Apex
Apex Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Civilizations
Humans
After millennia of tumultuous, destructive, yet extraordinarily creative history, Humans have finally built, upon the ruins of their bellicose past, a harmonious, peaceful society, brimming with diversity.
More than power or glory, it is now creativity in all its forms that constitutes the universal and unifying value for humanity. They form the most open of the great galactic civilizations, promoting cultural and artistic exchanges among species. While diplomacy is now their preferred weapon, their tumultuous history has bequeathed Humans with all the resources necessary for high-intensity conflicts. Their prodigious undulatory technology enables them to compose magnificent cosmic symphonies, navigate at light speed, and build formidable instruments of destruction.
Earth, Humans' origin planet, has been altered many times and threatened by numerous cataclysms. It has ultimately become the cradle of a multitude of artistic experiments seeking to revive the diversity of its ecosystem.
Dragonites
The Dragonites are vaporous beings, each appearing as a complex entanglement of convoluted two-dimensional surfaces. Yet, their physiology and psychology remain incomprehensible to other species.
The Dragonite society is organized into a myriad of interdependent castes, each with highly specific yet complementary functions. Every individual is purposefully created within a particular caste and is only allowed to change paths under rare circumstances. Intangible, the Dragonites interact with their environment through advanced technology that produces highly precise localized gravitational alterations. Moreover, this technology grants their ships unmatched velocity and maneuverability, enabling this mysterious civilization from the galactic fringes to quickly compete on equal terms with the major galactic powers.
It is unclear if the celestial body currently hosting the Dragonites is the one of their birth. What is certain is that they have altered the chemistry of this gas giant, transforming it into a prodigious generator essential for their gravitational technology.
Minerls
The Minerl civilization comprises various forms of mineral life. Through synergistic coevolution, they have all developed an orthogonal structure to forge a multitude of symbiotic relationships. As a result, Minerls form social organizations of unparalleled complexity, where precise rules enable each individual to influence collective decisions.
Through a technology reproducing the same principles of orthogonal symbiosis, the Minerls have developed an industry of prodigious productivity, whose relentless expansion increasingly encompasses systems in the galactic core. The worlds thus conquered are irrevocably transformed to contribute to the Minerl economy, yet the species inhabiting them are always offered a place in their civilization. Invariably, the structures built by the Minerls adopt cubic forms, a pattern they aim to propagate throughout the Galaxy.
Minerls' origin planet has been entirely recomposed to serve their colossal industrial needs. However, every form of life that once inhabited it has been preserved and assigned a role in this massive planetary factory.
Sherais
The Sherais are an insectoid species forming a single superorganism. After completely parasitizing their mother planet, they set their sights on the rest of the Galaxy. During their rapid evolution, the Sherais have developed an organic, crude, and brutal technology that nevertheless rivals those of other contenders for galactic conquest.
Each Sherai is an ultimate soldier in total cooperation with others, prepared to make any sacrifice for the hive's welfare. They can generate hypnotic holograms to communicate with their kind and occasionally manipulate other life forms. Together, the Sherais form a network that enables their queen to centralize all available information within the hive and coordinate the actions of each member, achieving unparalleled tactical precision in the Galaxy.
Sherais' home planet has been entirely absorbed and transformed by the hive. Although this celestial body houses a centralizing queen, the collective consciousness of the Sherais is actually preserved throughout their holographic network.
Nagaritakas
The Nagaritakas have developed one of the earliest interstellar civilizations in the Galaxy. Throughout their long history, they have completely modified both their physiology and environment in a perpetual pursuit for perfection and elegance. This obsession is reflected in their refined, aerial, yet remarkably effective technology.
The Nagaritakas hold nothing but disdain for the rest of the Galaxy and its crude inhabitants. However, the threat posed by young civilizations vying for galactic domination has finally compelled them to emerge from their isolationism. Although the Nagaritakas have not experienced war for millions of years, they are custodians of a warrior tradition almost as ancient as the Galaxy itself. Armed with unparalleled patience, this venerable people approach the new galactic conflict with deadly perfectionism.
