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Note: This is a prototype rulebook that is still in development and rules within the rulebook,

although tested thoroughly, are still subject to change.

Processing request… Archive accessed…

In the Earth year 3586 AD the discovery of Skimdrive technology by


Earth scientists brought previously isolated civilizations within a
reachable distance. This technology could not be kept secret for long,
and as other species achieved faster than light travel, so the race for
intergalactic territory and resources intensified.

The frontrunner in this competition quickly became the private


mega-corporations of Earth, which swiftly transitioned into Galactic
Mega-Corporations (known as GMCs), with power far beyond any public organisation or
government.

These GMCs now work to achieve the next step in technological advancement: transition to a
‘Type 2 civilisation’ through the construction of a Solar Sphere. Public opinion is split on the
morality of a private entity achieving such overwhelming power, and there is active opposition
to the construction attempts.

Despite this opposition and the real threat of Solar Storms discovered in the scouting mission,
the Mu-Lambda system has been chosen for the site of a Solar Sphere by the The
Corporation.

The Corporation has offered a handsome reward for any assistance in the construction of the
Solar Sphere and you, as my commander, have chosen to aid their attempt.

From our command centre, your aim is to deploy a small convoy of ships, and a fleet of
drones, using them to extract resources from mineral-rich planets, hire crew, construct the
Solar Sphere, and fight off resistance to the The Corporation.

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Objective and Overview
In Solar Sphere, your aim is to gain prestige with The Corporation by completing tasks which
help them to build their Solar Sphere. You have access to a fleet of ships, represented by dice,
which you can deploy from your command centre each round to different locations. Each
location provides a different benefit and to visit them your ship dice will have to show the correct
value.

Sometimes your ships will need support, and that’s where your drones come in, manipulating
the dice to match the values at certain locations or allowing you to visit locations that already
contain ships from another player’s fleet. Drones are also deployed to combat resistance ships.
Drones will be exhausted throughout the game and you’ll have to decide whether to repair them
to keep them in your supply or repurpose them for additional benefits.

Solar Sphere is played over 6 rounds, until there is no more resistance to the construction of the
sphere and The Corporation can complete the sphere you have begun work on.

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Components [+
images]

*The resource supplies are not intended to be limited, so if a supply pile runs out, use a suitable
replacement.

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Setup
Solar Sphere (central area)
1. Place the centre hex tile in the centre of the table.
2. For 2/3/4 players, flip 6/3/0 of the sphere hex tiles face down, then shuffle them into a
stack of tiles which are all face up except for the ones you just flipped face down.
3. Going clockwise around the centre hex, place the hex tiles face up (other than the ones
you just flipped) in the ring surrounding the centre hex tile to form the sun. When you
reach a face down one, place it face down and place a Corporation drone on the hex.
4. Connect the 3 score board pieces together around the hexes to form a ring.
5. Place the location cards around the sun as shown in the diagram below.
6. Shuffle the resistance cards and place them into a face down deck next to the resistance
location. Remove 3 resistance cards at random and return them to the box without
looking at them to create a deck of 12 resistance cards.
7. Split this deck into two equal decks of 6 cards and draw 1 resistance card from each,
placing them face up below each deck.
8. Shuffle the crew cards in their numbered decks and place them next to each other to
form a row of 3 decks. Deal 2 cards from each deck face up.

Command Centre (player area)


9. Give each player a player board, 4 dice, 20 drone cubes, 2 player markers, a morale
marker, and 1 sphere progress marker (orange) in their player colour.

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10. Place the opaque die and 12 of your drones into a reserve beside your player board.
These are not used immediately but can be gained throughout the game.
11. Take 2 player markers from each player and place one of them on the scoreboard
(tracker around the sun) at the ‘0’ space and place the other one in a randomly
determined order on the turn order track.
12. Take 1 morale marker and place it on the leftmost space your morale track.
13. Take 1 sphere progress marker and place it on the leftmost space your sphere track.
14. All players take 8 drone cubes from their supply and place them in their drone storage
area. Leave the rest in a supply beside your player board.
15. All players move 2 of their drone cubes from their drone storage area to their drone
recycling area

The game is now ready to begin

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Round Structure
1. Refuel fleet
2. Deploy ships
3. Alien Encounter battles
4. Round cleanup

1. Refuel fleet
This phase happens In this phase you’ll roll your 3 dice, gain morale, and establish turn
simultaneously. order for the round

All players roll their fleet of dice and place them on the docking points of their player board.
Declare the total face value of your ship dice to the other players, and adjust the turn order so
that the player with the highest total value dice goes first, the player with the second highest
goes second and so on. If there is a tie, the player who was later in turn order last round/during
setup, goes first.

Then, players gain a bonus for the morale of their crew. For each dice value, count how many
dice you have rolled of that value and find the corresponding morale bonus shown below the
docking point. Move your marker that many spaces up the morale track.

