# Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm

Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm is a board game for 1–5 players. It plays in 60 minutes and is meant for ages 12 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 2. It is rated 7.4 out of 10 by 19 Ludoya reviewers.

- **Players:** 1–5 (best with 2)
- **Playing time:** 60 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 12+
- **Complexity:** 3 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2008
- **Categories:** Card Game, Expansion for Base-game, Science Fiction, Space Exploration, Economic, Civilization
- **Mechanics:** Variable Phase Order, Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, Simultaneous Action Selection
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.4 out of 10, from 19 reviews
- **Owned by:** 67 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 117
- **Unique players:** 24

**Designers:** Thomas Lehmann

**Artists:** Claus Stephan, Martin Hoffmann

**Publishers:** Rio Grande Games

## Expansions

- [Race for the Galaxy: Rebel vs Imperium](https://www.ludoya.com/games/race-for-the-galaxy-rebel-vs-imperium)
- [Race for the Galaxy: The Brink of War](https://www.ludoya.com/games/race-for-the-galaxy-the-brink-of-war)

## Rules questions

### How many goal tiles do we use and which ones do we place on the table at setup?

Shuffle the goal tiles face down and select two "Most" (large) goals and four "First" (small) goals, remove the rest, and place the selected goals face-up in the center next to the 3‑VP goal chips (page 2).

### How do the "Most" goals get claimed, and can someone take a "Most" goal from another player?

A "Most" goal (5 VP) is held by whoever satisfies its condition by the greatest amount at the end of a phase; the first player to reach that greatest amount claims it, and a later player who exceeds that amount takes it away (they can be lost and returned to the center); ties leave the tile unclaimed or give tied non‑holders 3‑VP chips at game end (pages 3–4).

### When the robot rolls a match face, where do I place that die and what does the match do?

Place a match face die in the play‑mat space under your player action markers (both if two matches), using rules to shift left into the first matching phase space if needed; a match face means the robot will perform a matching action (use the top row on the mat) rather than just a response (use the bottom row) when resolving that phase (page 6).

### How does the robot place 6‑cost developments and what does "flip to find" mean for its Develop action/response?

If the robot has an unplaced 6‑cost counter and enough credit (2 on action, 3 on response) it places a 6‑cost counter and spends that credit instead of doing the normal Develop; otherwise the robot "flip to find" by revealing cards from its draw stack one at a time, discarding non‑matching cards, until it finds a development to place or the stack is exhausted (page 7).

### When the robot Settles, does it look for military or non‑military worlds and does it need credit to do so?

By default the robot Settles by drawing and flipping to find a non‑military world (placing it if found); on response it needs positive credit to place, but some start‑world special mat counters (Epsilon Eridani, New Sparta, Alpha Centauri, etc.) change this to flip for military worlds, give extra draws, or remove the positive‑credit requirement (page 8).

### How do the robot's Consume and Produce results interact with its credit, economy size, and the $ vs ×2 robot = counter?

Consume actions give VP chips and/or credit depending on which Consume faces occur (Trade increases credit + gives VP equal to economy size; 2x gives twice the economy VPs and increases economy by 1), Produce increases economy size, and special mats (Old Earth, Damaged Alien Factory) flip the robot’s "robot =" counter between $ and ×2 which changes the effect of Trade/2x on subsequent actions (page 9).

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/race-for-the-galaxy-the-gathering-storm)
- [Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/race-for-the-galaxy-the-gathering-storm)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34499)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-23. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._