Catan: Starfarers – New Encounters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Expansion Rules
  • Mission Ships
  • Ship Tokens
  • Encounter Cards
• Scenario 1: The Pirate Hog Kahm
  • Scenario 1 Components
  • Scenario 1 Preparation
  • Scenario 1 Game Play
• Scenario 2: The Space Amoebas
  • Scenario 2 Components
  • Scenario 2 Preparation
  • Scenario 2 Game Play
• Scenario 3: The Lost People
  • Scenario 3 Components
  • Scenario 3 Preparation
  • Scenario 3 Game Play

Components

Box contents as printed on the rulebook's component overview.

45 Die Cut Pieces

• 1 Lost People Outpost (front and back)
• 2 Hog Kahm Bases (3-player and 4-player)
• 1 Asteroid
• 2 Victory Point (VP) Track Extension Discs ('16' and '17')
• 2 Boundary Markers
• 4 Colony Ship Tokens
• 10 Reinforcement Tokens (7 x 2-pip, 3 x 4-pip)
• 2 Special Tokens
• 6 Location Markers
• 7 Number Discs
• 4 Mission Ship Tokens
• 4 Full Damage Tokens

72 Cards

• 39 Encounter Cards
• 7 Location Cards
• 10 Research Cards
• 4 Lost People Friendship Cards (marked with the expansion symbol for easy identification)
• 12 Overview Cards

31 Game Pieces

• 2 Amoebas
• 4 Combat Dice (1 in each player color)
• 4 Research Markers (1 in each player color)
• 25 Capsules

Other components

• 1 Research Board
• 1 Rule Book

Expansion Rules

CATAN – Starfarers: New Encounters (aka "New Encounters") brings new missions and variety to your galaxy. To play the scenarios in New Encounters, you need the components from a copy of CATAN – Starfarers (aka "Starfarers").

New Encounters uses the Starfarers rules with a few additions. In this section you will find some general rules and information that apply to all three scenarios. Rules and components unique to a given scenario are presented in each section.

Mission Ships

Stand a transport ship upright to indicate it is a mission ship.

The mission ship is new. It has a different cost, function, and name depending on the scenario.

Build a mission ship:

• You may only build a mission ship on 1 of your unoccupied spaceport sites (just like trade and colony ships).
• Each player may only have 1 mission ship on the board at a time.
• You may remove a mission ship from the game board and use it to build another ship, following all the rules for building the new ship.

Mission ship speed

A mission ship's speed is your base speed + boosters + 2.

Flight rules for a mission ship

A mission ship follows the same flight rules as trade and colony ships. It may be used to explore planetary systems. It may not blockade other players by ending its movement on a spaceport site, a colony site, or a docking point.

Ship Tokens

Some encounter cards allow you to move or build a ship for free. If you cannot move or build a ship on that turn, take 1 ship token of the appropriate type from the supply. You must exchange it for that type of ship as soon as one of your transport ships becomes available.

If you have multiple ship tokens, you may choose the order in which you exchange them.

Encounter Cards

Scenario-specific cards

Each scenario combines some of the Starfarers encounter cards with a set of 13 new, scenario-specific encounter cards. Identify the new cards by the abbreviation in their lower right corner:

• HOG1-HOG13: Encounter card set for Scenario 1 "The Pirate Hog Kahm"
• AM1-AM13: Encounter card set for Scenario 2 "The Space Amoebas"
• LP1-LP13: Encounter card set for Scenario 3 "The Lost People"

Remove the following 13 Starfarers encounter cards from the game:

• Cards 1, 2, 3 (You encounter a Merchant)
• Cards 12, 13 (You encounter a pirate who offers to trade you resources)
• Cards 14, 15 (You encounter a pirate who offers to rob other players)
• Cards 25, 26, 27 (You approach a wormhole)
• Cards 28, 29, 30 (You encounter the Travelers)

Replace them with the scenario set you are playing. Shuffle the deck and place it facedown in the appropriate compartment in the upgrades tray.

