30 to Mars Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Game Components
• Components Overview
• Game Symbols
• How to Play
  • Setup
  • Turn Overview
  • Out of Resources
• Reference
  • Event Terminal
  • Event Location
  • Resolving the Problem
  • Skipping the Event
  • Breaking Workspaces
  • Fixing Workspaces
  • Resource Generation
  • Health and Sanity
  • Knocked Out
  • Losing the Game
  • Special Ability
• Marsonaut Profiles
• Daily Routine Planner

Game Overview

30 to Mars™ the Board Game is a 60 min 1-4 player cooperative space survival game. 4 Marsonauts must work as a team to survive the journey to Mars. You either win together or lose together.

Number of Players

The game can be played with any number of players, from 1 to 4. The Mars30 mission has a crew of 4 Marsonauts, so fewer players simply play several crew members at once.

How to Win

To win the game your Spaceship must reach Mars with at least one crew member Active (Player Figure Standing).

If all 4 Marsonauts are Knocked Out (all 4 Player Figures lying in the sleeping bay) - The Mission is Failed!

Game Components

1 Game board, 1 Spaceship Miniature, 1 Rulebook, 6 Player Sheets, 6 Player Figures, 97 Event and Role Cards: 10 Red 'Accident' Cards, 20 Yellow 'Trouble' Cards, 59 Green 'Routine' Cards, 3 Green 'Tutorial' Cards, 4 Role (Player Reference) Cards, 120 Resource tokens: 30 Oxygen tokens, 30 Fuel tokens, 30 Food tokens, 30 Spare Parts tokens, 4 Sanity tokens, 4 Health tokens, 3 Accident tokens, 24 Broken Workspace tokens, 4 Repair Kits, 4 Six-sided Dice.

Note: the printed card total reads 97; the listed card types (10 + 20 + 59 + 3 + 4) add up to 96. The rulebook is transcribed as printed.

Components Overview

Board

1. Game Board
2. Game Start: Earth
3. Day Indicator
4. Game Finish: Mars Surface

Ship Bays

5. Laboratory Bay
6. Cockpit Bay
7. Recreation Bay
8. Medical Bay
9. Sleeping Bay
10. Cargo Bay
11. Green House Bay

Bay's Anatomy

12. Bay Number
13. Bay Name
14. Bay Produces
15. Repair Kit Space
16. Workspace

Areas

A. Green Event Area B. Yellow Event Area C. Red Event Area D. Oxygen Resource Area E. Fuel Resource Area F. Event Terminal Area G. Spare Parts Resource Area H. Food Resource Area

Cards & Tokens

I. Character sheet J. Character Role card K. Red 'Accident' Card L. Yellow 'Trouble' Card M. Green 'Routine' Card N. Repair Kit O. Red 'Accident' Day token P. Broken Workspace token Q. Spare Parts token R. Oxygen token S. Food token T. Fuel token U. Sanity token V. Health token

Character Sheet

1. Name
2. Story A. Profession name B. Profession bonus C. Special Ability D. Special Ability Access E. Sanity indicator F. Health indicator

Example from the printed sheet: "In this case: Maria produces one additional Food Token working in the Green House." and "In this case: When Maria's Sanity level is at 10 you can Re-roll any Check Dice up to two times."

Events

Event Cards (Green 'Routine', Yellow 'Trouble' and Red 'Accident' cards):

1. Event Name
2. Event Difficulty
3. Event Location (1-6)
4. Positive result after a dice check
5. Negative result after a dice check
6. Inevitable Positive Result
7. Inevitable Negative Result
8. Must Draw Red Card same turn
9. Positive consequences
10. Negative consequences

Game Symbols

The symbols printed on Event cards and in the Daily Routine Planner:

Event result symbols

• Inevitable Positive
• Check Positive
• Inevitable Negative
• Check Negative

Event location symbols (bay number of the Event)

• 1 - Event in Ship Cockpit
• 2 - Event in Recreation Bay
• 3 - Event in Medical Bay
• 4 - Event in Cargo Bay
• 5 - Event in Green House
• 6 - Event in Laboratory

