Review: Star Trek Deck Building Game – The Original Series / Designer: Alex Bykov / Publisher: Bandai / Release Date: Out Now 

As board games become more and more mainstream, it is inevitable that board gaming’s slightly awkward cousin the bespoke card game would also enjoy a revival. Luckily for us, the quality of such games has much improved since the pile of Magic: The Gathering clones that plagued hobby shops in the ’90s, and Star Trek Deck Building Game: The Original Series is part of the next generation (pun intended) that make adept use of their source material while also providing hours of fun for geeks. 

The starter set for Star Trek Deck Building Game: The Original Series is a huge box with enough cards for players to get going. Each player assembles a deck from the available cards, and the game is split into three distinct forms: Missions, Events and Battles. Both Missions and Battles allow the player to take on their opponents and make it harder for their foes to win. The aim of the game is to accrue 300 points before any of your opponents do. Events are essentially compulsory missions that have to be resolved, as failure tends to bring dire consequences. There are also a number of nifty little rules to help carry the game forward and prevent stagnation during play. 

The components are fairly straightforward: reasonably well-made cards that use photo-stills from the series. The rules on the cards are clear and understandable, and apart from the odd spelling mistake, entirely fit for purpose. The cards help evoke the atmosphere of the series, though gameplay is a little bit more random than one would hope from such a heavily story-driven source.

Star Trek Deck Building Game: The Original Series is sure to delight Trekkies and card-gamers alike, and though it can get bogged down in overly complex scenarios on occasion, it’s a very entertaining way of wasting about 90 minutes of your time.