Example: If you get 2 dice of a value 1 and 1 dice of a value 3, gain 4 morale

Example:
Arlo rolls his dice and gets 2 dice of a value 1 and 1 dice of a value 3, so he gain 5 morale

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Note: The dice of value 1 in this image are stacked on top of each other. You should do the
same when you roll dice of the same value!

Processing request… Analysis activated…

Unlike the GMCs, our power to influence our fleet is limited. Although our
fleet is loyal to you, they have their own agendas and preferences as
shown by the values on the ship dice. These preferences are
unpredictable, and if the fleet’s preferences align it will make it more
difficult to send ships to a variety of locations, but it will contribute to a
higher team morale.

Although we cannot control these values we can influence them later by deploying drones as
supporting units.

2. Deploy Ships
This phase happens in In this phase you’ll take it in turns to visit locations, gaining
turn order. benefits, until you have no more dice left to place

In turn order, players visit locations by placing a ship die which matches the requirement of the
location. This continues until all players have paced all of their ship dice.

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Gain Corporation bonus (optional)
Before visiting a location, you may gain a bonus from The Corporation but if you do, you will
lose morale.

To gain the Corporation bonus, move the marker on your morale tracker back on the track to
cover the next spanner icon. You may then gain one of the following three benefits:
● Gain 1 resource
● Gain 1 drone
● Recycle two drones.

You can gain these benefits multiple times in the same turn, as long as you have the morale to
lose.
Note: You must spend all the morale you want to before gaining the benefits, so you cannot
gain the benefit of morale and then use that morale again to gain another bonus.

Example:
Arlo moves his morale marker back 4 spaces. By doing so he passes 1 spanner icon and
lands on another, gaining him 2 Corporation bonuses. He chooses to gain 2 resources

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Corporation Tracker
If you move your morale tracker back to a spanner icon and the icon is underneath or to the left
of your Corporation tracker, you gain an additional spanner icon. You can take another free
Corporation bonus, which can be the same or different to the first bonus.

Throughout the game you can gain favour with the corporation whenever you see
this symbol.

If you are at the top of the track and gain favour with the corporation, you gain
morale for each corporation favour that you would have gained.

Processing request… Further Synopsis activated…

The Corporation has released a follow up statement regarding the Solar


Sphere project:

“Dear Contractor,

Congratulations on your official status as a Gold-tier Corporation


Ambassador. In recognition of your continued service to The Corporation
in the Solar Sphere project we are happy to offer an additional benefit
from your local Corporation Champion. Every time your actions support our cause we’ll
increase your reward status. Make sure you claim your rewards so that we can build a better
universe together!”

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Example:
Esther moves her morale marker back 4 spaces. By doing so she passes 1 spanner icon and
lands on another, because both spanner icons are below or to the left of her corporation
tracker token, she gains 4 Corporation bonuses. She chooses to gain 2 resources, recycle 2
drones, and gain 1 drone from her reserve.

Processing request… Synopsis activated…

The Corporation has released the following statement regarding the


Solar Sphere project:

“Dear Contractor,

Thank you for supporting the Solar Sphere project and The Corporation
in our mission to bring the edges of the universe together. As we stretch
out to the stars we rely on assistance from you, our Corporation
Ambassadors, and we are happy to provide any assistance we can to aid you in our shared
goal.

If at any time you require additional resources, technology, or maintenance assistance, please

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contact a local Corporation Champion, who will be happy to provide you with a Corporation
Bonus and record your reliance on The Corporation so your debt can be repaid at a future
date.”

Your crew is willing to work for The Corporation , but any debt can affect morale as your crew
do not entirely trust their motives, so be careful how much you take advantage of their ‘offer’.

Gaining Resources
Whenever you gain a resource, take the resource from
the supply and place it into the hold area of your
command centre.

Your holding area is limited to 6 spaces. You cannot


have more than 6 resources at any time.

If you gain a resource and your holding area is full,


you may choose to discard one of the resources in
your holding area to take the new resource, or choose
to discard the new resource.

The resource supplies are not intended to be limited, so if a supply pile runs out, use a
suitable replacement.

Gaining Drones
Whenever you gain a drone, you may either
● take a drone from your reserve
● take a drone from a satellite location

place the drone into the ready area of your command centre.

Your ready area is unlimited, so you can hold as many drones there as you are able to do so

The number of drones you can gain is


limited to the 20 drones in your colour. If
you have no more drones in your
reserve, and you cannot move drones
from a satellite location, you cannot gain
more drones.

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Recycling Drones
Drones that are in your recycle area can recycled in two ways:
● To the ready area, ready to be used again
● To the repurposing area, permanently locking the drone for an immediate bonus

Recycling to the drone supply


To recycle a drone to the drone supply, move it from your recycle area to the drone supply.

There is no limit to the number of drones you can recycle in this way

Recycling to the repurposing area


To recycle a drone to the repurposing area, move it from your recycle area to the leftmost
space of one of the rows in the repurposing area. Once it is moved here, it can never be
moved again.

Immediately gain the bonus that the drone covers up, either a resource, points, or morale.

