Fractured Sky
Fractured Sky Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Gameboard
- 1 Rulebook
- 20 Starfall Cards
- 36 Objective Cards
- 10 Reference Cards
- 28 Starfall Tokens
- 15 Airship Minis
- 25 Skimmer Minis
- 70 Player Cubes
- 60 Power Chips
- 25 Market Minis
- 25 Fortress Minis
- 5 Player Shields
- 5 Player Trays
- 1 Starfall Tray
- AI Components (see 1-2 Players)
Setup
1 to 3 Players / 4 to 5 Players: For 3 or fewer players use the side of the board with 3 "Player Turns" slots. Otherwise, use the other side. Place the gameboard on the table within easy reach of all players.
Place the Starfall tray along an edge of the board, within easy reach of all players.
Collect the Public Starfall, Hidden Starfall, and Objective cards. Each type has a different color card back.
Collect the player items shown below for each player. Player shield tabs will fold under the base of the trays. Player overlays go on top of the tray.
All players select a color and take the corresponding components below:
- 1 Player Tray and Overlay
- 14 Player Cubes
- 5 Market Minis
- 5 Fortress Minis
- 3 Airship Minis
- 5 Skimmer Minis
- 1 Player Shield (wraps around Tray)
- 12 Power Chips
- 2 Reference Cards
Setup: Resources and Cards to Remove
Resources can be gained from placing Airships in Regions, Scouting Starfall cards, or from activated Market buildings. The resources gained will be noted under Region banners or Scouted cards. The resources in the game are Gold, Iron, and Wood.
The Careening Cliffs contain Gold and Iron!
When playing 1 to 3 players, Frosty Fjord and Wayward Wood are absent from the board. Since those Regions are removed, the following cards should be removed from the Public Starfall, Hidden Starfall, and Objective decks (see Slots 1-5, Slots 2-4, and Slots 4-5 markers on those cards).
Shuffle the Public Starfall deck and place the top card face up on top of the Public Starfall deck. Place a Starfall in that Region.
Shuffle the Hidden Starfall deck and place the top card face down in the 1st Hidden Starfall slot. Place the extra cards face down within reach of all players.
Shuffle the Hidden Objectives deck. Objectives have 1 of 3 different icons on the back, marking where they are placed. Draw and place cards from left to right in the first slot that they can be placed in. If a card is drawn that doesn't have any matching slots remaining, discard it.
Each Player chooses any 4 starting resources to begin the game. Use 1 player cube per resource type on your game tray to track resources. If this is your 1st game, we recommend starting with 2 Gold and 2 Wood.
Objective
Each player is competing to have the most Starfalls at the end of 5 rounds.
Players can gain Starfalls in 2 different ways:
- Winning Regions with Starfalls.
- Winning the Objective at the end of each round.
The person who most recently saw a shooting star is the 1st player and places their turn order marker (player cube) in the 1st slot of the "Player Turns" section of the gameboard. Players then continue placing their cubes in clockwise order on the same row. If it's your 2nd game of the night, the person seated to the left of the winner places their turn order marker, with players then continuing to place in clockwise order. Any time a player covers a Gold icon on a "Player Turns" slot, they gain a Gold resource.
The player with the most Starfalls wins. Ties are broken by whoever is earlier in the turn order at the end of round 5.
Each turn a player can take 1 of 3 actions:
- Place an Airship
- Create a Building/Skimmer
- Scout a Starfall Region or Peek at an Objective
At any time, players can trade any combination of 2 resources for 1 resource of any type as a free action.
Actions
Placing an Airship
Each round, all players will place 3 Airships on the board in any of the 10 Regions. To the bottom of each of those Airships, players will attach a magnetic Power Chip with a number representing the amount of Troop Power a player is committing to that Region. A player's total Troop Power, once all 3 Airship tokens are placed, should not exceed 10. See "Note" below if this rule is broken.
When a player takes this action, they choose an Airship and place it on a Region on the map. If this is the 1st Airship token placed in that Region, that player will place it within the "Explore Slot" and draw 1 Hidden Starfall card from the unused Hidden Starfall deck (if there are any cards remaining). This will show that there will not be a Hidden Starfall in the Region depicted on the card for the current round. Drawn Hidden Starfall cards are private from other players.
Note: If a player exceeds a Troop Power of 10 on their Airship tokens, each of their tokens are reduced by the amount of Troop Power they played in excess of 10. For example, if a player played 12 Troop Power, all of their tokens would be reduced by 2 Troop Power.
Tip: When placing Airships, keep in mind the "10" and "1" Power tokens are colored differently and can be used to bluff. Use this to your advantage and keep your opponents guessing!
