After our first rollicking, frenzied, knock-down, drag-out, shouting match of a game last night, my family has declared the Battlestar Galactica game our current favorite, hands down. This game is a keeper, and it'll be in the front of my bookcase on the easiest-to-reach shelf.

Here are a few highlights as to what made the game so much fun for us:

1. The game is essentially a team vs. team game, humans vs. cylons (i.e. androids), although the members of the cylon/android team may not be fully known until the end of the game. I find games that require teamwork, as opposed to "every man for themselves", are much more involving, and this game really gets the players interacting.

2. The cylons/androids want to kill the humans, as you might expect, but the mechanics of the game allow the cylons/androids to remain disguised as humans while they attempt to sabotage the efforts of the humans. Thus, it's sort of a detective game, like Clue, as the human players try to identify the cylons/androids. We had a huge amount of fun trying to figure out who was a cylon while accusing everyone else of being cylons! There was lots of finger-pointing and excitement. Trust no one.

3. There was enough action and involvement that no one became bored while waiting for their next turn. Each player's turn tended to go slow, expecially since this was our first game, but after a few turns everyone got the hang of it and the pace picked up. Everyone had different jobs to do, but all players were involved in assisting--or sabotaging--everyone else, so there's not really any downtime. Each turn there was a new crisis to overcome, whether fighting robots aboard ship, engaging in ship-to-ship battles, or repairing damage, or... Well, you get the idea.

4. Finally, if some of your friends lean towards the theatrical, there can be an element of roleplaying to the game as you take on the personas of the Battlestar Galactica characters. Roleplaying isn't necessary, but if you