AI Space Puzzle Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Inside the Box
• Setup
• Game Objective
  • Having Problems with the Colors?
• Gameplay
  • AI Phase
  • Astronaut Phase
  • Forbidden Communication
  • Room Tiles
• Astronaut Key Panel
• Game End
• Future Plays
• AI Message Examples
• Strategic Advice
• Quick Start Walkthrough
  • Round 1
  • Round 2
  • Round 3
• Credits

Introduction

AI SPACE PUZZLE is a cooperative board game, where players take on the roles of distressed AI and Astronauts. The goal of the game is for the Astronauts to reach the correct rooms with the correct Security Keys.

While playing, you will create a shared communication system.

The AI uses various tokens to convey the required combination of colors and pawns. The meaning of the tokens is up to the players to decide. Each game utilizes a different Scenario from the Scenario book.

Inside the Box

• Wooden stand for Final Combination card
• 16 Room tiles
• 10 double-sided Final Combination cards
• 3 double-sided Crisis Final Combination cards
• 4 Role cards
• 6 Color markers
• 6 Astronaut pawns
• AI screen
• 6 Color Dice
• Neutral markers
• Communication tokens and Crisis token
• Rulebook
• Scenario book
• Astronaut Key Panel

Setup

1. Select who will play the role of the AI. Ideally, this player should sit opposite the remaining players and use the AI screen to hide information from the other players.

2. Shuffle the 16 Room tiles, and place them face up, randomly in a 4 × 4 grid in the middle of the play area. This creates the Ship Map.

3. The AI shuffles the Final Combination cards, draws one of them and places it behind the AI screen in an orientation of their choice. The remaining Final Combination cards are returned to the game box – they won't be needed.

4. Players select a Scenario from the Scenario book. When choosing, take into consideration any special rules that may impact the game's setup.

5. The AI receives all the Communication tokens indicated in the Scenario. The remaining tokens are returned to the game box — they won't be needed.

6. Assemble the Astronaut Key Panel as indicated on its back. Place 1 Neutral marker on each checkmark and on the space with a number indicated by the Scenario (rounds) on the Round Counter.

7. Place the remaining Pawns, Dice, and Color markers where they can be reached by all Astronauts.

You can find a quick start walkthrough on the final 2 pages of this rulebook.

Game Objective

The objective of the game is to correctly position the Astronauts on the Ship Map AND match the Astronaut colors to their Security Keys as indicated by the Final Combination card.

The Final Combination card contains the following important information:

• The colors on the card show where the Astronauts must be positioned on the Ship Map in order to win.
• The Security Key icons show which Astronauts must have the matching Security Keys in order to win. To make sure Astronauts have the correct Security Keys, you use the Astronaut Key panel, Neutral markers, and the appropriate Color markers (see Astronaut Key panel, page 7).
• Some Scenarios also use dice and special rooms (the X rooms), which have special rules as explained in the Scenario book. If the dice or the X room does not appear in the Scenario rules, ignore the dice and the X room on the Final Combination card. They have no affect on the Scenario.

For more of a challenge, you can try the Crisis Final Combination cards, marked with the emergency stripes. These are more difficult to achieve and may be used with any Scenarios to make them more challenging.

Having Problems with the Colors?

There is a special color coding system to help you!

Astronauts have different patterns on their backs that correspond to the patterns visible on the colors. Similarly, there is a corresponding color pattern on one side of the Color marker.

Color	Pattern
Green	Wavy/chevron lines
Blue	Fine grid mesh
Black	Vertical stripes
Red	Dots
Yellow	Horizontal stripes
White	Small circles

Gameplay

The game is divided into rounds, each starting with the AI Phase and followed by the Astronaut Phase. During the AI Phase, the AI places Communication tokens to communicate with the Astronauts. During the Astronaut Phase, the Astronauts perform different actions on the board. The round ends by moving the Neutral marker on the Round Counter, which is also a signal to the AI that the Astronauts have finished their actions for a given round.

AI Phase

The AI decides on the message to send to the Astronauts, based on the Final Combination card and their past actions.

• The AI uses a number of Communication tokens indicated by the Scenario and places them however they wish behind the AI screen.

  The Communication tokens may touch or overlap in any way, but all of them must be placed with the image showing face up and fit behind the AI screen.

  The screen can never be placed onto the Ship Map in any way, and after removing it to reveal the Communication tokens, it must be returned back to the same place.

• After placing the Communication tokens, the AI lifts / moves the AI screen to show the Astronauts the message that was sent to them. After removing the AI screen, the AI may not change the placement of the Communication tokens.

• The only game-related communication allowed between the AI and Astronauts is through the Communication tokens. The AI is forbidden from speaking, making gestures or facial expressions in relation to the ongoing Scenario or game state. If needed, general discussion of the game and Scenario rules is allowed.

