Deep Space Dine

Deep Space Dine Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

51 playing cards
1 rulebook
3 wooden markers

Goal and Overview

To deliver the pizza, you must cross several sectors of space. When you have crossed all sectors, you have won the game.

In each sector, dangers await you which you can overcome with the help of your ship. Or you quickly jump to the next sector. If you take too long to do so, it becomes dangerous and your ship or the pizza suffers.

The Playing Cards

The cards in DSD are double-sided. Take care never to flip them without being allowed to -- not even when discarding or shuffling. Also note the difference between flipping and rotating a card.

The game contains 4 kinds of cards:

Help cards (2): These help you play the game.
Sector cards (11): These are the dangers of space which you must overcome on your delivery tour to reach your destination.
Station cards (36): These are the stations and actions that you find on your ship.
Ship cards (2): This is the ship you fly in this game. Here you place the markers to track the condition of your ship and of the pizza.

Starter Game

If you are playing the game or a ship for the 1st time, or want a quick and easy game, we recommend this special setup. The normal setup can be found at the end of the rules.

In the starter game you must first find Orion eggs as a topping for your pizza and learn the game slowly. Once you have the eggs, you play a game on the easiest difficulty level "Salad".

Setup (Starter Game)

Sort all cards by their type, i.e. into sector, station and ship cards.
Now choose a ship from the ship cards that you want to play. For the first game take the Spacehopper 3000. Place the ship card in the middle of the table and put one marker each on the rightmost space of the damage track and of the pizza track.
Search from the stations for all 10 cards with Pilot, Reactor and R-Drive. Turn them to their normal side and shuffle them as a deck. If you play the Nostroven One, take the P-Drive.
Now lay out the help card "Zutat beschaffen" (Procure Ingredient). Place on it, from the sector cards, the card with the (marked) back; on it the next marked card, and on that the "Flug nach Orion" (Flight to Orion). Your table should now look approximately like the illustration in the rulebook.
Now draw your hand cards. Each crew member draws from the deck, i.e. from the station cards, as many cards as corresponds to your hand size:
- Playing alone: 7 cards.
- Playing with two: 5 cards.
- Playing with three: 4 cards.

Deck and Discard Pile

Whenever you draw cards, you draw them from the deck. You always see the top card of the deck. Always take drawn cards into your hand rotated the right way up.

When you discard cards, put them on the discard pile. Take care not to flip the cards when discarding them or when shuffling the deck or discard pile. For a better overview, rotate the discard pile by 90 degrees.

Hand Cards

If you have to draw more cards than are in your deck, shuffle the discard pile into a new deck. If there are still not enough, you cannot draw any more cards.

You may also lay out your hand cards openly in front of you to make the game easier.

The hand size is not a maximum. You may have more cards in hand.

Ship Cards

The ship card on the table represents your ship. On ship cards you find the following information:

Ship type and all stations that make up the deck.
Special rules, ship markers and actions.
Damage and pizza track with markers.

When the pizza symbol appears, you must lower the condition of your pizza by one. Move the marker one space to the left.

When the damage symbol appears, your ship suffers damage. Move the marker one space to the left. If the new space says "Remove cards" ("Karten entfernen"), 1 crew member of your choice must immediately remove 1 hand card from the game. If you push a marker off the card, you have lost immediately.

Game Flow Overview

Now you are ready to start. Your goal is to fly through all sectors and deliver the pizza. When you have removed all cards from your sector deck, you have achieved this.

New sectors come into play as soon as the help card "Zutat beschaffen" (Procure Ingredient) or "Die letzte Grenze" (The Final Frontier) lies face up. It also says there which sectors are newly laid out.

You may remove the top, face-up sector if you have either found a solution to the sector's danger or have been able to jump to the next sector with your drive. Solution and jumping always require certain symbols, which you create by playing hand cards into a shared grid of several rows.

Sector Cards

One sector always lies face up. This is the one you are currently in.

A sector card shows:

Level and name.
Drive and navigation required to jump.
Solution symbols and special rules.
Danger value and consequences, and possible special rules.

In general: if something is printed in italics, it is flavour text. Otherwise it is a special rule. Observe it!

For the jump you always find a number of drive symbols, depending on the crew size, and a number of navigation symbols, which you must reach in order to jump.

Sectors can have 1 or 2 solutions. You only have to fulfil the symbols of one solution to discard the sector.

Example: To jump out of the sector with the pirates you need 1 navigation. If you play with two, additionally 5 drive. If you want to solve the danger you can fight. For that you need 4 firepower and 1 shield. Or you give them a piece of pizza. Then you must move the marker on your ship.

Obtaining Symbols

To obtain the symbols for the sectors, you play cards from your hand into rows and so form a grid. Each card in a row gives you the symbols that are on top of it.

