Asteria Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Quick Guide card
• Setup
• Objective
• Basic Concepts
  • Planet Cards
  • Action Cards
  • Objective Card
• How to Play
  • Stage 1 — Collecting Resources
  • Stage 2 — Using Action Cards
  • Extract
  • Expand
  • Exterminate
  • Explore
  • Free Action
  • Stage 3 — Conflict and Maintenance
  • Conflict
• End of Game
• Icon Glossary and Card Function
  • Action Icons
  • Resource and Effect Icons
• Credits
• Errata — February 2026 Balance Update

Components

• 1 Rulebook (Manual de regras)
• 2 Quick guides
• 38 Action Cards (Cartas de Ação)
• 14 Planet Cards (Cartas de Planeta)
• 2 Resource Cards (Cartas de Recursos)
• 2 Objective Cards (Cartas de Objetivos)
• 6 Expansion Markers (Marcadores de Expansão) — 3 green (Green Stars) and 3 red (Red Guild)
• 4 Objective Markers (Marcadores de Objetivo)
• 2 Energy Markers (Marcadores de Energia)
• 2 Ore Markers (Marcadores de Minério)

Quick Guide card

Turn summary

1. Gain resources from your Extract and Expand cards.
2. Play an Action Card on each planet (optional).
3. Resolve conflicts and draw up to 3 Action Cards in hand.

• Extract: When you play the card and at the start of each round, collect the resources shown.
• Expand: Pay the cost and resolve the continuous or conditional effect, once per turn, while the card is on a planet or in your play area.
• Explore: Pay the cost and resolve the immediate effect when you play the card.
• Exterminate: Pay the cost to play the card on a planet and, while it is there, resolve the effect.

Setup

Both players sit on opposite sides of the table and carry out the following setup steps:

A. Separate the Planet Cards and the Action Cards into 2 separate piles, shuffling each one individually, forming two draw decks, face down, within reach of the players. Leave space beside each deck for a discard pile.

B. Each player receives:

• 3 Expansion Markers (Green Stars or Red Guild)
• 1 Ore Marker
• 1 Energy Marker
• 2 Objective Markers
• 1 Objective Card
• 3 Action Cards
• 1 Planet Card
• 1 Resource Card

The Action Cards and Planet Cards form the player's hand and must not be revealed to the opponent.

The Resource Card is placed in front of the player, in their Play Area, with the Energy and Ore markers on space 2, indicating that each player has 2 Ore and 2 Energy at the start of the game.

The Expansion and Objective markers are left beside the Resource Card.

It is important that players leave a space in front of them to play cards and place future conquered cards, called the player's Play Area.

C. Open 2 planets from the Planet Deck onto the table, so that they sit between the players. Randomly choose the side that will face each player.

D. Randomly determine the first player. On the first round of the game, that player may play only one Action Card.

Objective

Your objective is to score 3 or more points through Conquests tracked on your Objective Card. The player who scores the third point wins immediately.

Basic Concepts

Planet Cards

Planet Cards can be in the players' hands or on the table. On the table they are considered habitable planets and are available to be explored by the players, who use Action Cards from their hand to carry out one of the 4 available actions (Extract, Expand, Explore, Exterminate).

Planet Cards enter the table mainly through the effects of action cards with the Explore icon, and there is a maximum limit of 3 planets on the table at any time.

Whenever a planet enters the table, the player who triggered the placement of the planet chooses the side the planet is positioned with — in other words, which resources are on their side of the table.

Planet Cards in the players' hands, on the other hand, are called uninhabitable planets and are used during Stage 2 to guarantee additional resources or extra strength during combat. Planet Cards from a player's hand are never played as habitable planets in the center of the table.

Each Planet Card has several pieces of important information:

1. Combat Strength (when used as a combat card).
2. Resources available to be collected via the expansion marker, or collected when played from hand (resources on one of the halves of the planet).
3. Advancement spaces.

Action Cards

Each Action Card has 4 effects, one on each edge, with their respective icons: Extract, Expand, Explore, and Exterminate. These effects are explained in detail in the How to Play section of this manual.

Players play Action Cards on habitable planets in the center of the table, during Stage 2, immediately choosing which of the 4 actions of the card they will perform, turning the side of the card with the corresponding action toward the planet, completely ignoring the other three actions of the card.

To play an Action Card and perform one of the Expand, Explore, or Exterminate actions, the player must first pay its cost, indicated in the center of the card. If the player cannot pay this cost, they cannot perform that action of the card.

The Extract action, by contrast, has no cost and can be chosen regardless of the resources the player has.