You can only recycle 1 drone per row per recycle action, as shown by the ‘×1’ arrow leading to
each row

Completing a column
If you complete a column by recycling one drone in each row, you unlock a temporary bonus
die.

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Immediately take the 4th die from your reserve, roll it, and
place it into your docking area.

You do not gain a morale bonus from this die and it is


placed back into your reserve at the end of the round.

If you complete two columns in a round, you do not take


the die again and the bonus is wasted.

Scoring points
At the end of the game, the player with the most victory points will win the game. Some points
are scored immediately (silver stars) and some points are scored at the end of the game (gold
stars). Sometimes you will lose points either immediately (red with silver outline) or at the end
of the game (red with gold outline)

Points gained during Points gained at the Points lost during the Points lost at the end
the game end of the game game of the game

Whenever you score/lose points, move your marker forward on the score track around the
sun.

Visiting locations

To visit a location, you must move one of your dice from your docking station to a location card.

Locations have the following requirements:


● You must meet the exact requirements of the dice value shown at the location to visit a
location
● You cannot visit a location that was already visited by another player (including you)
unless you use a drone to aid your ship

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Processing request… Sensors activated…

The locations around the Mu-Lambda system have a variety of conditions. Some are more
temperate than others and your fleet will always be more willing to visit those locations.

It seems we are not the only team interested in assisting The Corporation. It is likely that the
presence of other fleets in the system will hinder our efforts to visit certain locations. As orbital
docks become filled you’ll need to create mobile orbital docks by using our drone technology.

The requirements of each location fall into 4 categories:

Place any of the Place an even value Place an odd value Place any value dice
specific value dice dice here dice here here
shown here

You may use drones from your supply to alter your dice to match the value shown at the location

Using Drones to alter dice


Use 1 drone to change the value of a dice by +1 or -1.

You can change the value as many times as you have drones to use.

To change a 1 to a 6 will cost 5 drones.

Using Drones to aid ships


Visit a location already visited by another player

To visit a location already visited by any player (including yourself) you need to spend 1 drone
(no matter how many players have previously visited)

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Using Drones
When a drone is used, move if from your ready area to the recycle area.

When visiting a location, you have the choice to either gain the benefit of the location or place a
satellite drone from your ready area next to the location’s satellite area. Once you have visited a
location, your turn ends and the next player in turn order takes their turn.

Visiting a location to place Satellite Drones


Placing a satellite drone at a location allows you to gain a bonus benefit as well as the regular
benefit whenever you visit that location in the future.

To place a drone, move it from your ready area to beside the satellite area on the location card.

You must still match the


dice requirement of the
location to place the
satellite drone, but if a
location usually requires
you to pay a cost (such as
the crew, sphere, or
resistance locations), you
do not need to pay this cost.

Processing request… Drone Linkup activated…

Drones are an invaluable technology for any command centre and


managing them correctly will make the difference between success and
failure.

If you have poorly managed or riskily used your drones and cannot recycle
or gain any more, you may be forced to retain one of your ships at the
command centre to gain morale, to allow you to gain a Corporation bonus
on your next turn.

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Visiting a location to gain the location benefit
Instead of placing a satellite drone, you can visit a location to gain the location benefit

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Gathering resources

Where the location benefit is to gather resources, place a die to place those resources into your
storage from the supply

Example:
Arlo has a dice of value 1 and decides to place it at this location. By doing so, he gains 1
mineral from the supply and places it into his storage

Example:
Esther has a dice of value 6 and decides to place it at this location. By doing so, she gains 1
crystal from the supply

Because she has a satellite drone at the location, she gains 2 additional crystals from the
supply. She places all the crystals into her storage.

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Processing request… Extraction protocol activated…

Resources are used for a variety of tasks, most actions require a little of
everything but Minerals are especially useful for building the Sphere and
Gold is especially useful in hiring the crew. The volatile crystals of rehtse-3
are used to fuel the Skimdrive technology, so are used in combat with
resistance ships.

Of course, we’ve already discussed the importance of drone


management...

Building Sphere Hexes


To build on a hex you must satisfy the following conditions:
● The dice you place at this location must be equal to or greater than the dice value shown
on the hex.
● The hex must be unoccupied
● The hex must be adjacent to another occupied hex (including Corporation drones)
● You must have the resources to pay the cost shown on the hex
● You must have a drone in your ready area to place on the hex

Once you have satisfied these conditions, pay the cost on the hex and occupy it by placing a
drone from your supply onto the centre of the hex.

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If the hex shows a Sun icon, increase your corporation tracker one space

The faction icons will be scored at the end of the game and you will also get an end of game
bonus for the total hexes you have built on.

Faction icons
By building on the sphere, gaining crew members, and battling resistance
ships, you will gain influence with factions. These faction icons will score 5
points at the end of the game for each complete set of icons.

