Ceres Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components
Game Overview
Game Setup
Round Overview
End of the Game
Favors
Research Programs
Credits
Symbols

Components

1 Game Board
4 Depository boards
4 Corporate Headquarters boards
4 Starting Double-sided Outstation boards
4 Resource track boards
32 Worker tokens
48 Mining Probe tokens
20 Leader tokens
56 Influence tokens
4 Player Order markers
12 Research markers
1 Round marker
4 Scoring markers
4 Ore markers
4 Ice markers
4 Advanced Ceramics markers
4 Energy markers
4 Cargo Spacecraft tiles
4 Block tiles
24 "1" Credit tokens
16 "2" Credit tokens
8 "5" Credit tokens
4 Favor tokens
3 "3 Victory Points" tokens
16 Alloy tokens
48 Facility cards
21 Settlement Project cards
4 Player Aid cards

Game Overview

Ceres is played over 3 Rounds. Each Round starts by rotating the Asteroid Belt and the players gaining the Production from all of their Outstations and claimed Asteroids. During a Round, you take turns, either by assigning a Worker to activate an Outstation controlled by your corporation or by placing one of your Leader tokens on a Location. A Round ends after all players have passed.

You will further expand your corporations in various ways during the game. You will get to construct new Outstations or upgrade existing ones, which will provide more actions to choose from, develop Research Programs to make your game-engine more effective, claim Asteroids by launching Mining Probes and undertake new Settlement Projects. Also, your influence over the A.M.A.C. (Asteroid Mining Assembly of Corporations) Council is also important, as you will be able to ask for valuable Favors.

Players' success is measured in Victory Points representing the corporation's value. Victory Points can be gained in several ways, such as: constructing Facilities, launching Mining Probes, developing Research Programs, fulfilling Settlement Projects, acquiring Credits and accumulating Influence in the A.M.A.C. Council. The winner is the player whose corporation has the most Victory Points by the end of the game.

Game Setup

I. Setting Up Your Corporation Board

Choose a color and collect the corresponding following components:

A. Take 1 Corporate Headquarters, 1 Depository, 1 Resource track and any 1 Starting Outstations board to form your Corporation board in front of you.

Note: The Starting Outstations boards have 2 sides and we recommend to play using the A-side. After a few plays, you may choose to use the B-side, instead.

B. Take 5 Leader tokens, 12 Mining Probe tokens, 14 Influence tokens, 1 Scoring marker, 3 Research markers, and 1 Player Order marker and place them in your play area.

C. Take 1 Player Aid card.

D. Get 1 Ore, 1 Ice, 1 Advanced Ceramics and 1 Energy marker and place them on the "0" area of your Resources track.

II. Setting Up the Game Board

Place the Game Board in the middle of the table, in easy reach of all players, and rotate randomly the three Asteroid Rings. Make sure to align the dashed lines, afterwards.
Shuffle the Cargo Spacecraft tiles, draw 1 and place it on the Docking Bay. It is considered to be docked and active for the 1st Round. Then, draw a 2nd Cargo Spacecraft, place it next to the Game Board above the Docking Bay. It will be the active Cargo Spacecraft of the 2nd Round. Finally, draw a 3rd one and place it above the 2nd. This will be the active Cargo Spacecraft of the 3rd Round. Return any remaining Cargo Spacecraft tiles to the game box.
In the Living Quarters Location, place 1 set of Worker tokens (i.e., one of each color) for every player in the game.

Example: In a 3-player game there should be 3 gray, 3 blue, 3 red, and 3 green Worker tokens in the Living Quarters.
Separate 1 set of Worker tokens (i.e., one of each color) for every player in the game and secretly shuffle them. Then, on each Cargo Spacecraft tile, place at random 1 of these Worker tokens for every player. Return all remaining Worker tokens to the game box.

