Galactic Contract: A Strategic Resource Management Game

Galactic Contract is a strategy/engine-building type game that's easy to pick up, and isn't very time-consuming. It is a great intro to board games for younger folks and for people like my wife who hates high-complexity eurogames like Agricola and cutthroat games like Diplomacy. It takes 25-40 minutes per play and is beautifully designed (I think the art is some of the best in board games).

I'd recommend Galactic Contract for gamers who want to introduce others to board games with something somewhat forgiving, looking for enough strategy to have a lot of replayability, looking for games under 45 minutes, and looking at a decent price point- I got mine for $20 but now it is selling at $30 post-Kickstarter.

Happy playing, "Captains"!

Good: -High strategy -Can go very quickly -Low combat -Interesting mechanics -Variable gameplay = high replayability -Cool, retro minimalistic art -Small box, fairly portable

Bad -Downtime during other players' turns -Rules are a little unclear in places -Can take a few rounds to build momentum due to limited actions at first

The only "luck" elements come from the shuffled card decks. Otherwise, it is fairly high-strategy. Although it can seem a bit daunting at first, it's actually pretty easy to learn and usually doesn't take very long to get playing the first time. The randomness of the setup makes for new and interesting games every time you play. When people take a long time to decide what to do on their turn, it can feel a little slow and sluggish. However, if players plan for what their upcoming actions are going to be, then turns go more quickly and the game can flow rapidly. A definite recommend.