The silver icon counts as any icon for the purposes of scoring

Processing request… Diplomatic protocol activated…

In the era in which GMCs rose to power, groups of multi-species factions


formed. Whilst these factions are not as powerful as the GMCs, we still
rely on them for regular work.
As a mercenary, our reputation is important to maintain, so taking actions
that pleases these factions, and improving them in balance with each
other, will improve our prestige.

Example:
Arlo has a dice of value 6 and decides to place it at this location. By doing so, he can place a
drone from his ready area on any sphere hex that he has the resources to claim.

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He pays 1 Mineral and 2 gold to claim the hex shown. He immediately moves his corporation
trackerforward one space. The faction icons on the hex will count towards his end of game
score.

When you build on the sphere, every occupied hex that you build adjacent to gives the owner of
that hex 1 morale. This includes your own hexes.

Example: Esther puts a drone on a hex. This hex is adjacent to two other hexes that Esther has
previously put drones on. She therefore goes up twice on her morale tracker. The new hex is
also adjacent to a hex that Arlo has previously built on. He therefore goes up once on his moral
tracker.

Note: If the final hex of the sphere is built, this triggers the end of the game and the current
round is the final round of the game.

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Hiring Crew Members

Cost - the cost to hire the crew member


Points value - the points value of the crew
member
Ability - the ability of the crew member
Retirement bonus - the bonus that the crew
member gives when retired.
faction icon - the faction that the crew
member belongs to

Pay the cost in the top left of one of the face up crew members to hire that crew member,
placing them below your player board in one of the 3 available crew slots. Gain the points
shown on the points value section of the crew member.

If the crew member had a morale token on it, move your morale marker a number of spaces
equal to the morale shown on the token and then return the token back to the supply.

If the 3 available crew slots underneath your player board are already occupied, you must retire
one of the crew members in those slots, then gain the retirement bonus of the retired crew
member. You may not immediately retire a crew member you just hired.

Keep your retired crew member in your own retirement pile, as you will need it for end of game
scoring.

You may only hire 1 crew member per action at this location.

If you have upgraded the location, you pay 1 less resource when hiring crew.

Example:
Esther has a dice of value 3 and decides to place it at this location. By doing so, she can hire
any crew member

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She pays 2 gold to hire the tier 1 crew member shown. She immediately gains 1 point and
puts the crew member in an empty space under her player board. The faction icons on the
crew member will count towards her end of game score.

Processing request… Communications activated…

News of the Solar Sphere project in the Mu-Lambda system has spread
and Mercenaries have migrated to the Icarus outpost to lend a helping
hand as a crew member, for a price.

Crew members will bring ongoing benefits when they occupy one of the
available seats at your command table. As crew members are hired,
morale on Icarus outpost increases for those crew who have yet to be
hired, but their attention can only be kept for so long and any crew member that is not hired
soon will likely head somewhere where their skills are more appreciated.

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Example:
Arlo has a dice of value 3 and decides to place it at this location. By doing so, he can hire any
crew member

Arlo has upgraded the location so he pays 1 less resource to hire a crew member. He pays 2
gold and 1 Mineral to hire the tier 3 crew member shown. He immediately gains 3 points and
puts the crew member in an empty space under her player board. The faction icons on the
crew member will count towards her end of game score.

However, Arlo has no empty spaces under his player board, so he must choose one of the
crew members there to retire. He chooses to retire the left hand crew member and gain its
discard bonus.

Sending drones to resistance combats


Pay 1 crystal per resistance combat you wish to place drones on. Add any number of drones
from your ready area to any of the resistance ships on display. If you have upgraded the
location, you can recycle two drones which may then be placed on resistance ships (you may
choose to keep them in your ready area or repurpose them instead).

If you cannot pay the crystal or place drones, you cannot take this action.

When you place drones on a resistance combat for the first time, place them in the leftmost
empty drone column on the card. If you place drones on the card in the future, place them in the
same column.

You are not limited to the number of alien encounter cards that you are allowed to place drones
on.

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Resistance combats are resolved in ‘Phase 3. Resistance combat’

Command Centre location


This final location is on your player board, not in the central area.

Location Dice requirement Benefit Bonus satellite


benefit

Any die Place a die on this -


location to gain 1
morale

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Gain 1 morale by placing any ship die at this location. This location should probably only be
used as a last resort

Using crew members


You can use any of your crew members on your turn during the ‘deploy ships’ phase of the
game.

Deployed a ship?
Once you have deployed a ship to gain the benefit of the location or place a satellite drone, end
your turn. The next player in turn order then takes their turn.

All ships deployed?


When all players have no more ship dice left to place, this phase ends. Move onto phase 3.
Resistance combat

3. Resistance combat
This phase happens in In this phase, resistance combats will be resolved in the order they
order of ship appeared, by the main attacker in each combat.

appearance.

Resistance combats are resolved in order of appearance, starting with the ones that have been
on display the longest

The player who has the most drones assigned to a combat is the main attacker. If two players
have the same number of drones assigned, the player whose drones are leftmost is the main
attacker.

The main attacker resolves the combat by rolling the combat die. The combat die will either
show a value of 0, 1, or 2, which is added to the target value on the card to give the total target
value.

