Galaxy Goldmine
Galaxy Goldmine Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
Use Tools to explore the asteroid and dig up amazing space treasure to earn points! Watch out for pitfalls, aliens and bot malfunctions. When three Black Hole cards are drawn, the game ends and the player with the most points wins! Or, collect all three rare Holomap Fragment cards to automatically win the game!
Set Up
- Each player takes a playmat. Choose your favourite robot adventurer! Use your playmat to select Tools, activate your Forcefield and keep track of the cards in your hand!
- At the start of your turn, place the Tools you'll be using here.
- You can keep the cards in your hand here.
- Remove the Crust, Mantle and Core decks from the box and separate the 18 Moon Rock cards from the decks. Deal each player 3 Moon Rock cards, one from each level of Crust, Mantle and Core. This is your starting hand of Valuables! Place any unused Moon Rock cards back in the box. You can look at your cards at any time, but don't let the other players see!
- Once the Moon Rock cards are removed, shuffle each deck of Crust, Mantle and Core.
- Make the asteroid you'll be exploring! Place three Core cards face down in each space in the 3x3 grid on the board. Deal the Mantle deck next in the same manner, placing three cards in each pile, and then the Crust deck. There should be nine piles in total, with nine cards in each pile.
- Place the three Starting Tool tiles face up here. (The Cybernetic Pickaxe, Helping Hand and Glowtorch tiles go in the Starting Tools area on the left side of the board.)
- Place the three Lost Tool tiles face down here. (The Lost Tool tiles go in the Lost Tools area on the right side of the board.)
- Don't discard anything yet, but leave space for a discard pile.
Let's Play
The youngest player goes first, then play moves to the left.
On Your Turn
- Choose your Tools! Announce which two Tools you'll be using and place them in the Tool slots on your playmat. You can use your Tools at any point during your turn, but you must announce them before you start exploring. See USING TOOLS.
- Explore the asteroid! Flip over three face-down cards on the board. As you explore, you'll find Valuables and Events. See THE CARDS. (An unexplored card is face down; once flipped it is explored and stays face up.)
- After you've flipped over three face-down cards and used any Tools, your turn ends. Return your Tools to their slots on the board.
Using Tools
Each Tool has a unique ability that you can only use once per turn. At the beginning of the game, you can only use the STARTING TOOLS. Find and activate LOST TOOLS by exploring the asteroid!
Use your Tools at any point during your turn to find and collect Valuable cards revealed by exploring!
- When you collect a Valuable, place it in your hand. It will count towards your total points at the end of the game!
- If you reveal a Valuable card on your first exploration, but want to see what else you'll find, you can finish your two remaining explorations before you use a Tool to collect it. But be careful – there are Event cards hiding in the asteroid you can flip that will end your turn immediately!
- If you reveal a Valuable card on an exploration but can't collect it with the Tools you chose, that card stays face up until someone collects it.
Starting Tools
- Cybernetic Pickaxe: Collect 1 Valuable card with the Pickaxe icon.
- Helping Hand: Collect up to 2 Valuable cards with the Hand icon.
- Glowtorch: Choose any two piles of cards on the board. Look at the top two cards of each pile, but don't let anyone else see. Then, return those cards.
Valuables with no icon can be collected for free – no Tool required!
Lost Tools
When you uncover a Lost Tool card while exploring the asteroid, flip over its matching Lost Tool tile to activate that Tool! You can use it immediately on this turn, in addition to the Tools you've already selected. For the rest of the game, all players can select that Tool as one of their two Tools at the start of each turn.
- Forcefield: Place one Valuable card from your hand in the Forcefield space at the bottom of your playmat. That card is now protected for the rest of the game! It cannot be stolen or discarded by the High-Power Magnet Tool or an Event card.
- Note: You can swap out a protected card by choosing the Forcefield Tool again at the start of your turn and exchanging the two cards.
- High-Power Magnet: Steal 1 Valuable card from any player by randomly taking a card from their hand.
- Battery Pack: Explore one additional time, for a total of four explorations during your turn.
The Cards
Valuables: Collect Valuable cards to gain points! All Valuable cards have a number in the lower-right corner that tells you how much it's worth. You start the game with three Valuable cards, your Moon Rock cards, and collect more as you explore. Some Valuable cards require you to use a specific Tool – or Tools – to collect them. If you're not able to collect a Valuable card on your turn, it stays face up on the board until someone can collect it. Remember, not all Valuable cards have a Tool icon – that means they're free to collect, no Tool required! Grab them and add them to your hand as soon as you flip them.
Holomap Fragments: When you dig up a Holomap Fragment card, add it to your hand. Collect all three to immediately win the game. See THE END OF THE GAME.
Black Holes: When you flip over a Black Hole card (Black Hole icon), immediately place it in one of the Black Hole spaces at the bottom of the board. When three Black Hole cards have been revealed, the game ends. See THE END OF THE GAME.
Events: When you flip over an Event card (warning icon), immediately follow the directions on the card, then place it in the discard pile.
Lost Tools: When you find a Lost Tool card while exploring, place it in the discard pile and flip over the matching Lost Tool tile on the side of the board. That Tool is now activated for this turn, and you can use it immediately! For the rest of the game, this Tool is available for all players to choose as one of their two Tools at the start of each turn.
The End of the Game
The game ends when either:
The third Black Hole card is revealed! The game ends immediately, and each player tallies up their points by adding together the Valuable cards in their hand (including the card in their Forcefield space, if they have one!). The player with the most points wins! If there's a tie, the player with the most cards in their hand wins.
Example: Nebula Emerald (6) + Ancient Artifact (4) + Shiny Stuff (1) + Moon Rock (1) + Stardust Sapphire (4) = 16 points.
OR
One player collects all three Holomap Fragment cards! That player immediately wins the game, regardless of how many points they have.
Three Holomap Fragment cards are scattered throughout the layers of the asteroid – when all three fragments are combined, they form a treasure map for the next great adventure!