The If Only List… Battlestar Galactica

Two weeks ago I started a segment called the “If Only” list, a wish list of games that I would have bought “If Only”… If only I had the money, the space, the people to play it with etc. In my Game of the Year awards, I awarded the “If Only” Game of the Year to Battlestar Galactica and now I feel I should explain myself…

Why is it so important to get this off my chest right now? Because I accidentally bought it last week… Ooooops!

Battlestar Galactica

Ok, so this not a review, this is a list of reason why I wanted this game more than any other (that I didn’t buy for Christmas or my Birthday) and why ended up not choosing it.

Firstly, I came to Battlestar about a week after the final episode aired, I then sat down and watched the whole thing in less than a month and I loved it. In fact, I wrote 10 reasons to watch BSG in my Tv Blog, here

When I discovered that FFG had produced a game based on the first series of the show I knew I had to have it.

That was before I knew much about Fantasy Flight games, now I have a LOT of their games in my collection and the one thing they all have in common is great components. So reason two then was based on just how good the components look. I’ve already started painting up my Vipers and Raiders (click the links to go to my hobby blog) and I’ve got to say they look good. With the game now actually in collection I can also vouch for the rest of the components, FFG has not let me down here.

Thirdly, it is a co-op game. Up until christmas I had never really owned a co-op game and the concept really intrigued me. However, even better with BSG was the concept of having a traitor in your midst. The game sounded to me like a more complex game of Werewolf, but set in a story rich universe.

Finally, I wanted the game because I enjoy roleplaying and that is something that this game seemed to promote, without the need for a game master or an excessively large rulebook. The idea of getting to play as one of my favourite on screen characters, flying around and killing Cylons was just too much fun to pass up.

So then, why didn’t I buy it? Because I was fairly sure I would never get to play it. Although my Dad would enjoy the theme, I can foresee him taking too much time over his turns and slowing the game down. My Mum would turn her nose up at a game about spaceships, even though we are currently watching Farscape. She’s odd like that. And my younger brother automatically assumes all games are dumb (until he actually plays them!) and he is not a fan of rulebooks either. My other gaming friends, who would love this game, are away… a LOT!

So ultimately I decided not to buy the game…

But then I did. I got it for just £25 on ebay with free P&P (during the Haiti appeal.) and now I am just waiting for the right moment to introduce it to the family. I will get them to love BSG, even if it is the last thing I do. This game is just too pretty to sit on my shelf.

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