SETI Rules: From Setup to Your First Complete Game

1. Scope and How to Use This Guide

This guide first teaches the complete multiplayer base game, all five base alien species, and solo play. It then covers Space Agencies and all four official promo cards. Expansion rules are kept out of the base-game procedure.

For a first game, read in order and set out the components as you go. Full rules for the five base alien species and three expansion alien species are hidden in spoiler disclosures. Experienced players may skip directly to solo play or the expansion section.

Blockquotes connect related rules, with brief external context only where it helps memory. Use the rulebooks and card text for rulings.

Rules references

• Base game: official Simplified Chinese rulebook, icon and action player aid, official FAQ, and official aid for the base alien species.
• Expansion: official Simplified Chinese Space Agencies rulebook and official aid for the expansion alien species.
• Promo cards: official promo-card rules.
• Individual card cases: continuously updated official card-clarification thread.

2. Objective and Table Overview

The base game lasts 5 rounds. The player with the most points after final scoring wins. Tied players share the victory.

The main sources of points are:

• project cards and endgame cards with gold text boxes;
• technologies;
• sector victories;
• missions and milestones;
• landings, alien discoveries, and further research.

Figure: A complete game at a glance. Official SETI media assets, © Czech Games Edition; this site only resizes and compresses the image and adds a neutral background.

Read the Board Layout First

• Solar System board: Orthogonally adjacent spaces on the three discs form probe routes; gaps between discs are also spaces. Earth’s alignment sets the basic scan sector, while rotation changes the relative positions of planets, Earth, and probes.
• Eight sectors and nearby stars: The data track below a star records the current signal contest; excess signals may sit beside it; markers by the star reward record earlier winners only.
• Planet board: Each planet has separate orbit and landing areas. First-orbit rewards, first-landing data, and moon spaces are printed at their corresponding locations.
• Technology board: Orange, pink, and blue each have 4 technology stacks, with a first-research 2-point marker on top. End-of-round cards and the rotation reminder sit beside them.
• Score track and milestones: The score track runs around the main board. Neutral milestones trigger at 20 and 30 points; players choose gold milestones at 25, 50, and 70. The four gold tiles sit outside the track.
• Player board: From left to right: probe and launch reminders; probe, telescope, and computer technologies; the data pool and computer; then main-action reminders. Income cards, hand cards, credits, and energy stay beside the board.
• Alien area: A face-down alien board first uses the three colored discovery spaces and overflow areas below it. After discovery, flip the board and place alien traces by colored borders; alien-specific spaces are explained under that alien species.

The card’s five regions, solo difficulty board, organizations, and quick-start layout are decoded in their later sections.

There are three types of alien trace:

• pink: gained mainly from scanning and winning sectors;
• yellow: gained mainly from landing on planets;
• blue: gained mainly from analyzing data.

A wild trace shows all three colors. Choose pink, yellow, or blue when you gain it.

Read the Icon Language First

Figure: CGE’s common index for credits, energy, cards, technologies, signals, alien traces, probes, and missions. Official Simplified Chinese player aid, page 1, © Czech Games Edition; this site only converts the image format.

The official material does explain these icons, but in three layers: the main rulebook introduces them inside each procedure; player-aid page 1 collects common iconography while pages 2–4 collect actions, technologies, and milestones; each alien species then has its own aid. This guide reconnects those layers in play order.

Read the shared icons with these rules:

• The number is the quantity. Gold credits, green energy, red publicity, blue data, and green-wreath points grant the printed amount.
• For a card, check its source. A gray card back means draw the main deck’s top card at random. A white face-up card means take 1 face-up card from the row or draw the main deck’s top card; it never lets you inspect the deck and choose. The tuck icon means insert a hand card for income and take its lower-right reward immediately. A teal card is a card from the indicated species deck.
• Technology and rotation use color. Orange, pink, and blue technology icons restrict the choice to probe, telescope, or computer technology; the three-color icon allows any type. Gain the tile’s reward with the technology, but never take a second tile from the same stack. A rotation icon advances the reminder and turns the indicated disc one sector counterclockwise.
• Signal icons stack conditions. Gray waves mean mark any permitted signal. A yellow, red, blue, or black field restricts the sector color. An Earth overlay means Earth’s sector. A card overlay means discard from the card row, then choose one of that card’s upper-right colors. A checked colored sector means win that color; a checked gray sector means win any color.
• Pink, yellow, and blue traces go into matching spaces; the three-color icon lets you choose one. The green orbiter, yellow lander, and half-green/half-yellow icons mean orbit, land, or either one.
• Mission frames matter. A triggerable mission works only after it has been played. A conditional mission pays as soon as its condition is met. Gold-framed text scores only at game end.

Species-only symbols absent from this sheet are explained under their species below.

Biosignatures and technosignatures

NASA calls observable evidence left by life biosignatures and evidence left by technology technosignatures. The game groups traces by action source: scanning and sectors connect to pink, landing to yellow, and analysis to blue. This color system links rules; it does not model scientific evidence categories.

3. Three-Player Setup

Shared Area

1. Assemble the planet, Solar System, and technology boards.
2. Shuffle the 5 alien boards. Place 2 at random, face down. Return the other 3 to the box without looking at them.
3. Leave all alien cards, alien rule sheets, and alien-specific components in the box. Take out a set only when that alien species is revealed.
4. Randomly combine the three Solar System discs and 4 sector boards to form 8 clearly bounded sectors. Each sector has one nearby star.
5. Fill each star’s printed data slot to its shown capacity. The stars do not all hold the same amount. Keep the remaining data, credits, and energy beside the board as shared supplies.
6. Shuffle the main deck and reveal 3 cards to form the card row.
7. Randomly choose one side of each of the 4 gold milestone tiles.
8. Choose an unused player color for neutral markers. Place 1 neutral marker at both 20 and 30 points.
9. For each of the 12 technologies, shuffle its 4 tiles into a face-down stack. Place a “first research +2 points” marker on each stack.
10. Prepare one end-of-round stack for rounds 1–4. Each three-player stack contains 4 cards: the player count plus one.
11. Put one rotation reminder on the technology board’s rotation track and the other on the round 1 stack.

Player Areas

Each player:

1. Chooses a color and takes its player board, starting-income card, 8 probes, 30 markers, score counter, and publicity counter.
2. Starts on 1, 2, or 3 points in turn order. The player who most recently saw a UFO takes the starting-player marker.
3. Sets publicity to 4, takes 4 credits and 3 energy, and draws 5 cards.
4. Tucks 1 hand card under the starting-income card and immediately gains the credit, energy, or card reward in its lower-right corner.

Tucking a credit- or energy-income card leaves 4 cards in hand. Tucking a card-income card immediately draws a replacement, leaving 5 cards.