If the number of ALL drones on the card meets or exceeds the total target value, the attack is
successful, if it is not, the attack fails.

If the attack is successful:

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● Attackers who contributed drones to the attack gain points based on the number of
drones they assigned to the combat.
○ The main attacker gets the highest points value
○ The attacker who has the second highest number of drones gets the second
highest points value
○ The attacker(s) in third/fourth position get the lowest number of points. If there
are any ties for the number of drones assigned, the player who has the leftmost
drones wins the tie.
● The main attacker immediately gains any corporation tracker bonus on the card and
claims the card
● All attackers who contributed to the attack gain 1 morale
● Return all drones to the attackers recycle areas

If the attack is unsuccessful:


● If it is in the top row, move it to the bottom row and add a Corporation drone to the
combat. All drones on the combat card remain on the card
● If it is in the bottom row, the main attacker immediately gains any corporation tracker
bonus on the card and claims the card
● If it is in the bottom row, all players who did not contribute to the attack lose 1 morale
● If it is in the bottom row, return all drones to the attackers recycle areas
● No points are awarded for unsuccessful attacks

Corporation Drones
Corporation Drones are added to resistance combat cards that have moved to the second
row. They are placed in the leftmost available column and add to the total number of drones.
They also count as attackers so can block players from gaining points as if they were another
player.

Processing request… Corporation defence systems notified…

The Corporation has released a follow up statement regarding the Solar


Sphere project:

“Dear Contractor,

The Corporation has noted that your efforts have failed to dissuade the
anarchists that threaten progress. As a result, we have been forced to
dispatch support drones to hamper their advances. Please be more
thorough in organising your defences”

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Claiming cards
When the main attacker claims the card, they take the card and place it facedown by their
Command Centre board, gaining any corporation track bonuses immediately and keeping any
faction icons for the end of the game. They can look at this at any time but it is kept secret
from all other players. They do not gain the points listed on the card if the attack was
unsuccessful.

Example:
Arlo has placed 3 drones on this resistance ship.
He rolls the resistance die to resolve the combat
and rolls a value of 1, giving a total resistance
value of 3.

Since the value of the resistance value is not


greater than the value of his drones, he wins the
combat. He gains 4 victory points and claims the
card.

Example:
Esther and Arlo have both placed 1 drone each
on this resistance ship. As Esther placed her
drones on the card first, she is the main attacker

Esther rolls the resistance die to resolve the


combat and rolls a value of 0, giving a total
resistance value of 2.

Since the value of the resistance value is not


greater than the combined value of the drones,
the players win the combat. Esther gains 4 victory
points and claims the card. Arlo gains 3 victory
points.

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Example:
Esther and Arlo have both placed 2 drones each
on this resistance ship and there is 1 Corporation
drone. As Arlo placed his drones on the card
before Esther and has more drones than The
Corporation, he is the main attacker

Arlo rolls the resistance die to resolve the combat


and rolls a value of 2, giving a total resistance
value of 6.

Since the value of the resistance value is greater


than the combined value of the drones, the
players lose the combat. No victory points are
gained but Arlo still claims the card.

4. Cleanup
This phase happens In this phase, you’ll refresh the game state, ready for the next
simultaneously. round

Check for the end of the game


The game can end in two ways:

● If there are no more hexes to claim on the Sphere


● If there are no more resistance cards to draw from the resistance decks (when 6 rounds
of the game have been played)

If either of these conditions are met, the final resistance cards that are on display are resolved
as above (one final attack by the resistance!), then move immediately to the end of game
scoring.

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Refresh
If it is not the end of the game, do the following to refresh the game ready for the next round.

1. Draw cards from the resistance deck to create a new top row of resistance combats.
2. If any crew members already has a token that shows 2 morale, return the crew member to
the bottom of its crew deck
3. Place 1 morale token on each crew that was not hired this round. If a crew member already
has a morale token, flip it to the side that shows 2 morale.
4. Refill crew members so that there are 2 face up cards from each deck in a 2 or 3 player
game, or 3 face up cards in a 4 or 5 player game.
5. All players collect their dice
6. A new round begins, starting with Phase 1, Refuel Fleet

End game scoring


At the end of the game, you will add up points from:
● Points gained during the game
● faction icons- each crew member card, alien encounter card, and sphere hex has at
least one faction on them. For each complete set of 3 different faction tokens (

), gain 5 points. This faction icon ( ) can be substituted for any other
faction icon to complete a set
● Remaining drones and resources: score 1 point for every 2 drones in your ready area
and resource on your storage area (combined)
● Morale and Sphere trackers - look under the markers on your player board for each and
score or that many points.
● Sphere bonus. Score the following depending on the the number of drones you have on
the sphere:
○ 1 drone = 8vp
○ 2 drones = 15vp
○ 3 drones = 21vp
○ 4 drones = 26vp
○ 5 or more drones = 30vp

The player with the most points is the winner. In the case of a tie, the player who has the most
morale is the winner. If it is still a tie, the player who has the most drones is the winner.

