Beam Me Up! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Aim of the Game
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 1. Move
  • 2. Transport
• End of the Game
• The Planets
  • Brarvis
  • Cryke [DIRECT]
  • Grurn [DIRECT]
  • Spaceship
  • Strinda
  • Thoria [DIRECT]
  • UFO
• Variant 1: Extra Planet Cards
  • Eris
  • Terra
• Variant 2: Voyage of Discovery
  • Bolide [DIRECT]
  • Sagittarius [DIRECT]
• Beam Me Up with 3 Players

Components

• 2 transporters
• 1 game board
• 1 cloth bag
• 48 influence markers (16 markers in 3 colours)
• 3 score markers (in 3 colours)
• 24 planet cards:
  • 20 basic planet cards
    • 4x Strinda
    • 3x Grurn
    • 5x Bravis
    • 3x Thoria
    • 2x Cryke
    • 2x UFO
    • 1x spaceship
  • 4 variant planet cards
    • 1x Terra
    • 1x Eris
    • 1x Bolide
    • 1x Sagittarius

Aim of the Game

In Beam Me Up, you transport influence markers from the spaceship to the planets in space. The transporters can only move horizontally or vertically and will follow each other over the 2 game boards. Influence markers will be transported to the planet in a special way. Plan your turn carefully and keep track of the influence your opponent has.

The different planets are unique and score points individually. Some planets give you points directly, other planets score points at the end of the game. Use your influence on the most valuable planets and get ahead of your opponent.

The player who exerts the most influence and has collected the most points at the end of the game wins.

Setup

1. Place the game board between both players on the table. Each player chooses a colour. Place the score markers next to the '1' field of the scoretrack of the game board.

2. Put all the influence markers in the cloth bag and shuffle it thoroughly. Place on each action field on the game board 3 influence markers. A space field may not have 3 influence markers of the same colour. If there are 3 influence markers of 1 colour on a space field, directly put the influence markers back in the cloth bag and collect 3 new influence markers.

3. Shuffle the 20 basic planet cards face down. Place 16 cards face up in a 4x4 grid next to the game board. The rest of the planet cards will not be used during the game and are returned to the box.

   Note: If you have more experience with Beam Me Up, you can add variant planet cards. See page 5 for explanation of these variants.

4. Place 1 transporter in 1 of the 4 corners on a space field of the game board. The other transporter is placed on the same field on 1 of the planet cards.

5. Choose a starting player.

Gameplay

Players are taking turns performing the following 2 actions in order:

1. Move
2. Transport

1. Move

Move the transporter on the game board to another space field with influence markers. When moving the transporter, keep the following rules in mind:

• You have to move the transporter horizontally or vertically. If there are no influence markers on both horizontal and vertical space fields, you may move the transporter freely over the game board.
• You may skip space fields.
• The space field where the transporter is moved to, must have influence markers.

Take the 3 influence markers from the space field and keep them (temporarily) in front of you.

Move the second transporter to the space with the corresponding position on the planet cards. The transporter moved on the planet cards doesn't have to take into account the influence markers already placed on the planet cards.

2. Transport

Transport the 3 influence markers to the planets. You may distribute the 3 influence markers to the row or column from where the transporter currently is. Place 1 influence marker on each space on the row or column. You may not place an influence marker on the planet card where the transporter is currently standing.

Example: It is Justin's turn. He moves the transporter 3 spaces down and takes the 3 influence markers from the game board. He chooses to put the 3 stones in the row of the transporter. Justin may decide which influence markers are placed on which planet cards.

The planets with a direct effect are activated immediately after placing an influence marker. The planets with a direct effect are: Grurn, Thoria and Cryke (see planets on page 4 for overview of the planets). The other planets are scored at the end of the game.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately when all influence markers have been moved from the game board to the planet cards. After the game has ended, the other planets are scored. Players receive points for Strinda, Brarvis and the spaceship. The player with the most points wins the game. In case of a tie, the tied players share victory.

