Slang for the Galaxy
<p>It&#8217;s no news to any serious strategy gamer that <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/28143">Race For The Galaxy</a> has rapidly become one of the most popular and frequently played designs of recent years.  My gaming group plays it often enough that we&#8217;ve developed our own slang terms for certain frequently-occurring tactics and situations.  In the hope that other players may find these enjoyable and useful, here they are:</p>
<p><span id="more-313"></span></p>
<dl>
<dt><b>sniping</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>The act of choosing the +5 Explore option, as opposed to the +1 +1 Explore.  So called because of its use to snipe for a single key card that you need, as popposed to generally gathering resources.</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>pumping</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>Playing nothing but alternating IV(2xVP) and V phases.  A smart thing to do if you have good VP consume powers and planets or developments that will pull cards into your hand during a Produce phase.  This tactic may rely on other players choosing phases II and III so you don&#8217;t have to, or you may count on pumping more points per turn than anyone else can make by playing their planets and developments.  There are three major variants of this:</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>blue pump</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>A pump with blue planets using <cite>Consumer Markets</cite>.</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>brown pump</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>A pump with brown planets using <cite>Mining Conglomerate</cite> and possibly <cite>Mining League</cite>.</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>gray pump</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>A pump based on gray worlds with consume powers, especially <cite>Tourist World</cite> and <cite>Galactic Trendsetters</cite>.  This term is seldom used because it&#8217;s unusual to win with a pure gray pump; more commonly you&#8217;ll see a combination like a blue-gray pump or a brown-gray pump.</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>build out</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>To build out is to end the game by reaching the 12-card limit in your tableau. This term implies that you&#8217;re doing this deliberately early in order to shut down the game before someone else&#8217;s pump can outscore you.</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>fast build</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>A class of whole-game strategies that depend on building out before other players can get their own strategies in gear.  This has variants:</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>military fast-build</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>This strategy relies on the combination of a military homeworld and an early <cite>Space Marines</cite> or <cite>Drop Ships</cite> to set up a situation in which every succeeding world you buy is paid for with military power rather than discards.</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>civilian fast-build</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>This strategy is much less common, and so is the term.  It may start with a combination like <cite>Replicant Robots</cite> and either <cite>Mining Robots</cite> or <cite>Alien Rosetta Stone World</cite>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>studge</b></dt>
<dd>
<p>An opening hand that does not obviously lend itself to any particular strategy, requiring one to thrash around Exploring for a couple of rounds seeking key cards.  Probably from <a href="http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/FilStu.shtml">filboid studge</a>.  The emphatic form is &#8220;utter studge&#8221;. In extreme cases, one might do a take on the Monty Python &#8220;spam&#8221; routine: &#8220;<em>Studge</em>, studge, studge, studge&#8230;Lovely studge, wonderful studge!&#8221;</p>
</dd>
<dt><b>consumerator</b></dt>
<dd>Fancifully, the elaborate mad-scientistic machine (doubtless equipped with arcing electrodes and many blinkylights) that performs point-pumping. Especially in the phrase &#8220;Fire up the consumerator!&#8221;
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p>Other examples of usage:</p>
<p>&#8220;Yeah, I had New Galactic Order in my opening hand and went for a military-alien fast-build, but he beat me with a brown pump and Tourist World.&#8221;</p>
<p>A player in a two-hand game choosing I(+5) and III might say &#8220;Snipe and settle!&#8221;</p>
<p>On seeing somebody with two or more blue production worlds play Consumer Markets: &#8220;Uh oh, blue pump a-comin&#8217;.</p>
<p>On playing your first IV(2VP) + V in a two-hand game, it is appropriate to say &#8220;Engaging consumerator&#8230;NOW!&#8221; followed by your best Star Trek sound effect.</p>
<p>Um, yes, since you ask, yes my gaming friends <em>are</em> complete geeks. And proud of it. If this surprises you, you have not been paying attention.</p>
<p>(Also <a href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/326565">posted</a> to the <em>Race For The Galaxy:General</em> forum on BoardGameGeek.)</p>
