MAG-BLAST (2002)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
2-8	20 mins	Christian T. Petersen Anders M. Petersen	Fantasy Flight Games

When I first met my girlfriend, this was the game she was most excited about teaching me. She’d clocked up a lot of hours playing it and really enjoyed it.

But after my first handful of plays, it just didn’t gel with me.

In MAG-BLAST, players control a Flagship from one of the games races (familiar to those who have played TWILIGHT IMPERIUM). You start with a fleet of four ships around it, and then you all unleash your hand of cards against each other.

The tactics of the game (and it is a very thinky game), come from ships that can only attack enemy ships in matching sectors (the different coloured bars on the edges of your Flagship), with some exceptions.

So it’s about getting the right ships in the right place to get that powerful attack you need.

Throw in fighters, bombers, minefields, and power cards, and it’s a chaotic and cut throat spaceship battle right there on your table.

The aim is to remove the fleet ships from a player so that their Flagship can be destroyed. Then it’s player elimination until one Flagship remains.

I didn’t enjoy my first plays, but at the time I didn’t know why until a handful of games at 3+ player count showed me what I was missing.

I’d learnt at 2-player and my opponent was very good at the game. So it was kind of like sending a six year old to fight on the frontline.

But in multiplayer games I began to see the strategy of the game as players focus on the strongest player, forming unspoken alliances.

If you’re getting shot a lot, it’s because you’re a threat.

I also love the vintage feel to it with the retro looking ship art. It feels like a game from my childhood.

MAG-BLAST is a fun sci-fi card game with the right people. The first plays can be a little over whelming, but there’s nothing like capturing an opponent’s Dreadnought and then using it against them.