Other symbols

• Roll the dice to determine
• Workspace Breaks
• Must Draw Yellow Card
• Must Draw Red Card
• You get Repair Kit

Resource symbols

• Oxygen Token
• Fuel Token
• Spares Token
• Food Token
• any Resource of your choice
• Sanity Point
• Health Point

How to Play

Setup

To set up 30 to Mars™ board game please perform these steps in the following order:

1. Place the Game Board. Unfold the game board and place it in the center of the play area.
2. Place Spaceship Miniature on Start. Place the Spaceship Miniature on the starting position (the Earth symbol).
3. Prepare the Event Cards. Shuffle and place all Green, Yellow and Red cards separately, then place them on their designated areas of the game board.

NB! For the first Tutorial or a Family Friendly game please include all Tutorial Green Cards. Use only 30 Green Routine Cards including 3 tutorial ones. Don't forget to remove the Tutorial Cards and use all green cards for the normal more challenging playthrough.

4. Choose your Marsonauts and their Roles. Choose 4 Marsonaut Player Sheets. Divide them between players and then assign 1 Role Card to each of them. Give each Player 1 dice placing it near each Player Sheet.
5. Train your Team. Roll 1 dice and add 4 to the result. Resulting number will be your Marsonaut's starting Sanity. Place the Sanity token on the corresponding number on the Player Sheet. Do the same for Health.
6. Check the Route. Roll 1 dice and place the first Accident Token on the corresponding Day of the number rolled. Roll 1 dice again, subtract the result from 30 and place the second Accident token on the Day of the same number. Place the 3d Accident Token approximately in the middle between the previous two.
7. Prepare the Resources. Place 30 of each Resource tokens (Oxygen, Fuel, Food and Spares) on the specified Resource Areas of the Game Board. Place 24 Broken Workspace tokens and 4 Repair Kit tokens somewhere near the Game Board.

You are good to go, Good luck!

Turn Overview

1. All 4 Marsonauts start their day in the Sleeping Bay.
2. The Navigator moves the Spaceship token one day closer to Mars on the board.
3. The Administrator removes 1 Oxygen, 1 Food, 1 Fuel and 1 Spares from the specified Resource Areas.
4. The Operator takes one Green Event Card, places it face up on the Event Terminal in the middle of the board then determines in which area (Bay) the problem is and explains all the consequences to the crew. You always keep passed Event Cards in the Event Terminal faced up.

NB! On a day with a Red accident token on it - a Red Event Card is drawn instead of Green.

5. Everyone decides where the Player tokens are placed. Players who choose to place their tokens in the area where a problem occurred will try and fix the problem. Those who choose to go to other areas will be able to generate corresponding resources. Everyone places their token on the chosen area.
6. Checks are rolled. Each player that decided to take part in resolving the problem rolls their 6-sided dice for the event check. Combine the result of all the other marsonauts in the same event bay. All 4 Marsonauts can take part in resolving unless one or more Workspace is broken.

NB! The problematic bay does not produce any recourses this turn.

7. Depending on the Check result, Positive or Negative consequences occur.
8. Resources are generated. The Administrator restores resources generated by the Marsonauts that were working in the other Bays.
9. The Coordinator makes sure that all marsonauts end their day in the Sleeping Bay.
10. The day ends.

Rinse and repeat until you reach Mars!

Out of Resources

If at the start of the day there are no resources left in any Resource Area you suffer the consequences depending on the missing resource.

• Out of Oxygen - each Marsonaut loses one sanity for each missing oxygen.
• Out of Fuel - discard one other resource for each one missing fuel token.
• Out of Spares - destroy one work-space of your choice for each missing spare parts token.
• Out of Food - each Marsonaut loses one health for each missing food token.

Reference

Event Terminal

This is a Special Area where you keep all passed events faced up.

Event Location

This is the Bay where the Event occurs. You cannot work in this Bay during this turn and it doesn't produce any resources. Together you decide how many of you will try their luck at solving the problem. The maximum number of Marsonauts that can take part in fixing the problem depends on the number of functioning Work Spaces.

