Galaxy Trucker (Second Edition) Review – The Joy of Watching Your Ship Fall Apart

Galaxy Trucker was designed by Vlaada Chvátil, the Madonna of board gaming. Reinventing himself with every game designed. From the medium-heavy worker placements of Dungeon Lords and Dungeon Petz to the wonderfully clever abstract Tash-Kalar.

Each of Vlaada’s games is wildly different but equally excellent.

Galaxy Trucker is one such game. A fan favourite board game known for its play it once and throw it into a backyard fire pit gameplay. Not because it’s a bad game, but because it’s a game where you’re expected to crash, crumble, and limp over the finish line.

And if you try to take the game too seriously, you’re not going to enjoy it.

But before it all goes wrong, you begin the game by playing a round of Hungry, Hungry, Hippos. By grabbing ship tiles from the centre of the table, you place them on your player board building a ship in real time.

Once the first player has put together something loosely called a ‘spaceship’, everyone else has 30 seconds to finish their construction. After which, you then take these ships on their maiden voyage.

And by a maiden voyage, I mean their final flights.

Most of these ships won’t make it through to the end of the round. You’ll draw event cards, which include: meteor strikes, pirate attacks, and alien invasions. Yeah… nothing good.

These events chip away at your ship until eventually, you’re down to one engine and a cargo hold full of radiated potato chips.

Yet somehow, you’re still the winner?

What’s new in the Second Edition?

People love the original Galaxy Trucker but for me, it always felt off. There was always this disconnect between the serious-looking box and artwork, and the fun, chaotic nature of the game.

See, the game works best when you’re able to laugh at yourself. When you’re able to cry out in faux horror, “Oh no, my ship has been ripped in half… again!” The original artwork leaned away from this humour of the game.

So, like Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest this change of appearance does wonders for the game, as it gets you quicker into the mood of frivolity.

The other big change has to do with game length. While in the original game, you would build three different space trucks and go on three different flights. By default, the second edition of Galaxy Trucker is one and done. You can still play three rounds back to back and stay true to the original, but this is now an alternative game mode called the Transgalactic Trek.

Like the change with the artwork, this shortened playtime allows you to focus more on having fun. It reduces the stress of winning and losing and places the game well within the lets-play-again-right-now territory once your flight has finished.

Also included in this version, is a tweaked set of cards, and added ship tiles. Although the impact of these new components feels negligible in isolation. As a package, all of these changes are fantastic, bringing Galaxy Trucker in line with other modern gateway games.

The only thing standing in the way of this becoming the definitive edition is the lack of expansion support. Although, that’s coming.

Does it warrant buying a second copy?

So far, there’s not enough in this new edition of Galaxy Trucker to warrant buying a new copy if you already have one. Although, that answer changes if you’re looking to get any of the expansions. These are out of print for the original but are being ported over to be compatible with the 2nd edition.

For everyone else, the answer to whether or not you should buy Galaxy Trucker is a solid maybe.

I did not enjoy Galaxy Trucker half a decade ago, but enjoyed this new edition. Because of its uniqueness, and the required approach needed to have fun with the game, whether or not you’ll enjoy it is a deeply personal experience.

That said, I think they’ve done a wonderful job with this edition. Making it easier than ever to tap into the wild and wacky world of space trucking. So if you don’t mind losing to bad luck. Or find the thought of losing a third of your ship hilarious, then you’re going to have a lot of fun with Galaxy Trucker.