Processing request… Epilogue unlocked…

As the debris of the final resistance ships drifts past the bridge of your

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command centre, the last drones needed to create Solar Sphere encircle the gas giant.

A message from The Corporation appears on your console...

“Dear Contractor,

Thank you so much for your assistance in The Corporation’s quest for unlimited power. With
the construction of this Solar Sphere our energy generation is now over 9,000% more efficient
than previous methods. As we embark on the exciting next phase of our journey, know that
your actions will go down in history and we will not forget them. You have claimed victory!”

It appears that The Corporation will reward you as promised but doubt gnaws at your
conscience. Victory was achieved so why do you feel like you’ve just lost?

Expansion rules

Corporation robots expansion


Components
10 corporation robot meeples (2 per player)

10 corporation robot cards (2 per player)

Overview
The Corporation has provided each command centre with a robot. These robots can be
deployed across the solar system. They provide the upgraded benefit of the location where they
are deployed but to deploy and move them you’ll need to call in a favour from the Corporation,
which may not end well...

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Setup
1. Set up the game as normal
2. Give each player the corporation robot meeples and corporation robot cards in their
player colour.
3. Set your meeples and cards beside your player board for now

How to play
When calling in favours at the start of your turn you can now use the corporation robot as one of
your favours. You can either:
● Call in 1 favour to deploy a new corporation robot, or
● Call in 1 favour to move a corporation robot from one location to another

Call in 1 favour to deploy a new corporation robot


Slide one of your corporation robot cards underneath your player
board, and choose any location to place your corporation robot
meeple

Call in 1 favour to move a corporation robot from one location to another


Once a corporation robot has been deployed, you may move it from one location to another by
calling in one favour before you place a die.

Using a corporation bot once deployed


Once a corporation robot has been deployed, you can place one of your dice on a corporation
robot card to activate either of your corporation robots.
Activating a corporation robot yields the upgraded version of the location
The die value remains as it is on the corporation bot card. So, for example, to activate a location
with an even requirement you must still place an even dice (or use drones to change its value to
even)
Each corporation robot card can only have one die placed on it.

Other rules
Only you can use your corporation robot and you may not use other players' corporation robots.
Corporation robots meeples do not ‘occupy’ a location, so it does not cost a drone to visit a
location with a corporation robot meeple (unless it is also occupied by one or more dice)

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For each corporation robot you have deployed, you gain 1 ‘wild’ set collection icon at the end of
the game

White Dwarf expansion


Components
1 white dwarf rondel board

1 white dwarf location card

2 white dwarf survey ships (1 silver, 1 gold)

Overview
With the construction of Solar Sphere #1 underway, The Corporation has set its sights on the
white dwarf of the Twinned star Mu-Lambda system. You now have the opportunity to visit the
white dwarf to gain bonuses

Setup
Set up the games as normal
Place the white dwarf rondel board and the location card in the central play area

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Drop the two survey ship tokens from above onto the white dwarf rondel board. Place them on
the nearest section to where they land

How to play
You may visit the white dwarf location
to move one of the ships a number of
spaces clockwise around the rondel
board up to the value of the die you
placed at the location.

If you have upgraded the location,


you may move both ships. Each ship
can be moved a number of spaces
clockwise around the rondel board up
to the value of the die you placed at
the location.

The ships cannot land on the same space or pass each other during movement.

When you land on a space, you may either take the resource above the space or use the
benefit below the space

Action reference

Gain 1 Mineral Gain 1 Mineral Gain 1 Mineral


OR OR OR
Use 1 drone to gain 1 sun Spend 1 resource to gain 1 Gain 1 drone
point for each drone you have
deployed to the sphere

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Gain 1 crystal Gain 1 crystal Gain 1 crystal
OR OR OR
Place 2 drones from your Spend 1 resource to gain 1 Recycle 2 drones
supply to a resistance point for each resistance card
combat. This does not cost a you have claimed
crystal

Gain 1 gold Gain 1 gold Gain 1 gold


OR OR OR
Spend 1 morale to gain your Spend 1 resource to gain 1 Gain 1 morale
temporary die this round point for each crew card you
have claimed

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Starting crew mini-expansion
Components
6 starting crew cards

Overview
The Corporation has provided each command centre with a starting crew member. These crew
members act as normal crew members, giving a once per round ability, and providing an
asymmetrical setup for each player

Setup
1. Set up the game as normal
2. Randomly deal each player one starting crew
3. Each player gains the benefit at the top of the card

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Setup: 1 gold, 1 crystal Setup: 1 Mineral, 1 crystal Setup: 1 Mineral, 1 gold
Ability: change 1 resource Ability: change 1 resource Ability: change 1 resource
into a Mineral into gold into crystal

Setup: start with 10 drones in Setup: start with one Setup: start with your
your ready area and no upgraded location (drone to corporation track one space
drones in your used area be taken from your reserve) higher
Ability: recycle 1 drone Ability: change one of your Ability: 2 extra resource
dice values by +/-2 storage spaces

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How to play
The starting crew members can be used once per round (except crew member 6, which has the
ongoing ability of providing 2 additional storage spaces).
The starting crew members can be retired but provide no benefit for doing so
The starting crew members do not have any faction symbols for end of game scoring.
Where an ability references the number of crew members you have, starting crew members
count towards this quota.

