As a fan of the series, I am excited and am well and truly ready to embrace this game.

However, not all the people I game with like or have watched BSG. With the 'theme' being such an integral part of the game, will non-BSGers 'get' the game? Will they 'get' characters/motivations and plot elements?

Yeah, i've played the game with a bunch of people who never watched the show and they all loved it.

I'm unsure about people who don`t like the show. But maybe BSGTBG is powerful enough to make them change their minds. I'll be looking forward to your report!

I can tell you from personal experience that out of the games I have played the best one so far was a four player game and I was the only one that was a fan or familiar with the show. One of the other players even commented that he thought the game was more fun for them because they had no preconceived notions about the characters. I think someones knowledge of the show can definately add to the fun of the game, but by the same token I do not think the lack of knowledge hinders it any either.

I've played the game with nothing but non-fans, and after the initial early turns they all really enjoyed it. The theme is there, but knowledge of said theme hardly affects players,although I did find giving a very basic rundown of the show worked as a very easy way to get everyone into the paranoid mindset.

As I intend to buy this game, I found this question interesting. I think if you have some preknowledge of the show you will have easier access to the game but you are already somewhat biased towards certain characters. As a newbie to BSG you won't have this thougts but you maybe will need some time to get in the theme.

I was thinking of making the exact same topic thread asking the exact same question.

Looks like the answer is that it isn't necissary to play this game with BSG fans.

Now that being said is the game to general for Die Hard BSG fans, i.e. is this game just another generic boardgame featuring a BSG theme?

Good post - major concern for me as 75% of my gaming group hasn't watched the series. I can't wait for this to arrive so I can play it with them.

What kind of brief rundown of the show would you recommend Overture? I'm not sure of the best way to summarize a show the size of BSG.

To be honest all I read was the introduction from the rulebook with a little detail padding, and that sufficed. The game mechanics alone do a great job of making players feel hunted and on their last legs. Our first game for example almost seemed timed to add a new Basestar the moment we had just destroyed the last .

But when it came to picking characters, I found slipping small non-spoiler facts about characters helped players pick the person that was right for them. Just mentioning a few behaviour quirks such as stubborn or self serving slimeball was enough to seal the deal. Once the game started playing I hardly even mentioned the show.

I love the game so far and have never seen the series.

I went online afterwards and read up on all the history and caught up with the storyline from the BSG wiki - en.battlestarwiki.org

So far I have not had a game where the humans win.

I think the only downside of not knowing the show is that the artwork using photos from the show may initially be a turn-off for non-fans. Heck, even as a fan of the show I wish they had gone with original art instead of stills and mugshots. Using these stills is really going to date the game quickly.

Thankfully the game itself is a lot of fun to play. I've played it with folks who have never seen the show and they really liked it. Once you get past the look and get into the game you'll probably forget it is even based on the show. I think the overall theme (spaceship flying through space with traitors) works perfectly well. Having it as BSG is just a bonus for us fans!

*uses Sword to detect Good in Dreaded Gazebo*

I just played a game with a group of non fans, after the game was over, one of the players went out and started watching the DVD's so they could catch up to the new season when it is due out on Sci Fi channel. Everyone else enjoyed it. Now they didnt get the role playing aspect of the characters as I was calling everyone toasters and what not. But they did enjoy the game, the only down side they had was the lack of diversity in skill cards. All skill cards have 1 of 2 set of actions, they thought there should be a few 'Rare' skill cards to add flavor to each skill set.

I have never read George R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, yet FFG's A Game of Thrones is on the top of my list. Furthermore, based on what I've read about George R. Martin's books, I wouldn't like them at all. But I still love the game.

I've haven't played this game yet, but it is the same deal. I'm excited about this game for the mechanics, not for the TV show. In fact, I went and read some stuff about the TV show, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like that one either. But I'm still wanting to pick up a copy of this.

Dax wrote:

Now that being said is the game to general for Die Hard BSG fans, i.e. is this game just another generic boardgame featuring a BSG theme?

I would say not. Their traitor mechanic is unique and original and ten times better than any I've run into. Imagine actually being able to do more damage remaining hidden than revealing yourself! *glances over at Shadows Over Camelot* I'd be interested in it for that alone, but there is also the fact that the game is balanced against the humans. Too many co-op games get super boring after the first half dozen or so tries because my group has figured out the optimum strategy that works every time, bar bad luck. With Battlestar, you'll be hard set every time (I hope). A lot of the other mechanics look good as well.

I actually find it rather funny that I'm singing the praises of a game I've never played with such vehemence.

I played with mixed groups until now, the result was always all of them liked the game and are willing/wanting to play again, the fans of the series however liked it a little more

But you should give a short review of the story during rule explanation.

sveet! this sounds like a good time for all!!

I really didn't like the show (too much of a sloppy soap opera), but I really like the game. So there you go.

The only background people need to know is "robots are trying to destroy the spaceship before it reaches safety. Some robots look like people and are spies."

The Kobold destination card might be a minor spoiler for people planning on watching it. The expansion game is a MAJOR spoiler.

This weekend I played the game with three people who'd never seen the show. They all reported having a good time, though there were quite a few backstory questions that came up during play.

As a huge BSG fan myself, it didn't take much arm-twisting to get me involved. However when telling people about the game I do occasionally a reaction of trepidation, punctuated by "well.....I dunno". Usually I give the option to try it out, and if they don't like it, they can walk away, no questions asked. I find that multi-player games are easier to get people to at least try.

Regarding playing with non-BSG fans, I think that if you can get them to try it, you won't have a problem, sure the characters and the context of what is going on may elude the players, but the key to the boardgame's charm (or at least one aspect of it) is the social interaction, the subterfuge and intrigue involved in not completely trusting everyone around you. I have found this to elevate the game far board the simple mechanics into something truly charged.

And just as an addendum. As I've said, I always ask people to give it a go and if they don't like it, they can just walk away. No-one has walked away yet!

Same than (almost) anybody here. My woman loves the show as much as I do, she loves the game. My friends and family never saw the show : they enjoyed the game like crazy. You just have to put the atmosphere and let it roll. And no, it is not a common game with BSG background : it is unique. Definitely. Maybe a bit too simple, though.

...wait, wow, I just realized it was a one year old thread... Konrad, you're on a grave digging frenzy it seems ?

My game group plays all the time and most havnt watched the show. Some have been turned on tot he show through the game

We've got two players who have never seen the show, and both enjoy the game. One plans on watching the show now. I don't know about the other.

shawn_low said:

Well, I did. Of course I hooked on the series shortly thereafter.

I had played the game last weekend, and Only seen about half of the first episode of the series (I was surprised at how long that episode was btw), and I didn't mind the game.There were 7 of us there, so we just started playing with 7 (I didn't realize it was a 3-6 player game, but even with the extra player it seemed pretty smooth).

To be honest I was a bit confused with what was going on for the first few turns of the game, and when people went to pick characters my friends immediately chose the characters they wanted, so there were a few of us that just went off the pictures on the cards.

I had actually found the game quite enjoyable after I figured out roughly what was going on, I still didn't understand everything (my friends and I tend to play board games pretty fast) but besides us having two cylons off the bat, and then 2 more added halfway through the game, I think we did alright. The humans lost but it was only two jumps away from reaching earth.

If you haven't seen the series but don't mind sci-fi board games, I would recommend the game to everyone. The game I played we had 3/7 never having seen more than an episode of the show, but everyone said they'd play the game again.