New encounter card results

Some of the scenario-specific encounter cards have results not found in the Starfarers encounter cards. Below, you can find more detail about how those results are resolved.

General scenario card clarifications

Make a Space Jump with your mission ship. If you do not have one, build 1 mission ship for free.

• If you have a mission ship, you may immediately make a space jump with it.
• Otherwise, you may build a mission ship on 1 of your unoccupied spaceport sites.
• If you cannot build a mission ship, either because all 3 of your transport ships are in use or because all your spaceport sites are occupied, take 1 mission ship token. You must exchange it for a mission ship as soon as possible.

Ignore boosters when determining speed.

• The speed of colony and trade ships is your base speed. The speed of mission ships is your base speed + 2.
• Do not include booster benefits from upgrades or the Scientists friendship cards when determining speed.

The Pirate Hog Kahm cards

Take 1 escape pod from the supply and place it next to one of your colonies. If you fly over this colony with your corvette, you may pick it up.

• Place 1 escape pod next to 1 of your colonies. It does not occupy an intersection on the board.
• You may not pick up escape pods from other players' colonies.
• When you move over the colony with your corvette, you may pick up the escape pod if you have enough freight pods on your mother ship.
• Your corvette may continue its movement after picking up escape pods.

Take a 2-pip/4-pip reinforcement token.

• Place the reinforcement token under the combat die. It does not matter if the combat die is in use or not.

The Space Amoeba cards

You may move an amoeba.

• You may not choose to move an amoeba to an intersection outside the amoeba zone. If you place an amoeba on an amoeba starting point occupied by a ship, the ship is destroyed.

An amoeba moves to an intersection next to one of your colonies, spaceports, or colony ships.

• If there aren't any of your player pieces in the amoeba zone, do not move an amoeba.

The Lost People cards

The player with the fewest VPs receives 1 trade ship. In the event of a tie, the (youngest, oldest, etc.) tied player gets it.

• The indicated player may build 1 trade ship on one of their unoccupied spaceport sites.
• If they cannot build a trade ship, either because all their transport ships are in use or because all their spaceport sites are occupied, they take 1 trade ship token. They must exchange it for a trade ship as soon as possible.

Make a Space Jump with your trade ship. If you do not have one, build 1 trade ship for free.

• If you have a trade ship, you may immediately make a space jump with it.
• Otherwise, you may build a trade ship on 1 of your unoccupied spaceport sites.
• If you cannot build a trade ship, either because all 3 of your transport ships are in use or because all your spaceport sites are occupied, take 1 trade ship token. You must exchange it for a trade ship as soon as possible.

Scenario 1: The Pirate Hog Kahm

In Sector Alpha-324, the pirate Hog Kahm, terror of the galaxy, is up to mischief. The Galactic Council has tasked you with the mission of tracking the pirate down and driving him out of the quadrant. Hog Kahm's base is constantly moving, so he is not easy to find. Some of Hog Kahm's crew were left behind in escape pods. If you transport these stranded pirates to the Council for questioning, you may learn more about Hog Kahm's current location.

Hog Kahm is clever, but his crew is a cowardly lot. Each time you locate him and attack him, he flees with his base to a different location while some of his crew attempt to take off in escape pods. Capture as many stranded pirates as possible, follow the pirate's trail, and drive Hog Kahm out of the quadrant for good!

Scenario 1 Components

• 18 Escape Pods (Capsules)
• 4 Mission Ship Tokens
• 2 Pirate Base Number Discs ('2' and '3')
• 2 Pirate Base Special Tokens ('2' and '3')
• 4 Combat Dice (1 in each player color)
• 1 Hog Kahm Base (3-player side and 4-player side)
• 1 Asteroid
• 4 Full Damage Tokens
• 6 Location Markers
• 3 4-pip Reinforcement Tokens
• 7 2-pip Reinforcement Tokens
• 2 VP Track Extension Discs ('16' and '17')
• 7 Location Cards
• 4 Hog Kahm Overview Cards
• 13 Hog Kahm Encounter Cards (labeled HOG1-HOG13)

Scenario 1 Preparation

First:

• Replace the 2 ice planet number discs with the 2 new pirate base number discs.
• Replace the 2 ice planet tokens with the 2 new pirate base tokens.

