Review: Galileo Project (Sorry We Are French)

There’s a certain joy that comes from playing an elegantly designed game. Some games impress (and occasionally overwhelm) you with their size and complexity. Elegant games are like a fine watch that turns a handful of simple parts into an interconnected machine.

With Galileo Project, the team at Sorry We Are French mix classic elements like set collection, track advancement, and engine building into a delicately balanced game where simple decisions drive complex outcomes and everything is embroidered on top of an engaging science fiction storyline.

Let’s dig into the top five things you need to know about Galileo Project’s mix of influence, money, people, and robots.

There’s No Gambling in this Casino

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When I started to unpack Galileo Project, the first thing I saw was a small box marked “Freeman Casino” containing a stack of heavy, custom poker chips.

That threw me for a moment. I didn’t remember anything in the game description about a casino. Were there gambling mechanics that I missed somehow?

Short answer: No, the casino is set dressing. In the game’s story, the uncertainties of space-based business development on the moons of Jupiter accidentally created an economy where the only currency everyone trusts are casino chips. The game developers weave this element throughout the visual design in subtle ways that draw you into the game’s backstory.

Simple Steps, Connected Actions

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On each turn in Galileo Project, the current player either takes a robot, hires a person, or invests in a technology. That’s it — three options, one decision.

Each of those options drive other game elements. For example, people give you influence so you can get robots. People may also give you an action to improve or move your robots, a resource to help buy a technology, or a victory point bonus for the end of the game.

Technologies offer discounts, resources, or boosts to your robots. Robots do the hard work of developing Jupiter’s four moons (known as the Galilean moons because Galileo found them; thus the game’s title).

Looking to the Moons

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Each player gets a board displaying Jupiter’s four moons, with advancement tracks around each one.

When you assign a robot to a moon, you move that moon’s marker along the advancement track. How far you advance on the track depends on the robot’s power.

Developing each moon gives you special abilities or bonuses that affect other parts of the game. Io provides discounts on robot purchases, while Europa has resources for getting technologies.

Callisto makes it easier to add and upgrade robots. Finally, Ganymede raises the number of people cards you can play and gives you more ways to benefit from those cards.

Two Influence Tracks

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In Galileo Project’s world, people and technologies come from both Earth and the newly-settled Mars. To reflect this, the game board has two color-coded influence tracks down the middle.

As you gain influence from people cards, you track this by moving your marker down the blue Earth track or the pink Mars track.

The track your marker is on determines whether the people card you draw on a turn gives you resources or victory point bonuses. The track also governs which robots you can take from the supply, since they’re all color coded to blue or pink.

Switching tracks costs money, so you want to do it carefully.

Bringing It All Together

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Playing and winning at Galileo Project means taking a simple action while juggling multiple impacts, all while consistently moving toward your goals.

Do you have the influence to add another robot this round or do you need to take a person instead to boost your numbers? Is your influence on the right track to get the most value from the person? Do you take the person with the best influence or the one that gives you a resource toward purchasing new technology? And which of the four technologies gives you the most boost for your investment?

Each choice is small and simple, but taken together they drive the game in delightful and strategic ways.

Verdict

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Galileo Project delivers a richly themed experience, but there’s so much more to this game than the theme itself. Under its flashy, well-made surface is a delicious collection of player options, choices, and impacts.

Despite the simple choice mechanics, the game delivers tremendous replayability. Every setup changes the technologies available, the functions of some game elements, and the options for getting bonus victory points. The random appearance of people and robots from their respective card decks adds even more to the replayability.

Functionally, the game’s boards and pieces make playing a delightful experience. There’s gorgeous quality in everything from the card stock to the wooden game pieces to the heavy custom poker chips. We especially loved the artwork on the people and robot cards. They brought the game’s world to life.

We highly recommend Galileo Project for anyone who loves system-style games.