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Starbase Jeff is a fairly quick playing card game for 2-4 people in which each player contributes to a single starbase for fun and profit. Each player has a deck of the same 20 starbase pieces and, each turn, they attempt to add them with capitalist zeal to the growing space station. By playing pieces strategically, players try to outmaneuver each other to make the most money from the base. The player with the most money at the end of the game is the winner.

Players pay money to a central pot each time they build a piece of the station. Other players must join their pieces to the existing branches of the station. If the new piece is not connected directly to a player's previously played piece, she or he must pay other players a "connection fee" as well as paying the building fee to the pot. End cap pieces close off the branches of the station. (This is reminiscent of another great Cheapass game, The Very Clever Pipe Game.) If a player closes the final branch, the starbase is finished and that player takes the pot. This gives the game at least two distinct strategies; closing stations quickly or forcing connection fees.

The most clever rule in this game concerns deferred parts. Since each player has the same deck in a different color, two or more players will often try to build the same piece in a turn. This conflict is settled by deferring the part and choosing another. Thus, players may have to skip a turn, but will later be able to play multiple parts on a single turn.

Because Cheapass games compromises their art and materials to keep prices very low, this game gets only an Average style score. The artwork is black and white, but very professional. The cardstock will not last forever, and two of the four colors in my copy of the game (pink and orange) are too similar in hue to easily discern during scoring. Although I have not played with the Advanced Rules, they seem superfluous to this well balanced game.

I'd recommend this game to anyone looking for an easily learned card game with more strategy than Uno and less expense than Magic. Every Cheapass game I have played has delivered in the same way, and you can't beat their prices.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)