Set up the board as shown on page 6. If you are playing with the Strategic, Explorer, or Wild Space variant from Starfarers, first place the Diplomats' outpost in the vacant area above the nebula field as shown. Second, fill the remaining areas with sectors according to the variant rules.

Finally, follow the steps below to complete set-up.

• Shuffle and distribute the number discs and tokens using your preferred set-up variant.
• Place the VP track extension discs ('16' and '17') by the VP track on the game board.
• Place the 6 location markers on the game board hexes as shown.
• Place the asteroid on the game board as shown.
• Place 2 escape pods per player on the asteroid. These pirates begin the game stranded.
• Place the remaining escape pods beside the game board.
• Place the location card with the picture of the asteroid faceup. Shuffle the remaining 6 location cards and place the deck facedown beside the asteroid location card.
• Place the Hog Kahm base beside the game board. For a 3-player game, use the base with two combat die locations. For a 4-player game, use the base with three combat die locations.
• Place the reinforcement tokens beside the game board.
• Place the mission ship tokens beside the game board.
• Build the encounter deck according to the instructions on page 3.
• Take 1 combat die and 1 full damage token in your player color. Take 1 Hog Kahm overview card. Place them in front of you.

Scenario 1 Game Play

New Encounters uses the Starfarers rules with a few additions. Rules unique to this scenario are presented below.

Corvette (Mission Ship): Requires 1 ore + 1 fuel + 1 carbon.

Corvettes follow the rules described on page 2 under Mission Ships. Escape pods may only be transported on a corvette.

Encounter cards in detail

Additional detail for resolving encounter cards can be found on page 3.

Defeat a pirate base

After you defeat a pirate base using one of your ships (including a corvette), lose 1 cannon.

Then, place as many escape pods on the planet as there are players in the game.

Example: With 3 players, you place 3 escape pods on the planet.

Pick up and transport defeated pirates

Defeated pirates flee in escape pods that may be picked up by corvettes. To pick up 1 or more escape pods, move your corvette onto or over an intersection that borders the planet or asteroid with escape pods. Then attach your corvette to the top of the escape pod. You may pick up more escape pods, stacking them underneath each other, if you have the required number of freight pods (shown below).

• 1 freight pod: 1 escape pod
• 2 or 3 freight pods: 2 escape pods
• 4 or 5 freight pods: 3 escape pods

Important: If you remove a freight pod from your mother ship and the number of freight pods is no longer sufficient to transport all the escape pods on your corvette, you must return the surplus escape pods to the supply.

Deliver captured pirates

During your flight phase, move your corvette over the docking point of the Diplomats' outpost to deliver captured pirates. Place the escape pods you have collected on any of the unoccupied reward spaces on the current location card. For each space you cover, take the pictured reward or a fame medal piece.

When all reward spaces are occupied by escape pods, remove the location card, return the escape pods to the supply, and reveal the top card of the location card draw pile. Then, if you still have more escape pods to deliver, place them on the newly revealed card.

Example: Blue delivers a pirate to the Diplomats. Blue may now choose to take either 1 cannon or 1 fame medal piece. After that, remove the location card from the game and reveal a new card.

Hog Kahm appears

Hog Kahm's base enters play as soon as you reveal the first location card with a number. Place the base on the hex with the location marker that shares a number with the revealed location card. Then remove the location marker from the game.

