TDG: Cody's Top Ten Star Trek Games (December 2024)

[@philwatkins2800]

Glad to see Starfleet Battles getting much love in the comments. Slow and rules-heavy by today's gaming standards, but nothing since has done a better job of capturing the proper texture of Trek starship combat and the differences between the factions.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I've heard great things about it, but never played it myself. Thanks.

[@90rightangle2]

Your content keeps me excited about gaming. Merry Christmas!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you very much! Much appreciated. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[@alexan07]

Thanks!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you very much! I really appreciate it.

[@josephhaack5711]

What? no Star Fleet Battles? We played that tactical game for decades, still do. Had a strategic game where fleet markers that could use Fleet Battles To resolve battle 😂

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I've heard great things about it, but alas, I've never played that one. Maybe one day. Thanks.

[@josephhaack5711]

@ the key is energy management for movement, weapons, shields, damage control etc…

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@josephhaack5711 I've heard it plays a lot like GMT's Talon, which I love.

[@Demiarioch]

Another great review. I found a copy of Star Trek: Star Fleet Captains. I have been needing a Star Trek game like crazy. Unfortunately, not I only will I not touch any Discovery-based games, I won't even go near them... but thanks for being fair.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I'm not a fan of the show either, but the game's the thing in my book.

[@thomasromanelli2561]

GF9 will revise the Ascendancy system and its rulesets with a Gamefound campaign next year. STAscendancy: The Final Frontier will also introduce the Gorn, Tholians and possibly the Orion Syndicate as playable factions. I really hope they have corrected the hot mess that was the Borg expansion, because with the first go-around reasonable play was futile...

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I agree. I thought the Borg faction was okay, but there is room for improvement. I really excited to see what they bring to GF. If it looks good enough I'll back it.

[@IlanMuskat]

Star Trek Alliance was really the final form of the X-Wing/Attack Wing system, with amazing solo and co-op gameplay and campaign play. It came in the twilight days of the Wizkids attack wing era, but I think you'd love it.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Yeah, it looked really good, but never had a chance to play. Thanks.

[@DannyHensel74205]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer I also highly recommend Star Trek Alliance. It also works really well playing solo, and there are also rules for using ships from Attack Wing too.

[@eatingweevils]

The Star Trek game Im quite nostalgic about is Starfleet Battles i asked for a xmas present in my early teens .There was no Christmas truce along the Neutral Zone on that Christmas Day!! I now quite like Star Trek Away Missions i was quite dismissive of the miniatures but grew to love em. I joked the other day to my mate the oversized miniatures and now perfect for my old eyes to paint. Have a Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thanks! You have a Merry Christmas as well!

[@Demiarioch]

"I guess I didn't Tellerite." Oh my gawd... He he heeeeee

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Glad you liked it.

[@Jezza_One]

No love for Federation & Empire arguably the most complicated wargame ever made. How about Star Fleet Battles or Federation Commander monsters in their own right.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@Jezza_One Haven’t played ‘em. I’ve heard stories…

[@Jezza_One]

@TheDiscriminatingGamer 🤔

[@TheChillee]

Not nearly the most complex wargame ever… you obviously never played Advanced Squad Leader. Of course, the whole SFB system could use a rewrite with proofreading and conciseness in mind. AND, SFB is not really Star Trek… and I am one who grew up watching TOS reruns in the ‘70s.

[@TheFatalT]

@@TheChilleeit’s Star Trek adjacent lol

[@Jezza_One]

@TheChillee I have played ASL and the rulebook for F&E with all the modules is bigger though not by much. Its definately Star Trek because its produced under the TOS licence. Just call it an alternate time line as valid as the Kelvin time line or the mirror universe

[@jace76ful]

I love star trek fleet captains! It's very trekish It's the whole having a fleet. Exploring where you want to go. Maybe full-on combat, especially for klingons. Using star fleet as all around exploring/combat. Romulans are very stealthy types. It just has a lot of Star Trek theme.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I agree. Love that game.

[@douglaspearson4853]

I am a big fan of Start Fleet Captains. It put me in the TV series. Dealing with Tribbels for example. Also with the combat they took the rules from Star Fleet battles and cleaned them up to make it quick and easy. STB you had more detailed system where you had more control over your ship. SFC you have a card with pre distributed points.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@douglaspearson4853 Great Game!

