Cosmic Pioneers
Cosmic Pioneers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 4 Colony Ships
- 60 Colonists in 4 colors
- 17 Black Cubes
- 51 Alien Meeples
- 10 Scenario Cards
- 27 Space Sectors
- 25 Alien Cards
- 4 Player Mats
- 20 Goods Tokens
- 32 Credit Tokens
- 1 Round Counter
- 1 First Player Token
- 1 White Custom Hit Die
- 1 Black Die
Space Sectors
There are three different types of Space Sectors in the game:
Jumpgate & Trade Post: These are special sectors where you can execute various actions depending on the scenario you are playing. Unless otherwise specified, if you are using both sectors then they should be placed as far away as possible from each other.
Planets: Players travel to planets to go on adventures and to claim them by deploying their colonists. Some planets are more dangerous but easier to control, while others are much safer for colonists but require more effort to control them. Planets can be destroyed. On that rare occasion, simply flip the planet face down creating an Asteroid Belt, and leave it on the table.
(Planet diagram labels: Alien Type, Name, Adventure, Colonization Spots.)
Asteroid Belts: Depending on the scenario you are currently playing, sometimes, instead of placing a planet you take one of the unused planets (hexagon) and place it with the Asteroid Belt facing up. No player may end their movement on an Asteroid Belt, but this Sector still counts toward their movement points.
Aliens
There are many types of aliens in the game that are native to the planets you are exploring and colonizing. These aliens will attempt to hamper your expansion. Each planet has one native species, shown on the planet's hexagon.
(Card diagram labels: Alien Type, Setup Planets, Ability. Alien Card Back.)
Aliens perform different actions based on their ability, like moving, attacking or multiplying. Here is a short glossary for terms used in their abilities:
Lifeform: Lifeform refers to both Aliens and Colonists. Enemy Lifeforms are all Lifeforms that are different than your own. For example, for a Worm, an enemy lifeform is anything that is not a Worm.
Move by X: the Alien moves clockwise on the planet by X spots.
Affect X spots: the Alien affects with each ability the next X spots on the left of it.
The ability of an Alien targets specific spots on the planet. Unless otherwise stated, you start from the spot on the left of the Alien, and you move clockwise on the planet.
If the ability of an Alien consists of multiple sentences, you resolve them one at a time and in printed order. For example, to resolve the Worm's ability, you first check the 2 spots adjacent and on the left of the Worm. If there are any Enemy Lifeforms there, you kill them. Then you move the Worm by 1 spot clockwise.
If at any given time, an Alien fails to perform an ability, then nothing happens and the turn proceeds as normal.
Alien Types
Worm
- Ability: Affect 2 spots, kill Enemy Lifeforms. Move by 1.
Slime
- Ability: Double the number of Slimes on each planet by filling empty spots, if there are any.
Squid
- Ability: Affect 1 spot, kill Enemy Lifeform, place a new Squid.
Lizard
- Ability: Affect 1 spot, kill Enemy Lifeform. Move by 1. Remove Lizard if it couldn't Move.
Bug
- Ability: Affect 1 spot, replace Enemy Lifeform with a new Bug.
Goods
These tokens represent Goods that you will be tasked in transferring between planets, based on the scenario. These Goods when on a planet they are not placed on Colonization Spots, but when on your Ship, they do take up slots of your cargo.
Commanders
These cards contain information on the attributes (weapons, cargo, bombs, engines) and the special ability of your Commander. Each attribute gives a different bonus at each level.
1. Weapons: The higher your level the bigger the bonus you get on your Combat Rolls. In addition, level 3 allows you on a successful attack to steal up to 300 Credits from your opponent.
2. Cargo:
- Level 1: 2 Cargo Slots. Carry only Colonists and/or Goods.
- Level 2: 3 Cargo Slots. Carry only Colonists and/or Goods.
- Level 3: 4 Cargo Slots. Carry anything, even Aliens!
3. Bombs:
- Level 1: Roll Hit Die to determine the type of lifeform you hit. Kill one of that type.
- Level 2: Roll Hit Die to determine the type of lifeform you hit. Roll D6 and kill that many of that type.
- Level 3: Roll D6 and kill that many Colonists or Aliens. You can not hit both types, and you must kill up to the number you rolled.
(Hit Die faces: Aliens, Colonists. D6 is a standard six-sided die.)
4. Engines: It shows the maximum number of sectors you can move. You can move up to the maximum sectors, or you may choose to not move at all during your turn.
5. Ability: Each Commander has a unique ability. The bold caption displays the phase this ability can be activated.
6. Cargo Slots: Place Colonists, Aliens or Goods here, up to the maximum amount allowed by your Cargo Level.
(Commander card diagram labels: 1. Weapons, 2. Cargo, 3. Bombs, 4. Engines, 5. Ability, 6. Cargo Slots.)