5th Player expansion


Components

Setup
1. Set up the game as normal except:
a. When setting up the sphere remove 3 of the random face-up hexes and replace
them with the 3 new 5-player hexes (they have 2 drone placement spaces).
Shuffle the stack again and build the sphere as normal
2. When dealing displaying crew, display 3 in each column instead of 2

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3. Each player gains the benefit at the top of the card

Solo rules
Components
12 Solo cards

Overview
In the Solo mode, you will take on the Delta Rift Area Nexus Defence Automa, or D.R.A.N.D.A -
an AI hired by Enigma GMC. D.R.A.N.D.A will play in a similar way to a human opponent but the
differences are outlined in this section.

Setup
Setup the game as you would a 2 player game. You must use the red player colour.
D.R.A.N.D.A does not use one player colour. It uses 1 yellow, 1 blue, and 1 black die.

1. Place all the drones of one colour (except


red) in a player area for D.R.A.N.D.A
2. Shuffle the D.R.A.N.D.A deck.
3. Place the D.R.A.N.D.A deck in the
D.R.A.N.D.A player area and flip the top
card face up to create a discard pile.
4. Roll one yellow, blue, and black die and
place them in the order shown on the
bottom of the discarded card
5. Place a further yellow, blue, and black die
in a reserve for D.R.A.N.D.A to use later.

How to play
At the start of each round, roll the 3 D.R.A.N.D.A dice alongside your own. Look at the card on
top of the D.R.A.N.D.A discard pile. Place the D.R.A.N.D.A dice in the order shown at the
bottom of this card (this has already been done for the first round in Setup).

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Turn order works as normal, being set by the highest dice value.
When it is D.R.A.N.D.A’s turn, reveal the top card of the D.R.A.N.D.A deck and
place it under the leftmost D.R.A.N.D.A die.

Based on the colour of the die the card will show which action D.R.A.N.D.A wishes
to take. Place the die on the chosen location. Do not discard the card, this will be
moved later.

D.R.A.N.D.A does not need to match the odds or even requirements at locations
but for some actions the value of the die still matters.

If D.R.A.N.D.A places on a space containing another die it removes 1 drone from its supply, if no
drones remain D.R.A.N.D.A loses 1 VP.
If D.R.A.N.D.A ever gains morale it instead scores 0/1/2 VP based on your chosen difficulty
level.
If D.R.A.N.D.A ever gains sun it scores 0/2/5 VP based on your chosen difficulty level.

Easy Medium Hard


Points Gained
during the game

Morale 0 1 2

Sun 0 2 5

End of round
Once all dice are placed, discard the top card of the D.R.A.N.D.A deck.

Collect the 3 cards played in the D.R.A.N.D.A play area and shuffle them into the D.R.A.N.D.A
deck. DO NOT add any cards in the discard pile back into the deck, any cards placed into the
discard pile will take no further part in the game.

End of game.

The game ends in the same way as usual, when there are no more resistance cards to reveal or
the sphere is complete.

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D.R.A.N.D.A will then earn additional points based on the number of drones it has remaining in
its supply and your chosen difficulty level.

Easy Medium Hard


Points Gained at
the end of the
game

Drones remaining 1 2 3

Location reference

Location Solo action

RESOURCE Place the die on the matching resource location.

RECYCLE D.R.A.N.D.A reveals the next card from its deck. Place a 4th
die, matching the leftmost colour shown on the bottom of the card on the
matching action. If that extra die has already been placed, return this card
to the bottom of the deck and draw a replacement. Roll the die if a die
value is required for the action. Place the original card in the discard pile
and replace it with the newly revealed one.

SPHERE Place a drone on ANY hex in the sphere (D.R.A.N.D.A may


ignore normal adjacency rules)
D.R.A.N.D.A will choose a hex using the following conditions. If multiple
hexes fulfil the conditions, ties are broken by the next condition
1. A hex matching the die number used
2. Hexes adjacent to D.R.A.N.D.A’s already placed drones
3. Hexes with set icons D.R.A.N.D.A has the least of
4. Hexes in the centre ring
5. The left-most hex
6. The top-most hex

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RESISTANCE D.R.A.N.D.A always places 4/5/6 drones based on your
chosen difficulty.

Easy Medium Hard


Resistance
combat

Drones placed 4 5 6

Drones 2 1 0
removed

D.R.A.N.D.A will choose encounters using the following conditions.


