Roux Dat #67: ENDEAVOR DEEP SEA and GALILEO GALILEI

In my continuing quest to play all of the games that I really wanted to buy from Essen 2024 (as well as all of the Spiel nominees from Germany), I talked Jeremy and Logan into bringing Endeavor: Deep Sea and Galileo Galilei to the Gumbo Pot for a game night on Twitch.

My history with both games:

I played the original Endeavor: Age of Sail twice a few years back. In fact, it was the same night that I first met Mitchell, Jeremy and Doug, who have become great gaming buddies and friends since then. I always wanted to play it again, really enjoying the way that each player could build a unique faction during the game. 

Fast forward to the big Burnt Island Games and Grand Gamers Guild team up. Two publishers I really admire came together to reissue Endeavor, reimagining it with the coolest theme. Instead of warring countries trying to colonize the world in the age of sail, which is admittedly a theme that has been done many times before, this time players are rival deep sea researchers trying to learn more about the underwater worlds. 

Our play of the game was fantastic. I dug it from start to finish. I loved the production, the location cards were challenging and fun, and I really dug the spatial element of moving your subs around.

But the best thing was the designers kept that sense of individuality — other than the first kind of obvious choices, each player thought hard at what research scientists to add to the crew. 

I see why Endeavor: Deep Sea was nominated and won the Kennerspiel this year.

But the fun didn’t stop there. I also got a teach from them of Galileo Galilei, a game that was on many short lists of Essen Envies for 2024. (It didn’t quite make my Top 15 that Essen — Beyond the Horizon and Bomb Busters edged it off the list.) 

I was very curious to play because of how much I enjoyed Tomáš Holek ‘s SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence game. Would I enjoy Galileo Galilei as much? 

Not quite. It’s really kind of unfair to compare the two. SETI is a big two hour meaty euro that packs a ton of engine building and combo wambo in it. Galileo Galilei, on the other hand, is an interesting take on the tried-and-true rondel — made in the shape of Galileo’s telescope instead that wraps around each time the telescope is moved high enough in the night sky. 

Galileo Galilei was a blast in the first two reels of the game, as I enjoyed deciding which parts of my telescope to upgrade. Each section of the telescope rondel has two actions on it, but at certain points of the game, you have the opportunity to upgrade that action tile by flipping it to its more powerful tile. Deciding which tiles to upgrade is a juicy decision, and tough to do each time. 

I also really dug the dice combination system. If you know the color combination mechanic in Scholars of the South Tigris, this is similar but a heck of a lot easier to pull off. Playes can use base colors to scout out the night sky, but can use combos of colored dice (blue and yellow makes a green combo, for instance) to look at bigger constellations to score points and get bonuses. 

The last third of the game got a little mathy, as each player tried to figure out the best dice combos to both score points and also get rid of some of the negative points that come from too much reliance on the inquisitors track. That might change the next time I play, since I will have the flow of the game down, but that was the only disappointing thing. 

All in all, it was a “like” not a “love” for me on Galileo Galilei, but I liked it enough that I not only want to play it again, but now I am looking forward to Tomas Holek’s next game called Tea Garden. 

Have you played Tea Garden or Galileo Galilei? I’d love to hear what you think. 

Until next time, laissez les bon temps rouler!
— BJ from Board Game Gumbo