Figure: The player board contains three technology areas, the data pool, the computer, and action reminders; income cards, credits, and energy actually sit beside it. Official SETI media assets, © Czech Games Edition; this site only resizes and compresses the image and adds a neutral background.

Other Player Counts

Players	Neutral markers at 20 and 30	End-of-round cards per stack
2	2 at each threshold	3
3	1 at each threshold	4
4	None	5

4. Turn Structure and Free Actions

During a round, players repeatedly take turns in order. A player who has passed takes no more turns that round. The others continue until everyone has passed.

A turn follows this structure:

1. Take any desired free actions before the main action.
2. Choose and complete 1 main action; free actions may also interrupt it.
3. When the main action ends, immediately resolve every sector completed by it. The active player chooses the order if several sectors completed.
4. Free actions may still be taken after sector resolution.
5. End the turn: resolve milestones first, then alien discoveries.

Figure: The seven main actions and Pass. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 7, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Main action	Base cost and requirement
Launch a probe	2 credits; place it on Earth
Orbit a planet	1 credit + 1 energy; a probe has reached that planet
Land on a planet or moon	Usually 3 energy; a probe has reached the target
Scan nearby stars	1 credit + 2 energy
Analyze data	1 energy; all 6 upper computer spaces are filled
Play a card	Pay the cost in its white effect area
Research a technology	6 publicity; you do not own that technology
Pass	No cost; take no more turns this round

Common free actions:

• spend 1 energy to move one probe 1 space;
• discard 1 hand card to use its upper-left effect;
• move 1 data from the data pool into the computer;
• pay two resources of one kind to gain 1 credit, 1 energy, or 1 card;
• spend 3 publicity to buy 1 card from the card row or the top of the deck;
• complete a card mission whose condition is currently satisfied;
• use a free action printed on a component.

A resource exchange can use 2 cards, 2 credits, or 2 energy. Types cannot be mixed. Each data placement and each space of probe movement is a separate free action.

Free actions can be used only on your own turn. A free action may interrupt a main action, but one free action cannot interrupt another. Triggered missions are among the few effects that can respond during another player’s turn.

Effects are mandatory unless stated otherwise. Only movement and income increases may be declined. Rotations, signals, technologies, resources, points, alien traces, card-granted main actions, and milestones cannot be skipped. If one part of an effect is impossible, skip only that part.

5. Probe Actions

Figure: The same miniature can be a probe, orbiter, or lander; its location defines its role. Official SETI media assets, © Czech Games Edition; this site only resizes and compresses the image.

Launch and Move

Launch costs 2 credits. Place 1 probe from your supply on Earth. By default, you may have only 1 probe in space.

The new probe may move during the same turn. Spend 1 energy to move one probe to an orthogonally adjacent space:

• movement is never diagonal;
• the Sun cannot be entered or crossed;
• leaving an asteroid costs 1 extra movement; entering it does not;
• moving into a celestial body with a publicity icon gains 1 publicity; Earth is excluded;
• visiting the same body again can gain its publicity again.

Multiple movement granted by one effect may be split among different probes. Resolve asteroids and publicity one step at a time. A probe may remain in space and move, orbit, or land on a later turn.

If a rule asks you to “visit a planet,” a probe must move into that planet’s Solar System space. An orbiter or lander already on the planet board does not count as a visit.

Figure: The number on each arrow is the movement needed for that route segment. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 9, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Orbit

After a probe reaches a planet other than Earth, a later turn may use the Orbit action:

1. Pay 1 credit and 1 energy.
2. Move the miniature from the Solar System to that planet’s orbit.
3. Gain the orbit reward. The first player to orbit that planet also scores 3 points.

A planet can hold any number of orbiters, but the first-orbiter reward is taken only once. An orbiter cannot move again or become a lander. It is no longer a probe and does not count against your limit of probes in space.

Figure: After orbiting, the model moves from the Solar System to the planet board. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 10, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Land

After a probe reaches its target, a later turn may use the Land action:

1. Pay 3 energy in most cases.
2. If any player already has an orbiter at that planet, the cost is 2 energy. The orbiter may belong to an opponent.
3. Move the miniature to the planet board and gain the printed points, reward, and yellow trace.
4. The first lander on a planet occupies its data space and gains that data. Later landers go beside the planet. A planet can hold any number of landers.

Mars has two data spaces, so its first two landers occupy one each and gain data.

Landing on a moon requires the matching probe technology or explicit permission from an effect. Each moon holds exactly 1 lander; an occupied moon cannot be landed on again. Gain only the reward printed on that moon, including a yellow trace only if shown. If any player has an orbiter at its planet, the moon landing also costs only 2 energy.

A lander cannot move. It is no longer a probe and does not count against your limit of probes in space. Neither an orbiter nor a lander satisfies a “visit a planet” condition.

Figure: A planet allows multiple landers; each moon has only one landing space. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 11, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

The probe mission chain

A complete chain is usually launch → free movement → orbit or land on a later turn. A launch may come from a main action or card; movement may come from energy or cards; technologies and existing orbiters can change routes and costs. When reading a card effect, identify which step it replaces, then supply the remaining position and cost requirements.

6. Scanning and Sector Resolution

Read a Sector Before Using It

Figure: The upper panel shows the current signal row; the lower panel shows its state after reset. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 13, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crops.

When markers are already present, read their positions first:

1. Data and player markers inside the data slot belong to the current sector contest and replace data from left to right. The green “2” below the second space scores 2 points immediately. Removing the final data makes the sector pending resolution.
2. One marker in the first space after a reset is usually the previous runner-up. It counts in the next majority. A neutral quick start in Space Agencies can also pre-place a neutral marker there.
3. Overflow markers beside a full slot still belong to the current contest. They grant no data but count for majority and participation.
4. A marker beside the nearby star reward is a historical winner record. It remains on the board but never counts in later majorities. The printed star reward is gained only when that sector is won.

Scan

Scan costs 1 credit and 2 energy. A basic scan must mark two signals; complete the following two steps in either order:

1. Mark 1 signal in the sector currently aligned with Earth.
2. Discard 1 card from the card row. Choose one of the two sector colors in its upper-right corner and mark 1 signal in a matching sector.

Refill the card row only after the entire scan and all technology effects are complete. Telescope technologies may move or add signals. A scan can mark up to 4 signals, and any extra technology costs must still be paid.

Figure: The two signals of a basic scan and the telescope technologies. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 12, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Mark a Signal

Each time you mark a signal:

1. Take the leftmost data token from that sector and put it in your data pool.
2. Replace the token with one of your player markers.
3. If you fill the second space, immediately score 2 points.

Marking a signal is mandatory. If every data space already contains a marker, place an excess signal beside that slot. It gains no data but counts in the upcoming majority comparison.

