gain culture, which can be used to follow other player’s actions on their turn.
- Move: The player can move a spaceship to a different planet.
- Diplomacy and Economy: These actions allow the player to advance on the colonization track of a planet they have a spaceship on.
- Colony: This action allows the player to activate the special ability of one of their colonized planets.
Following: If a player has enough culture, they can follow an action taken by another player on their turn. This allows the player to take an extra action outside of their turn, but at the cost of one culture point.
Upgrading: A player can choose to upgrade their galaxy. Upgrading requires energy points and provides various benefits such as increasing the number of dice the player can roll, or the number of spaceships they can have.
Colonizing: If a player has advanced to the end of the colonization track on a planet, they may choose to colonize it. Colonizing a planet grants the player victory points and a special ability that can be activated with the colony action.

Strategic choices a player can make involve deciding when to spend their energy and culture points, which planets to aim to colonize based on their special abilities, and when to follow other player’s actions. Players must also manage their resources carefully, as running out of energy or culture can limit their options during their turn.

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

Tiny Epic Galaxies is a dynamic game where players control their own galaxy and aim to achieve the most points by the end of the game. The game ends when a player reaches 21 or more points during the ‘Activate Galaxies’ phase of their turn. However, the end game rules and victory conditions also have a few other aspects to consider.

Firstly, once a player reaches 21 or more points, this triggers the end of the game. However, all players who have not yet taken their turn in the current round will be allowed a final turn to potentially increase their score. This ensures that all players have an equal number of turns within the game.

After all players have had their final turn, the final scoring begins:

Galaxy Points: Each player adds up the Galaxy Points from their Home Galaxy and any Colonized Planets. These points are marked on the score track.
Secret Mission: Each player reveals their Secret Mission card and adds any points achieved from fulfilling the mission to their score.
Majority Bonus: The player who has the majority in each planet type scores an additional 2 points. If two or more players are tied for the majority, they each receive the 2 points.
Energy and Culture: Players receive 1 point for every 2 resources (Energy or Culture) they have left over at the end of the game.

The player with the highest total score at the end of final scoring is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the tied player who has the most leftover Energy and Culture combined is the winner. If there’s still a tie, the tied player with the most ships wins. If a tie persists, the victory is shared.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

In the game of ‘Tiny Epic Galaxies’, points are awarded based on various conditions. Let’s go through them:

1. Planets:

Each player gets points for the planets they have colonized during the game. The point value of each planet is shown on the card.

2. Secret Missions:

Everyone gets a Secret Mission card at the beginning of the game. Points are awarded at the end of the game if the conditions on the Secret Mission card are met. It’s important to note that a player’s Secret Mission is kept hidden from other players until the end of the game.

3. Galaxies:

Points are also awarded based on the level of the player’s galaxy. The point value of each galaxy level is printed on the player mat.

4. Unused Energy and Culture:

At the end of the game, every 2 unused energy or culture resources are also worth 1 point.

After all points have been tallied, the player with the most points is declared the winner. However, in the event of a tie, there are specific tie-breaking rules that come into play:

The player with the most colonized planets is the winner.
If the tie persists, the player with the most remaining resources (energy and culture) is the winner.
If there is still a tie, the player who reached the winning condition first is the winner.

These rules ensure a fair and exciting gameplay experience in ‘Tiny Epic Galaxies’, where strategic planning can lead to victory.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Tiny Epic Galaxies is a game that has both straightforward rules and some special nuances. Here are some of the rare or special rules, exceptions, and important rule clarifications:

1. Activating a Galaxy: Players cannot activate a galaxy in their possession more than once per turn. However, if a player happens to gain control of a new galaxy during their turn, that new galaxy can be activated immediately.

2. Utilizing Dice: A player cannot use two dice simultaneously to complete an action. Each action must be completed separately, even if the actions are similar or identical. The only exception is if a player has activated a power that specifically allows simultaneous dice use.

3. Extra Actions: A player may take extra actions during their turn, but only if they have the necessary energy or culture resources. These extra actions can be taken at any point during their turn, not just at the end.

4. Conversion: It’s important to note that conversion between energy and culture resources is not allowed in the game. Each resource plays its own distinct role and must be collected and used separately.

5. Diplomacy: In a rare rule exception, a player may choose to move a spaceship that is currently on a diplomatic track to a different planet. However, this move forfeits any progress made on the original planet’s diplomatic track.

6. Colony Track: Once a player’s spaceship reaches the end of a colony track, it cannot be moved by another player’s dice. The ship stays in place until the player chooses to colonize the planet on their turn.

7. End Game: The game ends immediately when a player reaches 21 points during their turn. Other players do not get a final turn. In the case of a tie, the player with the most colonies wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most energy and then culture, in that order, wins.

These are just a few of the special rules and exceptions in Tiny Epic Galaxies. Always remember to consult the game rulebook if you’re unsure about a particular move or strategy.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Tiny Epic Galaxies is a captivating game of interstellar exploration, development, and conquest. To maximize your gaming experience, consider the following strategies, beginner tips, common mistakes to avoid, and ways to optimize gameplay.

Advanced Strategies:

Optimize Your Colony Track: By moving up the colony track, you can increase your galaxy’s power and access to resources. Try to balance this with your other strategies to maximize your potential benefits.
Utilize Secret Missions: These can provide you with bonus victory points at the end of the game. Keep them in mind as you develop your strategy.
Capitalize on Opponent’s Actions: If you have culture resources, you can follow the active player’s actions. This can be a powerful way to maximize your actions, especially in the later rounds of the game.

Beginner Tips:

Understand the Power of Dice: Each die you roll can potentially provide you with valuable resources or actions. Make sure to familiarize yourself with what each symbol means and how to best utilize them.
Plan Ahead: Always keep an eye on the planet cards in the center of the table. Planning your moves ahead of time can give you a significant advantage.
Balance Your Resources: Both energy and culture are important resources in the game. Try not to neglect one in favor of the other.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

Ignoring the Colony Track: Some new players may forget to advance on their colony track, which can limit their galaxy’s growth and potential. Remember, every time you move up the colony track, you gain additional benefits.
Not Using Follow Actions: Failing to use your culture to follow other players’ actions can lead to missed opportunities. If you have the resources, take advantage of this feature.
Overlooking End-Game Scoring: It’s easy to get caught up in the immediate action and forget about end-game scoring. Keep in mind that planets, secret missions, and your position on the colony track all contribute to your final score.

Optimizing Gameplay:

Stay Flexible: The dice in Tiny Epic Galaxies introduce a level of unpredictability. Be prepared to adjust your strategy based on your dice rolls.
Master the Art of Following: Following other players’ actions effectively can significantly boost your productivity. Practice and master this skill for optimal gameplay.
Explore Multiple Strategies: Don’t stick to one strategy every game. Keep exploring different combinations of planet powers, secret missions, and resource management to discover new ways to win.