Roll for the Galaxy: Ambition Expansion Board Game

Roll for the Galaxy is a favorite to play between my wife and I. Whereas Race for the Galaxy (RFtG) was a bit too complex for her liking, we both found that there is an ebb and flow to Roll that allows us to have a great experience in about 40 minutes where we each construct our own small galactic empire of planets and technologies. The Ambition expansion adds in several meaningful additions that enhance the game experience with some minor added complexities. There are two new dice types - leaders (black dice) and entrepreneurs (orange dice) that offer additional options when rolling - they also have a $ symbol that signifies that when they are used, they return to the cup rather than to the citizenry space of the player board. Also added are goals and dice tokens. Goals operate similarly to RFtG, the first player to accomplish the goal will gain the points and rewards associated in the form of dice tokens.These tokens can be held on to for points (1 VP each at game end) OR can be used during the game to count as a wild-colored die of any facing. This allows for some very big plays. Lastly, and one of the *best* parts of the expansion is the inclusion of a huge stack of new starting worlds and faction tiles. The number of combinations now is insane, and only adds to the already great replayability in this game. The only possible downside to this expansion is that there is some added complexity, which will be potentially more difficult for new players to grasp when playing. In my opinion, this added complexity of the goals is a strength as it adds an additional strategic layer to consider when picking which side of a tile to face during exploration, or when assigning one's dice every round. If you enjoy Roll, but wish there was just a little more to the base game, this is going to be a must-buy, it improves the game a lot on that level. If you feel like you are already happy with Roll as is and that the game's simplicity is its strength and doesn't need additional complexity, you will be fine without it.

Roll for the Galaxy was an already-great game, but I would only rate it at 4-stars due to some situations in which you find yourself too far behind to catch up, or simply in some un-fun dice rolling loops. Ambition goes a long way toward fixing these situations, and also addresses the starting tiles with a massive amount of variety added! The black and orange dice are such huge changes to how RFTG is played, that it is really hard to effectively explain it here. How many times have you been sitting on white dice only in your cup, begging for your opponent to roll that Develop stage, and knowing you can't choose the phase because you have to Explore for $2 or you will be stuck in a loop? Well, now your explore dice can have a dollar sign next to it, and go right back in your cup, or you can reassign dice to a phase that got selected, due to dual-phase typing on black or orange dice. This helps so incredibly much in smoothing out the turn flow. The extra tiles are really fun. There are only three extra tiles for the bag, which is sad, but there were already a huge amount of bag tiles. The big change is the Faction tiles and, to a lesser extent, starter worlds. There are so many Faction tiles, with many unique powers now, that you will rarely sit down and play a set of three or four games, and ever see the same tile. It adds a lot of strategy to the gameplay, and a lot of replayability. Overall, I think this is one of the better expansions that has come out in recent history. It greatly expands on the base game, and shores up many of the bad parts. It turns a 4-star game into a hard 5-star game that I have been playing with my whole family for months now, and do not see an end in sight.

Love the original Roll for the Galaxy - one of my groups favorite games - and the expansion adds even more. The Leader and Entrepreneur dice offer additional variety, and the new factions, worlds and exploration tiles were needed if you plan on playing a lot. We decided not to use the new Objective tiles as we typically forget they are there as the games have become more fast-paced so are more of a distraction than a strategy device.

The base game is fantastic, and I really enjoy the additional dice and starting factor tiles from this expansion. I am still on the fence about the new objectives tiles as they detract slightly from an already wonderful game mechanic. Hence only 4 out of 5.

The base game, for me, got a little too straightforward and rote. The expansion adds black dice, orange dice and objectives..+ plus additional planet/tech cards. We are enjoying all of it. Everyone gets the black dice and they add a small potential for an extra decision and actually make the game go slightly faster. Orange dice are similar, but you only get them with specific planets. Some of the new techs are pretty neat and unique. I've seen some negative reviews about the objectives and we didn't agree. They're very simple and add another avenue to aid victory that adds really no more complication to the game than what is already there in the techs and planets. I highly recommend the expansion and all its facets.