Attack Hog Kahm's base

During your flight phase, if you move a ship onto or over an intersection next to Hog Kahm's base, you may attack it. If you choose to attack:

• Count your cannons, including any cannons you have from friendship cards, and set your combat die to that number.
• If you have more than 6 cannons, place your full damage token under the die to indicate 6 cannons. Then set your combat die to indicate the remaining number of cannons. Example: If you have 8 cannons, set your die to '2.'
• Place the combat die with any full damage tokens and reinforcement tokens (see Reinforcements) on an unoccupied space on Hog Kahm's base.
• A player may only attack Hog Kahm once in each location. You may attack again after Hog Kahm's base moves.

Important: Once you have placed a combat die on Hog Kahm's base at a particular location, you may not change that number – even if you acquire more cannons and fly past the base at this location again.

Reinforcements

Alien civilizations can provide you with combat reinforcements. Immediately place reinforcement tokens under your combat die no matter where your die is located (in front of you or on Hog Kahm's base). The 2 or 4 pips of the token are added to your attack strength.

Example: Red shoots at Hog Kahm's base, placing their die and a previously received reinforcement token on any unoccupied space on the base.

Hog Kahm flees

If Hog Kahm feels threatened, he flees and makes a space jump. Remove Hog Kahm's base from the board when either of the following occurs:

• a) A new location card is revealed.
• b) All fields of his base are occupied by dice.

In both cases, everyone who placed a die on the base receives a reward as follows:

• Determine the attack strength for each player on Hog Kahm's base by adding the number on their combat die and any full damage and reinforcement tokens.
• In a 3-player game: The player with the highest attack strength receives 2 fame medal pieces. If there is a second player on the base, they receive 1 fame medal piece. If the 2 players tie, both players receive 1 fame medal piece instead.
• In a 4-player game: The player with the highest attack strength receives 2 fame medal pieces. If there is a two-way tie for highest attack strength, both of those players receive 2 fame medal pieces. Everyone else who attacked Hog Kahm's base receives 1 fame medal piece. If there is a three-way tie for highest attack strength, each player receives 1 fame medal piece instead.

If Hog Kahm's escape is triggered by case b), the player(s) with the greatest attack strength may also take any 1 resource from the supply.

Take back your combat die and full damage token. Return all reinforcement tokens to the supply.

In case a), place Hog Kahm's base at the new location. In case b), place his base beside the game board. As soon as you reveal a new location card, place his base on the new location indicated. In both cases, remove the location marker from the game.

Hog Kahm is driven off

Congratulations! You drove the evil space pirate and his gang out of the quadrant, and your mission is complete… for now.

Game end (Scenario 1)

If you have at least 17 VPs on your turn, the game ends and you are the winner. If you didn't manage to drive off Hog Kahm, he is gone but not defeated. Don't worry, you'll get another chance to eliminate that scourge from the galaxy someday.

Scenario 2: The Space Amoebas

In Sector A-89, two giant space amoebas threaten the Catanians. The amoebas' path through space appears random as they devour everything they encounter—asteroids, spaceships, and even colonies. The Galactic Council has asked you to take a closer look at the situation and develop a plan to stop their activities.

At first you tried attacking the amoebas, but your cannon fire only enraged and strengthened them. You will need to research them before making your next attempt. Given the amoeba response to your earlier attacks, perhaps using unmanned drone ships to collect data from a distance would be best. Early studies revealed the amoebas react to a certain frequency of radio signals by moving toward the signal source. This insight gives you the ability to direct the creatures' movement and learn more about their nature. Will you be able to decode the nature of these powerful beings in time to save the quadrant?

Scenario 2 Components

• 13 Space Amoeba Encounter Cards (numbered AM1-AM13)
• 7-10 Research Cards (depending on the number of players)
• 4 Space Amoeba Overview Cards
• 4 Colony Ship Tokens
• 4 Mission Ship Tokens
• 2 VP Track Extension Discs ('16' and '17')
• 2 Amoeba Figures (pink and green)
• 2 Boundary Markers
• 1 Yellow Die

Scenario 2 Preparation

Set up the board as shown or using your preferred set-up variant from Starfarers. Then follow the steps on the next page to complete set-up.