Resolve a Sector

Replacing the final data token completes the sector. Resolve it when the current main action ends:

1. The player with the most markers wins. Ties go to the marker placed later.
2. The winner places a record marker beside the nearby star and gains its reward.
3. Every player who contributed at least 1 signal gains 1 publicity, including the winner.
4. Determine second place using the same count and tiebreaker. If there is one, that player leaves 1 marker in the first space after reset.
5. Return all other markers and refill the empty spaces with data.

Excess signals count for the majority and participation; each player still gains only 1 publicity per resolution. Earlier victory markers beside the star do not count in the next contest. A sector can be completed and won repeatedly.

Figure: Sector majority, rewards, the second-place marker, and reset. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 13, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Sector resolution occurs when the main action ends. To place data, buy a card, or complete a mission before resolution, insert those free actions during the main action.

7. Data and Analysis

New data enters the data pool. Its capacity is 6; excess data must be discarded.

On your turn, a free action moves 1 data from the pool into the computer:

• the 6 upper spaces of the base computer fill from left to right;
• gain any publicity, income increase, or points shown on a covered space immediately;
• computer technologies add one upper and one lower space;
• a lower space can be filled only after its upper space is occupied;
• lower spaces do not have to be filled from left to right.

When you research a computer technology, install it in any computer-technology slot. Data already in that slot does not block installation: slide the tile under the data. Installation is not a new data placement, so it does not award the 2 points on the tile’s upper space.

When all 6 base upper spaces are filled, Analyze Data costs 1 energy:

1. Clear all data from the upper and lower computer spaces.
2. Keep all data still in the data pool.
3. Mark 1 blue alien trace.

Technology spaces below the base row may remain empty.

Figure: Data moves from the pool to the computer; analysis requires a full upper row. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 14, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

From candidate signal to evidence chain

Real SETI rejects interference and repeats candidate observations; Project Phoenix also used a second telescope for confirmation. The game’s main chain is scan → signal → data pool → computer → analysis → blue trace. If a scan fills a sector, finish the scan and any free actions inserted into it, then resolve the sector when the main action ends; when the pool nears 6, first check whether you can load or analyze data.

8. Four Uses for a Card

A hand card can be used in one of four ways:

1. Play it: use a main action, pay the cost in the white area, and resolve the effect.
2. Discard it: use a free action and resolve the upper-left effect.
3. Increase income: when allowed by an effect, tuck it under the starting-income card. Gain its lower-right reward immediately and again during later income phases.
4. Exchange resources: pay it together with another hand card to gain 1 credit, 1 energy, or 1 card.

The opportunity cost of a card

Opportunity cost is the value of the best alternative lost after choosing one use. A hand card normally enters one of four chains: its main effect, discard free action, income, or a two-card resource exchange. Compare the missions completed and the final return of each chain. Keep a card for an immediate mission or an action unavailable elsewhere; use the remainder for income or the resource currently missing. If the main effect grants another action, that action skips its base cost but retains position requirements, technology surcharges, and subsequent mission, sector, and trace resolution.

Figure: Physical project cards. Official SETI media assets, © Czech Games Edition; this site only resizes and compresses the image.

Figure: The upper-left free action, lower-left cost, white effect, upper-right sector colors, and lower-right income. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 7, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

If a card directly grants a launch, scan, orbit, landing, analysis, or research action, do not pay that action’s base cost. All position and legality requirements still apply. Extra costs on technologies must still be paid when those technologies are used.

There are two mission types:

• Conditional mission: complete it as a free action on any of your turns while its condition is still true.
• Triggered mission: it records only events that happen after the card is played. You may decline one trigger, but a qualifying event must happen again before you can mark it.

One event can mark only 1 reward circle on the same mission. Cards with gold text boxes are endgame cards; keep them after playing them and score them at the end of the game.

When a card leaves the card row, refill it to 3 immediately. Scanning is the exception: refill only after the scan. If the main deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile into a new deck.

9. Technology and Solar System Rotation

Publicity has a maximum of 10. With at least 6 publicity, research one technology you do not own:

1. Spend 6 publicity.
2. Rotate the Solar System first.
3. Take the top tile from the matching technology stack.
4. If this is the first tile taken from that stack, remove its “first research +2 points” marker and score 2 points.
5. Gain the one-time reward on the tile’s face, then flip and install it on your player board.

Figure: Probe, telescope, and computer technologies. Official SETI media assets, © Czech Games Edition; this site only resizes and compresses the image.

The three types have these continuing effects:

• Probe technologies: raise the in-space limit to 2; reduce every landing by 1 energy; grant 1 publicity on entering an asteroid and remove its exit surcharge; or allow moon landings.
• Telescope technologies: work only during Scan actions. The four effects move Earth’s signal to an adjacent sector, discard 1 hand card for an extra signal, pay the tile’s cost for an extra signal in Mercury’s sector, or pay the tile’s cost to launch a probe or gain 1 movement. Multiple tiles may be used in any order; one scan can mark at most 4 signals.
• Computer technologies: each adds an upper and lower space. Covering the upper space gives 2 points; covering the lower space gives its printed reward. The four tiles differ only in that lower reward.

Figure: The complete effects can be compared directly with the technology slots on the player board. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 17, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Solar System rotation follows a fixed cycle:

1. The first rotation turns only the top disc.
2. The second turns the middle disc and carries the top disc.
3. The third turns the bottom disc and carries both discs above it.
4. The fourth returns to the top disc.

Every affected disc turns one sector counterclockwise.

Figure: The 1→2→3 Solar System rotation cycle. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 16, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Rotation and research order

Kepler’s third law says that more distant orbits generally take longer; the game retains only changing relative positions through its 1→2→3 disc cycle. The research chain is spend publicity → rotate → resolve moved or pushed probes → take the technology → gain its reward, so the new technology cannot affect that rotation. The first player to pass triggers the same rotation and changes routes and Earth’s aligned sector for players still active.

Rotation is triggered when:

• a player gains a technology through a main action or card;
• the first player passes in each round.

The first player to pass in round 5 still rotates the system. A rotation icon printed beside a technology icon on a card is a reminder, not a second rotation.

Open spaces between the incomplete discs are gaps. Resolve each probe from its current position:

• A probe on a rotating disc moves one sector with that disc.
• A probe in a gap remains where it is if the disc does not touch it.
• If a rotating disc reaches a probe in a gap, push that probe into the next space.

A probe pushed onto a celestial body with a publicity icon gains that publicity, even during another player’s turn.

10. Passing and the End of a Round

Pass is a main action. You may take free actions first, then resolve:

1. If you have more than 4 cards, discard down to 4. There is no hand limit at other times.
2. If you are the first player to pass this round, rotate the Solar System.
3. In rounds 1–4, choose 1 remaining card from the round’s end-of-round stack and add it to your hand.