1. Action type: Extract, Expand, Explore, and Exterminate.
2. Strength: the strength value used in combat when attacking or defending, according to how the card is positioned.
3. Cost: must be paid to perform the Expand, Explore, or Exterminate actions.

IMPORTANT: All effects of Action Cards refer to plays made on that planet, unless stated otherwise.

Objective Card

The Objective Card presents 4 different Conquests, with their respective requirements and points. Conquests can be completed at any time, and the player who completes one places one of their objective markers on the corresponding space of the Objective Card.

Each player can achieve each Conquest only once, regardless of whether the other player has already achieved it. When a player reaches 3 or more points by completing Conquest objectives, that player wins immediately and the game ends. This means that when a player achieves any 2 objectives, or achieves the Military Victory, the game ends immediately.

For the purpose of determining the winner, in case more than one player achieves a Conquest on the same round that will end the game, the active player has priority to complete the Conquest.

• Military Victory — 3 PTS: Dominate 3 planets.
• Exploration Victory — 2 PTS: Have at least 3 Planet Cards in hand and 3 open planets on the table. (Updated by the February 2026 balance errata — originally 2 Planet Cards; see Errata section.)
• Technological Victory — 2 PTS: Have 3 Expand cards in your play area and 1 active on each open planet.
• Economic Victory — 1 PT: At any point during your turn, have 5 cards in hand and discard 10 of each resource. (Updated by the February 2026 balance errata — originally 8 of each resource; see Errata section.)

How to Play

A game of Asteria is played in turns alternating between the players, starting with the starting player. On their turn each player carries out 3 stages (Collecting Resources, Using Action Cards, and Conflict and Maintenance) always in the same order. Then, the turn passes to the next player, who does the same, until one of the players manages to reach 3 points by completing Conquests.

If, at the end of a player's turn, there is no open planet in the center of the table, reveal a planet from the top of the Planet Deck, randomly choosing its side.

Stage 1 — Collecting Resources

The player starts by receiving resources corresponding to all their Extract cards played on planets and the Expand cards that are in their play area.

Whenever you gain resources, move your resource markers according to the values gained on your Resource Card.

There is a limit of 12 units of each resource, and any amount gained above that is wasted.

Stage 2 — Using Action Cards

In this stage, the player may play up to one Action Card from their hand on each habitable planet (open on the table), in addition to being able to perform Free Actions with Planet Cards they hold in hand.

You may even play Action Cards on planets revealed during this same turn.

When placing a card on a planet that does not have one of your expansion markers on its side, add a marker on the first space of the Planet Card, on the side corresponding to that player, and gain the resources shown in that first space of the planet (if any).

If the planet already has one of your expansion markers, move your marker one space toward the opposite side of the Planet Card, immediately gaining any resources shown in that space.

When playing a card, choose one of the 4 sides (Extract, Expand, Explore, or Exterminate) and place it next to the planet you chose. If the chosen side is not Extract, pay the value indicated on the card, spending the corresponding resources.

• Expand, Explore, and Exterminate pay a cost.
• Extract has no cost.

Note that you may use resources you have just gained through the placement or movement of your expansion marker to pay the cost of the chosen card.

The card must be positioned covering the previously played action card, but the icons of the action performed previously must remain visible. The last card played is always considered the "free card," since it has no other card on top of it.

If there are other cards played previously, they must also keep their icons visible, forming a row of played cards. These cards will only leave the planet after a conflict is resolved.

When a player cannot or does not want to play any more Action Cards, they move on to Stage 3 (Conflict and Maintenance, see below).

Depending on the action chosen, several effects can occur, as specified in the card iconography and glossary (see the Icon Glossary section). However, each action works in a distinct way, as shown below.

Turn example:

1. The player gains resources from their Extract and Expand cards.
2. They play a card and advance the marker on the planet, and receive the resource.
3. They pay the costs of the card to play it as an Explore action.
4. They resolve the effect of drawing a Planet Card.

Extract

Play the card with the Extract side and gain the indicated resource(s).

When playing an Extract card, the player receives the resources.

In addition, Extract cards will also generate income during all future income stages, while they remain on the table.

Expand

When you play the Expand action, you gain a constant, conditional, or a strength modifier effect for combat. When a planet is conquered (see Stage 3), the expand cards that players played on that planet are set aside and placed in their play area.

The effects of Expand cards happen while they are in play, or when they are discarded. However, each player can have at most 3 active Expand cards in their play area. If they receive more, they may choose which ones to keep and discard the rest.

Expand card on the game table. / Expand card in the resource area after a planet is conquered.

Exterminate

When you choose Exterminate, you receive an effect.

Immediate effects are resolved only once, when the card is played.

The other effects happen during Conflict, modifying the strength value or giving rewards for winning or losing.