[@Hedgehobbit]

In 2000 they released a Diskwars version called Star Trek Red Alert. It was right at the end of the collectible craze so died quickly. It was, however, a very good ship to ship combat game with hidden upgrades and great theming.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@Hedgehobbit Sounds like fun. I hadn’t heard of that one.

[@FalkFlak]

I really hope they'll make an expansion for Star Trek:Missions like they did for Fantasy Realms. I've fond memories of playing ST:TCG 1.Edition. it really gave us the whole ST TNG experience as it was not peimarily about combat.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@FalkFlak Indeed. I’d like to see an expansion.

[@allthingsnerd.4484]

You define Fleet Captains the exact same way I do to others when introducing them to the game; Star Trek in a box. It’s just so good! Every turn is an episode, every game is a season. Cannot recommend it highly enough. A previous commenter mentioned Star Trek Alliance and I second that. It is standalone from, but can use ships and components from, Attack Wing but is co-op and:or fully solo. Has legacy elements of increasing your captain’s skill and ship/crew abilities and lets you fight the entire Dominion War across three boxed sets. Grab it. You won’t regret it!!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@allthingsnerd.4484 Yeah. I’ve heard good things about Alliance. Is it still in print?

[@allthingsnerd.4484]

@ yes it is. The third and final box set just came out in the last year or so.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@ Excellent.

[@thomasriker3]

Thank you, Cody. Great vid. One of my complaints about ST games is that many of them can’t be played solo. Few of my friends or family care for ST, and so I tend to miss out on many of the games out there. My dream Star Trek game would be to take the Arkham Horror LCG system and apply it to the ST universe. In my mind, that would be a lot of fun…and could be played solo!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@thomasriker3 That would be awesome. Captain’s Chair has a solo mode, but I haven’t played it.

[@scottpeterson2225]

i enjoyed the video but was surprised to see SFB was overlooked. My all time favorite was the really old Star Trek Simulator by FASA. The game was so much easier to play then Star Fleet Battles, and still had a decent realism feel to it.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

As mentioned in the video, I haven't played all of the Star Trek Games. There's a lot of love in the comments for SFB and the Simulator. Maybe one day. Thanks.

[@PaulDarcy]

I think two more that would make my top ten would be Star Trek Panic. Super fun, always tense. Not sure if you've played that one? Also Star Trek Expeditions. It's sad there was never an expansion or ten for that system. Very cool system that should have gotten more love. Great list Cody, thanks!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I never played either of those. Expeditions came out around the same time as Fleet Captains, I couldn't afford both. Thanks.

[@blockmasterscott]

My favorite is Starfleet Battles. I still have all the books, boxes, SSDs, and counters. Totally fantastic game with tons and tons and tons X10 of lore.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@blockmasterscott A lot of people love that one, for sure.

[@Warlord1009]

Ahhh - Star Fleet Battles for me! One of the best "sitting in the captain's chair"board games ever made. Granted there is a ridiculous level of complexity - (if you WANT to go to that level!!), but most of us who play love the fact that whilst luck is present ("Waddya mean - ALL my overloaded photons missed??!"), it totally rewards knowledge and skill more. Now - I am sure there is someone who uses the Drone construction rules along with dogfighting and shuttle convoys - but I have never met them! Get the base game, learn to fly a starship, and take is as far as you are comfortable with and you will never look back (unless you have prepped an HET, anyway 🙂)

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Yeah, a lot of love for SFB in the comments. I never had a chance to play it. Thanks.

[@blockmasterscott]

My favorite ship was the Fed heavy carrier with its escort destroyers. I'm smiling now just thinking about it. I love how they expanded the lore while keeping the Star Trek flavor, like the Lyrans, Hydrans, Interstellar Concordian and so on. They really did a nice touch with introducing the Neo Tholians. There was a lot of lore in that game too, not just rules. Like the General War for example.

[@siriactuallysara]

Nice list. I have to check out your number 1 sometime. My number 1 is ISS vanguard. Best Star Trek game ever (without the license) When I was in college I used to play Star Trek the deck building game by decipher. That was fun.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thanks. I liked ISS Vanguard, but the campaign aspect lost me. GMT Games is coming out with Away Team, which promises to be a Vanguard experience without the minutiae. Thanks! I think you'll really like Fleet Captains.

