The Components: (in the reviewer copy)
Base Mode: 48 Stage Cards, 16 Boss Cards, 7 Ship Dice, 2 Boss Dice, 30 Tokens, 4 Strategy Guide Cards, 4 EX Strategy Guide Cards, Rules booklet, a large tin to hold everything
Journey Mode: White Bonus die, 10 Bonus Stages
Capsule Mode: 16 Power Capsule Cards
Hacked Rom Mode: 6 Glitch Cards
Dark Energy Matrix Mode: 6 Dark Energy Matrix Cards, 1 glass bead
Ace Pilot Mode: 4 Ace Pilot Cards
Nemesis Mode: 4 Nemesis Cards
Nexus Soul Mode: 4 Nexus Soul Boss Cards
The Meat:
In Galaxy Dice EX players are rolling ship dice to match their icons with a set of Stage cards to defeat that Stage. A player gets three rolls to get the needed matches, keeping any matching dice from each roll. If the needed matches are rolled, the player takes the Stage card and the points it represents. If the matches are not obtained or the player rolls three explosions, their turn is over and they take two game tokens in consolation.
Once a player has defeated a Stage card / completed a stage, they are entitled to fight the boss associated with that stage. The first player to beat three of the four bosses triggers the end game. All other players have one more turn to build their points. Then scores are calculated and the highest score wins.
This is a fast to learn, fast to play push your luck game of rolling and matching. It is light but does have some strategy in when to keep rolling, when to go for a boss, and keeping an eye on your opponents.
The base game is quite straight-forward as seen above. The uniqueness of Galaxy Dice EX is in its modes or variations. There are seven in all in the deluxe version of the game or as an pnp pledge add-on. Each mode delivers a different vibe of a classic arcade game. They are played as add-ins to the base game. Each increases the complexity of the game and will lengthen it somewhat. Combining modes makes for an intriguing mix of arcade shooter tropes – bonus levels, power ups, super bosses, special weapons, level ups. They all increase the fun of the game.
Gameschool-ability:
Galaxy Dice EX unfortunately doesn’t offer a lot above the standard of taking turns, sociability, and addition for gameschooling. The matching aspect can be used with younger children. Possibly it could be included in a unit study of video game development or of the 1980’s.
Who is this for?
Anyone who enjoys push your luck games or rolling dice can enjoy Galaxy Dice EX. It’s casual enough that non-gamers will like it and as a quick filler for heavy gamers.
Galaxy Dice EX is fun, fast push your luck dice roller reminding us of the classic arcade shooters like Galaga. It is easy to learn and has a lot of replay value.
We would like to thank Rampage Games for graciously supplying a copy of the game for an honest review.
Go Forth And Game 
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