I've played one 6(?) player game and really enjoyed it, despite being stranded in space with no fuel thanks to a toaster for an admiral.

That said, I generally don't have access to many players who are likely to be interested in such a game (most favour more gateway-style games like Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan and the like), which leads me to me question ...

"What are peoples' expereinces with the 3 player game (and to a lesser extent the 4 player game)?"

This will help me work out if it is worth me getting my own copy, or whether I should just hold out for those rarer occasions when the right people (who already own the game) come together.

Thanks.

Three player is very difficult for humans if there is an early cylon and sometimes even if there isnt because you face crisis' with fewer overall resources. However due to game mechanics you tend to be more active in every decision as opposed to larger games where you may be of limited use in some.

All in all its a different experience but I think equally balanced.

Not sure how the game plays with less people, my gut tells me not so good just because you won't have enough variety in characters ability out there. You have a 50/50 shot of knowing who the cylon is (if it isn't yourself) ... just takes away some of that mystery element.

There is a one and two player variant on the FFG website .... you can try those and see if that gives you a feel of a smaller group game.

In my opinion a 5 player game is optimum however in a 3 player game you actually have a good chance of no Cylons in the first half of the game which leads to all kinds of fun.

In a 5 player game you usually have at least 1 but I have played 2 games where there was no Cylon before sleeper and suspicion among the humans caused all kinds of damage.

If the cylon player playes just like a suspicious human in a 3 player game you get all the same flavor. I would suggest that you do not allow Baltar in a 3 player game but then again who would trust anything Baltar says

All in all a 3 player game can be difficult but its still fun.

Personally I prefer 5-6 player games. I find it is easier to deduce the identity of a cylon in the three player game because there so few players capable of helping out constructively so if anyone tries anything on their own without the group’s consent, they’re probably a cylon.

I tried a 3-player game the other night and our only pilot was the cylon. Whenever we were in combat, she didn’t want to launch but had to and told us later that she was frustrated because she felt compelled to do what asked her to do because anything else would have draw suspicion. At least with 5-6 players and more than one pilot, if one of them IS a cylon, they could try to worm their way out of doing what is most necessary without tipping their hand. It’s much easier to hide among humans when there are lots of different players capable of doing what has to be done, she could have said “Well, Starbuck is a better pilot than me, so maybe she should protect civilian ships while I go do blank.”

I enjoy that element of the game because I don’t want to be able to use deductive (or reductive) logic to figure out who the cylon was. In our 3-player game, cylon starbuck finally decided to stop helping deliberately and we threw her in the brig. Her decision was based on the fact that if she just continued to help, the humans would win and she wasn’t having much fun. She couldn’t even sabotage skill checks because she was our only pilot (and we were all pretty shrewd observers of what came out of the destiny deck, if 3 piloting cards popped up over the course of one destiny deck, we’d know it was her).

5-6 is just more fun and more intense.

Before the sleeper phase, I would have helped out the humans as a cylon Starbuck, but after the sleeper "jump" I might have been inclined to reveal quickly. If all three players drew at least one card of the same skill set, the ability to throw against skill checks increases, but when multiple red start showing up it gives the game away.

I play mostly 5-6 player games with our group, some 4 player at times and have only once played a 3 player, which actually was tougher than I figured it would be. In the 3 player game the cylon has to work harder to not be called out, but once revealed the game can really tip into the cylons favor.

Thanks all for the feedback - looks like I might wait longer before buying my own copy. Just need to make sure its still being published when all 4 of my boys are old enough to play (aged from 0 to 8)!

In my experience, the more players you have the better the game is. It's MUCH easier to identify the cylon with only 3 or 4 players. Each additional player, means more turns per player, more cards thrown per player, and simply less options for the 'view loyalty card' cards.