Example: In a 3-player game, there should be 3 random-color Worker tokens embarked on each Cargo Spacecraft.
Shuffle all Facility cards to form a face-down pile next to the Game Board, leaving some space for a discard pile. Then, draw 6 Facility cards and place them face-up on the designated area.
Place the Favor tokens on the designated area.
In games with less than 4 players, adjust the Game Board for different player counts by covering action slots, placing the 4 Block tiles on the following Locations: A.M.A.C. Council, Construction Yard, Contractors Association, Trade Bureau. In a 2-player game, the Block tiles must cover 2 action slots on each Location, while in a 3-player game, they must cover 1 action slot. The covered action slots are not available throughout the game.
Place one "3 Victory Points" token at the end of each row of the Research Programs table.
Place the Alloy and the Credit tokens in a common reserve next to the Game Board.
Place the Round marker on the 1st slot on the Round track.
Each player take their Scoring marker and place it on the "0" slot of the Scoring track.
Each player take their Research markers and place one on each row of the Research Programs table, on the area before the first level (L1).
Return to the game box all the Settlement Project cards not corresponding to the number of players in the game. Shuffle all the remaining Settlement Project cards and form a face-down pile, placing it next to the Game Board, leaving some space for a discard pile. Then, draw as many Settlement Project cards as the number of players increased by 2 and place them face-up on the designated area.

Example: In a 3-player game, return the Settlement Project cards marked for a 4-player count to the game box, shuffle the rest, form a pile and reveal 5 on the designated areas.

III. Determine the Player Order

I. The player who most recently went stargazing, will be the first player (any other way to determine the first player is accepted, too). Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, place the Player Order marker on the leftmost available slot of the Player Order track.

II. Each player gets 1 Alloy (placing it on their Depository board) and 1 Mining Probe of their color (placing it in the Launch Complex Location). Also, based on their Player Order, they get Credits (placing them on their Depository board) and Influence (placing them beneath the A.M.A.C. Council), accordingly as in the following table:

	1st Player	2nd Player	3rd Player	4th Player
Credits	2	3	2	3
Influence	—	—	1	1

You are now ready to play!

Round Overview

Each Round consists of 4 phases:

I. Asteroid Belt phase II. Production phase III. Activation phase IV. End of Round phase

I. Asteroid Belt Phase

At the beginning of each Round, rotate counter-clockwise:

i. the Outer Ring by one quintile (this will result in the rotation of both the Intermediate and the Inner Ring, too). ii. the Intermediate Ring by one quintile (this will result in the rotation of the Inner ring too). iii. the Inner Ring by one quintile.

So, the Outer Ring will have been rotated one quintile, the Intermediate Ring two quintiles and the Inner Ring three quintiles.

Note: Always make sure that the Zone Separators end up aligned throughout the Asteroid Belt and the Game Board.

II. Production Phase

During this phase, you gain the Production of all of your Outstations and your claimed Asteroids. Production is shown in the top right corner of each Outstation's card and next to each Asteroid.

Example: For the first Round the production of each player will be 2 Ore and 1 Ice from their Launch Site, 1 Advanced Ceramics from their Main Factory, 1 Energy from their Main Lab and 1 Influence and 2 Credits from their Main Office.

IMPORTANT:

Resources (Ore, Ice, Advanced Ceramics, Energy) are added to each player's reserve by moving the corresponding marker on the Resource track board.
There is a limit of 12 for each Resource on the track. Any excess Resources gained are lost.
Credits are taken from the common reserve, and you keep them in your Depository board.
Influence is accumulated on the Game Board, beneath the A.M.A.C. Council Location. Whenever you gain 1 Influence, take one of your Influence tokens from your play area and place it there. Similarly, return all spent Influence tokens in your play area.
Influence and Credit tokens are meant to be infinite. So, if they run out, you may use any other token as replacement.

III. Activation Phase

In the Activation phase, you take turns based on the Player Order track. During your turn, you can either:

A. Activate a Location by placing a Leader token, B. Activate an Outstation by assigning a Worker, or C. Pass for the rest of the Round.

A. Activate a Location

A Location can be activated by placing one of your Leader tokens on one of its available action slots. After activating a Location, perform one of its corresponding actions.

The actions provided by the different Locations on the Game Board and your Corporation board are described below:

Trade Bureau

"The Trade Bureau is where the heart of Ceres beats, doubling as a trading post and the place to sign a contract for the various projects that will enhance Ceres."

