Crimson Channel

RFTG Redux

04/25/21

Since publishing my previous Race for the Galaxy (RFTG) article, I’ve taken quite a few breaks from Board Game Arena (including a three-month hiatus at the beginning of 2021) in order to pursue a more balanced life.¹ In spite of that, I’m now at ~3000 lifetime RFTG games² and my excitement for RFTG is as high as it has ever been. RFTG just never gets old; it’s the only board/card game that to me has infinite replayability. Even though I’ve spent a fair amount of time with every expansion³ and surpassed my September ELO record (635) on more than one occasion, my heart still beats a little faster every time I discard one of my two starting worlds and two cards from my hand.

Board Game Arena screenshots.

Anyway, now that I have more experience, I thought I could share some more “strategy” thoughts. How magnanimous of me! I mean, it’s not just for the less-seasoned players. I like to look back at my thinking at different points in time, and one way to facilitate that is to write posts like these. Maybe I’ll forget how to play this game one day, or wonder how I made it so far up the rankings,⁴ and now is pretty much the best time to address those uncertainties.

Some More “Strategy” Thoughts

Primarily for 2PA base.

• Things to think about.
  For the most part, all I can give are generalizations. But RFTG decisions always ultimately depend on specific situations, and there are exceptions to everything.⁵ I guess I’ll start by enumerating some of the things I would consider when making any choice:

  • the exact cards (incl. number of cards) you have in your hand and tableau
  • the exact cards (incl. number of cards) your opponent has in their tableau
  • the number of cards your opponent has in their hand
  • the cards your opponent might have in their hand, especially in a worst-case sense
  • which powers you and your opponent have/want in each phase
  • which cards give those powers
  • whether anyone has those cards + the ability to play them
  • when/whether you’ll be able to afford a card
  • when / how much you’ll be able to use a card
  • the worst / best / most likely phases your opponent could choose
  • what happens if they do/don’t choose those phases
  • which phases your opponent would love/hate for you to choose (can/can’t use)
  • what your opponent is thinking you’ll do
  • the goods that you and your opponent have (/could have) (/would get from produce)
  • what gives or could give you / your opponent the most cards and/or VPs
  • the amount of VPs you and your opponent have so far
  • how close you are to the end of the game
  • your / your opponent’s military strength

• Momentum.
  It’s still all about the momentum of getting cards and/or points. You usually want to set things up so that you have something to do on the next turn that doesn’t necessitate exploring. To reuse an example from last time: in the early game you could develop + develop, but if you don’t get any cards back (or you’re not playing, like, Galactic Investors), and you have an empty windfall world, then assuming your opponent doesn’t have an amazing production option that they aren’t going to activate themselves, it might be better to develop + produce so that you’ll have a good to trade next round. Even if you don’t press an advantage this round, you can play a big powerful card next round and trade, and still have lots of options.

• When do I explore?
  You can explore…

  • if you don’t have decent/any developments or decent/any worlds in your hand
  • if you think that developing/settling would be better for your opponent than for you
  • if you want to make sure you can cover an opponent’s develop(s) and/or settle(s)⁶
  • if you don’t want to sacrifice a card that’s critical to your plans (do you really need it?)
  • if you just don’t have enough cards (/military) to play what you want to play :(
  • to slow down the game, maybe if you’re going to be produce/consuming
  • if you need a heavy hitter at the end (this will frequently be a +5+0 explore)

• Do I put this card down?
  Again, try not to put down cards that will eat up your hand and be unlikely to do anything for your engine. Don’t play Genetics Lab without any green windfalls just because your opponent chose develop, or Epsilon Eridani without need for a consume power just because your opponent chose settle⁷ – unless perhaps you have a card surplus, you’ll get cards back via Public Works or Terraforming Colonists, or you might be able to score some decent points via Galactic Federation or Trade League or SETI. The goal is to assemble a good clean engine.