Placing Your Last Airship
Once all 3 of a player's Airship tokens are placed on the board, they then move their turn order marker to the next row, taking any available open "Player Turns" slot up to the player count. They can take no further actions this round, and play continues until all players have placed their 3rd Airship.
Building Details and Fortresses
Fortresses and Markets are built on Floating Platforms, which are connected to Regions via bridge systems. These platforms connect to varying numbers of Regions, as denoted by the bridges and dots near each platform.
If a player chooses the Build action on their turn, they must pay the associated cost and either place a Fortress or Market on a Floating Platform, or place a Skimmer on a Region. Each Build action has a different effect and cost.
Fortresses add 1 extra Troop Power to adjacent Regions when a matching color Airship is placed there. Each Fortress can only add 1 Troop Power per Region, but it can affect multiple Regions and can stack with other Fortresses.
Markets and Skimmers
During end-of-round rewards, markets give an extra resource from each adjacent Region containing a matching color Airship. Each Market can only give 1 resource per Region but may affect multiple Regions and/or stack with other Markets. The extra resource gained must match 1 of the available resources in that Region. Markets do not give an extra resource to placed Airships with Troop Power of 0 unless they gain an extra Troop Power from Fortresses.
Skimmers give a temporary +1 to Troop Power in a Region they are placed in. Skimmers are placed on Regions just like Airships and can be placed in a Region without an Airship but do not interact with Markets and Fortresses like an Airship would. Skimmers may not be placed on Explore Slots. They are removed from the board at the end of the round.
A Region that has a 0 Troop Power token and a Skimmer would not interact with a Market even though there is 1 Troop Power in that Region.
Scouting
Players can pay 2 Gold to Scout at a Hidden Starfall on the Starfall tray they have not already Scouted. They take this card and look at it, keeping it a secret from other players, then return it to the Starfall tray face down in the same slot. These cards represent the Regions that will have an available Starfall at the end of the round.
When a player Scouts, they must place 1 of their player tokens on the space above the card that they Scouted. They can then choose to take a resource from the Region that was on the card. If they do, their player token will be placed above the icon instead of the generic Scout space.
Players may Scout the same Hidden Starfall as others. Those players follow the same rules above. They may choose to take 1 of the other resources, or if they take the same resource as a previous player, they place their token in the larger slot above.
Peeking
Players may also pay 2 of any combination of resources to Peek at a Hidden Objective card on the Starfall tray they have not already Peeked. They take this card and look at it, keeping it a secret from the other players, then return it to the Starfall tray in the same slot. When they do so, they must place 1 of their player tokens on the space below the card that they Peeked at.
Note: Fractured Sky is not a memory game. At any time, players may look at cards they have already looked at.
Ending Rounds
Rewards
Once all players have placed their 3rd Airship and set their turn order markers, the round is over. At this time, flip the leftmost Hidden Objective card, reveal the Hidden Starfall cards, and then reveal Troop Power tokens beneath all Airships.
The player with the most Troop Power in a Region must take the highest reward tier available, with subsequent Troop Power levels taking a reward 1 tier down. A player's activated Markets award resources regardless of their reward tier position even if they receive a Starfall from reward tiers. Airships with 0 Troop Power are not considered for rewards unless a Fortress is connected, modifying its final value.
Reward Tiers
- Starfalls
- Both Resources
- One Resource
- No Resources
Note: All ties are broken by end of round turn order. Whoever is earlier in turn order will receive the higher reward.
Objective cards will award 1 Starfall to a player for meeting the requirements listed on the card. Each Objective card is only scored once in the round which it is revealed. Objectives can relate to building number or type, Airship placement, Scouting, or Troop Power on the board. If there is a tie, whoever is earliest in "Player Turns" order breaks the tie.
Reveal the Hidden Starfall cards and place Starfall tokens on those Regions on the board. Moving from left to right on the board, each Region is resolved 1 at a time, with players comparing their Troop Power in the Region and taking rewards.
Hidden Starfalls can overlap Public Starfalls!
If no player places an Airship or Skimmer on a Starfall Region, that Starfall stays on the board and can be claimed by winning that Region in a future round!
Round Cleanup
Do not return tokens from the Objective row to players.
Before continuing to the next round, players must do the following:
- Return and shuffle all Public Starfall cards to the Public Starfall deck and place 1 face up on top of that deck. Place a Starfall in that Region.
- Return and shuffle all Hidden Starfall cards to form the Hidden Starfall deck, then add face down cards to the tray equal to the round number. Place the unused cards face down within reach of all players.