The Trade Bureau Location provides two options to choose from:

Option #1 Perform the Interplanetary Trade action up to two times.

Interplanetary Trade action: Choose one of the available trading options of the active Cargo Spacecraft, spend the depicted Resources/Credits etc. on the left and gain the ones on the right.

Option #2 Perform the Settlement Project action.

Settlement Project action: Choose one of the available face-up Settlement Project cards.

In the Round 1, also gain 1 Influence. In the Round 3, also spend 1 Influence.

Then you can either:

Complete the Settlement Project immediately by paying its Completion cost, gain its Victory Points and turn it face down in front of you, or
Commit to complete the Settlement Project by placing it in one of the two dedicated spots under your Resource track board.

At any time during your turn, as a free action, you may complete a Settlement Project that is placed under your Resource track board, by paying its Completion Cost. Gain its Victory Points and turn it face-down in front of you. If you did not manage to complete a Settlement Project before the end of the game, you will lose half the Victory Points of that particular Settlement Project, rounded down.

A Settlement Project card shows: a Completion cost, its Victory Points, its Name, and a player count indication.

IMPORTANT: After performing the Settlement Project action, do not draw a new Settlement Project card to replace the one taken from the Game Board.

Construction Yard

"When the dust of the construction settles down, you can stand in awe of the progression that we have made here on Ceres constructing so many Outstations providing so much more possibilities."

The Construction Yard Location provides two options to choose from:

Option #1 Perform the Corporation Expanse action.

Corporation Expanse action: Choose one of the 6 Facility cards available and construct it by paying its cost. Gain its Victory Points and place it near your Corporation board separately from all other Outstations, creating a new Single Outstation. In addition, gain the Production of the Facility you just constructed.

Option #2 Perform the Corporation Upgrade action.

Corporation Upgrade action: Choose one of the 6 Facility cards available and construct it by paying its cost. Gain its Victory Points and place it underneath an existing Single Outstation of any color, upgrading an existing Outstation. Only the Function part of this card must be visible. From now on, this Upgraded Outstation will provide a Top Function (upper card) and a Bottom Function (lower card).

Note: The Starting Outstations board features 4 Upgraded Outstations, that cannot be upgraded any further.

A Facility card shows: a Construction cost, its Type (Facility cards are divided into various Types based on their color — Mine (Gray), Lab (Red), Factory (Blue), Office (Green)), its Production, its Name, its Function (a Function may provide Resources, Credits, Influence, Actions), and its Victory Points.

After choosing one of the two options, draw a new Facility card to replace the one that was taken from the Game Board. If the pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile to form a new one.

As a free action, when you activate the Construction Yard Location, you may spend 1/2 of your Influence to draw 3/5 Facility cards. Then, construct any one of the face-up cards on the Game Board or of the ones you drew. Finally, discard any cards you drew but did not choose.

Example: Ludwig (yellow player) performed the Corporation Expand action and constructed the Research Lab as a Single Outstation, placing it near his Corporation board. He gains 8 Victory points and the Production of the Research Lab, which is 1 Energy. On a later turn, he performs the Corporation Upgrade action, upgrading his Research Lab Single Outstation by placing the Tech Factory Facility card below it and gains 3 Victory points.

A.M.A.C. Council

"Asteroid Mining Assembly of Corporations' Council located on Mars oversees the works of all asteroid mining, and you should make sure you are well-connected if you want to be favored."

The A.M.A.C. Council Location provides four options to choose from, by spending Influence from the A.M.A.C. Council:

Option #1 Spend 1 Influence to activate the Trade Bureau Location and perform one of its two options (see Trade Bureau, page 7).

Option #2 Spend 1 Influence to perform the Launch action.

Launch action: Choose one of the available Asteroids in the Asteroid Belt and claim it by placing one Mining Probe of your color from the Launch Complex Location. Pay any traverse cost and gain its Victory Points. In addition, gain the Production of the Asteroid you just claimed.