  On the flip side, if the card will be useful, go ahead. Even in the beginning, feel free to “spend more to get more” especially with respect to getting more cards. When it comes to getting more cards, if multiple powers are comparable, prioritize the powers for chosen phases in the current round. For example, if consume is going to happen, you can play New Economy over Public Works. If produce is going to happen, and you have some blue worlds, you can play Consumer Markets over Terraforming Robots. Early on, don’t be afraid to throw away some decent cards to play a card that will get you more cards than you would have gotten otherwise, and especially more cards soon. (Now is almost always better than later.)

• The development trifecta.
  As you might recall from my first RFTG article, I used to salivate when I drew cards from the low-cost “development trifecta” of Public Works, Investment Credits, and Interstellar Bank. That’s no longer the case, and I’ll no longer scramble to set those down. I still think they’re really good cards, but sometimes they’re just not the right play. Every once in a while I’ll even trash an early Interstellar Bank to play other cards. (My newbie RFTG self would be appalled.)

• The ideal situation.
  The ideal situation in this game is to play phases which get you cards and/or VPs (the classic example being consume + produce) while your opponent plays other phases (usually develop and/or settle) that you want or can at least use.

• On an early turn…
  You could settle + trade to put down your windfall and get cards, or you could trade + produce, especially if their settle seems telegraphed, to get cards on this turn and then more cards on the next turn (momentum). This might feel a little sleazy, because you’re taking advantage of the opponent’s goodwill in choosing the settle phase, and without their help you would just end up looking like a fool. But that’s the way you occasionally have to play.

  Certain starting worlds telegraph a settle more than others do. In the base set, I consider New Sparta, Star Nomad Raiders, Galactic Trade Emissaries, and Terraforming Colonists more likely to herald a settle.⁸ I consider Industrial Robots, Alpha Centauri, Earth’s Lost Colony, and Abandoned Mine Squatters less likely to herald a settle. But for me it also depends on the opponent’s rating and the amount of time they take to perform their initial discards; if they take a long time, I might get psyched out thinking they don’t have any good windfall to place and are thus less likely to choose settle.

  Naturally it’s more okay to trade + produce if you’re guaranteed to get something out of it, e.g. if you started with a windfall or production world or perhaps Galactic Trade Emissaries. If you started with a windfall, you won’t look like a fool even if the opponent doesn’t settle.

• Ending the game.
  You don’t always want the game to end. If you’re at 11 cards and your opponent can’t end the game, and you feel like you’re going to lose if the game concludes now (sometimes you can determine this for sure), you might need to give up a develop or a settle so that you can get two on the next turn. Alternatively, if the VP chips are almost depleted, you might need to suboptimally consume so that the game doesn’t end. If your opponent is pulling out all the stops thinking it’s the end (throwing away all their cards to play their best remaining ones), and didn’t produce if they’re running a produce/consume engine, they might be left helpless if the game goes on for another turn. I’ve definitely squeezed out some victories this way.

  Basically, pay attention to whether you can (or can not) end the game and whether you want to end the game (and pay attention to the same things with respect to your opponent).⁹

• Phase choices on the final turn.
  Regarding phase choices on the final turn: if you’re produce/consuming, and you’re up on points, and you have great affordable cards to play, and there’s not a danger of Merchant Guild, consume + produce will probably give your opponent the least chances, as opposed to explore + consume. An explore might give your opponent a good card, or it might give them the ability to play a good card. And when you’re ahead, you obviously want to limit your opponent’s chances.

  If the points are close, you’ll have to use your discretion…

That’s all that comes to mind right now. Does any of this advice really correspond to third place on the ladder? I’m not so sure about that. I don’t think it describes what differentiates ColShaw from the rest of us at all; it’s quite probable that any RFTG theorycrafter could have produced these thoughts. I guess I struggle to distill the RFTG decision-making function that I have in my head (for which the input is game state and the output is phase choices or card placements/discards); given the enormity of its input space, said function doesn’t seem to lend itself well to advice that’s at once succinct, precise, and far-reaching. Or maybe the function isn’t really all that complex, I’ve just been extremely lucky, and I’m a poor little sap on the wrong side of the Dunning-Kruger curve. Hmm.

At any rate, I feel like I’ve said what I wanted to say. I think it’s time for another break from this game, but if I ever hit first, maybe I’ll come back and complete the trilogy of RFTG posts… Until then, happy racing, everyone. :)