Resolving the Problem

Each Marsonaut who decided to go to that Bay rolls one dice. The results are summarized. If the result of the dice rolled is equal to or greater than the Event Card difficulty the roll is considered successful. Check passes with the positive card consequences. If the result is lower, the check fails with a negative set of consequences.

Skipping the Event

You can skip solving the event completely and choose to work in other bays instead. Of course you will suffer the event's negative consequences.

NB! If you skip the event that has a penalty to Sanity or Health - all 4 Marsonauts must suffer those penalties. We suggest sending at least one marsonaut to take the blow.

Breaking Workspaces

Each Bay has 4 Workspaces where Players generate resources or solve problems during the day. If a Workspace becomes broken, place a Broken Workspace token on it. This workspace is considered broken and cannot be used until is fixed.

Fixing Workspaces

During the game you will be able to obtain numerous Repair Kits. Place them in the designated areas in the Cargo Bay. You can use them any time during the game to repair any Broken Workspace. One repair Kit repairs one Broken Workspace. The maximum amount of Repair Kits your ship can carry at once is 4, so use them wisely.

Resource Generation

Each Bay on the ship has 4 operational Workspaces which when visited by Marsonauts generate resources by the end of the day. Working Workspace provides one resource.

• Ship Cockpit - generates 1 Fuel token for each working marsonaut
• Laboratory - generates 1 Oxygen token for each working marsonaut
• Recreation - generates 1 Sanity token for each working marsonaut
• Greenhouse - generates 1 Food token for each working marsonaut
• Medical Bay - generates 1 Health token for each working marsonaut

Example: 1 Marsonaut is participating in the Event and 3 Marsonauts spend the day working in the Laboratory. By the end of the day team receive 3 Oxygen tokens.

Health and Sanity

Each Marsonaut has 1 to 10 Health points and 1 to 10 Sanity points. Starting values are determined by rolling a single Dice and adding 4 at the beginning of the game. You roll separately for each value. You will often lose Health and Sanity by failing some checks. You can increase your Sanity or Health values by spending a day in the Recreation and Medical bays accordingly. Both Sanity and Health cannot fall below 1.

NB! If you ever have to lose Sanity points when your Sanity equals 1 - you lose that many health points instead.

Example: John's Health is 6 and his Sanity is 1. He lost his check and has to lose 2 Health points and 2 Sanity points. John will have 2 Health points and 1 Sanity point.

Knocked Out

If at any point in the game your Health falls below 1, you are Knocked Out. Immediately put your player token in the Sleeping Bay lying down. You must skip the next day to regain 1 Health. After that you can continue as usual.

Losing the Game

If all 4 players are Knocked Out (4 Player tokens lying in the sleeping bay) simultaneously - you fail the mission and the game ends.

Special Ability

You can use a Marsonaut's Special Ability only if their Sanity reaches 10. Use it any time during the game but after using place your Sanity token to 1 as your Marsonaut is exhausted.

Marsonaut Profiles

Your Team always consists of 4 Marsonauts!

Larisa Ivanovna Pirogova

• Profession: Physician
• While working in the Medical Bay the player can Generate 1 Health point for herself and give an additional Health point to another team member located anywhere on the ship.
• Special Ability: Decrease event difficulty by X (where X is the result of a dice roll). Any time during the game you can use this ability to decrease any Event Card difficulty. Roll the dice and subtract the result from the Card Difficulty.

Stan Lee Kub Reek

• Profession: Psychiatrist
• While working in the Recreation Bay the player can Generate 1 Sanity point himself and give an additional Sanity point to any other team member located anywhere on the ship.
• Special Ability: Prevent sanity loss for a friend. Anytime during the game you can use this ability to prevent Sanity loss for any team member. Even when he is using his special Ability.

Jean-Louis Cousteau

• Profession: Scientist
• While working in the Laboratory produces one extra Oxygen token.
• Special Ability: Double any dice result. Any time after a roll you can use this ability to double the result of any 1 dice including yours.

