Our Godspeed review, what we have to say about the worker placement game fueled by an interesting bidding/auction mechanic set against a rich space theme. You are heading to a new planet as the representative for the future of humanity for your country. Over various phases, your crew will need to execute objectives and build infrastructure to gain influence and points to propel you to victory. This is a truly unique and robust gameplay experience that does the genre justice.
We took a look across fun, replayability, player interaction, quality and art & style to come up with the overall score for our Godspeed review. See the breakdown by category below.
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– CATEGORY BREAKDOWN –
Fun (9 out of 10)
For the fun section of the Godspeed review, we award a high 9 out of 10. This is a worker placement game but it is no way like the others in the genre. Not only does it combine placement with a bidding system that is unlike anything else, you are not just worried about one area you need to fight over space but three. Best of all, it works very well and makes for an incredibly fun experience.
As the representative for your nation on this brand new planet, you have a crew who needs to get things done to future humanity, but more superficially, make sure your prestige beats out the other countries that have also arrived and are trying to do the same thing. You are not fighting per se, but you definitely want to do better and beat them to the right opportunities. Games are ten rounds and each round has multiple placement phases. Your crew is made up of different members such as captains or ambassadors and each has a value. The different rounds either utilize the role, the value or a combination of both. The interesting part is that it is up to you where to put your crew. They can only do so much.
Replayability (7 out of 10)
For the replayability section of the Godspeed review, we award a great 7 out of 10. Worker placement games often have really solid replayability because most of the elements shift. Every placement feels like a brand new decision to make because it is not just reacting to the elements of the turn but also what your opponents are doing.
This is not a showdown within one area but three. Areas that each affect one another and have a vast supply of objectives or production opportunities that all change not only from tun to turn, but game to game. The first area is all about a task coming out for one of your team members and choosing if you are going to participate. There are five roles and lots of objectives for each of them. The second area is an auction about the value of each crew members. Another deck with tons of options not just in the game but in every refresh. Then in the third area it is a combination of both. And again, tons of new stuff to get into.
Player Interaction (9 out of 10)
For the player interaction section of the Godspeed review, we award a nearly impossible to beat 9 out of 10. Even more so than replayability, player interaction is a marquee trait of the worker placement game. Even with that hurdle to clear, this game blows it all away. You are not just doing the same thing over and over again to fuel whatever you are doing, you have to work your crew and the system at an interactivity level that takes much more thought and planning.
If you use that high level as a base, Godspeed still delivers in this area higher than others in the field. This is because of how robust the worker placement system is. Most rely on different systems of management and/or hurdles to jump through. It is different here, here the depth is in the system itself. Your “crew” of workers can not only go many places (like other worker placements) but they themselves serve different functions and have different values (unlike other worker placement games).
Quality (8 out of 10)
For the quality section of the Godspeed review, we award a fantastic 8 out of 10. There is so much in this game that is brand new and unlike anything else. As long as it works, which it very much does here, that type of creativity deserves lots of credit. Worker placement plus auction/bidding seems so intuitive but it has never been done quite like this. The designers truly have created a special gaming experience that is not just a B level version of something else. It knows what it is, and it does it well.
If you pick up a box of Godspeed, it is noticeably heavy. That is because they really crammed a ton of quality components in. There is a lot of this game and everything is high-end. There are cards, tokens, statues, crew chips and all these great things that were each treated with care. Nothing is gratuitous and each and every element was handled with care. The package is certainly worth the money. The only additional thing that would be nice is a better storage solution for the tokens. There are lots of them and the box crams them all together, making you sift a lot in the setup phase.
Art & Style (7 out of 10)
For the art & style section of the Godspeed review, we award a very solid 7 out of 10. The theme is less a central character in the gameplay and more of one fantastic backdrop with a deep narrative that really gives meaning to every aspect of the game. The creators created this whole rich narrative that the space race was a spectacle to distract the people from the real mission of a crew heading, one way only, to a brand new planet to set up the infrastructure to save humanity.
You have a crew, and they have different jobs to do. It makes sense that the biologist can do things the engineer can’t. It makes sense that on a brand new planet you need to decide on how to use your limited resources for the best path to move forward. Not only do all the pieces fit really well together, but everything is very nicely designed. Everything has a consistent feel and all the iconography and illustrations are all great support for the overall experience.
– IN CLOSING –
Godspeed Review | Board Game Halv
Godspeed is a great worker placement game that blends in a bidding/auction unlike anything else that came before it. You do not just need to worry about one placement area to fight over in a round but three. Your crew has different skills and having to use them correctly adds so much dimensionality and freshness to an already exciting genre. This has been our Godspeed review, we hope you enjoyed it!
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See the full explanation of the judging criteria here.
