Gal4Xeon jumps straight from FTL right into a system near you! This 4X game (Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate) comes from Eurydice Games Ltd a friend to BigBossBattle and we have had a chance to try out this new roll and write game and can’t wait to see what the finished release is like!
If like me; You are a fan of a good roll and write game, then I think that Gal4Xeon is for you. Each map that you can play with starts you with a different configuration of your galaxy.
Just like Eurydice Games’ previous title FlickFleet, Gal4Xeon is complex on the outside, but in minutes you hit a mechanically simple core where every decision you make gives you new possibilities and ways to expand your game.
Gal4Xeon asks you to roll three D6 dice and all players will use the numbers rolled for this round. How you each spend those dice however, is totally up to you. You will spend the numbers on three Strategy tracks. The tracks are Explore, Conquer, Research, Exploit and Trade.
The number you apply to that track is how many of the squares you will fill in. When you complete the separate blocks you have done, you will get a bonus in that section. Such as unlocking a research, exploring a system, etc. I must admit, one thing I really liked about Gal4Xeon is that unlike some other roll and writes, where you need to specifically hope for different numbers to come out, in Gal4Xeon, high numbers are your friend. I began to feel very lucky the first few rounds I played when I was rolling fives and sixes. That did not last, the interstellar empire of Johnoids did not go far.
Some of the elements to the game are easy to pick up like the Research track, and the iconography used means there is no language barrier (as long as you can read the rules). But for this old space cowboy, I thought that the Exploration track was the most interesting in Gal4Xeon. You pick a hex that must be adjacent to your current control area, and you draw around the hexes of the explored hexes. At first, its just a single hex, but this expands more and more as you unlock the tech.
Right now you are probably thinking that doesn’t sound that interesting. BUT, once you start to explore, this is where the galaxy on your paper starts to become yours. This is not a roll and write where at the end you just have a piece of paper with some numbers on. You will have a galaxy that you explored and through that exploration shaped how it will look, and that’s brilliant. You will explore these hexes and each one, based on additional rolls will change. They can be uninhabited, or more likely have a new species in them. But, will they be neutral, friendly, or not friendly?
This exploration then jump’s you into the Trade, Conquer and Exploit actions. Exploit sees you using an uninhabited system and stripping it of resources. There are some bonuses if that sector happens to belong to the Precursor civilization. Nice and easy, but now its time to work out what to do with those pesky aliens you’ve met along the way.
Those aliens you classified whilst exploring your galaxy, well if you have managed to unlock the required trade tech, you can initiate a trade with the species of that demeanour. Happy aliens are the first to unlock, so great for you if you have lots of those around, then neutral, or as I think of them “not bothered either way” aliens, and finally the not very nice “look at me and I will shoot you” aliens. These guys you only get to trade with once you have enough blaster tech unlocked to figuratively build a death star. When you do trade it will give you a permanent boost to your dice roll minimum, a great way to avoid death by ones. Or it gives you more research.
Lastly, in Gal4Xeon you have the Conquer track. When you meet a new species they get a military strength assigned. Now you need to have a stronger strength than them. Once you take the conquer action, you cannot trade with them anymore, after all, why trade with your new vassal nation? But as you fly your flag over their cities, be happy in the knowledge that each conquered race is worth a mighty three points at the end of the game.
Gal4Xeon is a cracking 4X roll and write game and at an amazing price. When you want a break from some great digital games like battling over planets and systems in Pax Nova or you have scratched that “one more turn” itch from Relic Space maybe its time to get out a pen or pencil and try Gal4Xeon. You can print and laminate it to give it longevity or use the tablet version, and you can play with as many people as you have copies. So put the kettle on and invite me round so you can watch in person as my plucky space faring civilization rolls itself straight into a black hole!
Check out Gal4Xeon on Gamefound
