Frozen Frontier Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Contents
• Important Game Concepts
  • 1. Cities
    • 1a. Moving between Cities
    • 1b. Building in a City
  • 2. Qubits
  • 3. Resources & Shipment Contracts
• Setting Up the Game
  • Common Play Area
    • 1. Game boards
    • 2. Subsidies
    • 3. Shipment Contracts
    • 4. Research Programs
    • 5. Reserve
  • Player Area
    • 6. Turn Order
    • 7. Player Miniatures and Tokens
    • 8. Corporation Board
    • 9. Starting Advantages
    • 10. Projects
• How to Play
• Action Phase
  • Step 01 — Move
  • Step 02 — Collect a Project Card
  • Step 03 — Take Your Main Action
    • A. Construct
      • 1. Construct a Building
      • Playing your Project Card
      • Spending Resources and Qubits
      • Placing the Building in the City
      • 2. Apply the Building's Effects
      • Advancing on the Development Board
      • Here is the list of all bonuses from the Industry & Science Tracks
      • 2a. Complete a Project
      • 2b. Use a Subsidy (if you did not Complete the Project)
      • 3. Use "After Construction" Effects
    • B. Collaborate
      • Settle Colonists
      • Use Production & Science Spots
    • C. Raise Funds
  • End of Turn
• Income Phase
  • 01. Clear Basic Resources
  • 02. Building Income
  • 03. Use "During Income" Abilities
• Shipment Phase
  • 01. Mandatory Shipment
  • 02. Scheduled Shipment
  • 03. Unscheduled Shipment
• Cleanup Phase
• End of the Game
  • AI Tokens
  • Controlling a City
• Using Your Abilities
  • Upon Completion
  • When triggered, no limit
  • Once per turn when triggered
  • During income
  • At the end of the game
• Expert Variants
  • Draft with Open Projects
  • Play with Open Research Programs
  • Choose your Contracts
  • Alternative Development Board (Kickstarter Extra)
• Expansion: One More Step
  • 1. Chief Officers
  • 2. Niven Rings Initiative
  • 3. Special Mandatory Shipments
  • 4. Extra City Sets
  • 5. Extra Research Programs
  • 6. Extra Corporations
  • 7. Alternative Subsidies (Kickstarter Extra)
• Reminder — Icon Glossary

Overview

As a representative of a corporation, you must establish industrial infrastructure on Janus over three waves of colonization (called "rounds" in the game). You are expected to solve mankind's energy problem by providing the Earth with Helium-3 for nuclear fusion, cheap hydrocarbons and promising new technologies.

Construct various buildings thereby creating opportunities for all the players to use them. Build your engine by completing projects. Use labs, acquire Research Cards, and develop your scientific and industrial powers to take the upper hand over your opponents.

Collect the most Victory Points by placing colonists on the different cities of the board, fulfilling shipment contracts of Helium-3 and other resources to Earth, and controlling cities through buildings and Artificial Intelligence Tokens.

Mankind counts on you!

Contents

• 6 City Tiles
• 4 Space Route Tokens (2 in each color)
• 1 Support Board
• 1 Development Board
• 60 Project Cards
• 30 Research Program Cards (10 of R1, R2 and R3)
• 16 Subsidy Cards
• 40 Shipment Contract Cards
• 12 Unfulfilled Shipment Penalty Tokens
• 6 Corporation Boards
• 4 Player Boards (3 regular + 1 last player board)
• 12 Slot Locked Tokens
• 4 Storage Pads
• 4 Double-Sided Reference Boards
• 1 Score Pad
• 80 Colonists (incl. 50 Orange Engineers and 30 Teal Scientists)
• Qubit, the currency of the game: 140 "1 Qubit" Cubes and 20 "5 Qubit" Cubes
• 120 VP tokens (in 3 denominations: 1, 2, 5)
• 8 Player Markers (2 for each player)
• 48 AI Tokens (12 in each color)
• 24 Large Building Miniatures (6 for each player)
• 48 Small Building Miniatures (12 for each player)
• 4 Carrier Miniatures (1 for each player)
• 1 Active Player Token
• 1 Round Token

Important Game Concepts

Janus is gravitationally locked to the center of its system. In other words, one side of the planet is always facing its star. The temperature here reaches 400°C, and the solar winds "knock out" a rare isotope, Helium-3, which is vital for thermonuclear energy production on Earth. Eternal darkness reigns over frozen methane seas on the other side, with temperatures dropping to –180°C. Humanity started out by founding several cities on the Dark side of Janus. It wouldn't be easy to live on the edge of the frozen frontier but that's what it takes to collect the precious resource.

The following section gives you an overview of several key elements. Each of these elements is detailed in further sections of the rulebook.

1. Cities

Cities are at the center of Frozen Frontier's gameplay. The main board is composed of different cities that will provide you with many different options. On each turn, you will move from one city to another to construct buildings, complete projects, raise funds, and receive and spend resources. You will also try to control the cities, which is a very important source of victory points at the end of the game.

Cities are grouped in City Sets representing the Post-Superpowers' development initiatives on Janus. There are 3 City Sets in the base game. Each City Set consists of 2 City Tiles, 20 Project Cards and 4 Subsidy Cards with the same flag icon and Post-Superpower name.

Each city shows a Production Spot (used when using a Colonist), Colonist Slots (orange for Engineers, teal for Scientists), a Route to the Neighboring City, a Lab Effect, a Science Spot, Building Slots, an AI Module Space, the city's Name and City Set flag, a Basic Resource Spot, a Transit Tax Space, and a Project and Carrier Space. In solo mode, buildings also show a Number of the Building.

The mobile command, control and communication airship called carrier is the center of all planetary operations: transporting people and resources, building construction, etc. It isn't fast, but can lift a lot of cargo, and therefore corporation leaders must plot the carrier's route on Janus wisely.