[@RolandoRatas]

While fixing the holes in my socks my grandma was deeply offended by rather tense remark Captain Picard made when he walked into the room. .. .. .. .. .. .. He said: 'Make it sew.'.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Ha!

[@blanetalk]

I never cared that much for Star Trek games with a heavy emphasis on combat - that didn't seem thematically to match the spirit of the show. But I do like things like 5 Year Mission; great co-operative puzzle-solving fun! I like a lot of your choices. I'll add my suggestions for two honorable mentions. First is Star Trek: Expeditions (2011 from WizKids), a co-operative game designed by Reiner Knizia set in the Kelvan Universe (Star Trek - 2009). This is basically "Away Missions, The Game", where you have different locations on the planet that have different challenges. And you have to choose which crew members will beam down to each location, taking into account whether their skill sets could help solve the problem there. Just really well done and I enjoy it a lot. Second is Star Trek: The Adventure Game (1985 from West End Games), a 1 to 2 player exploration and discovery game by Greg Costikyan & Doug Kaufman. I just love the fact that this game had that "choose your own adventure book" feel, where when you landed on a planet, you'd flip it over, read the number there and go to that section of the story book to find out what happens and what your choices are. I need to pull that out and solo it again soon! Great idea for a video. Thanks for sharing this!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thanks. Don't see the two HMs.

[@blanetalk]

​​@@TheDiscriminatingGamer- The 2 HM's (mentioned later in my previous comment) were Star Trek: Expeditions (2011 from WizKids) and Star Trek: The Adventure Game (1985 from West End Games)😮.

[@blanetalk]

​@@TheDiscriminatingGamer - The 2 HM's (mentioned later in my comment) were Star Trek: Expeditions (2011 from WizKids) and Star Trek: The Adventure Game (1985 from West End Games.)

[@blanetalk]

​@@TheDiscriminatingGamer- The 2 HM's (mentioned later in my comment) were Star Trek: Expeditions (2011 from WizKids) and Star Trek: The Adventure Game (1985 from West End Games.)

[@FalkFlak]

I've heard good things about Star Trek: Expeditions. But I only saw it once in the wild. It must have been very short-lived.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@FalkFlak Yeah. Never played it.

[@JonHook]

I'm a huge Trekkie, but for me, most Star Trek games fall flat. But.... Star Trek: Fleet Captains is absolutely AMAZING! Cody glazed over it, (a bit), when he said that each time your ship moves into a new hex you're drawing an Encounter card. That's not quite accurate. The player who first explores/discovers a hex of space has the opportunity to roll a die to see if he can draw an Encounter card. It's been my experience that a player runs about a 50% success rate at drawing Encounter cards. For me, the heart and soul of this game are the Encounter cards and the completion of the various Mission cards. Rules as written, only the player who explores/discovers a new hex tile is given the opportunity to roll for an Encounter card. This is where I have implemented my one-and-only house rule for this game. In my game, each player has a supply to colored tokens/discs in their faction color. When that player first enters a hex, whether it has been explored/discovered or not, they roll once to see if they can draw an Encounter card. Success or fail, they drop a colored token to indicate that they have already attempted an Encounter card roll in that hex. With this house rule, each player is eligible to attempt an Encounter card roll in each hex. It really amplifies the sensation that each player is "in" an episode of Star Trek.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thanks not a bad idea. Thanks for sharing.

[@Lordborg909]

Couldnt agree more, Nutrek just isnt for me, but Picard season 3 was on the money. SO fun to see the old crew back together

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@Lordborg909 It was a lot of fun. Too bad the rest of nutrek is so bad.

[@grodd1016]

The three part Star Trek Attack Wing Dominion War sets are great. Lets you play solo or co-op against a tough AI.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I've heard good things about Alliance. Thanks.

[@DaveinLedbury]

They can keep the Star Wars franchise… It’s Star Trek all the way, for me! Happy Christmas Cody! Happy New Year, too! Looking forward to more of your videos in 2025.

[@RayPhay]

You know I like the Star Wars universe but I tend to have more fun with the Star Trek games. Star Wars Outer Rim with expansion is probably my favorite for that franchise.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you, sir. I like plenty of SW games as well. But some really fun stuff happening with Star Trek right now.

