What is your opinion on these games?
Race for the Galaxy seems to be the original game, that deserves it‘s praise. But do you still think it‘s good by today‘s standards?
How does it compare to Roll for the Galaxy? Is the latter a more approachable version but lacks depth, like more beginner friendly dice versions of other games?
But that seems to be the case for Jump Drive, right? So far, this one looks like a family friendly approach, while still being awesome enough for more experienced players.
But then there‘s New Frontiers from Lehmann, another space themed game! This one looks a bit like an easy 3.5X game, right? Looking back, do you think all of them are worth buying? If you had to choose only one, which one would it be?
Race for the Galaxy will always be good enough for today’s standards! It really is a classic.
But if you are completely new to the series then Jump Drive is the safest place to start. It’s a simple but solid game and like you said it’s reasonably family friendly. It is a great way to get used to some of the symbology. You may also find that it’s all you really need, or that this type of game is not for you. At worst you are only out of about $20.
All of the games are available on BGA and some also have apps. If you are open to experimenting with the digital versions then Jump Drive on BGA is the first thing I’d try. Next I’d try the Race for the Galaxy app (would start with the app in this case because it’s easier to experiment there while learning).
One more game worth considering is Res Arcana by the same designer which is also playable on BGA. It’s another take on some of the ideas of RFTG. Plays quite differently but shares the race to the finish aspect.
That‘s some great advice, thank you so much!
And yes, I own Res Arcana and love it! After that, when I bought Terraforming Mars Ares Expedition people compared it to RftG. This Lehmann guy (and his silly BGG pic) often times pops up, when I research interesting games. Today in a podcast people praised Jump Drive what convinced me to take a deeper look into Lehmann‘s games.
That background info helps. If your group is comfortable with Res Arcana and Ares Expedition then you could jump straight into RFTG fairly safely too.