Note: You should always consider the third neutral colour for the majority. However, the neutral colour does not receive any points. This applies to all planets.

The Planets

Brarvis

All influence markers placed on this planet are stacked on top of each other. At the end of the game, the player with the most influence markers receives the most points. The player with the second most influence markers receives the fewest points. If there is a tie, the player whose influence marker is higher in the pile wins.

Cryke [DIRECT]

During the game, the first influence marker placed on Cryke is placed on the space marked with the astronaut-beside-a-blue-box icon. (Transcriber's note: this icon is a picture in the printed rulebook, not text; it is described here by its appearance.) That player now owns this planet. Every time an influence marker of any colour is placed on Cryke, the player who owns the planet receives 1 point. Once you own the planet, no other player can take possession of the planet or receive points.

Grurn [DIRECT]

Place the influence markers in clockwise direction on the spaces of the planet card. The first influence marker is placed on the space marked with a *. During the game you immediately receive the points depicted next to the space of the planet card. If all fields on the planet card are occupied, the first influence marker is placed again on the space marked with *.

Spaceship

At the end of the game you will receive 10 points if you have built a pyramid of influence markers in your player colour on the spaceship. Each player makes a pyramid with their own influence markers. You only receive points if your pyramid has 3 or more influence markers.

Strinda

At the end of the game, the player with the most influence on all Strinda planets combined collects the most points for Strinda. The player with the second most post collects the fewest points. If there is a tie for the first place, the tied players receive the points for the first place. There are no points for second place. If there is a tie for second place, the tied players receive the points for second place.

Thoria [DIRECT]

Every time one of your influence markers is placed on Thoria, you receive the number of points shown on the planet card.

UFO

No influence markers are placed on the UFO. If you must place an influence marker on the UFO during your turn, place the influence marker on a horizontally or vertically adjacent planet card of your choice. You can also place the influence marker on the planet card with the transporter.

Variant 1: Extra Planet Cards

If you are familiar with the game, you can add the following 2 planet cards to the game during preparation. Adding extra planet cards creates more variety and challenge during the game.

Eris

At the end of the game, you receive points for each influence marker you have on Eris. You receive per influence marker on Eris the number of points equal to the total number of influence markers on Eris.

Example: Eris has the following influence markers: 2 blue, 1 red, 3 white. Each influence marker on Eris is worth 6 points. Blue receives 12 points (2x6) and red 6 points (1x6).

Terra

At the end of the game, the player with the least influence on Terra receives -5 points.

Variant 2: Voyage of Discovery

Explore space! In this variant, you place all planet cards face down in the setup of the game. During the game, the planet cards are turned open. During setup, shuffle Bolide and Sagittarius through the planet cards. Place 16 planet cards face down in a 4x4 grid on the table. The rest of the cards are not used and are placed back in the box.

During the game, the transporter is moved around the game board and planet cards are turned faceup. After moving the transporter in step 1, turn over all the cards in the transporter's row and column. Then you move on to step 2 of your turn. The planet card where the transporter is located will not be turned open. Once a planet card is face up on the table, it is never placed face down again.

During your exploration you can discover 2 new planet cards:

Bolide [DIRECT]

During the game, Bolide removes influence markers from a planet. When Bolide is turned open, it activates and removes all influence markers from any planet. The player who flips the meteorite chooses which planet it hits. The removed influence markers are returned to the box.

Sagittarius [DIRECT]

During the game, the black hole Sagittarius removes influence markers from adjacent planet cards. When Sagittarius is turned face up, it activates and removes one influence marker from all horizontally and vertically adjacent planets. The player who reveals Sagittarius chooses which influence markers are removed. The removed influence markers are returned to the box.

Note: You can combine all the variants for the extra challenge.

Beam Me Up with 3 Players

You can play Beam Me Up! with 3 players. The third player plays with the third colour.

During setup, you place 3 influence markers less on the game board. From each colour you remove 1 influence marker and return it to the box. No influence markers are placed on the space with the transporter.

During the game, the players take turns in clockwise order. The scoring of the planets remains the same. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.