Mag Blast: Screaming Space-Battles Non-Collectable Card game

Mag Blast is a fast, furious and very addicting space-battle card game from Fantasy Flight Games. One of the beauties of this little guy is that it is a "one-purchase" card game. There are no expansions, no new cards, deck construction or anything so bothersome. So, you can purchase the deck and get right into playing the game!

The goal of the game is to destroy your opponent's flag ship, of which there are six races to choose from. Easy enough right? One would think so. But, (there's always a but) your opponent's flag ship is surrounded by his fleet. Their fleet consists of carriers, destroyers, cruisers, and other assorted vessels. Well, your flag ship is also accompanied by a vast assortment of ships. . All diplomacy aside, let the fightin' begin!

Like most card games each player gets a turn, and on their turn they get to do any number of things. Things such as: Discard (getting rid of those cards you always get, but can never use!), Drawing new cards (ooooohhh-what will I get?!), Playing Reinforcements (I need a little help here! More ships please!), Movement (Commander our entire flank is open!), and Action Cards (Oh yeah? Well here's a Temporal Flux for ya!).

Each player starts the game with a hand of cards. These cards represent anything from the Blasts that your ships unleash upon your hated enemies to situation cards like: Temporal Flux, Docking, Direct Hits, Catastrophic Damage (love it when ya got it, hate to see it when ya don't!), Mine Fields, Evasive Action and more.

Each of the player's get a starting fleet of four ships. These ships surround your flag ship and protect it from attack. These ships have stats that show which weapons they can fire, their movement and how much damage they can take before they are destroyed. Certain situations let you gain reinforcements.

The Flag Ship represents one of six races. Each race has special abilities which make them unique. Let me tell you right now, there is a race that lets you steal cards from another player's hand. This is my wife's favorite. She always gets an evil smile when she's plucking cards from my hand, and of course, they are always the cards that she needs to win the game! (I'm not sounding too bitter am I?)

They play is fast and furious. The games generally last about 10-15 minutes. We've had one nail biter go on for over 45 minutes…but I don't like to talk about it. The Sol (that's us…the humans) really took a beating.

One unique feature of the game that the boys at Fantasy Flight Games thought to include is the special rule regarding sound effects. Yes, sound effects (hey they don't call it Screaming Space-Battles for nothing!). One must make a sound effect when dropping their Blast cards down upon their opponents. There is even a slight penalty for those who don't make the sound. But, this is a frivolous rule, we'd make that noise anyway!

The physical construction of the cards are vary sturdy, they perform very well under play and don't show and signs of wear after many periods of frantic shuffling. The Ship cards have excellent art work and the situation cards have great graphics (the Catastrophic Damage card fulfills every visual expectation!).

The rule sheet is very organized and easy to read. Finding rules or clarifications during a game is a snap. After a trial game or two, one pretty much has the game down. Then it's just a matter of strategy and the luck of the draw!

Hats off to the guys at Fantasy Flight Games! This card game is fun! It has my wife's approval, and she hates all that "space-ship" stuff.

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