• Place the amoebas on their respective starting points in the nebula field as shown. The '1' on the pink amoeba should point to the top right of the line, away from the Catanian Colonies. The '1' on the green amoeba should be pointing to the bottom left of the line, in the direction of the Catanian Colonies.
• Place the boundary markers on the board as shown in the set-up diagram. These mark a boundary in space called the "amoeba zone." The amoebas may not leave the amoeba zone (see Moving Amoebas on page 16).
• Place the VP track extension discs ('16' and '17') by the VP track on the game board.
• Prepare the research deck: Sort the research cards by the number of ships on their backs. For a 3-player game, only use the cards with 3 ships. With 4 players, use all the cards. Next, divide the cards into 3 piles based on the number of stars on the back. Shuffle each pile and stack them with the 3-star card(s) on the bottom, the 2-star cards in the middle, and the 1-star cards on top. Place the deck beside the board. Finally, reveal the top 2 cards and place them faceup next to the deck.
• Build the encounter deck according to the instructions on page 3.
• Place the yellow die beside the board.
• Take 1 space amoeba overview card and place it in front of you.

Scenario 2 Game Play

New Encounters uses the Starfarers rules with a few additions. Rules unique to this scenario are presented below.

Drone Ship (Mission Ship): Requires 1 ore + 1 fuel.

Drone ships follow the rules described on page 2 under Mission Ships.

Drone ships may not capture pirate bases or terraform ice planets. You may research the amoeba by positioning your drone ship within 3 intersections of an amoeba and shouting "Scan!" The amoeba then moves to the intersection with your drone ship. You may not move ANY ship onto or over the intersection at the center of an amoeba.

Establish a trade station

In this scenario, trade stations must be placed on outpost docks in a specific order. The first trade station must go on the hex with only one dock. Subsequent trade stations must be placed on unoccupied docks, going in a clockwise direction.

Example: Blue has already placed 1 trade station at the Green Folk's outpost, on the hex with a single dock. Red also wants to have a trade station on the Green Folk's outpost. They must have at least 2 freight pods as normal. Then Red must place their trade station on the next free dock in clockwise order from Blue's station.

Encounter cards in detail

Additional detail for resolving encounter cards can be found on page 3.

The amoeba zone

The amoeba zone is defined by the side and top edges of the board and the boundary markers. If an amoeba would move outside of the amoeba zone, the amoeba immediately moves to 1 of the 2 amoeba starting points instead. Randomly determine which starting point by rolling the yellow die.

On a 1 to 3, the amoeba returns to the pink starting point. On a 4 to 6, the amoeba returns to the green starting point.

Amoeba movement

An amoeba's movement is similar to a space jump. When it moves, it is placed directly on the indicated intersection, even if that intersection is occupied. It does not move through intersections and only affects pieces in its final landing spot.

When movement is based on the production dice roll, the direction of movement is indicated on the top of the amoeba figure.

The diagram on page 16 shows the six possible directions of movement. The amoeba moves to the closest intersection in the indicated direction.

Planets and planetary systems do not block amoeba movement. The amoeba will move across them to the closest intersection.

An amoeba moves to a specific intersection when:

• It moves within the amoeba zone during the Production Phase.
• It is researched (see Research the Amoebas on page 18).
• It is indicated by an encounter card result.

Important: You may not choose to move the amoeba to a specific intersection outside the amoeba zone when researching or as the result of an encounter card.

An amoeba moves to a starting point when:

• It would move out of the amoeba zone during the Production Phase (randomly determine which starting point).
• It collides with another amoeba (both amoebas go back to their original starting points).
• It destroys a spaceport (randomly determine which starting point).

Production phase

Roll both dice. Move the pink amoeba 1 intersection based on the result of the black die. Move the green amoeba 1 intersection based on the result of the white die.

Always resolve amoeba movement and consequences before using the results to resolve production.

