efficiency and execution in Race for the Galaxy

Race for the Galaxy is really growing on me. Since I learned San Juan first, I see it as a more interesting version of San Juan.

One aspect I noticed in a game that I played today is that the final outcome very much leans on who can be the most efficient in their play. Another way to look at it is, who can execute their plan flawlessly.

I made a big mistake at the end of the game that might have cost me the win. It was a two-player game, and I chose Consume x2 and Produce as my two phases. This allowed me to gain considerably more VP's than my opponent. My mistake was playing the Produce phase. Without the Produce, I would still have had 1 good to consume in the next round. My opponent would have had nothing, thanks to his Pilgrimage World which forces him to consume all his remaining goods.

Since I did play Produce, and because there were only 8 VP's remaining in the VP pool, we were both obliged to play Consume x2. This time, since he played the x2 as well, my advantage was not as great. I should have considered which phase would have been the next most advantageous to myself because of how much Produce helped him.

The beautiful thing about Race for the Galaxy is that the games are quite fast (usually about 45 minutes, regardless of the number of players). While one mistake can hurt your whole game, it doesn't hurt for very long. There's always time for another game!