I would say Catan introduced getting resources on other players turn long before Machi Koro.

Oooh, I like your 2p variant: after each player turn, roll for dummy. (And thanks for inspiring the light speed variant!)

Played it yesterday - It def suffers from a slow start as you said, but on the flip side I also think it also suffers from a sudden end, meaning the game ends too fast exactly when you get your engine going and when everything becomes more satisfying... I may want to try what you said (begin w/ a level 1, 2 and 3 cards), but then also move the end game target to 60 or even 80 points, and not 40.

Also, since I only played w/ 2 players, funny I never thought about what you said in comparison to a 3/4 player game... Overall I really enjoyed the game... I thought it to be a bit more luck dependent than I would normally enjoy but that made it quite fun actually...

There's a light-speed start variant that makes it faster to the point when its getting interesting

all you have to do is when you get to 40 points, you turn around and go the other direction. IE: Like what a return trip in a space ship would be like.

My husband and I love this game just as the rules are written. We talked about the house rules proposed but we don't think it's necessary. It's really fun to try to build a stronger engine than each other and race to the finish. At first I was running away with it every time but now he's getting better at which cards to choose and the scores have been much closer no matter who wins. My husband loves dice and gambling so he's really into it.

You said, it only happens once in a 2 player game. Yes but you’re still getting twice the number of turns as a 4 player game.

I love games that allow you to take actions when it's not your turn. Tiny Epic Galaxy, Qwixx, etc. I'll definitely be looking into this one, and maybe try some of the variants you described.

I bought this game a couple of years ago and I think we've played in about four times since then with my regular gaming group. On three of those playthroughs, with 5 players, we have had a situation where most of the 18 ship cards are at the high end (10, 11, 12) but, just through "luck of the draw", one player has managed to zoom ahead and get to 30+ victory points whilst everyone else is still in single digits just by getting good cards turned over as the other players have been "buying up the cr*p" - at that point, you're not going to catch up that player, and the ability cards seem almost powerless to slow him down a bit. A rules that lets a bad row of cards be reset might also be useful. Do any of the expansions improve this situation at all and allow the other players to "slow down" one that has surged ahead? I don't really want to buy expansions for a game that just doesn't suit our style of play, not that that makes it a bad game. I get this game is all about "fast play" but if one player surges ahead so far and so quickly without anyone else being able to stop him/her then you might as well just give up the game halfway through and give that player the victory.

do you now play the game by starting out with level 1, 2, 3 cards? do you do anything else to make it play better now?

And another game on my wishlist. My wallet would very much like to speak to you. ;)

maybe even do a card draft at the beginning to get the game kicked in quicker

Good call for 3rd dummy roll in a 2 player game.

Bro don't get me wrong i love you and all BUT, you CAN'T say it's a bad game just because it doesn't scale well for 2 players, get some friends and enjoy together that's the point anyway of the activity of board games.