Fame!

Roll enough dice and they will all average out. All Great in theory until you roll a one and your opponent rolls a twelve and the difference is how many Damage points you take off your 11 point hull… Xia is a dice rolling fest. It’s unforgiving. If you fall behind its going to be a struggle to catch up. You get picked on when you’re down. You get bad rolls but mostly you make bad decisions and you have no one to blame but yourself (and everyone else). 
Xia is multiplayer elite in board game form. You set off to gain fame (because I assume you want to live forever) and the first to a predetermined score wins. You gain points in a number of ways, trading, exploring, completing missions, rescuing stranded players, killing others, completing missions and rolling a natural 20. So it’s a race

The map is made up of an ever expanding set of hexes each with a dozen or so spaces. The sectors contain planets of varying types, asteroid fields, Jump gates and bloody big lethal stars. As you get to the edge of hexes you flip another one over and reveal it so every game map will be different. You spend most of your time trying to get points whilst occasionally trying to ruin everyone else’s day. Let’s be honest this is the most fun part and unlike a number of other race type games getting up in someone else’s business is the order of the day if you draw and assassination or theft card. 
The game is just like (insert Hollywood star), very well put together. The coins are metal and without doubt the best money in any game ever, the ships are prepainted (in the finest sweatshops) the artwork is good, the pieces are solid. It all oozes qualify. 

There’s a magnificent vibe to the game. It’s a joy to play. It’s like a Mercedes of games. There’s issues true but none that can’t be fixed easily with a bit of common sense and maybe a house rule or two. It’s pricey but you can see the production costs when you crack it open. Is it worth the cost? Honestly no there’s a lot of really good premium games out there at a little less than this. This is more like an expensive wine. It’s a treat. It’s an indulgence. But you know what? I really like it because well, I’m all posh and that
Huzzah!
Vic