John Fitzgerald Brown Jr.

• Profession: Engineer
• While working in the Cargo Bay produces one extra Spare token.
• Special Ability: Add 1 dice to any roll. Any time after anyone's roll you can use this ability to add an additional dice roll to the result.

Maria Luiza Ambrosio

• Profession: Botanist
• While working in the Green House produces one extra Food token.
• Special Ability: Can reroll any dice. Even twice! Anytime after anyone's roll you can use this ability to re-roll any dice up to 2 times. You must keep the second result.

Dieter Von Braun

• Profession: Pilot
• While working in the Cockpit produces one extra Fuel token.
• Special Ability: Re-draw any event card. Even red. You can re-draw any event card of the same color. Disregard the previous event and place its card to the bottom of the deck.
• NB! This ability is only usable when the Event Card is just drawn and the Marsonauts are not placed in any Bays.
• You cannot use this ability if dice are already rolled.

Daily Routine Planner

Rules Reference: These instructions summarize the game setup and the sequence of play.

Game Setup

1. Place the Game Board.
2. Place Spaceship Miniature on Start.
3. Shuffle and place all Green, Yellow and Red cards separately and place them on the designated areas of the game board.
4. Choose 4 Marsonaut Player Sheets. Divide them between players and then assign 1 Role Card to each of them. Give each Player 1 dice placing it near each Player Sheet.
5. Roll 1 dice and add 4 to the result. Resulting number will be your Marsonaut's starting Sanity. Place the Sanity token on the corresponding number on the Player Sheet. Do the same for Health.
6. Roll 1 dice and place the first Accident Token on the Day of the same number. Roll 1 dice again, subtract the result from 30 and place second Accident token on the Day of the same number. Place the 3d Accident Token approximately in the middle between the previous two.
7. Prepare the Resources. Place 30 of each Resource token (Oxygen, Fuel, Food and Spares) on the specified Resource Areas of the Game Board. Place 24 Broken Workspace tokens and 4 Repair Kit tokens somewhere near the Game Board.

Day (Turn) Overview

1. All 4 Marsonauts start their day in the Sleeping Bay.
2. The Navigator moves Spaceship one day closer to Mars on the board.
3. The Administrator removes 1 Oxygen, 1 Food, 1 Fuel and 1 Spares from the specified Resource Areas.
4. The Operator takes one Green Event Card, places it face up at the Event Terminal in the middle of the board then determines which bay has a problem and explains all the consequences to the crew. You always keep completed events cards at the Event Terminal faced up.
5. Everyone decides where the player tokens are placed.
6. Checks are rolled.
7. Depending on the Check result Positive or Negative consequences occur.
8. Resources are generated. Administrator restores resources generated by the Marsonauts that were working in the other Bays.
9. Coordinator ensures that all marsonauts end their day in the Sleeping Bay.
10. Day ends.

Reminder

• The crew always consists of 4 Marsonauts
• You Start your game without any Repair Kits.
• On the day with a Red accident token on it a Red Event Card is drawn instead of Green.
• The problematic bay does not produce any resources.
• You cannot place a Marsonaut inside a Broken Workspace.
• You receive generated Resourses at the end of the day.

You Win

To win your Spaceship has to reach Mars with at least one of your crew members Active (Player Figure Standing).

You Lose

If all 4 Marsonauts are Knocked Out (4 Player Figures lie horisontally the sleeping bay) simultaneously - The Mission is considered as Failed.

Profession Special Bonuses

The planner's chart pairs each profession with an Event bay number and the resource it produces (matching the profiles above):

• Pilot - bay 1 (Ship Cockpit) - Fuel token
• Psychiatrist - bay 2 (Recreation Bay) - Sanity point
• Physician - bay 3 (Medical Bay) - Health point
• Engineer - bay 4 (Cargo Bay) - Spares token
• Botanist - bay 5 (Green House) - Food token
• Scientist - bay 6 (Laboratory) - Oxygen token

The chart's small print labels the Psychiatrist and Physician entries with "sell" and "any"; the rulebook text above gives the operative wording.