Examples of messages and their possible interpretations are given on page 9.

Astronaut Phase

• Together, the Astronauts decide how to interpret the AI's message. They perform a set number of actions determined by the Scenario.

• Astronauts may resolve any of the following 4 actions:

  • Move an Astronaut pawn from a Room tile to another Room tile on the Ship Map. If the Scenario uses dice, whenever you move an Astronaut, move their corresponding die along with it.
  • Move an Astronaut not on the Ship Map to any Room tile on the Ship Map. If the Scenario uses dice, when first placing the die on the Ship Map, its value must start at 1.
  • Remove an Astronaut pawn from the Ship Map.
  • Change the number on a single die to any other number.

• The Astronauts may, at any time during the Astronaut Phase, use the Color and Neutral markers to indicate known information on the Astronaut Key panel. Remember, to win you must indicate the correct Astronaut colors that correspond to the correct Security Keys. This is not an action.

• Color and Neutral markers may not be placed on the board. They may only be placed on the Astronaut Key panel.

• During the game, each section of the Astronaut Key panel (see page 7) can hold any number of markers of any color. However, when the Astronauts declare that they have solved the Final Combination, each section of the Astronaut Key panel must hold exactly one Color marker. This is how the Astronauts indicate that they know which Astronaut colors correspond to the Security Keys and win the game.

• At the end of their Phase, the Astronauts lower the marker on the Round Counter on the Astronaut Key panel by one space. This indicates to the AI to start working on a new message.

Forbidden Communication

At no point during the game may the Astronauts communicate with the AI Player about anything related to the ongoing Scenario or agree on a specific way to communicate. For example:

• Show us the token, if the square Key has the correct color or show us the other token if we have to change the red to green.
• Place the Key token sideways if a given Key is in the correct location.
• Place the Security Key information in such an order that it corresponds to the associated dice numbers.

Room Tiles

The Antenna, Engine, Battery, and Telescope Room icons, along with their corresponding Communication tokens help you navigate the Ship map as you attempt to survive. Each combination of Room icons are unique and do not repeat on Room tiles.

There is no limit to the number of Astronauts that may occupy a single Room tile.

Astronaut Key Panel

The Astronaut Key panel is assembled from sections — one for each Security Key (Diamond, Hexagon, Round and Triangle) — plus the Round Counter.

Color marker space. This space may hold 1 Color marker. It should be placed with either of the sides face up – if Astronauts are not sure if the color of the Astronaut is correct, it should show the question mark side. When they are sure, it should show the checkmark side.

Key location space. This space may hold 1 Neutral marker. If Astronauts are not sure about the location of the key, the question mark should be visible. When they are sure, the checkmark should be visible.

Die value space. This space may hold 1 Neutral marker. If Astronauts are not sure about the value on the die accompanying the Astronaut with the key, the question mark should be visible. When they are sure, the checkmark should be visible. In the Scenarios where the dice are not used, this part of the Astronaut Key Panel is not used.

Round Counter. This is how Astronauts track the number of rounds they have left to recreate the Final Combination. The counter runs 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and then the Hourglass space. The initial position of the Neutral marker on the Round Counter is depicted in the Scenario description.

Game End

The game can end in two ways:

1. The Neutral marker on the Round Counter reaches the Hourglass. At this point, the AI shows the Final Combination card. If the Astronauts managed to recreate the Final Combination, everybody wins! If they failed to do so, everybody loses the game.

2. The Astronauts recreate the Final Combination. The Astronauts place exactly one Color marker on each section of the Astronaut Key panel and announce they have created the Final Combination by moving the Neutral marker on the Round Counter card to the Hourglass. Next, the AI compares the Final Combination card with the Astronauts' solution.

The game is won if every Security Key has the correct color and if all the correct Astronauts (in relation to their color) occupy the correct Room tiles. If a Scenario uses dice, their numbers must also match.

If any element is incorrect, the game is lost!

Future Plays

We recommend that a single session of AI Space Puzzle should consist of playing a few Scenarios of varying difficulties.

After finishing a given Scenario, you can immediately play a different one. Repeat the setup (page 3) and remember to select a new Final Combination card (or use the reverse side of the previous Final Combination card). You don't have to shuffle the Room tiles but should if you want to increase the difficulty. If you wish, you may give someone else a chance to be the AI.

We recommend that you discuss the gameplay between Scenarios. Talk about your achievements, failures, communication, and miscommunication. This will help you to create a shared communication language.

AI Message Examples

Example 1. The Red Astronaut should be placed on a Room tile that has an Antenna, Battery, and Telescope icon.

Example 2. Change the locations of the Triangle and Square Keys or switch the colors of these Keys.

Example 3. The Square and Round Keys have the wrong dice values assigned.