In the wake of amoeba destruction

An amoeba deals damage when it occupies the same intersection as a player piece or an outpost's docking point. The results of the damage vary as follows:

• Drone ship: Destroy the ship. Return it to that player's supply. Then, resolve the Destruction of a Drone Ship (see page 18).
• Colony ship or trade ship: Destroy the ship. Return it to its owner's supply.
• Colony: Destroy the colony. Return it to that player's supply.
• Spaceport: Destroy the colony's shipyard and return it to that player's supply. The colony remains undamaged. The amoeba moves to one of the two starting points, as described under Amoeba Movement (see page 16).
• Docking point of an alien race's outpost:
  • If present, the trade station located on the single dock is destroyed. Return it to that player's supply. That player also returns one of that alien race's friendship cards to its corresponding stack.
  • If someone else now has the majority of trading posts at that outpost, give the friendship marker to that player.
  • Move any remaining trade stations counterclockwise by one space so that the single dock is occupied again.

Failing infrastructure

If any piece other than a drone ship is destroyed by an amoeba, all players must discard 1 resource card to the supply. Players who don't have a resource card must remove an upgrade of their choice from their mothership and return it to the supply.

Receive help from the Galactic Council

• If an amoeba destroyed a colony ship, colony, or shipyard, immediately build 1 colony ship for free. Place it on one of your unoccupied spaceport sites.
• If an amoeba destroyed a trade ship or trade station, immediately build 1 trade ship for free. Place it on one of your unoccupied spaceport sites.
• If you cannot build a colony or trade ship, take a colony or trade ship token.

Research the amoebas

When you end your drone ship movement on an intersection within the amoeba zone that is three or fewer intersections away from an amoeba, you may announce "Scan!" Then move the amoeba directly to your drone ship's intersection. Your drone ship is destroyed and returned to your supply.

Example: Red's drone ship is three intersections away from the amoeba. Red shouts "Scan!". The amoeba moves to the intersection of Red's drone ship, and the ship is returned to their supply.

If a drone ship is within range of BOTH amoebas when you announce "Scan!", move both to the drone ship's location and destroy it. Then move both amoebas to their starting points. In this case, you still only receive one reward (see Destruction of a Drone Ship below).

Destruction of a drone ship

A drone ship may be destroyed in one of two ways:

• A space amoeba moves onto a drone ship after rolling its die, before the Production Phase.
• A space amoeba jumps to a drone ship's location after a "Scan!" announcement or encounter card result.

When your drone ship is destroyed, choose 1 of the 2 faceup research cards.

• Receive all items shown on the card.
• Read the card result aloud, then remove it from the game.
• Reveal the top card of the research deck and place it next to the other faceup research card.

Note: The text on the research cards is part of the story and does not impact game play.

Used research cards

If there are no more faceup research cards, the space amoebas have been fully researched and are removed from the board. Your mission is complete. Continue the game without them.

Game end (Scenario 2)

If you have at least 17 VPs on your turn, the game ends and you are the winner.

Scenario 3: The Lost People

Legends tell of a great war that took place thousands of years ago between the ancestors of the Travelers and the Lost People. The Travelers' order of priests were the only survivors. Their descendants now voyage through space advocating for peace and tolerance. The Lost People, however, were lost to the vastness of the galaxy.

Rumors have trickled into the Galactic Council. Some new evidence suggests the Lost People once lived in Sector B-36. During the war, the last of their people may have retreated to a hidden base, and there may be invaluable artifacts scattered on surrounding planets. The Council believes that by researching these artifacts, the location and history of the Lost People may finally be revealed.

Send out research ships to find any remaining artifacts and bring them to the Scientists for evaluation. Transporting and storing them won't be easy. The artifacts are radioactive and can only be collected one at a time in special capsules. Fortunately, every alien civilization is supporting this momentous endeavor. Collecting artifacts and friendship cards will provide you with the knowledge and support you need to find the Lost People!

