Lux Aeterna Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Main Deck Cards
• Set-Up Your Tableau
• Turn Sequence
  • 1. Draw Cards
  • 2. Choose Cards
  • 3. Resolve the Event
  • 4. Apply the Action
  • 5. Move
  • 6. Save to the Cache
  • 7. Discard
  • 8. Check for End of Game
• Systems
• Glitches
• Scoring
• Varying Gameplay
• Other Notes
• Credits
• Components

Objective

The objective of the game is for you to prevent the destruction of your Starship! You win the game and the game ends immediately, either

• If there are not enough cards in the Main deck to draw your hand, or
• When you have repaired 3 or more Systems, while all the other Systems have collapsed, so that no Systems are 'under repair'.

You lose and the game ends immediately, if at least one of the following happens:

• Your Starship reaches the black hole, or
• 4 or more Systems have collapsed, or
• You run out of time.

If you win, you earn victory points (see Scoring). Once you are familiar with the game, try to beat your previous scores, and increase the difficulty (see Varying Gameplay).

Main Deck Cards

Main deck cards have several key elements; these are:

1. Description: thematic text.
2. Event: the System specified on the card suffers the stated amount of damage (0–3). If this damage takes it to below 1, it collapses.
3. Speed: moves the Starship closer to the black hole by the stated number of spaces (0–3).
4. System: name of the System affected by the Event (a three-letter abbreviation; for example, POW for Power). The System name is followed by a unique card number.
5. Action: what this card does to System dice, other cards, and so on.

Set-Up Your Tableau

1. Select 1 each of the 6 types of System card, at random. Place them face up and sideways, so that you know what the operational and collapsed effects will be.
2. Place a dice of matching colour on each System, set to a value of 2. Systems with dice on them are 'under repair'. Dice are removed when Systems are operational or when they collapse.
3. Place your Starting Position Marker and Starship on the Black Hole Proximity Track in a position of your choice. The number on your starting position will be a scoring bonus if you are successful in the game. For your first game, we suggest you start on the +5 starting position space.
4. Place your Console card in front of you with the undamaged side visible; the Console can be damaged, in which case you will flip the Console card to the red side when instructed by a card.
5. Shuffle the Main deck and remove 8 cards at random, unseen. Put those 8 cards back in the box.
6. Put the ERR Glitch to one side; it is only used when certain Systems collapse. Select 4 of the other 6 Glitch cards, at random. Split the deck into 4 equal piles. Stack 3 of those piles together to form 1 large pile. Shuffle the 4 Glitches into the large pile. Then put the remaining small pile on top. This forms the draw deck.
7. Use a smart phone or other device, or use a sound track from the Lux Aeterna website, to set a Timer for 10 (Hard) or 15 (Easy) minutes – this is how long you have to play! When you are ready to play, start the Timer. If you run out of time, you lose.

Turn Sequence

Carry out the following steps in the order specified. The sequence may be affected by Systems when they are made fully operational or when they collapse.

1. Draw Cards

Draw 4 cards from the Main deck. If you draw any Glitches, resolve them immediately in the order you drew them, then either remove them from the game if they had instant effects, or add them to your tableau, so you can take their bad effect into account. Draw replacement cards for each Glitch drawn, so you have a hand of 4 cards.

2. Choose Cards

Using the cards you have drawn plus any card in the Cache, you must do all of the following in any order:

• Choose 1 of the cards to be the Event. You MUST assign a card keyed to a System with a dice on it, if possible.
• Choose 1 of the cards to be your Action.
• Choose 1 of the cards to be your Starship's Speed.
• Choose 1 of the cards to be saved to the Cache.

Place each chosen card around the Console card in its appropriate slot.

3. Resolve the Event

Apply the damage to the indicated System by reducing the System's dice by the damage number on the card. Event damage may be affected by collapsed or operational Systems. If the System drops below 1, it collapses (see Systems below).

4. Apply the Action

Do what the Action on the card says. This may lead to Systems becoming fully operational or collapsed. Deal with them immediately, before going on to step 5.