1a. Moving between Cities

Each player has a spaceship miniature, called the "carrier". The carrier represents your corporation on the board. On each turn, you will use it to move from one city to another (see Action Phase, Step 1: Move). Once in a city, you have access to a wide range of different actions.

The city where your carrier is located is called the current city. Orthogonally adjacent cities are considered neighboring cities.

1b. Building in a City

Over the course of the game, you will sometimes construct buildings in the city where you stop. You will use Project Cards to construct buildings (see Action Phase, Step 2: Collecting Project Cards). Project Cards allow you to build at certain spaces and may grant you some abilities if you complete a project.

Buildings may either be small buildings or large buildings, and are each represented by the miniatures that you have at your disposal (12 small and 6 large). You may build no more than this amount of buildings during the game.

Once a building has been placed in a city, you'll have the opportunity to place colonists to operate it and produce resources. The owner of the building will receive benefits for resources produced at the end of the round.

Having more buildings than your opponents in a city will allow you to control the city and score Victory Points. You will also score Victory Points for the colonists working in that city.

2. Qubits

The Qubit is the currency of the United Civilizations. Qubits will be used for most of your actions but they will also be used to keep track of your resources (see below).

Over the course of the game, you'll sometimes receive Qubits from card effects. In that case, you'll receive these Qubits from the reserve and place them in your supply. When receiving Qubits from the main board, place them in your supply in the same way. If a card effect requires you to spend Qubits, take them from your supply and return them to the reserve.

3. Resources & Shipment Contracts

Frozen Frontier uses a unique resource mechanism. Your storage contains slots that can hold Qubits that are used for resource tracking. Any empty slot means that you have one unit of the matching resource, while a slot with the Qubit does not.

Resources will be used to construct buildings and to complete shipment contracts, sending resources to Earth. Fulfilling a shipment contract allows you to score Victory Points and to earn Qubits.

To receive a resource, you remove the Qubit from the corresponding slot and place it on the main board or in the reserve, depending on where you gain the resource from.

To spend a resource, you need to cover the slot in your storage with a Qubit from your supply. This means that spending resources will actually cost you Qubits.

Setting Up the Game

Common Play Area

1. Game boards

1a. Cities

For setting up the main board, prepare a number of City Sets depending on the number of players. For a 3- or 4-player game, use all City Sets:

• Pan-American United States
• Tianxia People's Republic of the Rising Sun
• Mediterranean Union

For a 2-player game, use any 2 City Sets. For your first game use the Pan-American United States and the Tianxia People's Republic of the Rising Sun.

Each City Set consists of left and right tiles. To create the main board, combine tiles of each set in pairs so they occupy 2 consecutive columns. Place the City Sets in 3 rows (or 2 rows for a 2-player game) one under the other. Then, place a pair of Space Route Tokens of the same color on the top and bottom edges of the left column of the main board to connect the top and bottom City Tiles in this column to each other. Repeat with the right column.

1b. Support Board and Development Board

Place the support board and the development board next to the main board. Place the Round Token on the "Round 1" spot of the round track on the support board.

2. Subsidies

Take all the Subsidy Cards matching the City Sets in play (4 per city – check their flag icon) and all neutral Subsidy Cards. Shuffle them together.

Depending if you play a 2/3/4-player game draw 9/12/14 Subsidy Cards. Shuffle these Subsidy Cards to form a deck and place it on the appropriate spot of the support board. Return any unused Subsidy Cards back to the box.

Take 3 Subsidy Cards from the deck and place them face-up to form the Subsidy Pool. Then, discard a number of cards from the top of the stack equal to the number of players.

3. Shipment Contracts

Shuffle all the Shipment Contract Cards to form a deck and place it on the appropriate space of the development board. Depending if you play a 2/3/4-player game reveal 4/5/6 Shipment Contract Cards and place them next to the development board. Revealed contracts form the shipment contracts pool.

Place a stack of Unfulfilled Shipment Penalty Tokens on the corresponding space of the development board.

4. Research Programs

Sort the Research Program Cards by generation. Shuffle each generation separately. Then, for each generation, draw 3/4/5 Research Program Cards for a 2/3/4-player game. Place them on the appropriate space of the development board in a face-down stack.

Flip the Research Program Cards of the III Generation and place them face up in a row so that all players can see them. Generation I and II programs remain face down.

5. Reserve

Place the Qubits, Victory Point tokens, and Colonists (engineers and scientists) next to the development board to form the reserve.

Player Area

6. Turn Order

Take the player board marked "last player" plus enough other player boards to equal the number of players. Shuffle them together and give each player one random board. The player to the left of the "last player" board will start the game. They receive the Active Player Token, which is passed around during the game.

Take 3 Slot Locked Tokens and place each of them under your Project Card slots.

7. Player Miniatures and Tokens

Each player receives a set of components in their color and places them on the corresponding spaces:

• place 1 carrier near your player board,
• place 12 small and 6 large buildings on your player board,
• place 12 AI tokens on your player board,
• place 2 colored cubes next to the development board.

8. Corporation Board

First game only:

The active player takes corporation board number 1, the player to their left – number 2, and so on.

In later games

Take as many random corporation boards as there are players, +1. In a 2-player game, don't use the corporation boards marked "3+."

Starting from the last player and proceeding counter-clockwise, all players choose a corporation and pass the remaining corporation boards to their neighbor, and so on until all players have chosen a corporation. Return the remaining corporation boards to the box.

Place the corporation board you've chosen on the corresponding area next to your player board, the side with starting resources up.

Each corporation board has a specific effect. To know how to use it, check the paragraph Using Your Abilities on page 26.

9. Starting Advantages

Your corporation grants you resources, Qubits, and colonists.

Some corporations also allow you to start ahead of your opponents on the development board.

a. Resources

The game uses the following resources: Aerogel, Energy, Regolith, and Helium. You start the game with some of these resources, depending on your corporation.