- Return all Airships and Skimmers to Player trays. Return all player tokens that were used for Scouting. Do not return buildings or player tokens from the Objective row.
The player 1st in "Player Turns" order now begins the next round.
Note: When players place their final Airship in the last round, they still move their turn order marker. If there is a tie, the player earlier in turn order will win the game.
Ending the Game
Once the 5th round is over, the player with the most Starfalls wins!
Tiebreakers: "Player Turns" order at the end of round 5 determines tiebreaks — for example, if turn order at the end of round 5 is Green, Red, Yellow, then Blue, and Green and Yellow would tie at the end of the game, Green would break that tie and win the game.
Tips
- Objectives can be a key to winning the game. Don't forget to Peek.
- Build a Market in round 1 or 2 if you are able to.
- Don't place too many 0 tokens out without a Fortress. This may lead to you feeling resource starved.
- Having Markets connected to a Region with a variety of resources can be useful.
- When in doubt...Creepy Cove!
- Bluffing is a large part of Fractured Sky. Use your 10 and 1 Power tokens wisely.
- Hidden Starfalls can match Public Starfalls. Be aware that double Starfalls can occur on a Region.
- Starfalls that are not awarded to players stay on the board! Keep an eye out for those.
- Combining your Skimmers with your "1" Troop Power token can be used as an excellent bluff.
- Taking resources from Hidden Starfall cards may give the location to opponents of the Hidden Starfall!
1 to 2 Players
This mode matches players against automated opponents. When playing solo, the player competes against 2 AIs. For 2 players, add 1 AI to the game to compete against both players. Whoever has the most Starfalls wins!
AI Players Components:
- 12 AI Airships
- 14 AI Markers
- 20 AI Buildings
- 4 AI Skimmers
- 20 AI Action Choice Cards
- 2 Reference Cards
- 2 Market Cards
AIs will use components in different ways depending on the chosen difficulty. The differences can be in amounts used or even in how Airship Troop power is determined (see AI Control: End of Round Rewards). Below are the component amounts used for easy, medium, and hard. Further explanation on component use will be detailed on their relevant pages. Players are encouraged to choose some or all modifiers from a difficulty.
| Difficulty | Market Card | Buildings | High Troop Power Airships |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | No Market Card Used | 2 Buildings of Each Type | 1 High Troop Power Airship |
| Medium | Market Card Used | 3 Buildings of Each Type | 1 High Troop Power Airship |
| Hard | Market Card Used | 4 Buildings of Each Type | 2 High Troop Power Airships |
Setup
Set up the game as usual, then follow these steps below:
- Objective Cards: Use with 2 players. Remove in Solo Play.
- AIs go last in turn order during setup. Don't forget Gold bonuses!
- The Market Card is only used on medium and hard difficulties.
- When playing solo, do not use the Objective cards.
- For each AI in play (black or orange), shuffle the corresponding AI Action cards and Airship tokens face down. Then, place each AI's components in a play area to your left or right, keeping them separate from one another.
- After all human players pick their turn order, AIs will follow and place their tokens on the "Player Turns" slots in clockwise order.
- Choose a difficulty level: easy, medium, or hard. We recommend easy for your first game.
At the start of each round, shuffle each AI's Airship tokens face down, then draw 3 per AI and reveal them, face up. These tokens will NOT be used this round.
Players then take their turns as usual, with this exception: Whenever 2 total resources are taken from Scouting a Hidden Starfall card, that card is revealed and a Starfall is placed on that region. Though AI Scouts are always considered as taking resources for the purposes of this rule, do not move their market card token. Market cards will be further explained under AI Control: Scouting.
In the first to third examples, a second resource is taken during a Scout action. The Hidden Starfall card is revealed and a Starfall is placed on that region!
AI Control: How the AI Works
At the beginning of each AI turn, flip the top card from their deck face up, and carry out its effect. If the card effect is unable to be completed (ex. running out of buildings), draw another card and follow its effect. The different cards are: Placing an Airship, Scouting, Building, Placing a Skimmer.
If an AI has more than 1 option for its current action, it will follow AI Advantage, then follow the compass on the previous card used. The compass can be found on the bottom right of all AI Action cards.
AI Advantage: When presented with equally beneficial options, AI advantage will help players choose. Players should place an AI's Airship in the region connected to the most of its already constructed buildings. Players should place a building on the platform that connects to regions with most buildings already connected to it.
Compass: Players will use the AI compass from the previously drawn card (or current card if it is the 1st card of the round) to make their decisions when there is no clear choice for the AI. The Stars on the compass will point to a direction to help break ties between placing, building, or scouting. The large stars on the compass take precedence over the smaller ones.