In a three-player game, the first player chooses from 4 cards, the second from 3, and the last from 2. The final unchosen card is discarded.

After passing, you take no more turns or free actions that round.

Figure: Discard to 4, rotate for the first pass, and choose an end-of-round card. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 19, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

After everyone passes in rounds 1–4:

1. Each player gains 3 credits, 2 energy, and 1 card from the starting-income card.
2. Each player gains all tucked income.
3. Pass the starting-player marker clockwise.
4. Move the rotation reminder to the next round stack.

Credits, energy, and cards carry over between rounds. Round 5 has no end-of-round cards. When the final player passes, proceed directly to final scoring and do not collect income.

Passing and the next round

The chain is finish final free actions → discard to 4 → first passer rotates → in rounds 1–4 choose an end-of-round card → wait for everyone to pass → collect income; after round 5, proceed directly to final scoring. The first passer changes the Solar System before the others finish the round. Passing ends access to free actions, so resolve any eligible card missions, data loading, and resource exchanges first.

11. Alien Traces, Milestones, and Discovery

Here, “milestones” means the gold milestone tiles beside the board. Card missions are resolved separately.

Place an Alien Trace

When you gain an alien trace, you must place a marker in a matching-color location. Before a species is revealed, choose:

• Discovery space: place the marker in an empty matching space beneath either species; gain 1 publicity and 5 points.
• Overflow area: place it in a matching area for either species; score 3 points.

Each species has one pink, yellow, and blue overflow area. These areas never fill; markers of the same color may accumulate. You may choose overflow even while a discovery space remains empty.

Figure: The three trace types, discovery spaces, and alien reveal procedure. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 20, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

End-of-Turn Milestones

The first time you reach or pass 25, 50, or 70 points, choose a gold milestone you have not selected before. Place your marker on its highest open scoring position. If one turn crosses several thresholds, resolve each one. The milestone scores only at the end of the game.

In a three-player game, a neutral marker waits at both 20 and 30 points. The first player to reach or pass a threshold moves that marker to the leftmost empty discovery space among all six: fill the three spaces under the left alien first, then the right. Neutral markers never enter overflow or a revealed alien board, but they can complete a discovery.

If several players reach milestones during one turn, resolve them clockwise from the active player. Place all neutral markers before checking for alien discovery.

Reveal an Alien Species

When all three discovery spaces beneath one species are filled, reveal it after the current turn:

1. Resolve every milestone first.
2. Flip the alien board.
3. Take out the alien rule sheet, alien cards, and components for that species.
4. Follow its setup instructions.
5. Each player occupying a discovery space gains the reward printed for discovery on that space. Do not repeat the 5 points and 1 publicity already gained when the marker was placed.

Markers in overflow do not receive the discovery-contribution reward.

After a species is revealed, a new alien trace may be placed in:

• an empty matching space on a revealed alien board;
• an empty matching discovery space beneath a hidden species;
• a matching overflow area for either species.

Spaces on a revealed alien board do not fill from bottom to top. Gain the reward printed on the space you choose.

Alien traces and discovery

Scanning and sectors, landing, and analysis produce pink, yellow, and blue markers; each can be placed in the shared discovery structure. A neutral milestone marker can also fill a space when a score threshold is crossed, so an action that only scores points may still cause a discovery at turn end. Before ending a turn, check score thresholds, discovery spaces, and their resolution order together.

Five Base Alien Species (Mechanical Spoilers)

Except for the Exertians, alien cards use the same acquisition rule. At discovery, players gain 1 alien card per marker they have in the discovery spaces. Keep the rest beside the board and reveal the top card. A draw icon lets you take the deck’s top card or the face-up card, replacing the latter from the deck. Alien cards count toward the hand limit and may be tucked for income or discarded for their free action.

Alien boards retain the shared icon language: pink, yellow, and blue borders determine which trace can enter a space, and placing a marker immediately grants the reward printed inside it. A space may hold repeated markers only when the official aid for that alien species says so. The overflow area below an alien board is the shared fallback: you may choose it, score 3 points, and gain none of the printed alien-board rewards.

Reveal complete rules summaries for all five base alien species (mechanical spoilers)

Mascamites

Figure: Mascamites centers on returning samples from the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Official aid for the base alien species, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop and format conversion.

Board reading: Icons on a sample’s face are its delivery reward. Once that sample enters its dedicated blue space, the same icons become an extra reward whenever that blue space is later marked. Face-down samples cannot be selected in advance.

At discovery, shuffle the 7 samples. Put 3 face down at Jupiter, 3 face down at Saturn, and the last one face up on the alien board.

You can collect a sample only when an alien card explicitly allows it after landing. Look at every sample at the target planet, keep 1, and return the rest. Stack one of your markers on it to form a capsule. Whenever you could move a probe, you may move a capsule instead. It gains publicity on entry and pays asteroid exit costs. Card and technology effects treat it as a probe, but it cannot orbit or land and does not count against the probe limit.

When a capsule reaches the destination on one of your Mascamite mission cards, deliver it as a free action: remove the capsule, reveal and gain the sample reward, complete the mission, then put the sample face up in the next dedicated board space. That space becomes a blue trace space, and its marker also gains the sample reward. You may have several capsules; samples are not tied to the cards that enabled their collection.

Anomalies

Figure: The three anomalies compare the highest marker in the pink, yellow, or blue column. Official aid for the base alien species, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop and format conversion.

Board reading: The pink, yellow, and blue anomaly tokens each point to the matching column. When one triggers, compare the highest player marker on that board column, not each player’s total markers of that color. The top space stacks; a later marker sits above earlier ones. Read all resource and point icons on anomaly tokens through the common icon index.

At discovery, place the 3 anomalies random-side up in the Solar System’s outer ring: one in Earth’s sector and the others 3 sectors clockwise and counterclockwise from Earth.

After every Solar System rotation, check whether Earth shares a sector with an anomaly. If so, resolve it immediately. Each anomaly corresponds to the pink, yellow, or blue column; the player on the highest marked space in that column gains its reward. If no board space is marked, no one gains it. Discovery spaces and overflow below the board do not count. The top space is always available; a later marker goes above earlier markers. Visiting an anomaly with a probe grants no bonus.

‘Oumuamua

Figure: ‘Oumuamua is both a planet that can be orbited or landed on and a repeatable signal slot. Official aid for the base alien species, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop and format conversion.

Board reading: The purple fossil symbol means an exofossil. If a board-space entrance shows that symbol and a number, pay that many before placing the marker. The 1- and 2-point icons beside the first and third spaces of ‘Oumuamua’s data slot are immediate rewards; the fossil gained when the slot completes goes to every participant.