Each player takes a Storage Pad and places Qubits from the reserve on all the empty resource slots in storage going from bottom to top, except for the amounts indicated on their corporation board. Any uncovered slot means that you have one unit of the matching resource.

b. Qubits

Check your corporation board to find the amount of Qubits that you receive at the start of the game. Place these Qubits in your supply.

c. Colonists

Take the colonists (engineers and/or scientists) indicated by your corporation board and place them near your player board. Then flip your corporation board, connect it to your player board and place your colonists on the carrier image on your corporation board.

d. Development Board

The development board consists of 2 tracks: the Industry Track on the left, and the Science Track on the right.

Some corporations indicate your starting position on the Industry Track and on the Science Track of the development board (if no value is indicated, your starting position is the 0 space). Place two of your player markers on the indicated position of each track. Immediately receive the bonuses beneath your current position on the track (See Advancing on the Development Board).

10. Projects

Take the Project Cards matching the City Sets that are in play. In a 2-player game, put any unused Project Cards back in the box.

First game only:

Among the Project Cards matching the cities in play, set aside all cards marked with a numbered triangle in the lower left corner. Shuffle all other cards into the deck. In a 2-player or 4-player game, use all cards with numbered triangles. In a 3-player game, shuffle the unused "number 4" cards back into the deck.

For a 3-4-player game, the active player receives the cards with number 1, the player to their left receives cards with number 2 and so on. In a 2-player game, the active player receives the cards with numbers 1 and 3, the other player – with numbers 2 and 4.

In later games

Shuffle all projects together in the deck and deal 4 cards to each player. Then, each player keeps only one of the cards they received, and passes the remaining cards to their left neighbor. Repeat until all cards have been taken. Each player should have 4 starting projects at the end of this step.

The expert draft variant is introduced further in the rulebook, check Expert Variants on page 27.

Place the project deck on the corresponding slot on the support board. Place 1 random Project Card face up on the dedicated spot of each City Tile.

How to Play

The game is played in three rounds. Each round is divided into the following phases:

• Action Phase
• Income Phase
• Shipment Phase
• Cleanup Phase

Each phase must be completed by all players before moving to the next one.

Action Phase

This is the main phase of the game. All players take turns, starting from the active player and continuing clockwise.

The player turn order of the Action Phase is constant throughout the game. The Active Player Token can be used to keep track of whose turn it is. Once you have completed the three steps of your turn (see below), pass the Active Player Token to your neighbor, and so on.

The Action Phase ends as soon as the stack of Subsidy Cards runs out, although there may be cards remaining in the pool. When this happens, the active player finishes their turn and passes the Active Player Token as usual. The next Action Phase will start with the player currently holding the token (the one directly to the left of the last active player of the previous Action Phase).

When the stack runs out in the last round, keep playing until all players have had the same number of turns throughout the game. In other words, the player with the last player board plays last.

Your turn consists of three steps, which must be completed in this order:

• Step 01 Move
• Step 02 Collect a Project Card
• Step 03 Take Your Main Action

Step 01 — Move

Atmospheric storms on Janus make navigation and aerial travel extremely difficult. As a result, infrastructure that enables low altitude flights plays an important role. During the game, you'll be able to move only along the navigation routes which have already been laid out by the United Civilizations.

On your first turn in the game, instead of moving, you place your carrier directly on the carrier space in the city of your choice.

On any future turn, you may move your carrier to any new orthogonally adjacent city following the routes, or skip movement and remain in the same city. You can also travel further and decide to skip one or more cities along the way; however, you must pay 1 Qubit to any City where you don't stop (place your Qubits in the transit tax space of the city, even if the Transport Hub has not been built yet).

You may also use pairs of Space Routes of the same color to move from one edge of the board to another. Space routes create orthogonal adjacency between the cities on the ends of each column. You may also skip cities while moving through space routes, following the same rules.

Multiple carriers of different players may be in the same city at the same time. The other carriers do not prevent you from moving.

Step 02 — Collect a Project Card

At the end of your movement, you take a Project Card from the city where you stopped, if any, and add it to your hand. You take the card from your current city even if you chose not to move during the previous step. Take the card and place your carrier on the dedicated space of the city. Project Cards allow you to construct buildings. See Construct a Building below for more information.

Step 03 — Take Your Main Action

You may only take one main action per turn, and only in the city occupied by your carrier.

Choose one of the following options:

• A. Construct, or
• B. Collaborate, or
• C. Raise Funds.

In addition to any of these actions, and depending on specific conditions, you may also use your abilities on your turn, gaining benefits of completed projects, research cards, and your corporate board (see Using Your Abilities on page 26).

A. Construct

This action allows you to construct a building and apply its effects.

A building will start producing resources as soon as a colonist works in it, and in the long run, will allow you to take control of the city where you built it.

1. Construct a Building

You must meet the following requirements to take this action:

• You have the Project Card matching either the building that you want to construct or the city you are in (or both – see below);
• The city has an unoccupied slot for that building,
• You have enough Qubits and resources to build it; and
• You have a building miniature of the proper size (large or small) on your player board to represent that building.

If you do not meet any of these requirements, then you must choose a different Project Card for which you do meet the requirements, or take another action instead.

If you meet the requirements, then you may construct the building. Play your Project Card, spend the required Qubits and resources, and place the matching miniature on the appropriate space of the city.

Playing your Project Card

Place the Project Card that you want to use in front of you.

A Project Card allows you to construct its specified building in any city, or to construct any building in its specified city.

If you manage to construct the specified building in the specified city, then you may keep the card in one of your project slots to use its benefits permanently: this is called completing a project (see Complete a Project and Use a Subsidy below).

Spending Resources and Qubits

You must spend the required resources for the construction of your building. The cost of each building (in resources) is shown on your reference board.