AI Advantage & Compass Example: When placing an Airship, the orange AI has two regions that are tied for most Starfalls (Torrential Tropics and Dreadful Desert). AI Advantage would cause the AI to place near the most of its buildings, but each region has the same number of buildings connected to them. The compass points southeast, so the AI places an Airship in the Dreadful Desert.
AI Control: Placing Airships
The AI will place 1 of its Airships in the Region with the most Starfalls (minimum 1) and none of that AI's previous Airships. If more than 1 Region has the same number of Starfalls, follow AI Advantage, then compass rules. AIs will place in Explore Slots, but do not take cards like players. If there are no Starfalls in Regions without this AI's Airships on the board, the AI will place an Airship following AI Advantage, ignoring Regions it has already placed in.
Order of placement rules: Most Starfalls Placement, then AI Advantage Placement, then Compass Placement.
Example: Molten Moor has the most Starfalls; Sinister Spires has the most buildings connected; the compass points to Sinister Spires.
As soon as AIs place their 3rd Airship, they will choose and place their marker in an available "Player Turns" slot, following in this order: 1st, 3rd, or 2nd. When an AI places in the 3rd slot, they gain a gold bonus on their market card.
AI Control: Scouting
The AI will place a Scout token above a Hidden Starfall card it has not already Scouted. It will choose a card according to the previous cards compass, choosing the card furthest to the left (West) or right (East). AIs will never pay the cost to Scout. If the AI has already Scouted all available Hidden Starfall cards, draw another Action card and follow its effect.
Example: Previous Card compass points South East → place in the rightmost slot.
Whenever 2 total resources are taken from Scouting a Hidden Starfall card, that card is revealed and a Starfall is placed on that region. Though AI Scouts are always considered as taking resources for the purposes of this rule, do not move the market card token.
AI Control: Buildings and Placing Skimmers
This Action card indicates which type of building the AI wishes to build. If the AI has no buildings available, draw another Action card and follow its effect. It will determine placement following the hierarchy of rules below:
A. Near the most Starfalls B. On platforms with the most region connections. C. Follow AI Advantage. D. Follow Compass rules.
Building Example: The AI places a market on a Floating Platform following these steps:
- Dreadful Desert has the most Starfalls (A).
- Dreadful Desert has 2 available Floating Platforms that connect to 4 Regions (B).
- AI Advantage indicates a tie, as there is 1 matching AI building on each Floating Platform (C).
- The previous Action card's compass points to the northwest, so the AI finally selects the platform on the left (D).
Placing Skimmers: When placing a Skimmer, the AI will place 1 in the region indicated by the Public Starfall card.
AI Control: End of Round Rewards
Once all players and AIs have placed their 3rd Airship, the round is over. At this time, reveal all Airship tokens. Find the AI token with the highest Troop Power on the token in a starfall region; rotate it to the highest value. The two other of that AI's tokens are rotated to the low value (On hard difficulty, rotate the 2 highest in a Starfall Region to their high values if applicable). AIs may have more than a combined total of 10 Troop Power. All other Airship tokens will be rotated to their low value.
Example: The Airship containing the highest troop power in a region with a Starfall is rotated to its high value; the Airship in Peaceful Plains is rotated to its high value because Careening Cliffs does not contain a Starfall.
Finally, in 2 player games, flip the leftmost Hidden Objective card and immediately score it. These are scored just like in the main game and award a Starfall. AIs can also win Starfall rewards from Hidden Objectives in 2 player games.
Rewards work just like the main game for players, following the Troop Power reward tiers. However, AIs will acquire Starfalls and use resources differently. The only reward tier that AIs are awarded are Starfalls. They do not collect resources from rewards.
When an AI acquires resources from the 3rd "Player Turns" slot or a market building effect, they are tracked on the AI's market card. Depending on chosen difficulty level, trade in those resources for a Starfall as soon as the AI meets the required amount and reset the market card by removing the marker.
| Difficulty | Market Card |
|---|---|
| Easy | No Market Card Used |
| Medium | Starfall for 6 Resources |
| Hard | Starfall for 5 Resources |
Reward Tiers for AI
- Starfall
- No Resources
- No Resources
- No Resources
Note: While AIs do not take rewards for tiers 2, 3, and 4, they still are occupied by AI when the player is awarding their own tier of reward.
Round Cleanup and Game End
Before continuing to the next round, players must do the following:
- Return and shuffle all Public Starfall cards to the Public Starfall deck and place 1 card face up on top of that deck. Place the Public Starfall on the board.
- Return and shuffle all Hidden Starfall cards to form the Hidden Starfall deck, then add a number of face down cards to the tray equal to the round number. Place the unused cards face down within reach of all players.