Mining Probes reach their destination by entering the Asteroid Belt from one of the two Zones of the Outer Ring located in the proximity of Ceres (highlighted zones of the image on the right). For each Zone Separator they traverse, spend 1 Ice. If they enter the Intermediate Ring spend 3 additional Ice and if they also enter the Inner Ring spend 5 additional Ice.

Traverse Cost

Zone Separator: 1 Ice
Intermediate Ring Separator: 3 Ice
Inner Ring Separator: 5 Ice

Example: The Mining Probe of Hilda (white player) enters the Intermediate Ring (cost: 3 Ice), traverses a Zone separator (cost: 1 Ice), enters the Inner Ring (cost: 5 Ice) and finally traverses another Zone separator (cost: 1 Ice) to reach and claim the Bennu Asteroid. So, she spent 10 Ice in total and gained 15 Victory Points.

Option #3 Spend 1 Influence to perform the Research action.

Research action: Choose one of your Research markers on the Research Programs table, move it to the next Level, pay the Research Program's advance cost and gain the Victory Points corresponding to this Level.

On the third Level of each Field there is a "3 Victory Points" token which is claimed by the first player who researched that Research Program.

Note: The Research Programs must be developed one after the other and no Level can be skipped (for more information on Research Programs, see page 14).

The Research Programs table shows: the Aerospace Field, the Construction Field, the Logistics Field, a Level indicator, each Level's Victory Points, each Research Program's advance cost, each Research Program's ability, and the "3 Victory Points" reward.

Example: Ludwig (yellow player) wants to advance to the second Level of the Aerospace Field. He performs the Research action and spends 4 Energy, gaining 3 Victory Points. Then, he moves his Research marker to the appropriate space above the program to indicate his progress.

Option #4 Spend 1 Influence to perform the Favor action.

Favor action: Choose one of the available Favor tokens from the Game Board, pay its cost depicted on its bottom part and place it in your play area (for more information on Favors, see page 14).

Note: The Special Grant Favor, printed on the Game Board, does not have a corresponding Favor token to take. It may be chosen multiple times during a Round, even by the same player.

Contractors Association

"If there is a place in Ceres where you can find the right way to get the job done, the Contractors Association is that place. Though, everything comes with a price."

The Contractors Association Location provides three options to choose from:

Option #1 Spend 2 Credits to perform the Reassign Worker action.

Reassign Worker action: Move one of your already assigned Workers from one of your Outstations onto another one of the same Type, as long as it is empty, and activate it (for more information, see Activate an Outstation, page 12).

Option #2 Spend 2 Credits to activate the Construction Yard Location and perform one of its two options (see Construction Yard, page 8).

Option #3 Spend 1 Credit to perform the Manufacture action. You may repeat this process up to 3 times.

Manufacture action: Spend the corresponding Resources to produce one of the following products:

Alloy - requires 2 Ore. Get 1 Alloy from the common reserve and store it onto your Depository board.
Mining Probe - requires 1 Ore, 1 Advanced Ceramics and 1 Energy. Take a Mining Probe from your play area and place it on the Launch Complex Location.

IMPORTANT: Alloys and Mining Probe tokens are meant to be infinite. So, if they run out you may use any other token as replacement.

Corporate Headquarters

"Approaching the Corporate Headquarters, you get the yearning feeling of coziness. At the comfort of your office you may pause for a minute or two and take some time to reorganize your strategy and, why not, ask the board for some additional funding..."

The Corporate Headquarters Location provides a single option and can be activated twice per Round:

The first time, gain the Production of one of your Outstations and in addition, take the Leader token you used for this activation and place it on the leftmost available empty slot of the bottom row of the Player Order track.
The second time, just gain the Production of one of your Outstations.

B. Activate an Outstation

In the Living Quarters and in the Cargo Spacecrafts, Workers of 4 Specializations are available to get assigned to different Outstation Types.

Mine Overseers (gray) are required by Mines.
Chief Engineers (blue) are required by Factories.
Scientific Coordinators (red) are required by Labs.
Managing Directors (green) are required by Offices.

An Outstation of yours, can be activated by assigning a Worker on it, as long as it is empty. Pick a Worker that matches the color of the Outstation's Type from the Living Quarters or, if such is not available there, from the active Cargo Spacecraft, and place it onto the Outstation.

