Astro Drive
Astro Drive Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 19 Maps
- 1 Finish Line Map
- 4 Pilot Boards
- 55 Movement Cards (each card shows Initiative, Movement Points and Control Points, plus a slot for a special symbol)
- 15 Energy Cubes
- 4 Space Ships
Setup
Each player chooses a color and takes the Space Ship of that color. Each player takes one Pilot Board and two Energy Cubes, and places the Energy Cubes on their Pilot Board. Put the rest of the Energy Cubes to one side; this forms the Energy Storage. Shuffle the Movement Cards and deal three cards face down to each player. The rest of the cards form the draw deck.
Put the Finish Line Map aside and shuffle the other maps. Take two of these shuffled maps and shuffle them again together with the Finish Line Map. Put these three maps in a pile face down. On top of this pile, place five of the previously shuffled maps face down. Return the remainder of the maps to the box since they will not be used this game.
Take the top three maps from the pile and turn them face up. Arrange them in a row with the short sides touching. Choose either of the two short sides as the Starting Line. Put each player's ship next to this side. The player's first Movement Point will be used to enter one of the squares on the first row of the map. The race can now begin!
Game Round
At the beginning of the round, each player chooses one Movement Card from their hand and places it face down in front of them. After all players have selected a card, turn them face up. The player with the highest initiative on their card moves their Space Ship first.
After the first player finishes their turn, the player with the second highest initiative takes their turn. Continue this way in initiative order until all players have had their turn.
Moving a Space Ship
During a player's turn, the player has both Movement Points and Control Points to spend, depending on the card they played.
Movement Points move the player's ship forward on the map. One Movement Point moves the ship one square directly forward. The player must use all of their Movement Points, even if that would mean their ship crashes.
Control Points move the player's ship sideways on the map. One Control Point moves the ship one square to the left or right on the map. The player does not have to use all their Control Points, but any unused points are wasted and cannot be saved for later.
Movement Points and Control Points can be used in any order.
Once during their turn, a player may use one Energy Cube to gain either two Movement Points or two Control Points. Remove the used cube from the player's Pilot Board and place it into the Energy Storage.
When a player's ship is moving forward onto (or through) a square occupied by another player's ship, they instead pass over that ship. Move the active player's ship to the square in front of the other ship. If that square is also occupied, move again to the square in front of that second ship. Movement Points are not spent on the occupied squares. Movement Points are spent on the unoccupied square where the player ends up after passing other ships.
Black Holes within the same row have no effect on a ship that passes over another. Asteroids covered by another ship have no effect on passing ships. Players cannot move sideways into a square containing another player's ship.
Example: A player has a Movement Card containing five Movement Points and two Control Points. On their turn they could: first move their ship two squares forward; then one square left; then two squares forward; then one square right; and finally one square forward.
When a player's ship enters any square on the fifth row of the last map, take the top map from the map pile and place it face up as the next map, with a random short side touching the previous map. Once all players have left a particular map behind, you may remove the map from the game.
Card Symbols
Some of the Movement Cards have special symbols that grant various bonuses during a player's turn:
Energy Cube: The player takes one Energy Cube from the Energy Storage and places it on their Pilot Board. A player can have a maximum of three Energy Cubes at the same time.
Suggestion: Just before you acquire a fourth Energy Cube and have to discard it, use one of your cubes to move your ship.
Wormhole Generator: Once during the player's turn, that player can jump over one square, moving directly forward. This does not cost any Movement Points. The square that the player jumps over can be of any type and it may contain another ship. If the player jumps over a row containing a Black Hole, the Black Hole does not pull the player's ship towards it.
Tractor Beam: Once during the player's turn, that player can use the Tractor Beam to move one square in a straight line towards a planet that is in a direct, unobstructed line from the player's ship. Between the player's ship and the planet can only be empty space squares with no other ships. The movement can be forward, backward, or sideways. This does not cost any Movement or Control Points.
Force Shield: Asteroids and Black Holes don't affect the player's movement. However, the player cannot enter a square containing a Black Hole.
Map Symbols
The maps have different squares that have various effects on a Space Ship's movement:
Empty space: No effect.
Planet: If a player's ship moves into a square containing a Planet, they crash and are out of the game. Remove their ship from the map.
Space Radiation: Entering a square with Space Radiation costs zero movement points. However, moving sideways into a square with Space Radiation still costs one control point.
Space Fog: Entering a square with Space Fog costs two movement points. However, moving sideways into a square with Space Fog still only costs one control point.
Asteroids: When entering a square with Asteroids, the player loses one Energy Cube. Move the used Energy Cube from the player's Pilot Board to the Energy Storage. If the player doesn't have an Energy Cube to lose, they crash and are out of the game. Remove their ship from the map.
Black Hole: When a player enters the same row as a Black Hole (i.e. to the left or right of it) their ship is pulled sideways one square towards the Black Hole. Being pulled does not cost any Movement or Control Points. However, if that square already contains another player's ship, then the Black Hole has no effect. If a player's ship enters a square containing a Black Hole, they are out of the game. Remove their ship from the map.
Energy Cube: When you place a map with one or more Energy Cube symbols on the table, place one cube from the Energy Storage on top of each of its Energy Cube symbols. The player who first moves into an Energy Cube square gets the Energy Cube. A player can have a maximum of three Energy Cubes at the same time. If the player already has three Energy Cubes, then they must discard one cube immediately.
Wormhole: When a player's ship moves into a square containing a Wormhole, it is transported to the corresponding Wormhole square on the same map. This action does not cost any Movement or Control Points, and may also transport the ship backwards. If the other end of the Wormhole is occupied, the player passes that ship.
End of the Round
After every player has had their turn, put all used cards into the discard pile. Each player then draws one Movement Card from the draw deck. Then the next round is ready to start.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately when the first player crosses the Finish Line successfully (i.e. without crashing). To do this, the player has to get at least one square over the Finish Line. They also have to spend all of their movement points without crashing. That player wins the game.
The game also ends immediately if only one player has a surviving ship. The only surviving player is the winner.