1. Encounters on the bottom row, placing drones to meet the target
value or 1 drone if the target value is already met.
a. The encounter with the highest points value
b. Set icons it has the least of
c. Leftmost
2. Encounters on the top row, placing drones to meet the target value
or 1 drone if the target value is already met
a. The encounter with the highest points value
b. Set icons it has the least of
c. Leftmost
3. Each remaining drone is placed on the highest point value
encounter that is on the bottom most row with the set icons it has
the least of, then leftmost. D.R.A.N.D.A will only exceed the target
on any chosen encounter by 2 drones.

D.R.A.N.D.A claims points and cards the same as a normal player.


If the attack is successful (i.e. D.R.A.N.D.A scores points) remove 2/1/0
drones from the card, based on your chosen difficulty level. All other
drones are returned to D.R.A.N.D.A’s supply.

CREW Claim a crew member. Depending on the die value, claim the
following crew member:
1-2 Tier 1
3-4 Tier 2
5-6 Tier 3
D.R.A.N.D.A chooses the Crew card with the set icons it has the least of. If
tied, D.R.A.N.D.A takes the upper card for an odd and the lower card for an
even die value.
D.R.A.N.D.A gains points as usual for crew.
If the chosen spaces are already empty D.R.A.N.D.A takes the card in the
next highest tier slot following the rules above.

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Difficulty levels (will be shown one each reference card with turn
order on the back)
Easy:
Morale 0VP
Sun 0VP
Resistance cubes placed: 4
Resistance cubes removed after successful attack: 2
Each drone remaining at the end of the game: 1VP

Normal:
Morale 1VP
Sun 2VP
Resistance cubes placed: 5
Resistance cubes removed after successful attack: 1
Each drone remaining at the end of the game: 2VP

Hard:
Morale 2VP
Sun 5VP
Resistance cubes placed: 6
Resistance cubes removed after successful attack: 0
Each drone remaining at the end of the game: 3VP

For an easier game at any difficulty level, the player may consider they have one more die of
each rolled value when gaining morale. You may also use a starting crew or the corporation
robots to make the game easier.

Glossary: Crew Members


Tier 1
Cost

Gain

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Action: Convert 1 mineral Action: When you visit the Action: Convert 1 gold into 2
into 2 gold crew location, gain 1 gold crystal
Retire: Gain 1 gold Retire: Gain 1 gold Retire: Gain 1 crystal

Action: Convert 1 gold into 2 Action: When you visit the Action: When you visit the
minerals sphere location, gain 1 resistance location, gain 1
Retire: Gain 1 mineral mineral crystal
Retire: Gain 1 mineral Retire: Gain 1 crystal

Action: Convert 1 crystal into Action: Convert 1 crystal into Action: Convert 1 mineral
2 Minerals 2 gold into 2 crystal
Retire: Gain 1 Mineral Retire: Gain 1 gold Retire: Gain 1 crystal

Tier 2

Cost

Gain

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Action: Gain 1 drone Action: gain 1 morale for Action: recycle 2 drones
Retire: Gain 2 drones or every 2 spaces you have Retire: Gain 2 drones or recycle
recycle 4 drones built on the sphere 4 drones
Retire: Gain 1 point for
every space you have
built on the sphere

Action: In a resistance battle Action: Gain 1 mineral Action: Gain 1 crystal


where you have drones, reroll Retire: Gain 2 minerals Retire: Gain 2 crystals or 1 of any
the resistance die if you lose or 1 of any resource resource
Retire: Gain 4 morale or
recycle 4 drones

Action: Recycle 1 drone for Action: Gain 1 morale Action: Gain 1 gold
every resistance card you have Retire: Gain 4 morale or Retire: Gain 2 gold or 1 of any
Retire: Gain 1 point for every move 1 space on your resource
resistance card you have corporation tracker

Tier 3

Cost

Gain

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Action: Refresh one crew Action: When you visit the Action: recycle 4 drones
card that has already been resistance location, Retire: Recycle any number
activated immediately gain 1 of drones
Retire: Recycle any number corporation bonus
of drones Retire: Gain 1 corporation
bonus

Action: Use a die as a value Action: Spend 2 spanner Action: When you visit the
of your choice icons to move 1 space on sphere location, gain 1
Retire: Gain your bonus die your corporation tracker spanner icon
Retire: Gain your bonus die Retire: Gain 1 spanner icon

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Quick reference (back page)
1. Refuel fleet
This phase happens In this phase you’ll roll your dice, gain morale, and establish turn
simultaneously. order for the round

2. Deploy Ships
This phase happens in In this phase you’ll take it in turns to visit locations, gaining
turn order. benefits, until you have no more dice left to place.

3. Resistance combat
This phase happens in In this phase, resistance combats will be resolved in the order they
order of ship appeared, by the main attacker in each combat. Resolve the
bottom left, then bottom right, then top left, ten top right.
appearance.

4. Cleanup
This phase happens In this phase, you’ll refresh the game state, ready for the next
simultaneously. round. Take your dice back, assign morale to crew and refresh the
crew market, draw two new resistance cards and move any
undefeated ones down a row.

Quick reference of round structure and locations (and Resistance combat if it fits) will be
included here in the final version of the rulebook

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