Note: The Outstation's Type is determined by the Type of the top Facility card and is not affected by any upgrade.

Example: Johan (purple player) wants to activate his Main Office Outstation, but all available Managing Directors (green Workers) have been taken from the Living Quarters. So he takes the one present in the active Cargo Spacecraft.

After activating an Outstation, it is mandatory to use one or more of its Function's part, in the following order:

Single Outstation: from left to right.
Upgraded Outstation: from left to right on its Top Function and then in the same order on its Bottom Function.

Some Functions have a darker frame and an Activation cost on its top left corner (i.e. 1 Ice). You must pay the Activation cost before using this Function's part.

Example: Hilda (white player) assigns a Chief Engineer (blue Worker) on her Main Factory Outstation. From the Top Function she gains 2 Advanced Ceramics. From the Bottom Function she can perform the Manufacture action up to 2 times for free. However, as she wants to manufacture 2 Alloys and 1 Mining Probe, she pays the Activation cost of 1 Ice to perform it one more time. So, in total she spent 5 Ore, 1 Ice, 1 Advanced Ceramics and 1 Energy.

Some Outstations' Functions are associated with a Game Board action. To utilize these actions, follow the Activate a Location instructions as if you used a Leader token (see Activate a Location, page 7).

C. Pass

When you choose to pass, you set yourself out of the Round, and you cannot take any more turns. Move your Player Order marker on the leftmost available empty slot of the bottom row of the Player Order track.

Note: If you had activated your Corporate Headquarters Location, move your Player Order marker on the slot that is occupied by your Leader token instead.

When all the players have passed, you move to the End of Round phase.

Example: Johan (purple player) on his turn did not activate any Locations or Outstations and he passed. He moves his Player Order marker to the leftmost available empty slot on the bottom row of the track, which is currently the second place. Ludwig (yellow player) passes on a later turn but as he had activated his Corporate Headquarters Location on a previous turn, he is going to move his Player Order marker on the slot that is occupied by his Leader token instead.

IV. End of Round Phase

At the end of Rounds 1 and 2 perform the following steps:

i. Remove the Cargo Spacecraft tile currently docked on the Docking Bay and return it to the game box, along with any remaining Worker tokens on it. Then, dock the next Cargo Spacecraft. ii. Each player takes back all their Leader tokens. iii. Return all Workers from all Outstations to the Living Quarters on the Game Board. iv. Return all Favor tokens to their designated areas below the A.M.A.C. Council Location. v. Remove all remaining Settlement Project and Facility cards on the Game Board and place them in their corresponding discard piles. Draw new cards from each pile, as you did in Setting Up the Game Board, and place them face-up on the designated areas. vi. On the Player Order track, move each player's Player Order marker from the bottom row to the top, without changing their order. This will be the next Round's Player Order. vii. Move the Round marker to the next slot and proceed to the next Round.

At the end of Round 3, skip this phase entirely and proceed to the End of the Game.

End of the Game

After the end of Round 3 the game ends. Each player adds to their score:

I. 1 Victory Point for every 2 of their Influence tokens beneath the A.M.A.C. Council Location and II. 1 Victory Point for every 5 Credits they have in their Depository board.

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner!

In case of a tie, the player with the most Resources in their Corporation board (Ore, Ice, Advanced Ceramics, and Energy, combined) is the winner. If there is still a tie, the player who passed first in Round 3 wins.

Favors

A Favor token in your play area, grants you its unique special effect:

Manufacturing Efficiency: During this Round, when you perform the Manufacture action at least once, you may perform it one more time. Additionally, all products require 1 Ore less to be manufactured.

Continuous Ice Supply: During this Round, when you perform the Launch action, you may pay 2 Ice less in total. Additionally, whenever you have to spend Ice as part of the Activation cost of an Outstation's Function, skip this cost.

Mars Droid: On your turn, instead of assigning a Worker, you may place the Mars Droid token on any Outstation of yours to activate it, even if a Worker is already present.