[@DaveinLedbury]

I’m perhaps being a bit harsh… I’ve not played any Star Wars games, but that’s mainly because I’m not a huge fan of SW, compared to Star Trek.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@DaveinLedbury Star Wars: Rebellion is the best, but there are many more: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXrXaKSchcR3oZo

[@DaveinLedbury]

@ Thanks Cody. I trust your opinion - our gaming tastes are very similar - so I may put Rebellion on my 2025 wishlist! Thank you.

[@kennethfharkin]

No love for Star Trek Panic. That game rocks and fully embraces TOS.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@kennethfharkin Never played that one. I like Castle Panic.

[@DannyHensel74205]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer I also recommend Star Trek Panic. It's a really great reimplementation of the Castle Panic system that feels very thematic, and it's pure TOS. There's no mixing of eras here.

[@WolfVdME]

Star Trek Panic was good as well. Castle Panic with a ST theme.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@WolfVdME Yeah. I never played that one. I like Castle Panic. Thanks.

[@joshuafannin6356]

Spot on with the number 1 pick, Its my top pick as well! I hope they reprint it as my old copy has seen better days..

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@joshuafannin6356 Yeah. They need to bring it back. Thanks.

[@RayPhay]

I would love for them to reprint this game as I have been wanting to get/play this one for years.

[@Ziplomatic007]

Got a sweet deal on a used copy of Fleet Captains, then two days later I found a pristine like new copy on sale. Bought them both in case I wear one out. Love that game.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@ Good job. It’s great.

[@-RTC-]

I’ve had my eye on your #2 for years but have never pulled the trigger. Do you think it plays well with two players? Merry Christmas!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I've never played it with two, but I think it wouldn't be bad - especially if you got the Dominion expansion and played two factions each. Great game.

[@-RTC-]

@ oh interesting! I’ll have to look at the cost for initial investment to get those expansions also.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@ They’re going to do a Gamefound for the whole package coming up shortly.

[@jupiterloner999]

Not sure why your videos are low in volume... 🤔

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Not sure either.

[@SimplicitySingularity]

We only really play STFC via the "Regenerations" rules found on BGG. I love the game that way, BUT, it is a bit fiddly of a game over all. If you aren't playing with people who are willing to look up rules, if you're the only one doing that, it can be a bit of a slog. I still love the game and own two full sets, all the expansions and have set up the Borg fanspansion with proxies.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Sounds like a fun game. Thanks!

[@danielhoffman4741]

Into the Unknown looks interesting but it’s way too expensive

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

It is not an inexpensive game, for sure.

[@dabearz27]

Good Trek games are few and far between. Most of the good ones are reskins. Didn’t much care for Fleet Captains because it felt a little thematically all over the place, and it seemed to favor the Klingons quite a bit. Top three for me would be Five Year Mission (Simple, but fun), The Adventure Game from the 80’s (Tales of the Arabian Nights meets Trek, albeit very imbalanced in favor of the Federation), and Star Trek Panic. You aren’t missing much with the deck builders. The TOS one is okay, but very mundane by today’s standards.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@dabearz27 I love Fleet Captains, but appreciate that it’s not everybody’s cup of tea.

[@jonnelson7112]

Woo!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@jonnelson7112 Woo indeed!

[@keithpalmer4547]

Ugh you gave Star Trek into the Unknown a 6 out of 10 lol! I am surprised it made this list.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

There's a lot there to like.

[@georgeresso6835]

dont u mean the 'MAGE KNIGHT" click system....lol!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@georgeresso6835 Touch a nerve?

[@georgeresso6835]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer not at all just wanted to point out mage knight did the click system first.....

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@georgeresso6835 Actually, Mage Knight wasn't around until 2011. Heroclix started in 2002 I believe. Mage Knight borrowed from that game.

[@georgeresso6835]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer mage knight rebellion released nov 2000 heroclix july 2002....

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@georgeresso6835 Wow. I hadn't even heard of that. And it had the "clix" system as well?

[@eatingweevils]

The worst Star Trek game in my collection is Star Trek: The Final Frontier (1992) I recently bought from a charity shop. I was surprised to discover it was unplayed the cards hadn't been punch-out. I then read the rules utterly dreadful space race game first to reach Earth, a very un Star Trek boardgame . Its more of curiosity in my collection

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Yikes. Doesn't sound like fun.

[@eatingweevils]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer Star Trek Final Frontier is bit like ludo with event cards. Nice box art shame about the game