5. Move

Move your Starship the number of spaces indicated on the card in the Speed position toward the black hole. Movement may be affected by fully operational or collapsed Systems. If your Starship reaches the black hole space, the game is over immediately and you have lost.

6. Save to the Cache

You can have a maximum of 1 card in the Cache, so you may either place the card you chose straight into the discard pile or replace the existing card in the Cache, putting the replaced card into the discard pile instead.

7. Discard

Put the cards allocated to Event, Action and Speed into the discard pile.

8. Check for End of Game

If there are not enough cards in the Main deck to draw your hand of 4 cards, the game is over. Proceed to scoring. Otherwise, play another turn, starting with step 1. Note: you do not lose if you run out of cards!

Systems

At the start of the game, all the Systems are 'under repair' and have a dice on them to indicate their current damage.

If a System dice goes below 1, that System collapses. Remove the dice and turn the System card so that the COLLAPSED effect (black background) is at the top and the right way up for you to read it. You may need to apply it immediately or bear it in mind for the rest of the game as appropriate. As soon as the fourth System has collapsed, the game is over, and you have lost.

If a System dice goes above 6, that System becomes fully operational. Remove the dice and turn the System card so that the OPERATIONAL effect (coloured background) is at the top and the right way up for you to read it. Then apply its effect immediately or bear it in mind for the rest of the game as appropriate. If the effect cannot be applied, then you must ignore it. Fully operational Systems are normally worth +7 points each at the end of the game.

If all the Systems are either operational or collapsed – and you haven't already lost – the game ends immediately, and you proceed to scoring.

Glitches

The Main deck starts the game seeded with 4 Glitches. Whenever you draw a Glitch, apply its effect immediately.

Some Actions allow you to fetch and remove Glitches, including the ERR Glitch. Set aside any Glitches removed in this way.

You only shuffle the ERR Glitch into the Main deck when certain Systems collapse. If you draw the ERR Glitch, you must choose and apply 2 of its effects; set it aside for end of game scoring if you chose the '-10 points' option.

Scoring

Assuming you have survived without falling into the black hole, suffering a terminal ship's Systems collapse or running out of time, you score victory points as follows, modified by the effects of operational or collapsed Systems:

• Score 1 point for each System still under repair (with a dice on it).
• Add 7 points for each operational System.
• Add the points on the Starting Position Marker's square.
• Lose 10 points if you chose the '-10 points' option on the ERR Glitch.

Add up these 4 elements to find out your final score.

Varying Gameplay

• Try to improve your score within a given time period; for example, best score for 10 minutes, for 9 minutes, for 8 minutes, and so on.
• Reduce the time you have to play.
• Adjust your starting position on the Black Hole Proximity Track.
• Seed the Main deck with 5 or 6 Glitches, instead of the usual 4.
• Start with 1 of the Systems (chosen at random) already collapsed.
• Super Insane Variant: During set-up, lay out the randomly selected Systems face down, without looking at their effects. This adds an air of mystery to what happens should a System fail or become operational.

Other Notes

Conflict of Effects: In some situations, it is possible for 1 System collapse or operational effect to be similar to another System's effect. In the situation where a System collapse or operational effect seems to conflict with a previous occurrence, the later System takes precedence.

Credits

Design: Tony Boydell

Graphic artist: Alex Lee – Instagram: @storyofalex

Special thanks: Matt Dunstan.

Playtesters: Alan Paull, the 1-Player Guild on BoardGameGeek, Owain Bennett, David Daffin, Ian Wakeham, Dan Hutch, Meeplepeat, Albert Hernandez, Garry Rice, Hugo Souza, the Leiriacon 2018 attendees (Paulo! Matthias! Bruno!) and Theo Clarke

Components

• 100 cards
• 1 Black Hole Proximity Track
• 1 Console card (double-sided: undamaged and damaged)
• 1 Play Aid card
• 6 Glitch cards
• 1 ERR Glitch card
• 30 System cards (5 each for COM, ENG, LIF, MEM, NAV and POW)
• 60 Main deck cards (10 for each of the 6 ship systems)
• 6 6-sided dice (colours matching the System cards)
• 1 Starship piece
• 1 Starting Position Marker
• This rulebook