Earth Gambit: Light
Earth Gambit: Light Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 10 Role cards
- 2 Psych Weapons and 1 Psych Defence
- 19 other Action cards
- 6 Blue Science, 3 Yellow/Blue Science, 8 Red Science and 1 Yellow/Red Science cards
- 1 DISCARD card and 1 DRAW card
- 1 Stray Damage die
- 1 double-sided Psych Token
- 10 Special Abilities
- 8 Player Aids
Victory Conditions
- ALIENS win when 6 red Science cards have been played.
- SCIENTISTS win when 6 blue Science cards have been played.
- EXTINCTIONISTS win when 3 yellow Science cards have been played.
Science cards with more than one colour count towards each colour on the card.
If the Extinctionists meet their win condition together with another team, the Extinctionists win.
Setup
- The last person to see a UFO is the starting player, or else choose the starting player randomly.
- Place the DRAW and DISCARD cards on the table. These are placeholders for the face-down draw pile and the face-down discard pile. You also need space for the Science cards you will play (see Setup Diagram).
- Prepare Role cards based on the Setup Table. Shuffle and deal 1 Role to each player. Look at your Role, but don't let anyone else see it!
- Prepare a deck of Play cards based on the Setup Table. Shuffle and deal 1 Play card to each player face-down, and an additional 1 card to the starting player. These are the players' Hands. Place the rest face-down on the table, this is the Draw pile.
- (Optional) Shuffle and deal 1 Special Ability card to each player face-down.
Setup Table: Distribution of Roles, Science, and Psych Weapon cards based on number of players.
| Players | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aliens | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Scientists | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Extinctionists | 1 |
Note: Always include all of the other Science, Psych, and Action cards not mentioned in this table.
Setup Diagram: The starting player starts with 2 cards in Hand. All other players start with 1 card in Hand. Every player has 1 Role card and 1 Special Ability. The DRAW and DISCARD placeholders are placed on the table, with a free place for playing Science cards in the middle.
Play
Players take a regular turn as follows (note: Special Abilities can change these instructions!):
- Draw 1 card from the Draw pile into your Hand, keeping it secret from the other players.
- Play 1 card from your Hand face-up and resolve its effect (see Playing a Card). If you can't play any cards (i.e., your Hand contains only prohibited Science cards), reveal your Hand to all players, and then discard 1 card.
- Pass 1 card to the next player in a clockwise direction.
Once the card is passed, the next player begins their turn.
During each player's turn, they are known as the active player.
If the Draw pile runs out, keeping the Action card played by the active player separate, shuffle the Discard pile to form the new Draw pile.
Playing a Card
When a Science card is played, it remains face-up and counts towards the victory conditions. Science cards with more than one colour count towards each colour on the card.
When an Action card is played, it remains face-up while its effect is resolved. Afterwards, Action cards are typically discarded face-down before the active player ends their turn.
You can never say which cards you have in your Hand, but you can communicate information such as if the card is good, bad, or useful.
Action Cards
Good to know: All Action cards requiring a target can target any player, including yourself.
Damage or Heal: Choose whether to Damage or Heal target player. When a player is damaged, they discard 1 card of their choice from their Hand unless they are already damaged (have been forced to discard a card already). When a player is healed, they draw 1 card from the Draw pile if they are currently damaged.
Heal All: Starting with the active player and proceeding in play order, each damaged player draws 1 card from the Draw pile.
Stray Damage: Roll a die to determine the target player to be damaged by counting through that many players in play order starting from the active player. E.g., if you roll a 1, you are damaged. If you roll 6 and the total number of players is 4, the target player is the player after you in play order.
Force to Play: Next time target player plays a card, they must play the card of your choice: the card in their Hand, the card they draw, or the card passed to them. You must choose when you play this card. Place this card face-up in front of them as a reminder. After they play the selected card, discard this card. If they are unable to play the selected card, they must reveal and discard it instead.
Psych Weapon: If a Psych Defence card is in play, discard both cards. Otherwise, place this card face-up in front of you and discard it at the start of your next turn. If another Psych Weapon card is face-up, discard it. While this card is face-up, no BLUE Science cards can be played (Yellow/Blue Science, Cancel Science, and Move Cancel Science can still be played normally). Put the Psych Token with the red side up near the Science cards as a reminder.
Psych Defence: If a Psych Weapon card is in play, discard both cards. Otherwise, place this card face-up in front of you and discard it at the start of your next turn. While this card is face-up, no RED Science cards can be played (Yellow/Red Science, Cancel Science, and Move Cancel Science can still be played normally). Put the Psych Token with the blue side up near the Science cards as a reminder.
Cancel Science: Cover an already-played Science card with this card or else discard it if no Science cards have been played yet. Covered Science cards don't count towards victory conditions.
Move Cancel Science: Move the Cancel Science card to cover a different Science card, then discard this card. If Cancel Science hasn't been played, or if there is only 1 Science card in play, this card has no effect (discard it).
Rearrange Top 3: Secretly look at the 3 top cards of the Draw pile. Put them back in any order.
Protect Player: Place this card face-up in front of target player to be protected. The protected player may choose to discard this card to ignore the effects of an action targeted at them specifically or collectively, except for Psych cards.
Shuffle Hands: Collect the Hands of all players. Shuffle them and re-deal back to players. Each player is dealt the same number of cards as they had in their Hand previously.
Reset Hands: All players discard their Hand. Starting with the active player and moving in play order, the active player draws 2 cards and all other players draw 1 card.
Replace Card: Target player discards 1 card from their Hand and draws a new card from the Draw pile.
Take from Discard: Target player shuffles the Discard pile, secretly looks through it, takes 1 card, and puts the Discard pile back. The same player then discards 1 card from their Hand (which can be the card they just picked). Discard this card when the action is complete.
Skip Turn: Place this card face-up in front of the target player to skip their next turn. When a card would be passed to them, instead pass it to the player after them and discard this card.
Trade Cards: Choose 2 target players with at least 1 card in Hand to exchange cards face-down simultaneously. They can choose which card from their Hand to exchange.
Steal Card: Target player reveals a card from their Hand and draws a new card from the Draw pile. You play the revealed card. If it can't be played, discard it instead.
Play Top Card: Reveal the top card of the Draw pile and play it immediately. If it can't be played, discard it instead.
Peek at Any Card: Secretly look at any card. This can be a Role or Special Ability card, a card in another player's Hand, or the top card of the Draw or Discard pile.
Special Ability Cards: Can be used once per game. Keep face down in front of you until played. You cannot play a special ability if, after playing it, the active player would have no card left to pass.