Notes: I. The Mars Droid can only be used once per Round. II. It is not considered to be a Worker, actions or abilities that refer to Workers (e.g., Reassign Worker) do not apply to the Mars Droid. III. If an Outstation has only the Mars Droid on it, it is considered to be empty.

Leader Assistant: On your turn, take the Production of one of your Outstations. Then, instead of placing a Leader token, you may place the Leader Assistant token on any Location on the Game Board, without occupying any action slot, regardless if there is any available, and activate it.

Note: Leader Assistant can only be used once per Round.

Special Grant: Immediately gain 4 different Productions depicted in the Outstations of yours.

Note: There are Outstations depicting more than 1 Productions. These count as different selections.

Research Programs

The developed Research Programs provide you with ongoing abilities for the remainder of the game. The Research markers' position on each Field indicates your progress, and all Programs on the same Field up to your Research marker's Level are active for you. The Aerospace Field is associated with the Launch action, the Construction Field with the Construction Yard Location and the Logistics Field with the Trade Bureau Location.

The ongoing abilities provided by each Research Program are as follows:

Aerospace Field

Level 1: After performing the Launch action, gain one of the following: 2 Ore / 1 Advanced Ceramics / 1 Energy / 1 Ice. Level 2: Whenever you perform the Launch action, the cost for your Mining Probes to enter the Intermediate Ring is decreased from 3 to 2 Ice and the cost to enter the Inner Ring is reduced from 5 to 3 Ice. Level 3: After performing the Launch action, you may perform it one more time, getting the advantage only of the Aerospace Field's Level 1 Research Program.

Construction Field

Level 1: After activating the Construction Yard Location, gain the Production of the Facility that you just constructed, regardless if you used it to create a Single Outstation or to upgrade an existing one. Thus, if you created a Single Outstation, you will end up receiving its Production twice. Level 2: Whenever you activate the Construction Yard Location, spend 1 Alloy less. Level 3: After activating the Construction Yard Location, you may perform it one more time, getting the advantage only of the Construction Field's Level 1 Research Program.

Logistics Field

Level 1: After activating the Trade Bureau Location, gain 1 Influence. Level 2: Whenever you activate the Trade Bureau Location, gain 4 Credits. Level 3: After activating the Trade Bureau Location, you may activate it one more time, getting the advantage only of the Logistics Field's Level 1 Research Program.

Credits

Game Design: Gustaf Sundström Game Development: Dimitris Siakampenis, Theo K. Mavraganis, Sotirios Tsantilas, Vangelis Bagiartakis Art and Graphic Design: Tan Ho Sim, Thomas Girard, Angga Satriohadi, Alifka Hammam, Gong Studios, Dan Roff, Konstantinos Kokkinis, Panayiotis Lyris, Giorgos Arniotis, Zoe Bermingham, Gerasimos Mekerides Scientific Advisor - Academic Consultant: Sotirios Tsantilas Key Playtesters: Gustav Ekman, Micke Hansson, Magnus Karlsson, Erik Lindblom, Pim Thunborg, Jacob Westerlund, Nikos Chondropoulos, Konstantinos Papiris, Pantelis Avramopoulos, Eli Athanasopoulou, Stefanos Spanoudakis, Philothei Kokolaki, Fotis Xintaropoulos and Akis Tsakliotis.

"I would like to give a special thanks to my wife Elin Sundström, who has believed in my work and supported me all the way. And to my designer friends in the MiniLinCon-group. Your energy, generosity and wisdom has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Thank you!"

Symbols

Resources: Ore, Ice, Advanced Ceramics, Energy.

Miscellaneous: Credits, Influence, Victory Points, Gain Asteroid's Production, Draw & See.

Manufactured Products: Alloy (page 11), Mining Probe (page 11).

Actions: Interplanetary Trade (page 7), Settlement Project (page 8), Corporation Expanse (page 8), Corporation Upgrade (page 8), Launch (page 9), Research (page 10), Favor (page 10), Reassign Worker (page 11), Manufacture (page 11).

Locations: Trade Bureau (page 7), Construction Yard (page 8), A.M.A.C Council (page 9), Contractors Association (page 11), Corporate Headquarters (page 11).