The current row is always the row next to the pile of sector cards, which also dictates the length of the row.

For solving a danger or for jumping you can use the symbols from all rows, i.e. from the current row and from old rows. But you may only play new cards into the current row. The first card played is therefore placed next to the sector.

Cards in rows can give symbols directly: if a card showing 1 navigation lies in a row, you have 1 navigation.

Or they can produce symbols: if a card showing "1 navigation per 2 energy symbols" lies in a row, you have 1 navigation per 2 energy symbols in the row.

Important: you only produce symbols per symbol in the same row. The order within the row does not matter. The cards do not have to be adjacent to each other.

If you must pay symbols as costs, you must discard the symbols from 1 row of your choice. You can discard direct symbols or symbols that produce the costs. In case of doubt, costs must be overpaid.

Example: This row gives 2 energy and 1 navigation. If you now have to pay 1 navigation, you discard the card with 2 energy, since it produced the navigation.

Symbols that produce each other are possible.

Drive

Drive is a special symbol. You can obtain it like other symbols. In addition you gain drive for each card with this symbol that lies unrotated in your grid.

Example: A row gives 4 drive: 2 x drive, doubled by the 2nd card.

Gameplay

In DSD there are no fixed rounds. Instead you play actions. There is no fixed order of who plays an action when. Each crew member may play an action at any time. The only condition is that the last action has been completely finished.

Actions allow you to put cards from your hand into the current row or to draw cards.

After each action you check whether you have enough symbols in your grid to solve the sector or jump, or whether it becomes dangerous for you in the sector. If neither is the case, you simply play the next action, until you have overcome the sector.

Actions

You find actions on your hand cards, on stations lying in front of you, and possibly on your ship.

Actions on your cards are recognised by the small coloured bar on the left. They are always built the same way:

Costs, colon, effect.

You must always pay the costs first. If a "-" is there, the action costs you nothing. Then you carry out the effect.

Next to text, the effects often show these symbols:

Play symbol: Put this card into your current row.
Rotate symbol: Rotate this card by 180 degrees.
Ship marker symbol (right): Move the ship marker to the right.

Next to resources, the costs often show these symbols:

Discard symbol: Discard any other hand card.
Remove symbol: Remove any hand card from the game. The card is not discarded but no longer takes part in the game.
Special card symbol: Special card. Pay attention to the effect. It explains what to do.
Ship marker symbol (left): Move the ship marker to the left.

Example: If you play the upper action, you must pay 1 energy and then put this card into your current row. If you play the lower one, you must first remove a hand card from the game. Then you rotate this card and put it into your current row.

Station Cards

Your most frequent action will be playing a station card from your hand into your current row. For this, all station cards always offer the 2 actions in the middle of the card. These let you play the card into your current row, whereby you receive symbols that you need for solving or jumping out of the current sector.

Station cards contain the following information:

Level and name.
Effect in the row.
Drive.
Actions.
Effect only when the station is occupied.
Station name.
Effect in the row when rotated.

The station name indicates whether you have the card in your deck in a game. If the station name is also on your chosen ship card, the card goes into the deck.

Later in the game each crew member can occupy a station. You cannot use the effect of an occupied station while the station card is in your hand.

Boldly Go...

After each action carried out you must check whether you have enough symbols to solve the danger or to jump. It is also checked whether the danger has consequences for you.

First count all your symbols in the grid and compare them with the required symbols on your current sector card. If your symbols suffice, you may proceed as follows:

If you have solved the danger, 1 crew member may upgrade 1 hand card. To do so it flips a hand card to the upgraded side. This card stays on its upgraded side for the rest of the game. If you jumped, you may not upgrade a card.
Discard all station cards from all rows onto your discard pile.
Each crew member draws cards from the deck up to hand size.
Remove the current sector card. This reveals a new sector card. This is the next sector you must cross. If this reveals the card "Die letzte Grenze" or "Zutat beschaffen", carry out that card. If this was the last sector card, you have reached your delivery destination and successfully delivered the pizza. You have won.
Occupy stations. Each crew member may now occupy one station.

Occupying Stations

For this, lay out a card from your hand in front of you. From now on you, and only you, may use the effect of this station.

A station effect can either allow you a new action (as in the example) or grant you a permanent effect. If the word "At" ("Bei") appears at a station effect, you can use the effect once each time the symbol is newly created in the grid.

Note: Each station may only be occupied by a single crew member (e.g. no 2 pilots). Each crew member may only occupy 1 station. Discard old stations when you occupy a new one.

We Have a Problem!

If you have not solved the danger of the sector or cannot jump, you must additionally check after each action whether the danger of the sector has consequences.