The mother planet Nagaritaka resembles a magnificent garden brimming with elegance. Nothing is left to chance in its composition: every sea, every continent, and even every form of life is the result of meticulous and millennia-old craftsmanship.
Cireades
The Cireades are small aquatic organisms with very basic individual cognitive abilities. However, they can communicate through bioelectricity to collectively manifest, like a neural network, impressive intellectual and computational capacities. The Cireades have thus built an enormous expansionist empire, where every strategic decision is calculated with extreme precision through the collaboration of billions of individuals. Although many consider the Cireade civilization primitive, its economic system is certainly the most finely tuned on a galactic scale.
With little individuality among the Cireades, their technology often lacks creativity and elegance. However, they easily compensate for the simplicity of their constructions with their sheer numbers and colossal size.
The planet Cireade is entirely covered by a vast ocean. Immense cities, vast centers of computation filled with bioelectric currents, are built all over the ocean floor, while towering spires emerge above the water's surface.
Elements
6 Civilizations
For each civilization:
- 1 civilization board
- 1 origin sector
- 20 ship tokens
- 3 colony tokens
- 4 evolution tokens
Also included:
- 30 strategy cards (per civilization)
- 24 neutral sectors
- 42 victory point tokens
Ships, Colonies, and Origin Colony
Ships constitute the bulk of the forces of each civilization. They can move and can be destroyed by battle, conversion, or ambush.
Colonies are the bases from which a civilization can produce new ships. They never move and can only be destroyed during a battle.
Origin colony: Each civilization always has a colony on its origin sector. This colony is not represented by a token but counts in all respects as a colony token, except that it can never be destroyed.
Strategy Cards — Card Index
- C - Strategy: Colonization — To place a colony token on a sector.
- D - Strategy: Expansion — To perform the indicated actions.
- B - Strategy: Evolution — To increase the indicated evolution.
- A - Strategy: War — To trigger battles.
For 2 or 3 players, the strategy cards with a circle appearing in the top right corner must be removed from the deck for the duration of the game.
For 4, 5 or 6 players, these cards must be added back to the deck if they were previously removed.
Setup
Galaxy
To compose the Galaxy, randomly draw 4 neutral sectors per player, then place them face up according to the layout corresponding to the number of players:
- 2 players: 8 neutral sectors
- 3 players: 12 neutral sectors
- 4 players: 16 neutral sectors
- 5 players: 20 neutral sectors
- 6 players: 24 neutral sectors
Sectors are either origin sectors or neutral sectors.
Civilizations
Clockwise, starting with the youngest player, each player chooses a civilization.
Each player then takes the corresponding board for their civilization and places their origin sector on one of the remaining available slots. They then collect all tokens corresponding to their civilization.
They place on their origin sector the number of ship tokens indicated by their board.
Finally, they place their 4 evolution tokens on the evolution scales of their civilization board, at level 0, unless another level is encircled, in which case they place the evolution token at that level.
Each evolution scale represents the technological progress of a civilization in a specific domain. This index is likely to increase during the game, up to a maximum of 5.
Evolutions
- Production — Bonus for producing more ships during the expansion strategy.
- Movement — Bonus for moving ships more during the expansion strategy.
- Influence — Bonus for controlling sectors, and therefore also for conversion actions.
- Armament — Bonus during the war strategy, and only during this strategy.
How to Play
Victory Conditions
A game consists of 3 ages.
Once the 3 ages are resolved, the victory points (VP) scored by each player are counted. The player with the most VP wins. (In case of a tie, the player with the most tokens on sectors wins.)
A player earns VP through the sectors they control at the end of each age, and when they win battles.
VP are represented by tokens of different values.
Age Resolution
At the beginning of each age, the discarded strategy cards are shuffled. Then, 6 cards are dealt to each player face down (in a 6-player game, only 5 cards are dealt per player). The remaining cards are discarded face up.
