Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Product Review: Freedom in the Galaxy


Ever since Dan started his Star Wars Freedom in the Galaxy Campaign, I've toyed with the idea of getting the actual Freedom in the Galaxy game.  Last week, I stumbled across an inexpensive copy for sale on the Boardgame Geek Marketplace.  This one was still in its original shrink wrap!


Once I tore off the 34 year-old plastic, I opened the box...



By today's standards, the counters are rather bland and generic, but they're functional.  The game gets a decent 6.61 out of 10 rating on Boardgame Geek.  The main complaints about Freedom in the Galaxy are: 

--It's unbalanced and favors the Evil Empire.
--The convoluted rules often require the creation of in-house rules and variants.
--And finally, the game itself takes a lo-o-o-ng time to play.  20 hours from start to finish is considered an optimistic estimate.



Despite the above complaints, many gamers still love Freedom in the Galaxy, which published in 1979, is considered an enjoyable "...thinly veiled Star Wars game..."  (Commenter #17, giving it an 8.5). 

Even if my group never plays FitG as it was meant to be, so far it's serving as a great campaign vehicle for our not-so thinly veiled Star Wars game.

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