Issued by Parker Brothers in the United States in 1978, this copy was donated to the Museum in 1991.
The television series upon which the game was based was telecast from 1978 through 1980. It was touted to be one of the highest budgeted shows at the time because of the many special effects used in the production. These effects were created by John Dykstra who had also created special effects for the film Star Wars. There were many aspects of this series that reminded viewers of the film Star Wars, but it didn't have the same appeal.
The game board (photograph on the right) is a 19x19 cell matrix, with a large square in each corner, and each corner occupies 9 cells of the matrix - leaving 325 cells as the playing area of the board. Each corner square is the area in which each of the four players dock their "Fighter Squadrons".
In the telecast series, the opponents of the Galactica were the Cylons. The goal of each player is to capture a disabled Cylon Raider and return it to the player's Battlestar. Each of the four players has one Viper (fighter) to send out to capture a Cylon Raider, which is placed in the center of the board (marked by the intersecting orange lines). Each player is dealt a set of cards that indicate special actions, like firing laser torpedoes or thruster use. Each player has to flick a numbered spinner to indicate how far to travel, etc. This is accomplished by a player putting a marker on one cell. Each player following in turn does the same. As the number of pieces on the board are built up, a player attempts to move toward the center before another player can do this. When a player's markers are completely surrounded, the player who has surrounded these, may then remove those markers from the board. There are a number of rules to the game which control the placement of markers on the board. The winning "squadron" is the one who has captured the most Cylons.
In 2005, the tv show was revised and telecast with a somewhat different plot and a new cast. One of the central characters "Starbuck" (in the original production) was a man. In this new production "Starbuck" is a woman. Obviously the show has an audience since as of this update new episodes are still being telecast!
Last update May 24, 2010