At discovery, put the ‘Oumuamua tile in its indicated disc-3 space and add 3 data to its slot. If a probe is already there, put it on the tile and give its owner 1 publicity. ‘Oumuamua counts as a planet: moving a probe onto it gains publicity, and it can be orbited or landed on normally.

When marking a signal in ‘Oumuamua’s sector, you may mark its data slot instead. The first and third markers score 1 and 2 points. Taking its final data completes it: every player who contributed gains 1 exofossil, no winner is chosen, and the slot is refilled with 3 data with all markers removed.

Exofossils pay costs on particular alien-board spaces. The top spaces are repeatable and must be paid each time. Exofossils cannot be exchanged as resources and score nothing at the end.

Centaurians

Figure: A message takes 15 points to arrive, while the top board rewards are first come, first served. Official aid for the base alien species, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop and format conversion.

Board reading: The 4 large boxes across the top are shared, one-use rewards. The uppermost spaces in the three columns are still alien-trace spaces; they are a different set of rewards. “+15” means put a message 15 spaces ahead of the current score, not score 15 points immediately. A blue data symbol at a space entrance is a cost paid only from the data pool.

How the 4 top rewards trigger:

1. When Centaurians is discovered, every player takes the message milestone tile in their color and puts it 15 spaces ahead of their current score.
2. Reaching or passing the tile does not pay immediately. Resolve it during the milestone step at the end of the current turn.
3. Choose and immediately gain 1 still-uncovered top reward, then cover it with your message tile. No one can choose that reward again.
4. If several players reach their tiles in the same turn, choose in play order starting with the player whose turn just ended. In multiplayer, each player normally claims a top reward only once with their own tile.

Keep the three kinds of “message” separate:

• The message milestone tile is placed at discovery. Only reaching this tile claims one of the 4 top rewards.
• Playing a Centaurian card places an ordinary player marker 15 spaces ahead: resolve the white effect immediately, then only that card’s green effect on reaching the marker. It does not claim a top reward. Stack several such messages in sending order and resolve the oldest first.
• The top space in each of the three columns is a repeatable alien-trace space. Each use still costs 1 data from the data pool and grants that space’s printed reward; data in the computer cannot pay the cost.

Centaurian cards cost energy and are not missions. Some become special income and grant the depicted resource immediately when tucked. Resolve every message milestone at turn end in player order, when no free actions may be taken.

Exertians

Figure: Exertians joins hidden endgame points to a penalty for the highest total danger. Official aid for the base alien species, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop and format conversion.

Board reading: The dark danger number on an Exertian card is hidden danger revealed at game end, not victory points. Markers in the lower, middle, and upper alien-board regions add 3, 2, and 1 danger respectively. The “+20” and “+40” milestone tiles go that far ahead of the current leader; they do not score those points immediately.

At discovery, deal 3 Exertian cards to every player, plus 1 per marker they have in the discovery spaces; return the rest to the box. Each player may immediately play face down as many cards as their discovery-marker count. Remaining Exertian cards are not hand cards and cannot be discarded.

Put Exertian milestones 20 and 40 points ahead of the current leader. When a player crosses one, they may play 1 more card face down during the end-of-turn milestone step. The second milestone costs 1 credit immediately and cannot be paid later.

Every card has 0–9 danger and an endgame condition. Reveal it at the end and score it if fulfilled; these cards are neither missions nor gold endgame cards. Markers in the board’s bottom, middle, and top tiers add 3, 2, and 1 danger each. After every other point is scored, the player with the most danger loses one tenth of their total score, rounded down. All tied for most danger take the penalty.

12. A Complete Three-Player First Round

This example uses only guaranteed starting resources. It does not rely on random planet or sector rewards.

Assumptions:

• A, B, and C act in that order and start on 1, 2, and 3 points.
• Venus is orthogonally adjacent to Earth, with no asteroid exit between them.
• A and C tuck credit-income cards. B tucks an energy-income card.
• After setup, A and C each have 5 credits and 3 energy. B has 4 credits and 4 energy. Everyone has 4 cards and 4 publicity.
• No scan in this example completes a sector.

Action Log

1. A launches and moves. A pays 2 credits and places a probe on Earth, then uses a free action to spend 1 energy and move to Venus. Visiting Venus gains 1 publicity. A has 3 credits and 2 energy left.
2. B scans. B pays 1 credit and 2 energy, marks Earth’s sector, then discards a row card and marks the second sector. The row refills after the scan. Assume both signals gain data. B uses two free actions to fill computer spaces 1 and 2 and gains the publicity on space 2. B has 3 credits and 2 energy left.
3. C launches and moves. C follows the same procedure as A and has 3 credits and 2 energy left.
4. A orbits Venus. A pays 1 credit and 1 energy, moves the probe to Venus’s orbit, gains the orbit reward, and scores 3 points for being first.
5. B passes. B discards down to 4 cards if necessary, rotates the Solar System as the first player to pass, and chooses 1 of the 4 end-of-round cards.
6. C lands on Venus. A’s orbiter reduces the cost to 2 energy. C gains the landing reward, first-landing data, and a yellow trace.
7. A passes. A chooses 1 of the 3 remaining end-of-round cards.
8. C passes. C chooses 1 of the final 2 cards and discards the other.

Round End

Everyone has passed, so round 1 ends:

• each player gains 3 credits, 2 energy, and 1 card from starting income;
• A and C each gain 1 additional credit; B gains 1 additional energy;
• the starting-player marker passes to B;
• the rotation reminder moves to the round 2 stack.

If a scan completes a sector, resolve that sector as soon as the Scan main action ends, before any later free actions.

13. Final Scoring

After the final player passes in round 5, score:

1. points already earned;
2. endgame cards with gold text boxes;
3. gold milestones;
4. additional scoring from revealed alien species.

Figure: Final scoring after round 5. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 21, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Each gold milestone tile has two sides:

Category	One side	Other side
Technology	Each set of three different technologies	Every two technology tiles
Missions	Each completed mission	Each pair of completed missions and/or endgame cards
Income	Each set containing one credit, one energy, and one card income	Whichever is more numerous: credit- or energy-income cards
Other	Each pink-yellow-blue trace set; overflow counts	Pair sector wins with orbiters + landers and take the lower number

The printed starting-income card does not count toward a gold income milestone. Repeated wins in the same sector count separately. Landers on moons also count.

Remaining credits, energy, publicity, ordinary cards, and data normally score nothing unless another rule refers to them. The highest score wins; tied players share the victory.

14. Base-Game Solo Play

Solo play still lasts 5 rounds. You use the multiplayer rules; the automated rival follows only its action cards and fixed priorities. Finish with more points than the rival to win.