Explore

Explore has only one immediate effect, resolved when the card is played.

Free Action

At any point during Stage 2, you may discard a Planet Card from your hand to gain the resources indicated on one of its sides. After using a Planet Card this way, the card goes to the discard pile.

Or use it during a conflict to add this card's strength value.

Stage 3 — Conflict and Maintenance

If during a turn a player's Expansion Marker meets the other player's marker on the same planet, a conflict occurs (explained below). If more than one conflict occurs, the active player chooses the order in which the conflicts are resolved.

After all conflicts (if any) are finished, the player draws Action Cards from the deck until they have 3 Action Cards in hand (Planet Cards do not count toward this limit). If the player already has 3 or more cards, they do not draw. If the Action Card deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to form a new Action deck.

As the last stage of the player's turn, if there is no revealed Planet Card in the center of the table, a new Planet Card from the Planet Deck is revealed with its side chosen randomly, so that there is always at least one revealed planet at the start of each player's turn.

Now it is the opponent's turn to play, starting with Stage 1.

Conflict

To determine the winner of a conflict, first each player adds up all the strengths (ship value) of each of the cards they played on the planet, considering only the value of the activated side. Some card effects can also modify strength — take those values into account as well.

Example: The player adds up the value of the strength icons played on their side, totaling 5.

Then, starting with the player who initiated the conflict (moved the expansion marker that round), each player may play up to one Planet Card from hand to add to the total strength, using only that card's attack value. These cards are initially played face down and revealed simultaneously by both players.

After the conflict ends, Planet Cards used this way go to the discard pile.

Conflict Example: Player 1 (Green Stars) totals 3 + 0 + 2 + 1 = 6 strength. Player 2 (Red Guild) totals -2 + 5 + 1 + 3 = 7 strength. Player 2 (Red Guild) wins the combat and conquers the planet.

Whoever reaches the highest value wins. In case of a tie, the player who initiated the conflict wins.

The winner dominates the planet, bringing it into their play area. Both players take the Expand cards from their side of the planet (limit of 3 Expand cards in the play area). All other cards on both sides are discarded.

If this is the third planet the player has dominated, they win immediately thanks to the Military Victory objective.

End of Game

The game ends immediately as soon as a player achieves 3 victory points among the Objective Card's Conquests.

Icon Glossary and Card Function

Whenever you play an Action Card, after choosing its side and, when applicable, paying its costs, you carry out the effects shown.

Effects are mandatory and must be carried out in full, or as close to it as possible. In the case of multiple effects, the player chooses the order in which to carry them out.

If a player is instructed to DISCARD a card, this means placing a card from their hand directly onto the respective discard pile, ignoring any effect shown on that card.

If a player is instructed to DESTROY a card, this means moving a card that is already in play (and not directly from the player's hand) to the respective discard pile.

Action Icons

• Immediate effect: happens right after the card is played on the planet.
• Continuous effect: triggered every time its requirement is met.
• Effect happens during the Conflict stage.
• The effect affects the opposing player.

Resource and Effect Icons

• Strength

• Energy

• Ore

• Swap

• Draw 1 Action Card.

• Planet card icon: Take a face-down Planet Card and place it in your hand. Use this card during a combat to add its strength value (discarding it after use), or discard it at any time during your turn to receive the resources indicated on one of the card's halves.

• Reveal planet icon: Reveal a new Planet Card on the table, with the player who triggered the effect choosing the side, respecting the limit of 3 open planets.

• Single rotate icon: Rotate a free card on any planet, changing its active function, to any action, resolving its effect, unless stated otherwise.

• Rotate-to-icon (four actions): Rotate a free card on any planet, changing its active function to the one indicated by the icon, resolving its effect, unless stated otherwise.

Credits

• Author: Augusto Rocha
• Illustrations by: Thiago Mendes and Guilherme Pulga (Harpy Studio)
• Graphic design and layout: Gerson Lopes
• Editor: Renato J. Lopes
• Proofreading: Romir G. E. Paulino
• Supervision: Diego Bianchini

Glyp Games LTDA. CNPJ:53.273.552/0001-30. Rua Manoel Pires de Moraes, 18 - Sala 03. Jardim Brasil, Embu-Guaçu/SP.

[email protected] | meeplebr.com

Errata — February 2026 Balance Update

Two objectives were updated to bring more balance to the game: Exploration Victory and Economic Victory.

• Exploration Victory: "Have at least 2 3 Planet Cards (…)" — the requirement was raised from 2 to 3 Planet Cards in hand.
• Economic Victory: "(…) have 5 cards in hand and discard 8 10 of each resource." — the discard requirement was raised from 8 to 10 of each resource.

Card updated.