Next, 5 rounds are resolved. Unused cards are discarded at the end of the 5 rounds.
At the end of each age, victory points (VP) are scored. Each player earns 1 VP for each sector they control.
Sector Control
A player controls a sector if at least one of their tokens is present there, whether it's a ship or a colony (including the colony on their origin sector).
Only one player can control a given sector at the same time. If several players have at least one token on the same sector, each counts how many tokens they have on the sector and adds their influence level.
The player with the highest score controls the sector. If multiple players have the highest score, no one controls the sector.
Example: Humans, Minerls, and Sherais are all present on this sector. To determine who controls it, players count the tokens and the influence of each civilization. The Humans have 1 ship, 1 colony, and an influence of 3, for a total of 5. The Minerls have 3 ships, no colony, and an influence of 0, for a total of 3. The Sherais have 3 ships, no colony, and an influence of 1, for a total of 4. Therefore, the Humans control this sector.
- Humains: 3 + 1 + 1 = 5
- Minerls: 0 + 3 = 3
- Sherais: 1 + 3 = 4
Duel Mode
In a 2-player game, each player is dealt 10 cards instead of 6 at the beginning of each age.
At each round when choosing a card to play, each player must also choose another card from their hand to discard. The discarded cards are revealed immediately after the played cards.
At the end of each round, each player passes their cards to the other player as usual.
Exploration Mode
In this mode, the Galaxy is still an unknown territory to explore.
During setup, the neutral sectors are placed face down.
As soon as a token is moved for the first time onto a sector that is still face down, that sector is automatically flipped face up. It remains face up for the rest of the game.
Round
Cards drawn don't determine your strategy, nor does the evolution bonus granted by your civilization. It's primarily your choices during the game that decide how your civilization will be played.
Strategy Choice
At the beginning of each round all players simultaneously and secretly choose a card from their hand and place it face down in front of them, pointing towards the center of the table the side corresponding to the strategy they want to play.
Players then reveal their cards simultaneously. They cannot change their strategy at this time and must keep the same side of their card pointed towards the center of the table when flipping it over.
Strategy Resolution
Players then play according to their respective strategies. Strategies are resolved in the following order: War → Evolution → Colonization → Expansion.
If multiple players have chosen the same strategy, they play in ascending order of their cards index. Then it's the turn of players who chose the next strategy, and so on, until all players have had the opportunity to play.
End of Round
At the end of each round, the used strategy cards are discarded. Then each player passes their remaining cards to the player next to them, leftwards during the first and third ages, rightwards during the second age.
Example: It's the third round of the third age. The 3 players all simultaneously choose a card from the 4 in their hand, as well as a strategy among the 4 sides of the card. Then they reveal their cards simultaneously. Player C starts playing because they are the only one to have chosen the war strategy. No one has chosen the evolution and colonization strategies, so it's then the turn of players A and B, who have chosen the expansion strategy. To determine who plays first between them, we look at the indices of their cards. With an index of 3 for player A and 20 for player B, player A starts. The order is therefore: C, A, B. Once all players have played, they pass their remaining 3 cards to the player on their left, as it's the third age.
War
Initiating Battles
A player who has chosen this strategy can initiate a battle on each sector where at least one of their tokens and at least one opposing token are present.
A player can initiate battles on multiple sectors during their turn. Battles on each sector are resolved separately, one after the other, in the order chosen by the player who declared war. A player is never required to initiate a battle.
Battle Resolution
To resolve a battle, each present player counts their tokens on the contested sector and adds their armament value.
The player with the highest score wins and destroys all ships and colonies of other players. They keep as many tokens as the difference between their score and the highest score among the players they are facing. Their other tokens are destroyed, starting with their ships.
In case of a tie to determine the winner, nobody wins the battle, and all tokens present on the sector are destroyed.
A player earns 1 VP for each sector where they win a battle.
The colony initially located on the origin sector of a civilization cannot be destroyed. However, this does not prevent an opponent from winning a battle on this sector and earning the corresponding VP.