- Return all Airships, Skimmers, and player tokens used for Scouting to their respective players. Do not return player tokens from the Objective row.
- Shuffle each AI's Action cards (used and unused) into fresh draw decks. Return AI Airship tokens to each AI's respective play area. Shuffle each set of Airship tokens face down, then draw 3 per AI and reveal them, face up.
The player 1st in turn order now begins the next round.
Game End: At the end of the 5th round, the player / AI with the most Starfalls wins! (Final turn order breaks ties.)
Glossary
- AI Action Card - A card used to signify an action taken by the AI.
- AI Advantage - A process to choose between tied regions.
- Airship - A token placed in a Region that has 0 to 10 Troop Power.
- Bridge Systems - Lines connected from Floating Platforms to Regions.
- Contested Region - A region that contains multiple Airships of different colors.
- Compass - A guide for determining AI placement directions.
- Floating Platform - An area of the board where buildings can be placed.
- Fortress - A building that increases the power of Airships with Troop Power.
- Hidden Starfall - A Starfall that is revealed at the end of the round.
- Market - A building that awards a single resource to matching color Airships.
- Objective - A card that awards a Starfall at the end of the round.
- Peek - An action that allows a player to look at an Objective secretly.
- Player Turns Slot - Slots that signify turn order and break ties.
- Public Starfall - A Starfall location that is known at the beginning of the round.
- Region - A location where Airships and Skimmers can be placed.
- Resources - Gold, Iron, and Wood collected from Regions and Scouting.
- Scout - An action that allows a player to look at a Hidden Starfall secretly.
- Skimmer - A 1 Troop Power token that does not interact with buildings.
- Starfalls - Victory points that can be obtained from Regions or Objectives.
- Troop Power - The quantifiable influence held by player Airships and Skimmers.
Credits
The Hidden information was found, it was within reach. The great minds met and together overcame every challenge. The names below are assigned the title of Starfall Hunter and will be remembered forever.
Big Guy the Cat, Braden, Cappuccino, Clay Klinedinst, Cole Smith, Daniel Love, Derek Carpenter, Gemini, Gray Harlow, Jonathan Lam, Jose Bohorques, Kevin Gutowski, Kevin Palacios, Kyle Denton, Kythorn, Matt St. Pierre, Mechaniclysm, Morgan May, Owen P, Paul Kaufman, Reed Waide, Toby Court, TooEadsy, Trey Dexter, Victorio, Spilzer
Game Design: Austin Harrison, Max Anderson, Zac Dixon
Produced By: Samuel Cowden, Katie Lentile, Rachel Loven, Jourdan Lees
Editors: Dr. Liz Miller, Ali Glidden, Bobby Essler, Ryan Lithgow, Isaac RC, Josh Gilbertson, Aaron Quintanilla, Ben Trueman, Kris Chesney
Creative Direction: Zac Dixon, Nayt Cochran
Art Direction: Michael Cribbs
Concept Art: Michael Cribbs, Kelly Nakamura
Solo Mode: Nick Shaw, David Digby, Dávid Turczi
TTS Mod: Bobby Essler
Graphic Design: Mindprizm Studio, Dane Baudoin
3D Artists: Max Anderson, Courtney Hopkinson, Joey Judkins, Carlos Adrian-Gonzalez Villagomez
IV Studio: Zac Dixon, Samuel Cowden, Austin Harrison, Katie Lentile, Rachel Loven, Jourdan Lees, Nayt Cochran, Michael Cribbs, Max Anderson, Kelly Nakamura
Playtesters: Airguitarsteve, Aleksandar Saranac, Andrew Curry, Andrew Jenkins, Andy Bonny, Anya, Ash Dasuqi, Ben Trueman, Bobby Essler, Bradley Dilley, Brian Sanderson, Charles L White Jr., Chuck Case, Danielle Fiorentino, David Carter, Devon Norris, Emery Dlugan, Greg, Hayden Brown, Ilia Silantev, Jacob Porter, Jonathan Lam, Jordan Dixon, Josh Gilbertson, Kevin Gutowski, Luke Rivett, Mark Dale, Mendi, mp.hanson, Nancy Tran, Nicolas Perez-Lozana, Peter Lewis, Phoemix1452, Prashi Mawalagedara, Reed Waide, Richard Sackryder, Scuzzy19, Shawn Marshall, Squeekydoor, Tanner Short, Taylor J. Fontaine, Van Tuan Tran, MR.MUNCH, MendicantFoo
If you need to get in touch with the team at IV Studio regarding Fractured Sky, you can reach us at: [email protected]