Setup

1. Use the two-player setup. Give every component of one color to the rival. Randomly choose the starting side; it begins on 1 point and the other side on 2. Both begin at 4 publicity. Starting side alternates after each round.
2. Choose a 1–5 star difficulty on the back of a player board. Put the rival progress marker on that board’s starting space.
3. Shuffle the four basic rival cards S.1–S.4. At 3 stars or above, add 1 random advanced card from S.5–S.14. Set the other advanced cards and the five alien action cards, one for each species, aside.
4. Build the objective stack as shown on the difficulty board, with III below II below I, then reveal its top 3 tiles. At 1 star, use no objectives.

Figure: The difficulty board also defines the objective stack and the rival’s technology tendency. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 22, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Rival Resources and Turns

The rival uses no starting-income card and does not store credits, energy, or cards. Each one gained advances progress by 1. Whenever the rival would increase income, advance it 4 spaces instead. Crossing an enhancement icon adds a random advanced action card to the top of the action deck and keeps it there for the rest of the game. Data fills the rival computer from left to right, then overflows into an unlimited data pool. Publicity, points, technology, and alien traces follow their own rules. When several choices remain, use the decision arrow at the top of the current action card.

A rival turn does one thing: reveal the top action card, find the first executable action from top to bottom, resolve it, and end the turn.

Figure: The decision arrow chooses leftmost or rightmost only after several legal positions remain tied. Official Simplified Chinese rulebook, page 24, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Rival action	Fixed procedure
Technology	Spend 6 publicity only if available; card-granted technology is free. Rotate first, then follow the progress space’s technology tendency to find a stack that still has its first-research marker. Gain the tile and first-research rewards, but ignore one-time credit or 2-data rewards. Tiles are stored as single-use boosts: orange prioritizes a moon landing, pink adds a card-row signal, and blue scores 3 points and advances progress during analysis.
Launch	Place a probe on Earth only if no rival probe is there; otherwise try the card’s next action.
Orbit/Land	Check the card’s planets from left to right and choose the first reachable with the shown movement. Among routes, take the most publicity. With an empty moon and an orange tile, discard it and land there first; otherwise follow the card icon and decision arrow to orbit or land.
Telescope	Always executable. First prefer completing and winning a sector, then its 2-point signal space, then the sector with the rival’s most signals. Break remaining ties by greater capacity and finally the decision arrow. A pink tile may be discarded for one extra card-row signal.
Analyze	Execute only with a full computer. Clear the computer, not the pool; gain the card reward and blue trace, then refill from the pool. Discard at most 1 blue tile for its boost.
Discover an Alien Species	Once the shown number of alien species has been discovered, replace the current card with the matching alien action card and execute it immediately; otherwise try the next action.

When the rival gains an alien trace, choose the lowest row among all available spaces of that color, then use the decision arrow within a row. It uses overflow only if no ordinary space remains.

The rival triggers gold and neutral milestones. At a gold milestone, consider only each tile’s still-empty first, highest-value space; use the decision arrow to choose leftmost or rightmost if several remain. If every first space is occupied, place no marker. The rival never scores gold tiles at game end; its markers only block spaces.

Passing, Objectives, and Final Scoring

If the action deck is empty at the start of a rival turn, it passes: shuffle used actions for next round, remove the top current end-of-round card, and advance progress once for gaining that card. If the rival passes first, rotate normally.

You may complete at most 1 objective task per action. Objectives and ordinary triggerable missions are separate, so the same action may mark 1 of each. At turn end, set completed objective tiles aside and refill to 3. Before income in rounds 1–4, discard 1, 2, 3, or 4 completed objectives; for each missing tile, the rival advances 3. At the end of round 5, every incomplete tile in the objective stack or on the table gives the rival 5 points. A 1-star game ignores all objective rules.

Alien action cards override these general rules. The sections below list only solo overrides; use the multiplayer species rules for everything else.

Reveal solo rulings for all five base alien species (mechanical spoilers)

Mascamites (Solo)

Condition: The Mascamite alien action card’s second action is always executable; Saturn is at most 4 moves from Earth and Jupiter at most 5.

Resolution: After the rival lands on Jupiter, Saturn, or one of their moons, take 1 random sample from that planet and ignore its reward. Turn it face up in the next dedicated Mascamite-board space; that space becomes an ordinary blue trace space. If that planet has no samples left, skip the sample.

Anomalies (Solo)

Condition: The “next anomaly” is the closest one counterclockwise from Earth. Check its color, then the highest marked trace of that color on the Anomaly board.

Resolution: If a player is leading, resolve the Anomaly alien action card’s first action: mark the lowest available space of that color, gain its printed reward, and score 3 extra points. Place only 1 marker during this action. If the rival is leading, resolve the lower action instead.

‘Oumuamua (Solo)

Condition: The ‘Oumuamua alien action card’s first action tries to reach ‘Oumuamua in at most 4 moves and orbit or land. With no rival probe in space, or if ‘Oumuamua is unreachable within 4 moves, use the second action.

Resolution: Only the third, specially illustrated signal in the second action must go on the ‘Oumuamua tile. Every other rival signal ignores that tile; if its sector is chosen, mark the ordinary star system. A space with an exofossil cost is eligible only when the rival can pay it.

Centaurians (Solo)

At discovery: The rival places a message tile on the score track and treats the two unused-color message tiles as its own.

Condition and resolution: The Centaurian alien action card’s first action applies only if no rival message is currently on the track and another remains in reserve: place the next one 15 points ahead. Skip it after all three are used. On reaching a message, choose its reward with the decision arrow. A board space with a data cost is eligible only when the rival computer is full and its data pool can pay.

Exertians (Solo)

At discovery: The rival draws no Exertian cards; it advances progress once for each of its markers in the discovery spaces.

Action and scoring: The Exertian alien action card can make the rival play a card. If its face-down Exertian cards plus its markers on danger-granting board spaces total fewer than 5, play 1 random card face down. Discovery and overflow markers do not count toward this total. The rival ignores Exertian milestones. At game end, every card it played counts as fulfilled and scores fully; then compare danger normally.

15. Space Agencies {#14-space-agencies}

The expansion has two layers:

• Add directly to the base game: shuffle the 42 project cards into the base deck without replacing any cards; mix the 3 expansion alien species with the 5 base alien species; add the 10 signal tokens.
• Use together as a module: 11 organizations and the quick start cards.

Project cards from the expansion carry a small Space Agencies mark. It identifies their source and triggers no extra effect; card numbers and promo marks work the same way.

With only the first layer, play the normal 5 rounds. Organizations require quick starts and change the game to rounds 2–5, for 4 rounds total.

Organizations and Quick Starts

Figure: Eleven organizations with different starting resources and abilities. Official Space Agencies media assets, © Czech Games Edition; this site only trims transparent margins, resizes the image, and adds a neutral background.