Scenario 3 Components

• 1 Lost People Outpost
• 25 Artifacts (Capsules)
• 2 VP Track Extension Discs ('16' and '17')
• 5 Artifact Number Discs
• 4 Lost People Overview Cards
• 4 Research Markers (1 of each player color)
• 1 Research Board
• 4 Mission Ship Tokens
• 4 Lost People Friendship Cards
• 13 Lost People Encounter Cards (labeled LP1-LP13)

Scenario 3 Preparation

Set up the board as shown below. If you are playing with the Strategic, Explorer, or Wild Space variant from Starfarers, first place the Scientists' outpost faceup in the vacant area above the nebula field, as shown. Then fill the remaining areas with sectors according to the variant rules.

Finally, follow the steps below to complete set-up.

• Replace the ice planet and pirate base number discs with artifact number discs.
• Shuffle and distribute the number discs and tokens using your preferred set-up variant.
• Place the VP track extension discs ('16' and '17') by the VP track on the game board.
• Place the artifacts beside the game board.
• Place the mission ship tokens beside the game board.
• Place the Lost People's outpost and friendship cards beside the game board.
• Place the research board beside the game board.
• Build the encounter deck according to the instructions on page 3.
• Take 1 Lost People overview card and place it in front of you.

Scenario 3 Game Play

New Encounters uses the Starfarers rules with a few additions. Rules unique to this scenario are presented below.

Research Vessel (Mission Ship): Requires 1 ore + 1 fuel + 1 carbon.

Research vessels follow the rules described on page 2 under Mission Ships. Each research vessel may only transport 1 artifact at a time.

Encounter cards in detail

Additional detail for resolving encounter cards can be found on page 3.

Friendship markers

For this scenario, each friendship marker is worth only 1 VP.

Discover artifacts

When you discover a planet and the flipped number disc shows an artifact symbol, replace that disc with a randomly drawn reserve number disc and turn it faceup. Then place artifacts on the planet equal to the number of players. You may now establish colonies on that planet's building sites.

Example: You reveal an artifact disc on the ore planet. Remove it. The game has 4 players, so place 4 artifacts on the planet. Then randomly select a reserve number disc and place it faceup onto the planet.

Recover artifacts

To recover an artifact, move your research vessel onto or over an intersection that borders a planet with artifacts. Then attach your research vessel to the top of an artifact. A research vessel may only recover and transport 1 artifact at a time.

Deliver artifacts

To deliver an artifact, move your research vessel over the docking point of the Scientists' outpost. Place the artifact you recovered onto the research board in the storage locker in your color (yellow and blue storage locker pictured below).

Important: You may store more than 1 artifact in each space by stacking them on top of each other.

Advance your mission markers on the research track

Each time you store an artifact or receive a friendship card, multiply the number of friendship cards you have by the artifacts in your storage. Advance your research marker to that space on the research track.

If your marker moves onto or over a depicted reward, take that item.

Example: Blue has 2 friendship cards and places their third artifact in storage (circled in red). They move their research marker from space four to space six and take 1 fame medal piece as a reward.

Hint: You cannot advance on the research track without a friendship card!

The Lost People's outpost

The first player to move onto or past space 12 of the research track has found the Lost People.

The outpost appears in a faraway sector. Replace the empty sector furthest from the Catanian Colonies with the Lost People's outpost. If several empty sectors are equally distant, replace the empty sector that is furthest to the right as viewed from the Catanian Colonies.

The following rules apply for the rest of the game:

• The first player to reach space 16 on the research track receives the 4 fame medal pieces shown there. This player may no longer collect artifacts.
• Everyone else may continue to collect artifacts and move up the research track, gaining rewards as normal. Any subsequent players to reach space 16 will only receive 2 fame medal pieces and may no longer collect artifacts.

Each player may only build 1 trade station on the Lost People's outpost. When you do so, take a friendship card worth 1 VP. The friendship cards all provide the same benefit and there is no friendship marker for these aliens.

Example: Red has already established a trade station on the Lost People's outpost, so they cannot end their movement on the docking point or establish another trade station.

Game end (Scenario 3)

If you have at least 17 VPs on your turn, the game ends and you are the winner.