Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8514367/point-galaxy

Designers: Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, Shawn Stankewich
Publisher: Flatout Games, AEG
Artist: Dylan Mangini

Here are a few key things to note about this game, especially in relation to the other two Point games (Salad and City):

1) This game plays more similarly to City than Salad but obviously has a drastically different theme.

2) The standard gameplay of Point City remains but there are a few fun twists added. I think the main new idea in Galaxy is that there aren’t physical resource cards anymore – the cards are either planet cards or space cards, and players utilize the two types of cards in different ways to maximize scoring.

3) The scoring is quite different and makes Galaxy the most challenging and puzzly of the three in my opinion. There are sun cards that are associated with galaxy columns that determine the way those will score. Continually, there are asteroid cards that only score for the player(s) with the highest number collected, the planets need to be placed in ascending or descending order to maximize points, and the moons score based on the colors of the planet cards adjacent to them in the galaxy. There is definitely more going on in terms of scoring and card combinations, but the game still isn’t complicated by any stretch, which I appreciate. The tokens that can be acquired throughout the game still remain as well, which provide additional scoring opportunities at the end of the game like in City.

4) The solo mode is great as it is in City. It basically follows the same general rules and flow as City but with a few small changes. There is also a nice achievements list to help with replayability.

As with most Flatout/AEG combo titles released recently, this is just a really solid game. It’s a great addition to the Point collection by keeping the same core mechanics but adding some increased difficulty and a few new rules and mechanisms. I’m really interested in trying this one multiplayer – I think it will work well at any player count, but we will see!