When using organizations:

1. Do not prepare round 1 or round 5 cards. Prepare stacks only for rounds 2, 3, and 4.
2. Determine starting player and starting points normally. Everyone starts at 0 publicity.
3. Deal each player 2 random organizations, 3 random quick starts, and 4 main-deck cards.
4. Keep 1 organization, 2 quick starts, and all 4 hand cards.
5. Everyone resolves both quick starts simultaneously, then gains the organization’s starting resources and effects.
6. Begin round 2.

The upper half of a quick start places an orbiter, alien trace, or signal without gaining the location’s printed reward. The lower half grants starting resources, points, or another effect. Return the card to the box after resolution unless it explicitly becomes income.

Figure: Quick starts replace round 1 with one placement and one effect. Official Space Agencies media assets, © Czech Games Edition; this site only trims transparent margins, resizes the image, and adds a neutral background.

An organization may show:

• starting resources;
• a passive ability;
• a once-per-round free action;
• income increases that tuck cards.

From top to bottom, an organization shows its starting resources and effects, passive ability, once-per-round ability, and income. After using a circular once-per-round space, cover it with a player marker; remove that marker when collecting the next round’s income to show that the ability has reset.

Gain starting resources and quick-start rewards before tucking income. Resolve two income increases separately; a card drawn by the first may be tucked for the second.

Do not collect organization income at the start of round 2. Collect it only at the start of rounds 3, 4, and 5. This also resets once-per-round abilities. Organizations are balanced for four rounds; a five-round organization game is not recommended.

Three organizations need specific rulings:

• Helion Assembly and Cosmos Strategy Group: each top ability is an organization requirement. One action that satisfies both an ordinary mission and the organization requirement may mark each once.
• Futurespan Institute: only 1 card may be prepared at a time. A prepared card is no longer in hand and cannot be used for any other effect or action; play it free only after its condition is met. The once-per-round ability is available only while the Vision token is on the score track.

Organizations and comparative advantage

Comparative advantage asks which output has the lower opportunity cost. An organization makes a class of actions relatively cheaper by reducing costs, adding rewards, or changing resolution; a quick start supplies the chain’s initial positions and components. Repeat the chain your organization improves, and recompare current position → main action → mission or milestone each round. Cards, species, or Solar System positions may temporarily make another chain cheaper.

For a first expansion game, use the official simplified setup. Use only organizations numbered 1–4; give each player 1 random organization, 2 quick starts, and 4 hand cards. Skip the organization draft and the choose-two-of-three quick-start step.

In one- and two-player games, quick starts may be used without organizations. After players make their choices, reveal 4 random remaining quick starts. Resolve only their upper halves with an unused player color. Neutral signals act as one virtual player with at most two signals. During resolution, check only whether it takes second place; if it does, leave its marker beside the star.

With quick starts but no organizations, the normal 5-round game is still recommended. If you deliberately shorten it to 4 rounds, quick starts do not replace a full round and balance will change; use the base-game starting-income card in place of an organization.

Solo setup still begins from the two-player rules. The rival receives no organization or quick starts, but:

• shuffle the 4 new rival action cards into its deck;
• start the rival at 4 publicity;
• above the lowest difficulty, use the difficulty II and III objective deck;
• add 2 random long-term objectives to the 3 difficulty II objectives, for 5 objectives total;
• remove completed long-term objectives without replacement;
• at the end of rounds 2, 3, and 4, each empty long-term-objective space advances the rival once; it adds no final-scoring penalty.
• if every advanced action card has already been added, another advanced-card gain advances progress once instead.

Signal Tokens

Figure: Gaining and using signal tokens, plus a counterexample. Official Simplified Chinese Space Agencies rulebook, page 8, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop.

Take 1 token from the common supply whenever an effect grants one. Tokens can be spent only during a Scan action:

1. Discard any number of signal tokens.
2. For each token, discard 1 additional card from the current card row.
3. Choose one of that card’s two sector colors and mark a signal in a matching sector.

Refill the row after the entire scan. A basic scan already discards one of the three row cards, so normally at most 2 signal tokens can be used.

An effect that merely says “mark a signal” is not a Scan action and cannot spend signal tokens.

Three New Alien Species

Mix the 3 new boards with the 5 base-game species and choose 2 at random as usual. Discovery timing, contribution rewards, and overflow follow the base rules.

Spoiler-free summary:

• Origin Ark gradually opens deeper research areas.
• Glyphids ask the table to decode symbols together.
• Amoeba rewards move around its board.

Reveal complete rules summaries for all three new alien species (mechanical spoilers)

Figure: Origin Ark, Glyphids, and Amoeba. Official Space Agencies media assets, © Czech Games Edition; this site only trims transparent margins and adds a neutral background.

Origin Ark

Figure: Alert levels divide the board, while each player’s alert cards control research depth. Official aid for the expansion alien species, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop and format conversion.

Board reading: The bands numbered 0–3 are alert levels. The white alert-card silhouettes on the left show how many cards you must have unlocked to enter that level. Green numbers are points. The red exploration icon means reveal a card and take its minor reward; the blue exploration icon means take its major reward. Other resource, card, and trace icons use the common index.

At discovery:

1. Shuffle 9 exploration cards, set 4 aside at random, and build a deck from the remaining 5.
2. Reveal 1 exploration card for each player marker in a discovery space. That player gains its minor reward, then discards the card.
3. Each player takes 3 alert cards of different colors and places them trace-side up. With fewer than four players, return unused alerts without looking at them.

The Ark has alert levels 0–3. Everyone begins with access only to level 0. The first time you mark an Ark overflow area of a color, unlock your matching alert card and put it in your hand:

• 1 unlocked card: access level 1;
• 2 unlocked cards: access levels 1–2;
• 3 unlocked cards: access every level.

Alert cards count toward the hand limit. Discard one for its free action to gain a minor exploration reward. Play one as a main action for 2 credits to gain a major reward. When the exploration deck runs out, shuffle all 9 cards, set aside 4, and rebuild the 5-card deck.

Unlocks are permanent. Discarding or playing an alert card after unlocking it never reduces the alert levels you may enter.

Solo: At discovery, each rival marker in a discovery space also gains one minor exploration reward; a card reward advances progress once instead. The rival unlocks alert cards only through its Origin Ark alien action card and ignores regions it has not unlocked when choosing a space. If spaces in the same row on several alien boards remain tied, prefer Origin Ark.

Glyphids

Figure: The upper area is the shared decoding track; the three lower columns still use alien-trace colors. Official aid for the expansion alien species, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop and format conversion.

Board reading: The seven rune shapes are seven categories, not seven common resources. A rune token beside a planet, star, technology, or Glyphid space is taken only when that corresponding condition is completed. Icons on the decoding board are rewards gained when a rune is placed there; an upper slot is locked until both matching slots below it are filled.