Spending resources will also cost you some Qubits: for every resource unit that you spend, you must cover a resource icon of the matching type on your storage with a Qubit from your supply. If you cannot cover your resources, then you cannot spend them!

Reference board — building costs and construction bonuses

Building	Size	Spend	Construction Bonus
Hub	Small	Aerogel, or Energy, or Regolith	Collect all Qubits from the Transit Tax Space
Power Plant	Small	Aerogel	Industry
Factory	Small	Energy	Industry
Training Center	Small	Energy	Science
Research Station	Small	Regolith	Science
Helium Facility	Small	Aerogel + Regolith	Industry or Science + Helium
Industrial Complex	Large	Aerogel + Energy	Industry + Industry
Scientific Center	Large	Energy + Regolith	Science + Science
Mining Site	Large	Aerogel + Aerogel + Regolith	Industry + Science + Helium

A Transport Hub costs 1 Aerogel or 1 Energy or 1 Regolith.

Placing the Building in the City

Now that you have played your card and spent the required resources and Qubits, you may place the appropriate building miniature on the corresponding slot in the city. This miniature represents your building and you are considered the building's owner.

Transport Hubs, Training Centers, Power Plants, Factories, Helium Facilities, and Research Stations are small buildings. Use one of your 12 small building miniatures to represent them.

Science Centers, Industrial Complexes, and Mining Sites are large buildings. Use one of your 6 large building miniatures to represent them.

You cannot construct a building if you're out of miniatures of the proper size, or if there is no free space to place it in the city.

Note: Buildings are permanent: There is no way to remove or relocate a building.

It should be noted that these buildings will score extra points for the player who controls the city at the end of the game.

2. Apply the Building's Effects

Constructing a building triggers multiple effects upon construction. Always resolve its effects in the following order:

1. Receive Construction Bonus
2. Complete a Project
3. Use a Subsidy (if you didn't complete a Project)
4. Use "after construction" effects

1. Receive Construction Bonus

Constructing a building in a city grants you an immediate construction bonus, as indicated on your reference board.

Most of the time, a building allows you to advance your player marker on the Industry and/or Science Tracks on the development board.

Some buildings grant other bonuses, such as Helium and Qubits. When instructed to take Qubits from the transit tax space, you receive all Qubits located in the transit tax space of that city.

When instructed to receive Helium, remove a Qubit from the corresponding slot and place it in the reserve.

Advancing on the Development Board

The development board features two tracks: the Industry Track and the Science Track. Most of the buildings, upon construction, allow you to move your player markers on one or both of these tracks.

For each Industry symbol indicated as a construction bonus, move your player marker 1 step up on the Industry Track. For each Science symbol indicated as a construction bonus, move your player marker 1 step up on the Science Track.

When your player marker crosses a line indicating a bonus on any of the tracks, you receive the matching bonus immediately. You can receive several bonuses in the same turn.

If your player markers advance on multiple tracks, you choose on which track to advance first. This is important, as you may choose the order in which you want to activate bonuses from the tracks.

Constructing a Factory allows a player to move their marker 1 step up on the Industry Track. Constructing a Mining Site allows a player to move their marker 1 step up on the Industry and Science Tracks, and receive 1 Helium.

The red player has constructed a Scientific Center. Thus their marker is advanced 2 steps on the Science Track. As a bonus for crossing the first bonus line, they receive 1 scientist in their supply. As a bonus for crossing the second bonus line, they choose 1 Research Program Card from Generation I of their choice from the appropriate stack.

Here is the list of all bonuses from the Industry & Science Tracks

Receive a Colonist — Take a corresponding colonist (or colonists) from the reserve and place them on your corporation board.

Unlock a Project Slot — At the beginning of the game, you can only have 2 completed Project Cards below your corporation and player boards. This bonus allows you to increase the number of available slots. When receiving the bonus, remove the Slot Locked Token from the leftmost unavailable slot.

Take a Shipment Contract Card — Take 1 card from the top of the deck of shipment contracts and add it to your hand. You can fulfill this contract during the Shipment Phase (see Unscheduled Shipment on page 23).

Choose a Research Program Card — For Generations I and II, when receiving this bonus, take the matching stack of cards and select one card of your choice without revealing the stack to other players. For Generation III, choose one of the face-up cards. The chosen Research Program Card is placed in one of your three research slots and you may use its effect from now on. See Using your Abilities on page 26 for more information on research programs.

Take a Project Card — Take the top card from the Project Card deck and place it in your hand. In the rare case of the deck running out of cards, take the bottom card from the discard pile.

2a. Complete a Project

After receiving the construction bonus, check if you have completed a project.

The requirement for completing a project is to construct the specified building in the specified city. When that happens, you may place the Project Card in one of your available project slots. If you decide to do so, you complete the project. From now on, you can apply this card's effect. See Using your Abilities on page 26.

You may decide to refuse to complete a project even if you constructed the specified building in the specified city, and discard your Project Card to receive a subsidy instead (see 2b. Use a Subsidy). In that case, the project does not count as completed.

At the beginning of the game, you only have 2 available project slots. You can unlock additional slots by advancing on the Industry Track. If you have no empty slots available and decide to complete a project, you must discard one of your previously completed projects.

2b. Use a Subsidy (if you did not Complete the Project)

If the building or the city does not match the Project Card, the project could not be completed. Discard your Project Card, then choose one of the three available Subsidy Cards from the pool. You may either use Option 1 (various effects) or Option 2 (receive 2 Qubits) of the chosen card. Then, immediately discard the Subsidy Card and replenish the subsidy pool to 3 cards.

Exhausting the subsidy deck causes the Action Phase to end (see page 20).

3. Use "After Construction" Effects

If some of your abilities have "after construction" mentioned in the effect text, these effects now apply. Therefore you can get the benefit of such an effect during the same turn in which the project was completed and the card was placed in the project slot of your player board.

