Stats:
No. of players: 1-5
Amount of time to play: 40 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 5 min

Race for the Galaxy The Gathering Storm Description:

The Gathering Storm expansion for Race for the Galaxy adds a few new elements to the game. Nothing is game breaking but all add depth and some variety to already existing cards and strategies. It also adds support for a fifth player and a solo variant.

This article assumes you know how to play the base game. If you don’t, you can read my review of Race for the Galaxy here.

The first new addition to the game is goals. They come in two flavors: “first” goals and “most” goals. “First” goals are awarded to you if you are the first person to meet their requirements. The requirements include:

• 5 victory points
• discarding because you are over the card limit at the end of a round
• 3 alien cards
• a 6-cost development
• cards with powers in all six phases
• one world of each type

During the setup of the game you randomly pick four of these “first” goals to play with. They are each worth three victory points and if two players fulfill the requirements in the same round they both get the three victory points. “First” goals may only be claimed once per game.

“Most” goals require you to have a certain number of elements in play and the player with the most elements in the requirement gets five victory points. You may take this tile from the player currently holding it if you exceed their total number of met requirements. Unlike “first” goals only one player may have a ”most” goal. If two players meet the goal in the same phase then the tile remains unclaimed til one player alone has the most of the required elements. The requirements for “most” goals include:

• 3+ Rare Element or Novelty worlds
• 4+ Production worlds
• 6+ Military Power
• 4+ Developments

The solo variant deserves its own review and adding another player to this game is nice.

A Quick Review of Race for the Galaxy The Gathering Storm:

The Gathering Storm adds goals to the base game which I think can help focus your strategy. Possibly even in just the short term. Some might feel constrained to work toward a specific goal and think it is limiting. Others will see it as a way to help them make decisions with the cards they have or could get.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 5 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 3 out of 6
Replay Value 6 out of 6
Complexity 6 out of 6
Fun 6 out of 6
Overall 6 out of 6