Example: The Humans have chosen the war strategy. They initiate a battle on a sector where they have tokens and where Minerls and Sherais tokens are also present. The score for each civilization is then calculated: The Humans have 6 ships on this sector, and their armament is 3, for a total of 9. The Minerls have 6 ships and 1 colony, and their armament is 0, for a total of 7. The Sherais have 2 ships, and their armament is 4, for a total of 6. Therefore, the Humans win. All Minerls and Sherais tokens are destroyed. The Humans then keep as many tokens as the difference between their score of 9 and the highest score among their opponents, which is 7. Thus, they keep 2 ships. Additionally, the Humans earn 1 VP.
- Humains: 3 + 6 = 9
- Minerls: 0 + 6 + 1 = 7
- Sherais: 4 + 2 = 6
Do not wage war lightly, as it can be very deadly for your forces. Although it is entirely possible to win without waging war, by winning multiple battles at once, war can give you an edge.
Evolution
During the game, leave this double-page spread open to serve as a game aid.
A player who has chosen this strategy increases the level of the evolution indicated on their strategy card by 1, by moving the corresponding evolution token.
The level of an evolution cannot exceed level 5.
If the evolution indicated on their card is already at 5, this strategy has no effect. However, a civilization can exceed 5 in influence or armament thanks to a colony or another bonus.
Example: With this card, the evolution strategy allows a player to increase their influence by 1.
Colonization
A player who has chosen this strategy can place one of their colony tokens on a sector that meets two conditions: they control this sector, and there are no colony already present on this sector.
A player cannot have more than 4 colonies at the same time, including the one on their origin sector. If all their colony tokens are already placed on sectors, this strategy has no effect.
A player gains a bonus for each sector on which they have placed a colony, except for their origin sector, which does not yield any bonus. They immediately lose the bonus of a colony as soon as it is destroyed. Some bonuses grant additional actions during the expansion strategy. Others provide passive bonuses in influence, armament or victory points.
Note: A player should NOT move their evolution tokens to represent the bonuses from their colonies.
Bonuses
- +1 portal action during the expansion strategy
- +1 movement action during the expansion strategy
- +1 production action during the expansion strategy
- +1 ambush action during the expansion strategy
- +1 conversion action during the expansion strategy
- +1 victory point at the end of each age
- Influence +1
- Armament +1
Example: By placing a colony on this sector, the Humans will be able to perform an ambush action in addition to all their actions when they choose the expansion strategy in the future.
Expansion
A player who has chosen this strategy can perform all the actions indicated on their strategy card, plus those corresponding to their evolution levels, as well as those potentially granted by the sectors where they have established a colony.
Note: The additional actions granted by a player's evolutions and colonies are only performed when they choose the expansion strategy, NOT when they perform other strategies.
A player can perform the actions they are entitled to in the order of their choice, and they are not obligated to perform all of them.
Each movement allowed by the movement and portal actions allows a player to move any number of their ships located in the same sector, but not colonies. All ships moved by the same action must be moved to the same sector. The same ship can be moved multiple times during the same round.
Actions that destroy ships cannot destroy colonies. The only way to destroy a colony is to win a battle on the same sector.
If a player has already placed all their ship tokens on sectors, the production and conversion actions have no effect.
Actions
- Portal — Move any number of your ships located on a single sector to any other sector in play.
- Movement — Move any number of your ships located on a single sector to a directly adjacent sector.
- Conversion — Destroy an opposing ship located on a sector you control. For each opposing ship destroyed this way, place a new ship of your civilization on that sector.
- Ambush — Destroy an opposing ship located on a sector where at least one of your tokens is present.
- Production — Place a new ship of your civilization on a sector where one of your colonies is located.
Example: With the expansion strategy, Humans can perform the portal action indicated on their strategy card; 1 production action and 2 movement actions granted by their evolutions; and 1 production action and 1 ambush action for their 2 colonies on neutral sectors. All these actions can be performed in any order.