Example 4. The Triangle Key should be located on a Room tile with a Telescope and Battery icon and the Hexagon Key should be located on a Room tile with only the Telescope icon.

Example 5. The Green Astronaut assigned to the Square Key should be placed on a Room tile with 3 Room Symbols or a tile that contains a die with a value of 3.

Strategic Advice

• The Astronauts should move Astronauts to help the AI create sensible and valuable messages. After all, this is a cooperative game.

• Every person has their own way of communicating. The Astronauts should comment on the messages sent by the AI so that the future messages can better meet their interpretations. The game is designed to illustrate that even a simple message may have many different interpretations.

• On many occasions, the Astronauts will be left with unused actions. It is wise to use such an action to move new Astronauts onto the Ship Map or move the Astronauts that occupy incorrect locations.

• The Astronauts should try to remember the AI messages from the previous rounds or they can use the Astronaut Key panel and the Neutral markers as a type of notepad.

• Try to view Scenario rules as not only additional difficulties but also as opportunities to communicate in new ways — this will make you more effective!

Quick Start Walkthrough

This quick start walkthrough is intended to help you understand how a game of AI Space Puzzle is played — it's much easier to learn as you play. Setting up the game will help you understand the process of playing the game, but feel free to experience this walkthrough by simply reading the text and referring to the images below.

Your setup looks like this at the beginning of the game. Make sure to place a Neutral marker on space 5 of the Round Counter.

Reading the Scenario page. The pages of the Scenario book indicate which Communication tokens are available to the AI (A) and how many they may use each Round (B). It also tells you how many actions the Astronauts may take (C) and how many Rounds they have to solve the puzzle (D). Some Scenarios may also have special rules (E).

The Ship Map. The Room tiles make up the layout of the Ship Map. Each Room tile represents the corresponding space on the Final Combination card. The orientation of the Final Combination card only matters to the AI's perspective.

The Final Combination card. The 4 colors represented on the Final Combination card indicate which Room tiles the matching Astronauts must occupy and on which section of the Astronaut Key panel each Color marker must be on in order to solve the Puzzle… and not explode!

Winning. Once the AI is able to get the Astronauts to place their pawns on these spaces and the Color markers on the correct Astronaut Key panel, you have survived and solved the puzzle!

Now let's show you how to solve the puzzle and survive!

Round 1

• The AI places the Communication tokens as shown above and reveal them by removing the AI screen.
• The Astronauts respond by spending their 3 actions to place the Astronaut pawns as shown to the right.

As you can see, the AI uses both the orientation of the tokens as well as the distance between them to communicate where the Astronauts should be placed. Unfortunately, the Astronauts didn't take into consideration the correct distance for the Red Astronaut. The Color markers and Astronaut Key panel are left untouched because the AI has not yet mentioned them.

Round 2

• The AI places the Communication tokens as shown above and reveal them by removing the AI screen.
• The Astronauts respond by only spending 2 of their 3 actions to place/move the Red and White Astronaut pawns as shown to the right.

As you can see, the AI tries to indicate that the Red is incorrect by only indicating that Yellow and Green are correct. The orientation also implies that Red must be farther to the right and that White should also be placed in the 3rd column. The Color markers and Astronaut Key panel are left untouched because the AI has not yet mentioned them.

Round 3

• The AI places the Communication tokens as shown above and reveal them by removing the AI screen.
• The Astronauts respond by only spending 1 action to move the White pawn as shown to the right.

The AI used the Room symbol Communication tiles to indicate that White is meant to be placed on a Room tile with these 3 symbols. They also oriented them so that they would match their locations on the Room tile, so it is more obvious where to place it. Finally, the AI indicated a Key for White, so the White Color marker is placed on the section with the Hexagonal Key.

This example shows that Astronauts may not always have a reason to use all their actions, and that the AI may choose to indicate one piece of information efficiently instead of a lot of information inefficiently, depending on their preferences.

There are countless ways for the AI to communicate with the Astronauts. How do you think they will get the Astronauts to discover what colors the final 3 Security Keys should be? Remember, there are only 2 rounds left!

As you progress through the more difficult Scenarios, you will be asked to place dice, there will be traps on Room tiles, and a myriad of other challenges!

We hope you brave Astronauts, along with your trusty AI, survive!

Credits

Game design: Katarzyna Cioch, Sylwia Smolińska, Wojciech Wiśniewski, Mateusz Wolski Illustrations: Tomasz Bolik Graphic design: Radosław Dawid, Mateusz Kopacz, based on the project by Smart Flamingo Project manager: Jan Maurycy Production manager: Damian Mazur English editor: Tyler Brown

2023 PORTAL GAMES Sp. z o.o., ul. H. Sienkiewicza 13, 44-190 Knurów, Poland.