B. Collaborate

The shock of the global resource shortage, and the Equatorial Famine of 2109-2112, left a huge mark on mankind. The "prestigious consumption" of the 21st Century has been replaced by "reasonable consumption". Fear of a new crisis has greatly affected the population of the new superpowers. Ideas of cooperation and a sharing economy superseded unlimited competition and the desire for personal wealth.

United Civilisations extended the Distributed Use of Opportunities Pact to Janus. This means that corporations can use each other's industrial and scientific facilities to achieve a common goal.

When you collaborate, you may resolve these actions in the following order:

1. Settle Colonists and/or
2. Use Production and/or Science Spots.

Settle Colonists

You may settle up to 1 colonist in each building constructed in the city your carrier is in, on any unoccupied colonist spaces (even if you're not the owner of the building). To do so, place a colonist from your supply in the slot marked with the appropriate icon (engineer or scientist) next to the building.

For each colonist that you place in a building, you immediately receive Victory Points: 1 VP for an engineer, 2 VPs for a scientist. It should be noted that these colonists will also score extra points for the player who controls the city at the end of the game.

Settling a colonist in a building also makes that building's resource(s) or laboratory effect available (see Use Production & Science Spots below).

Use Production & Science Spots

Collect Resources

You may collect any of the available resources (Aerogel, Energy, Regolith and Helium) from the city your carrier is in. Any visible resource icon connected to a constructed building with a settled colonist or a basic resource is considered available.

At the start of the game, each city has only one available resource and no colonists. This resource is called a basic resource and does not need a building or colonists to be considered available.

Production icons next to unoccupied building spaces or buildings without colonists are not available. Resource icons that are covered with Qubits are not available either.

To collect a resource, remove a Qubit covering a resource slot of the matching type from your storage and put it on the corresponding icon of that resource on the main board – either the basic resource or on any spot connected to a settled colonist. By collecting resources, you cover the icons with Qubits and make them unavailable to all players until the next round.

If you cannot remove a Qubit from your storage, it means that you already are at maximum capacity for that resource. As a result, you cannot collect more of it.

Use a Laboratory Effect

Research Stations, Science Centers, and Training Centers do not produce resources. Instead, if a colonist is settled at a Research Station, Science Center, or Training Center and the laboratory icon is visible you may use its laboratory effect.

To use a laboratory effect, place 1 Qubit from your supply (not from your storage) on the laboratory icon next to the settled colonist.

If a lab effect instructs you to discard Qubits, you must discard them in addition to the Qubit that you paid to use the lab effect.

You may use as many production and science spots as you want during the same collaboration action from any constructed buildings, even from the same building, as long as you can pay for it.

Note: Bear in mind that any Qubits spent on a production or science spot will go to the building owner during the Income Phase.

Lab Effects

Laboratories have different effects depicted above the building space.

• Spend 3 Qubits from your supply and place them in reserve to receive 2 Victory Points.
• Spend 1 Qubit from your supply and place it in reserve to receive 1 Victory Point.
• Return 1 engineer from your supply to the reserve to receive 1 Victory Point.
• Spend 1 Qubit and return 1 scientist from your supply to the reserve to receive 2 Victory Points.
• Spend 1 unit of the specified resource to receive 2 Victory Points (place a Qubit from your supply on the spent resource as usual).
• Return 1 engineer from your supply to the reserve to receive 1 scientist to your supply. OR Return 2 engineers from your supply to the reserve to receive 2 scientists to your supply.

C. Raise Funds

Instead of Constructing a Building or Collaborating, you may Raise Funds.

In this case, receive 3 Qubits from the reserve and use 1 Subsidy Card.

Choose one of the three available Subsidy Cards from the pool. You may either use Option 1 (various effects) or Option 2 (receive 2 Qubits) of the chosen card. Then, immediately discard the Subsidy Card and replenish the subsidy pool to 3 cards.

Exhausting the subsidy deck causes the Action Phase to end (see page 24).

End of Turn

Once your turn is over (i.e., after taking main action A, B, or C), hand the Active Player Token to the player sitting on your left, even if the Action Phase is over.

Check if the subsidy deck is exhausted. If yes, the Action Phase is over. Move on to the Income Phase. If not, the next active player begins their turn.

Income Phase

01. Clear Basic Resources

If someone spent a Qubit to get a basic resource from a city, move that Qubit to the transit tax space of that city. The basic resource icon becomes available for the next round.

02. Building Income

All building owners receive Qubits from their buildings: they recover all Qubits placed on the resource icons and laboratory icons attached to their buildings and place them in their supply.

Transport Hub owners receive all Qubits located in the transit tax space of the city. These are Qubits spent for movement and basic resources in that city.

03. Use "During Income" Abilities

If some of your abilities have the during income trigger, these effects now apply, starting with the player that has the Active Player Token, and continuing clockwise. For more details, see Using your Abilities on page 26.

Shipment Phase

Sending an interstellar expedition through a wormhole is a complex and expensive venture. Besides, even a ship powered by a gigawatt nuclear engine takes about 4 years to get to the wormhole in the Solar System and almost as long to enter the orbit of Janus in the destination system. That's why the United Civilizations have abandoned the frequent voyages of small ships, and instead send giant Starconstructor Highliners with colonists every 2 decades.

The United Civilizations gave the Space Corporations a 20-year window to settle on the planet. But after the arrival of the 2nd and 3rd waves of colonists, it expects the corporations to send Earth a certain amount of resources. The U.C. will no doubt penalize those who fail to fulfill their obligations.

The Shipment Phase is divided into three steps:

• 1. Mandatory Shipment
• 2. Scheduled Shipment
• 3. Unscheduled Shipment

01. Mandatory Shipment

During the second and third rounds of the game, each player must make a mandatory shipment to Earth, according to the table below. To ship helium, you need to spend it, covering an empty helium resource slot with a Qubit from your personal supply.

