We had a CB radio in our van when I was a kid and I remember talking to long-haul truckers via that radio during long trips with our family. Chatting over the radio while riding was a fun way to get a very small glimpse inside the cab of truckers.

I can only imagine the stories we’d get if we were to tap into truckers in space.

Because if they’re anything like what happens during a game of Galaxy Trucker, then we’d be in for quite the tale!

In the game, players frantically build their ships and then take them on a flight to gather goods, face space pirates, encounter meteor swarms, and more.

And just a few months ago, Czech Games Edition released an updated version of Galaxy Trucker with new art, more ship tiles, tweaked card effects, and streamlined gameplay.

Strap in and check it out!

 

How to play Galaxy Trucker

The main goal in Galaxy Trucker is to end the game with the most cosmic credits. The catch is that to get those credits, players must build a good enough ship to withstand the dangers of the flights.

There are 2 distinct phases of a game of Galaxy Trucker.

1. Building Your Ship
2. Flying Your Ship

   

BUILDING

Players collectively decide which size ship they’re going to build (1, 2, or 3) and each player gets a ship board and a starting Central Housing Unit tile to place in the center of their ship. Players also determine the Flight challenge level they want to face and set out the appropriate track and compile the deck of adventure cards (to be used during the Flight phase).

All 152 ship tiles are placed in the center of the table face down and it’s time to build!

Players don’t take turns during the Building phase, but instead they simultaneously grab ship tiles and add them to their ship–while a timer ticks away. Players must only take tiles with 1 hand, bring them to their board, then turn them over. At that point, the player decides whether to add it to their ship or not.

If they choose not to add the tile, they put it back in the center of the play area face up.

If they do choose to add the tile, it must follow all the placement rules. Heres a summary:

• Each component must correctly connect to pipes of the same type (3-pipe connector is universal).
• If the tile touches on multiple sides, all sides must connect correctly.
• Engines must have their exhaust pipe face the rear and can’t have a tile behind them.
• Cannons can point in any direction but can’t have a tile in front of the direction they’re facing.
• To support an alien, a life support system of that color must connect to a cabin.
• Once added, a tile can’t be moved.

There are also shields, battery compartments, cabins, and cargo holds that players will be adding to their ships.

While building, players can also peak at some of the adventure cards in the flight deck–to see what dangers are coming.

Once all players are done building their ships, they check to make sure things are connected right. If there are mistakes, they’re corrected by removing ship tiles until all tile placements are legal.

Players then place battery components on the battery tiles and crew members in cabins and they’re ready to fly!

 

FLYING

Now it’s time for players to see how well their ships hold up!

Players place their pawn on the flight track in the order they completed their ships. The leader reveals the top card of the flight deck and players resolve it.

Here are the types of things players will face:

• Open Space: In order, players determine engine strength and move ahead that many empty spaces on the track.
• Planets: In order, players may select one planet and take the indicated goods aboard their ship (if they have cargo space).
• Meteor Swarms: The leader rolls 2 dice for each meteor. The meteor strikes from that direction at that number row or column on player’s ships. Different things can defend the ship like cannons and shields if they’re in that path.
• Enemies (Pirates, Slavers): In order, players determine cannon strength and compares it to the strength of the enemy and suffers the consequences if they don’t defeat the enemy.
• Abandoned Ships and Stations: In order, each player who has enough crew decides whether to take the reward.
• Combat Zone: They have 3 lines which are resolved top to bottom. Players compare the parameters and the player with the lowest value of that parameter suffers the penalty.
• Stardust: Move back on the track for every tile with an exposed connector.
• Epidemic: Remove 1 crew member from each cabin that is joined to another cabin.
• Sabotage: The player with the fewest crew rolls 2 dice to determine a row and 2 dice again to determine a column. The tile in that location is destroyed.

There are a number of related elements to remember, but that’s the basis of what happens during flight.

Players revealing and resolving adventure cards from the flight deck until all cards have been resolved. Then it’s time to deliver the goods and get points.

Players get rewarded with cosmic credits for the order in which the finished (as indicated on the flight track board), for the best-looking ship, and by selling the colored goods they have left. Then they must pay 1 cosmic credit for each ship component (tile) that they lost along the way.

The player with the most credits wins!

 

Transgalactic Trek

The basic game includes just one flight. But if players are up for it, they can take on the Transgalactic Trek!

In taking on such an adventure, players fly 3 flights – level 1, level 2, and level 3. For each flight, they build a new ship. However, credits earned will carry over from flight to flight. Also, the game comes with Title tiles that players can earn along the way.

If you’re in for a longer haul, this is the way to go.

 

Can the whole family enjoy Galaxy Trucker?

If your family enjoys playing games with a little chaos, Galaxy Trucker may be right up your alley.

On one hand, Galaxy Trucker doesn’t have a lot going on in that you just build your ship and then resolve issues that arise by revealing cards. But on the other hand, it has a lot going on because of all the things you have to consider while being rushed to build your ship.

It takes a couple of plays before you really get the hang of adding the right components to the right places on your ship. The first time you play, the choices can seem overwhelming as you draw and place tiles for your ship.

Each draw leaves you with a new choice of how you want to build out your ship. Of course you want to place cannons to be able to fend off attacks. Of course you need some engines at the back to keep flying. Of course you need some cabins to have enough crew to staff your ship. Of course you want some shields to deflect danger. Of course you could use a couple of aliens to give you some special help. Of course you need some cargo holds to pick up goods so you can earn cosmic credits. And of course you’ll need some batteries to power up your double-cannons and double-engines.

But you just can’t have it all!

And so choices must be made.

What will you leave out and how will you connect it all together?

These choices, added to the fact that everyone is grabbing and placing tiles at the same time may cause some players a bit of anxiety. But it’s the fun type. 😉

Yet, the building is just the first step. The next part is sitting back and watching your wonderful ship get pummeled.

Whereas the first half of Galaxy Trucker has players making tricky decisions on their ship building, the second half doesn’t have many choices. It’s more about luck–luck of the order of the cards revealed and luck of the dice rolls.

Because of how the adventure deck for each flight is structured, there are plenty of dangers you may not even face during a flight. And the good news is that you’re able to get some idea of what may come while building your ship.

At the outset of the game, 4 adventure card piles are made consisting of different level cards depending on the flight board. During the building phase, players may look at the cards in 3 of those piles if they want to. No one can look at the 4th pile. Then, before starting the flight, all 4 piles are shuffled together to create the flight deck.

So even though the dangers that happen during a flight are random, players may get a hint at what’s to come and somewhat prepare their ship accordingly.

Since we don’t have a copy of the original 2007 game, we can’t do a direct comparison with this new 2021 edition. However, we can say that all of the game components are top notch. The tiles, ship boards, flight boards, and cosmic credit token are all sturdy and the artwork is great.

The rest of the components are fantastic as well–with the cutest crew members in the world (or out of this world). Just watch out for the batteries. They remind us of Tic-Tacs, so we have to be careful not to pop them in our mouths.

Overall, Galaxy Trucker is a fun tile-laying board game with some frantic moments, a bit of chaos, and a slight learning curve to get off the ground.

 

How does Galaxy Trucker score on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter?

After finishing a flight in Galaxy Trucker, there are usually calls to play it again because we know we can do better “next time”.

It’s a good thing we can laugh when parts of our ships get totally destroyed because that can happen quite often. And playing again is as simple as flipping all the tiles back over, mixing them around in the center of the table, and creating a new adventure card flight deck. Then we’re off and going again!

We’d like to thank Czech Games Edition for a review copy of Galaxy Trucker 2021.