Galaxy Trucker on mobile iOS/Android devices,was originally a board game that now has been given its own digital version.
Containing Single player and Multiplayer modes,the aim of the game is simple.. Travel around the galaxy with other players and finish at your destination having made more profit than your opponents.
Starting each journey,requires you building your own spaceship from scratch. Clearly the most complex and important part of the game..You are required to piece together ship parts from a pile of blank looking cards and connect all manner of rooms and equipment that weld together similar to games like pipe mania. Essentially,each journey requires that your ship has a certain amount of weaponry fitted.A power cell unit and shield ability,booster rockets to move about and adequate storage rooms for resources and crew rooms.Whilst remembering that your opponent (AI or other player)is foraging the same card pile and doing the same!
Once the ship is assembled it’s time to set off to journey into space. Each journey accompanied by a set of “event”cards which determine what encounters you face. These can be anything from finding planets,where you can pick coloured resource units that you can store and sell should you get them back.Pirate encounters that require you to use your weaponry if attached,slave ships that can steal your crew and the big challenge with most trips…meteor showers.
Determined by a roll of the dice,these random meteor showers hit certain areas of your ship and can destroy parts,causing you to lose resources,crew and vital engine parts.The number of the dice roll applies to your ship on a numbered grid with a roll of 2 hitting left side,and 8 on right side for example. Here,it’s where an adequate shield system can come into play,if equipped,to protect those vital components and resources.
Should you make it back to your destination.Each pilot and ship is then graded with each resource brought back counted up and the victor,the one who has amassed the most profit. Then it’s back to build another ship and restart again…
Naturally,single player carries its own Campaign mode. Here,each port has its own characters who you can interact with and accept various side missions. These can be essentially escort missions such as ferrying an important guest back to their home planet or transporting valuable cargo to a certain destination. Of course,it will naturally carry its own tactics in what ship you build for the task and certain luck with getting your ship back in one piece and cargo undamaged !
Overall,this is a solid and very good board and dice game,that’s translated well to mobile. It’s reasonably easy to understand in a short period of time and yet difficult to successfully forge a profitable career with so many events down to luck and the correct ship build. Supported by a decent single player campaign,tutorial mode and multiplayer,each trip is a challenge but a compelling one with plenty of replay value to boot..
Thanks to CGE Digital for the code