Round	Required Shipment
1	none
2	1 Helium
3	2 Helium

For each helium unit that you fail to ship, you receive an Unfulfilled Shipment Penalty Token. Each of these will subtract 5 Victory Points at the end of the game.

02. Scheduled Shipment

You now have the opportunity to fulfill the contracts in the shipment contracts pool.

Players fulfill these shipment contracts one at a time. The player whose marker occupies the highest position on the Industry Track goes first, then second highest and so on. In case of a tie, the holder of last player board takes precedence, or nearest to them counterclockwise.

To fulfill a shipment contract, choose one of face-up cards from the pool and cover the required resource slots in your storage with Qubits from your supply. Then, you receive the indicated number of Qubits into your supply. Finally, take the Contract Card and add it to a face down pile next to your player board. Victory Points for these contracts will be received at the end of the game and are considered hidden information – only you can check your fulfilled shipment contracts.

If you cannot or don't want to fulfill a contract, you must pass. If you pass, you cannot fulfill more scheduled shipment contracts this phase.

Once all players fulfilled a contract or passed, restart from the player who's marker occupies the highest position on the Industry Track, and so on. The Scheduled Shipment step ends once all players have passed or if there are no available Shipment Contract Cards left.

03. Unscheduled Shipment

If you received shipment contracts during the game due to an Industry Track bonus or card effects, you may fulfill them during this step (see Scheduled Shipment above). All players do this simultaneously.

Cleanup Phase

At the end of round 1 and 2, resolve the following steps in the Cleanup Phase.

At the end of round 3, skip this step and proceed to final scoring.

1. Shuffle all discarded Subsidy Cards back into the subsidy deck and place it on the appropriate spot.
2. Add 1 Project Card face up to every city without a Project Card.
3. All players add colonists to their own supply, depending on their position on the Science Track and Industry Track.
4. Reveal new Shipment Contract Cards according to the number of players (4/5/6 Shipment Contract Cards in a 2/3/4-player game) and add them to the shipment contracts pool.
5. Move the Round Token to the next spot of the round track on the support board.

You are now ready to play a new round, starting with a new Action Phase. The player with the Active Player Token plays first.

End of the Game

After completing the Shipment Phase of the 3rd round the game ends.

Take a score pad and take into account the following Victory Points:

• Points for controlling cities (see Controlling a City below);
• Points for positions on the Industry and Science Tracks, as shown on the step with your player marker;
• Points from your fulfilled shipment contracts;
• Points from specific "At the end of the game" effects from your Generation III Research Program Cards;
• Points for all your available resources in storage, Qubits in your supply, and number of Project and Shipment Contract Cards in your hand: add up everything and divide the total by 3 (rounded down);
• VP tokens collected during the course of the game.
• Subtract 5 Victory Points for each Unfulfilled Shipment Penalty Token you have.

The player with the highest number of Victory Points wins.

In case of a tie, the holder of last player board takes precedence, or nearest to them counterclockwise.

AI Tokens

During the course of the game, some of your abilities, bonuses, and Subsidy Card options will allow you to put an AI Token in a city. While in the city, they are stored in the "AI Modules" field. AI Tokens count towards controlling the city. The number of available AI Tokens is limited: if you already put all 12 of your AI Tokens on the main board you cannot gain this benefit anymore.

Controlling a City

No one controls the colonies on Janus individually. The United Civilizations have developed general principles according to which city administration is headed by the Technetronic Council, consisting of the heads of the largest industrial enterprises and scientific centers as well as representatives of the corporations. The more AI and facilities a corporation has in a city, the more weight it gets in the Technetronic Council.

The player who owns the most buildings and AI Tokens in a city controls that city. If there is a tie, the points for controlling the city are divided evenly among the tied players (rounded down).

The player who controls a city receives:

• 1 VP for each engineer settled in that city;
• 2 VP for each scientist settled in that city;
• 1 VP for each building built in that city.

Using Your Abilities

The effects on your corporation board, completed projects, and research programs are your "abilities." These grant you specific benefits that go beyond the basic rules.

You may use effects from your abilities in addition to your regular actions and gain benefits during any of the game phases. You may refuse to get the benefit of an ability completely. In case an ability grants you more benefits than you can use, use as many as you can.

When receiving or spending Qubits, resources, or colonists from a card effect, they always come from the common reserve, not the main board, unless stated otherwise on the card.

If multiple completed project and research program effects are triggered at the same time, the active player decides the order in which they are activated. Effects can create combinations that give you a significant advantage.

On each ability, you can find an effect trigger section, which tells you when the ability takes effect. Here are all the different icons:

Upon Completion

Cards marked "Upon Completion" have single-use effects, without conditions: you simply receive the benefits indicated on the card when you play it in a project slot. Even if cards with this effect may only be used once, they are not immediately discarded: they are still placed in one of your project slots.

When triggered, no limit

Cards marked as "When triggered, no limit" have multi-use effects with specific conditions, such as "after settling" or "for each step you advance on Science." These effects are triggered only if you meet the listed requirements during your turn. You get to use the benefit up to the same number of times as the requirement has been met.

Once per turn when triggered

Cards marked as "Once per turn when triggered" have multi-use effects with specific conditions, such as "after constructing" and "after receiving", that you may use one time during your turn. These effects are triggered only if you meet the listed requirements during your turn.

Important: Cards with the "after constructing" requirement trigger at the very end of the construction, i.e., after you resolved all the construction steps (the last one being completing a project or receiving a subsidy). Therefore you can get a benefit from this effect during the same turn in which the card was placed in a slot of your player board.

During income

Cards marked "During Income" have multi-use effects that trigger during the special step of the Income Phase. Players apply effects from their abilities starting with the player who has the Active Player Token, and continuing clockwise.

You may use these abilities in any order you choose, and these effects can trigger a chain of other effects. Any triggered actions during this phase are not considered to be part of a player's turn, so that "once per turn when triggered" effects do not apply during this phase.