Compare the danger value on the sector card for your number of crew members with the number of cards in the current row. If there are fewer cards, play on. If there are more, you have a problem.

If there are as many cards in your current row as the danger value for your number of crew members, carry out the following steps:

Together draw as many cards as you have drive in the current row. Begin with the crew member with the fewest hand cards and then draw in turn.
Move the sector card so that it no longer lies next to your last row, but a new row can be started. From now on this is your active row. Symbols of old rows can still be used, but cards are from now on played into the new row.
Resolve the consequences. The danger does not pass you by without a trace. Now carry out its consequences by performing all symbols and instructions in this box.

Afterwards you play on as normal.

For a better overview of the check, use the help card. The order is described there.

Damage

Whenever your ship suffers damage, you must reduce the marker on your ship card by 1. You can, however, always instead spend one shield per damage.

Special Cases

Do not forget that your ship also gives you actions. Each crew member can carry these out as normal.

Some sectors have a value X for the jump. In these sectors you cannot jump but must solve the danger.

Some sectors have the value 0 for the danger. In these you do not have to play cards but resolve the consequences directly.

Some solutions require symbols per crew member. Here you need the stated symbols for each crew member.

Zutat beschaffen (Procure Ingredient)

If you play the starter game, you will come across the card "Zutat beschaffen". You have obtained the eggs and must deliver the now finished pizza. Flip the card over and take all sector cards with an easy side. Turn them to this side and draw 4 of them at random. Place them as a deck on the flipped card. You are now ready for a normal game on the difficulty level "Salad".

Die letzte Grenze (The Final Frontier)

If you come across the card "Die letzte Grenze", new sectors are laid out. First take the 3 boss sector cards, shuffle them and lay out one at random. This is the last challenge on your delivery route. Now take the remaining sector cards and turn them to the hard side. Now place as many random sectors on the boss card as stated for your difficulty.

End of the Game

If you have discarded the last sector, you have successfully delivered your pizza and won the game. If you like, you can calculate your points: count how many spaces are left on your pizza track and double them. Then add the remaining spaces on the damage track. Whether you get a 5-star rating or have to look for a new job, you can see on the help card.

Normal Setup

To play a normal game of Deep Space Dine, set up the game as follows:

Sort all cards by sector, station and ship cards.
Now choose a ship from the ship cards that you want to play. Lay out the ship card and put one marker each on the rightmost space of the damage and pizza track.
Take from the station cards all cards with the station names given on your ship. Turn them to their normal side, shuffle and form the deck.
Lay out the card "Die letzte Grenze". Now choose your difficulty on the help card and place the corresponding number of easy sectors as a shuffled deck on the Final Frontier.
Each crew member then draws cards up to hand size and you can start.

Rulings (FAQ)

From the official German FAQ (v0.8, April 2026).

The starter game with 3 crew members and hand cards. If you play the starter game with three, you will not have enough cards for everyone to draw up to hand size. This is normal. Over the course of the game too, it can happen that you must draw cards but have none left. Then draw as many as you can. In the starter game with three, one crew member therefore draws 4 cards and two draw 3 cards each.

Having symbols and paying symbols. To jump out of a sector or solve it, you do not have to discard the symbols. After each action you check whether you have the required symbols lying in your grid or producing them. To pay for actions you must remove the required symbols from the grid. Only when paying for actions do you therefore discard cards from your grid. The symbols can be paid directly (discard rotated cards) or symbols on rotated cards that are converted by another card can be paid. Example: you must pay 1 energy and have a card that grants you 1 energy per drive. Then you can pay either energy directly or drive.

Drawing cards and rotation. You always draw cards into hand "correctly" rotated, i.e. rotated so that you can read the name of the card. After an action you should therefore never have cards with the "resources" side up in your hand.

Discard/Remove with drive. If you must discard or remove cards with a certain number of drive, it does not matter where the drive is printed. Only the number of drive symbols anywhere on the card counts.

Ship action / no hand cards. Do not forget -- especially in solo play -- the ship action. With it you can often draw cards and/or special ones.

0 sectors and OR sectors. In some sectors the danger value is 0. Here you do not have to play cards, but simply resolve the consequences. Mostly you must decide there. You must always choose between the options before the OR and the option after it, i.e. (Option 1) OR (Option 2).

Damage and shields. Whenever you suffer damage, you can instead pay one shield per damage, i.e. discard it from your grid, to prevent the damage.

How ship markers work. The Crusty Cruiser and the Nostroven One use ship markers. In general this is also a track (but you have not lost if the marker falls off). Also: if the ship symbol is on the cost side of an action, you must lower the ship marker by 1 to carry out the action. If the symbol is on the effect side, you may move the marker 1 to the right (or place it on the first space).