At discovery:

1. Cover the alien board with the decoding board and place both reward strips on random sides.
2. Place random runes on the 6 alien-board spaces, all 7 planets other than Earth, all 8 nearby stars, and every technology stack that still has its “first research +2 points” marker.

Take a rune when its condition is met. The conditions are: orbit or land at its planet or moon, win its sector, research its technology, or mark an alien trace on its alien-board space. Refill the upper three alien-board spaces at random from the reserve; other locations do not refill.

As a free action, place a rune you hold into an empty decoding space and gain its reward. An upper space requires both spaces below it to be filled. Each rune symbol can be decoded only once globally. A rune printed on a card grants its resource only after that symbol has been decoded; it does not grant a rune token.

At the end of the game, divide held runes into sets with no repeated symbol. Sets of 1–7 different runes score 1/3/5/8/11/15/20 points.

Solo: The rival gains runes normally. If a gained symbol is not decoded, place it on the decoding board immediately and gain the reward; prefer an upper space, then use the decision arrow to break a tie. A card reward advances progress once instead. If no rune remains on the Glyphid board’s top three spaces, the rival ignores those spaces. It does not score sets; each rune it holds is worth 3 points.

Some first-print reward strips show the same side twice. Use CGE’s official correction stickers; do not treat the misprint as a rules change.

Amoeba

Figure: Organelles move in opposite directions on the inner and outer rings, changing the next marker’s rewards. Official aid for the expansion alien species, © Czech Games Edition; this site only makes the necessary local crop and format conversion.

Board reading: The common icon on each organelle is the reward it provides. A small colored Amoeba symbol on an alien card means choose 1 organelle in that colored region and gain its reward. White arrows run clockwise on the outer ring and counterclockwise on the inner ring. Every organelle that provided a reward in this resolution moves.

At discovery:

1. Shuffle 5 organelles and place them face up at random on the indicated spaces.
2. Shuffle the 10 Amoeba cards.
3. Give 1 card for each player marker in a discovery space, then reveal 1 face-up card for later acquisition.

Amoeba cards count toward the hand limit and may be tucked as income or discarded for their free action.

When marking an alien trace on the Amoeba board, gain the printed space reward and every organelle reward in that color region. Some Amoeba cards instead select 1 organelle reward in a specified region.

Each organelle that provided a reward then moves 1 space:

• clockwise on the outer ring;
• counterclockwise on the inner ring;
• over occupied spaces to the next empty space.

If several organelles provided rewards, move all of them.

Solo: When choosing an alien-trace space, the rival ignores any color region with only 0 or 1 organelle reward. All other placement and organelle-movement rules remain unchanged.

16. Four Official Promo Cards {#15-four-official-promo-cards}

Figure: The four promo cards published by CGE as of this revision. Official promo-card rules, © Czech Games Edition; this site crops one card from each rule page and arranges them without altering the cards.

Shuffle each promo directly into the main deck. The Space Agencies promo needs signal tokens and quick starts, so include it only when the expansion is available.

Not a Planet Since 2006 (Pluto)

After playing the card as a main action, keep it in front of you. Its illustration becomes your personal Pluto.

• A probe in any space of the Solar System’s outer ring may use a later Orbit or Land action to move to the card.
• Orbit costs 1 credit and 1 energy.
• Land costs 3 energy, or 2 with your Pluto orbiter, and orange technology can reduce the cost.
• The card holds only 1 orbiter and 1 lander, and only its owner may use them.
• Pluto has no Solar System space, so visiting it cannot gain publicity.
• Pluto still counts as a planet for other effects, missions, and gold milestones.
• Cards #15 and #84 can remove its orbiter or lander; #16 may also allow another landing.

Gateway to Mars

Its two triggered-mission spaces may be marked by:

• orbiting or landing at Mars, Phobos, or Deimos;
• playing a card whose flavor text mentions “Mars” as a main action.

The qualifying base cards are #13, #14, #22, #34, #76, #84, #85, #119, and #ET.4. Space Agencies adds #31. If a card-granted landing action lands at Mars or one of its moons, the same event may mark both spaces.

Space Agencies

After playing it:

1. Launch 1 probe for free.
2. Gain 1 signal token.
3. In the next game with organizations and quick starts, draw 1 extra quick start to choose from, but still keep only 2.

This effect carries between games. If the player group changes, seek everyone’s agreement before setup.

DLR

Launch for free, then gain a reward based on the sector aligned with Earth at the moment of launch:

• yellow: 2 movement;
• blue: 2 data;
• red: 2 publicity;
• black: 6 points.

Use Earth’s sector at launch, not the probe’s later destination.

The official upgraded components only replace the physical credits and energy; they add no rules. The Solar System randomizer generates a disc and sector layout and also adds no rules.

Recommended order:

1. Learn the base game.
2. Permanently add the 42 project cards, 3 species, and signal tokens.
3. Enable organizations and quick starts together when you want asymmetric powers.
4. Add promo cards as desired.

17. First-Game Reference {#16-first-game-reference}

Setup Check

• The three central boards are assembled.
• Two alien boards are face down.
• Eight sectors are clearly bounded and each star’s data slot is filled to its printed capacity.
• The card row has 3 cards.
• Gold milestones are on random sides and neutral milestone markers are correct.
• All 12 technology stacks and first-research markers are ready.
• Round 1–4 card stacks are ready.
• Every player has the correct resources, publicity, hand, and tucked income.

Turn Check

1. Free actions may be inserted before or during the main action; complete 1 main action each turn.
2. Resolve completed sectors when the main action ends.
3. Free actions may continue.
4. At turn end, resolve milestones before alien discovery.

Common Errors

• A newly launched probe may move during the same turn.
• Multiple movement from one effect may be split among different probes.
• Leaving an asteroid costs extra movement; entering it does not.
• An orbiter cannot become a lander. Any player’s orbiter reduces the cost of landing on its planet or moons.
• A planet holds any number of orbiters and landers; each moon holds exactly 1 lander.
• “Visit a planet” requires a probe to move into its Solar System space; an existing orbiter or lander does not count.
• Signals are mandatory. Excess signals still count for the majority.
• Refill the card row only after the whole scan.
• Sector ties go to the marker placed later.
• The data pool holds 6. Analysis clears the computer, not the pool.
• A computer technology may be installed under existing data; installation itself does not score its upper 2 points.
• A free action may interrupt a main action but cannot interrupt another free action.
• Increasing income grants the lower-right reward immediately.
• Discard down to 4 cards only when passing.
• Alien traces are mandatory, but overflow may be chosen.
• Rotate before gaining every technology; the first player to pass also rotates.
• Resolve milestones at turn end and before alien discovery.
• Collect no income after round 5.
• Ordinary leftover resources normally do not score. Tied players share the win.

Give the starting-player marker to the player who most recently saw a UFO and begin round 1.