At the end of the game

Cards marked as "At the end of the game" have single-use effects that only apply when the game ends. Research Program Cards allow players to receive (or prevent losing) additional VP for completing requirements on these cards.

The blue player has completed 3 projects during the course of the game. During their turn, Blue constructs a Hub. After construction they pay 2 Qubits for this ability to trigger. It grants advancement on the Industry Track by one step. By doing that, Blue receives a bonus of 2 engineers. That triggers another ability, which allows the player to receive 1 energy. Blue chooses to receive the resource and triggers a further ability, receiving 3 Qubits from the reserve.

Expert Variants

Draft with Open Projects

During setup of the game, before step 8 "Choose a Corporation Board" form the project deck according to the rules in step 10. Then place 1 random Project Card face up on the dedicated spot of each City Tile and proceed as usual, starting with choosing your corporation. You can make use of revealed information when drafting corporation boards and starting projects. During step 10 of setup, skip the instructions you have already followed.

Play with Open Research Programs

During step 4 of the setup of the game, draw 3/4/5 of Research Program Cards for a 2/3/4-player game. Flip all drawn Research Program Cards and place them face up in a row so that all players can see them.

Choose your Contracts

Every time you receive a Shipment Contract Card to your hand you can pay 1 Qubit from your supply to draw 3 Shipment Contract cards, choose 1 of them to keep, and place the remaining cards under the deck in any order you choose. You also can receive 1 card for free as usual.

Alternative Development Board (Kickstarter Extra)

When playing on the alternative side, some advancement bonuses let you choose from two available options. When you receive an AI bonus, you place your AI Token in your current city. Bear in mind that slots for projects are limited–you can't unlock more than 3 project slots.

Expansion: One More Step

This expansion consists of 6 modules and 1 Kickstarter extra, each of which can be used separately or combined with other modules. We don't recommend using any of them for your first game.

List of expansion modules:

1. Chief Officers
2. Niven Rings Initiative
3. Special Mandatory Shipments
4. Extra City Sets
5. Extra Research Programs
6. Extra Corporations
7. Alternative Subsidies (Kickstarter Extra)

1. Chief Officers

This module grants each player an ongoing ability in addition to their corporation ability.

Setup

For your first game using this module, after step 8 of setup, find the chief officer boards with numbers 1-4 on them. Each player takes a chief officer board according to their turn order and attaches it to their corporation board.

In later games, during step 8 of setup after you draft corporations, draft the chief officer boards as well. To do this:

1. Randomly select as many chief officer boards as there are players +1.
2. Starting from the first player and going clockwise, each player takes 1 chief officer from those available and attaches it to their corporation board.
3. Return the remaining chief officers to the box.

Using Chief Officer Abilities

All chief officers have a "once per turn when triggered" ability (see page 26 of the rulebook). Most of them let players modify actions in a major way.

2. Niven Rings Initiative

This module adds Niven Rings Initiative (NRI) Project Cards, which combine features of both Shipment and Project Cards. Players get access to these cards during the Shipment Phase. Unlike Shipment Cards, NRI projects don't award a fixed number of Qubits and VPs, but instead provide players with unique abilities, like Project and Research Cards.

Setup

During step 3 of setup, reveal 3/3/4/5 random NRI Project Cards for 1/2/3/4 players and add them to the shipment contracts pool. Return all other NRI cards to the box.

Note: NRI Project Cards do not count towards the number of Shipment Contract Cards that start in the shipment contracts pool.

During step 8, if you are not playing with the chief officer boards, place a random chief officer board facedown near the corporation board of each player.

During step 9, each player gets 1 additional unit of helium.

Shipment Phase

During the Scheduled Shipment Step, instead of fulfilling a shipment contract, a player can fulfill the NRI project requirements depicted on a card. If they do, that card must be placed in a slot: either a project slot or the special NRI project slot on their chief officer board. Projects can be replaced as usual, but NRI Project Cards can't–they stay in that slot until the end of the game.

Cleanup Phase

Do not add or discard any NRI projects during the Cleanup Phase.

Solo-Play

When playing solo, the Bot ignores the NRI Project Cards. They stay in the shipment contracts pool until the player decides to fulfill them.

Using Niven Rings Initiative Abilities

NRI project effects follow the same rules as your other abilities, described in the "Using Your Abilities" section of the rulebook (see page 26).

3. Special Mandatory Shipments

This module makes the Mandatory Shipment Step of the second and third rounds of the game more challenging and rewarding. Instead of sending a small amount of helium back to Earth, the players must send a more diverse set, determined by the new Special Mandatory Shipment Cards. In addition, each of those cards presents an opportunity to score bonus points for the round.

Mandatory Shipment Board

1. Space for Mandatory Shipment Card for Round 2
2. Spaces for Mandatory Shipment Cards for Round 3
3. Slots for AI Tokens

Mandatory Shipment Card

1. Shipment Requirements
2. Scoring Condition
3. Mandatory Shipment Scoring Reminder (same for all cards)
4. Card Number

Setup

During step 3 of setup:

• Place the special mandatory shipment board near the development board. Cover the mandatory shipment section on the development board with the Mandatory Shipment Token.
• Place three random Mandatory Shipment Cards face down on the corresponding places on the special mandatory shipment board. Return all other Mandatory Shipment Cards to the box.

During step 9, all players place one of their AI tokens on the dedicated spaces under each of the Mandatory Shipment Cards.

Cleanup Phase

During the first round's Cleanup Phase, reveal the Mandatory Shipment Card placed on the Round 2 spot of the special mandatory shipment board. During the second round's Cleanup Phase, reveal the two remaining cards.

Players should read those cards and plan their strategy for the round accordingly.