Adds more factions and starting worlds and a new die, without changing the basic game too much. I don't play with the "Objectives".

Great expansion for Roll for the Galaxy. You don't get many new regular tiles, but the addition of 14 new faction (double-wide starting tiles) adds a lot more variation to Roll games. You get a few other things (black Leader dice for the start of the game, a new Orange die type, Gathering Storm-type goals), but mostly it's worth it for the additional factions.

Adds some variety and options without too much complexity. Adding the additional tiles, orange dice, and black dice are a no-brainer. It adds like 20 seconds to explaining the game and it's fun to cheer on the dice for one more thing... "come on dollar signs!" :)

Great expansion. It does not change completely the concept of the games but adds new possibilities and makes the game anew if you feel like it's always the same.

Great expansion for the game. Adds variety and flexibility for your strategies without adding much complexity.

Vor Jahren haben wir uns für das Kartenspiel Race for the Galaxy begeistert. Die Würfelspiel-Version gefällt uns sogar noch viel besser. Wir haben unsere Töchter dafür begeistert und auch andere Freunde. Wenn der vergleichsweise hohe Preis der englischen Ausgabe nicht wäre, würden wir es wahrscheinlich auch ab und an verschenken, so große Fans sind wir. Diese Rezension bezieht sich auf eine Erweiterung, daher werde ich das Grundspiel nicht erklären, sondern nur einige Features der Erweiterung auflisten: Die Erweiterung, Ambition, bringt mit zwei neuen Würfeln mehr taktische Möglichkeiten. Bereits bei Spielbeginn tauscht man einen seiner weißen Würfel gegen den neuen schwarzen Anführerwürfel. Dieser trägt teilweise zwei Phasensymbole, bzw ein Dollarzeichen und ein Phasensymbol. Wenn eine Phase ausfällt, kann er in ersterem Fall verschoben werden. Erledigt der Anführer die erwürfelte Arbeit (anstatt zum Beispiel eine andere Phase auszulösen), sorgt das Dollarzeichen dafür, dass er wieder in den Becher zurückwandert und nicht in die Citizenry. Der orange Entrepeneur-Würfel funktioniert ähnlich, ist aber nicht ganz so stark. Viel wichtiger als die neuen Würfel sind jedoch die neuen Startkulturen und Startwelten. Die Erweiterung erhöht die Zahl der möglichen Kombinationen enorm. Nicht zuletzt gibt es noch Auftragskarten, Achievements vergleichbar, die zusätzliche Siegpunkte/Einmal-Joker gewähren. Auch diese sind eine Bereicherung des Spiels. In unserer Familie kommt das Spiel samt Erweiterung mehrmals in der Woche auf den Tisch, so groß ist die Begeisterung.

Esta expansión es más de lo mismo de “Roll for the Galaxy” con algunas cositas más. En general agrega nuevas razas, planetas/tecnologías, nuevos dados y una nueva mecánica de objetivos. Las razas son muchas, lo que agrega variedad al juego. Los planetas iniciales son lo mismo, simplemente dan más variedad al juego, lo cual se agradece. Uno de los cambios fundamentales con esta expansión es la introducción de los dados negros, los cuales cambian la forma en la que se empieza el juego en término de dados. Esto hace más manejable el factor suerte a lo largo del juego y en general mejora la selección de fases. Los objetivos son una adición buena pero no necesaria que le agregan otro elemento de estrategia menor al juego En pocas palabras esta expnasión mejora el juego pero no lo cambia drasticamente. Así que si ya les gusta el juego base es muy recomendable y si no, no esperen que esta expansión cambie su opinión.

Expansion. Ne peut être joué sans le jeu de base. Augmente les possibilités et la rejouabilité du jeu.