Player Phase

Each Mandatory Shipment Card has a scoring condition on it. Players who meet this condition during the corresponding round of the game return their AI tokens back to their supply. This will allow that player to score VP in the Shipment Phase.

Shipment Phase

During the Mandatory Shipment Step in the second and third rounds of the game, instead of 1 and 2 helium, the players must deliver the resources and pay the Qubits listed on the Special Mandatory Shipment Cards. Players can't choose not to fulfill a mandatory shipment if they have the resources for it. For Round 3, if a player only has resources for 1 mandatory shipment, they may choose which one to fulfill. For each unfulfilled mandatory shipment, the player gets an Unfulfilled Shipment Penalty Token as usual.

After fulfilling a mandatory shipment, the player receives 4 VP if their AI token for that card has been removed (which means that they met the card condition during the Action Phase).

After all players have finished the Mandatory Shipment Step, return the Mandatory Shipment Card to the box with all the AI tokens still on it. Players who don't meet a condition will have fewer AI tokens during the game.

Solo-Play

When playing solo, the bot skips the Mandatory Shipment Phase. Do not place AI tokens for your bot opponent on the mandatory shipment board and do not score additional VPs for the bot.

4. Extra City Sets

There are 3 extra City Sets in this expansion that you can use in addition to those in the base game. Each set consists of 2 city boards, 30 Project Cards and 4 Subsidy Cards, all designed around one of the main aspects of the game (movement, control, resources). You can mix them with the base game sets or play only with expansion content – here you'll find some interesting variants we have prepared.

Setup

During step 3, choose two (for 1-2 player games) or three (for 3-4 player games) City Sets to use, using the variants below or determined some other way. Return all components marked with set icons you are not using to the box. Then proceed through the regular setup.

Recommended Variants

For the regular experience:

1. "Old-World Giants" (base game): Pan-American United States, Tianxia People's Republic of the Rising Sun, Mediterranean Union – for 3/4 players
2. "Movement Is Life": Eurasian Confederation, New Mahabharat, Mediterranean Union – for 3/4 players
3. "Corporative Rivalry": Pan-American United States, New Mahabharat, United Civilizations – for 3/4 players
4. "Race to the Top": Tianxia People's Republic of the Rising Sun, Mediterranean Union, Eurasian Confederation – for 3/4 players.
5. "Conflict of Interests": Eurasian Confederation, United Civilizations, Tianxia People's Republic of the Rising Sun – for 3/4 players
6. "Super Industrial Revival": Pan-American United States, New Mahabharat, Mediterranean Union – for 3/4 players

For a more challenging experience:

Try these variants after the regular ones–they heavily specialize in one of the aspects of the game, making other aspects much harder to work through. You will love them, if you like more crisis management and interaction.

1. "Resource Curse": Tianxia People's Republic of the Rising Sun, New Mahabharat, Pan-American United States – for 3/4 players
2. "Intelligence Supremacy": Mediterranean Union, United Civilizations, Pan-American United States – for 3/4 players
3. "To New Frontiers": Eurasian Confederation, United Civilizations, Mediterranean Union – for 3/4 players
4. "Unfair Play": Pan-American United States, Eurasian Confederation, United Civilizations – for 3/4 players
5. "Abundance Project" (for 3/4 players): Tianxia People's Republic of the Rising Sun, Mediterranean Union, New Mahabharat
6. "All Stakes on Helium" (for 3/4 players): Pan-American United States, Eurasian Confederation, Tianxia People's Republic of the Rising Sun

5. Extra Research Programs

This module adds additional Research Program Cards, each with a unique ability, which greatly increases replayability of the game.

We advise you to add them to the corresponding decks after you play your first few games, as their effects are slightly more complicated than those on the base game Research Program Cards.

6. Extra Corporations

This module adds additional corporation boards, each with new conditions for AI token placement, which bring you new strategies for the game.

We advise you to add them to the draft pull after your first few games.

7. Alternative Subsidies (Kickstarter Extra)

This module adds Alternative Subsidy Cards, each with different effects, which will change the regular pace and feel of the game even when playing on the same City Sets.

When playing with the extra subsidies, you can either use Alternative Subsidies instead of regular Subsidy Cards or add the Subsidy decks together. During step 3 of setup, prepare the Subsidy Pool as usual.

Reminder — Icon Glossary

• Qubit
• Aerogel
• Energy
• Regolith
• Helium
• Any resource: Aerogel, Energy, Regolith or Helium
• Victory point
• Unfulfilled Shipment Penalty Token — Brings negative Victory Points at the end of the game
• Industrial Track
• Science Track
• Engineer
• Scientist
• Colonist
• Project Card
• Subsidy Card
• Research Program Card
• Research Program Card of certain Generation (R1, R2, R3)
• Shipment Contract Card
• Niven Ring Initiative Card
• Mandatory Shipment Card
• AI Token
• Small Building
• Large Building

Effect trigger icons

• "Upon completion" effect: Receive the benefits indicated on the card when you play the card in a project slot.
• "During Income" effect: Receive benefits during the special step of the Income Phase.
• "Once per turn when triggered" effect: Receive benefits if you meet the listed requirements during your turn in the Action Phase, only once in a turn.
• "When triggered, no limit" effect: Receive benefits if you meet the listed requirements during your turn in the Action Phase, as many times as the condition is met.
• "At the end of the game" effect: Receive benefits at the end of the game.
• "Upon completion/During Income" effect: The ability takes effect each time either of the triggers applies.

Laboratory Effect

Cover the icon with the Qubit from your personal supply to use the effect.

• Spend Qubits from your supply and place them in the reserve to receive Victory Points.
• Return Engineers or Scientists from your supply to the reserve to receive Victory Points.
• Spend a unit of the specified resource to receive 2 Victory Points. Place a Qubit from your supply on the spent resource as usual.
• Return up to 2 Engineers from your supply to the reserve to receive Scientists to your supply based on the number of Engineers returned.