Micro Cosmos Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Aim of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Player's Turn
  • Obtaining and Spending Resources
  • Specialists
  • 1 - Ark Upgrade
  • 2 - Space Travel
  • 3 - Playing Crew Cards
  • 4. Destination Actions
  • Gather Resources
  • Terraform
  • Scout
  • Settle
  • Create Colony
  • Create Trading Outpost
  • Gain Specialist Token
  • 5. Gaining Crew Card
• End of Game and Final Scoring
• Solo Mode
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
  • Changes in the Player's Turn
  • Automa Turn
  • Crew Cards
  • Space Travel
  • Automa Actions
  • Final Scoring
  • Difficulty Levels

Aim of the Game

Players travel the Galaxy, discover new planets, make them habitable, gather Resources, create Colonies and Trading Outposts, settle Survivors of The Great War on new Planets which can become their new homes.

Terraforming Planets and settling Survivors gives players victory points. After fully terraforming a specific number of Planets the game is over and the player with the most victory points wins.

Components

• 1 Canteen board
• 16 Planet cards
• 39 Crew cards
• 15 Survivor cards
• 4 Cargo hold cards
• 4 Ark cards
• 4 Bridge cards
• 12 Leader tokens (4 in each color)
• 4 Engineer tokens
• 48 Resource markers (12 in each of 4 colors):
  • red - Minerals
  • orange - Workforce
  • blue - Technology
  • green - Biomatter
• 4 Ark markers (1 in each color)
• 4 Point markers (1 in each color)
• 32 Terraforming markers (8 in each color)
• 32 Colony markers (8 in each color)
• 8 Trading Outpost markers (2 in each color)
• 1 First Player marker

Setup

1. Each player takes 1 Ark, 1 Bridge and 1 Cargo card.
2. Each player takes the following components in their color of choice: an Ark marker, Trading outpost markers, 8 Terraforming markers, 8 Colony markers, and 1 Point marker. Place them in their playing area. Place the Point marker on spot 0 on the scoring track on the Canteen board. Place the Trading outpost markers on your Ark card, on the spots marked with the trading outpost icon. Place 7 Colony markers on your Ark card, 1 on each spot marked with the colony icon, and the 8th one on spot 2 of the Engines section.
3. Take 4 Resource markers in different colors and place them on spot 0 of their respective tracks on the Cargo card.
4. Take 4 Specialist tokens: 1 Engineer and 3 Leaders (one of each color) and place them on your Cargo card on the spots marked with the specialist icon.
5. Take the Star Portal card from the Planet card stack and place it in the middle of the table.
6. Take the 3 Planet cards marked as "starting" and place them randomly around the Star Portal: 1 to the left, 1 to the right and 1 above the Star Portal.
7. Shuffle the remaining Planet cards and place them face down next to the Canteen board.
8. Shuffle the 15 Survivor cards and place them face down next to the Canteen board.
9. Shuffle the 39 Crew cards and place them face down next to the Canteen board.
10. Take 3 Crew cards and place them face up on the Canteen board.
11. Give each player 3 Crew cards. Each player discards one of them and places the remaining 2 above or below their Cargo card.
12. Each player receives 2 resources of their choice (can be 2 of the same) - move the resource markers the appropriate number of spots.
13. Pick the starting player and give them the First Player marker.

You're ready to begin the game!

Gameplay

The game lasts a series of rounds. On each round, starting with the first player, every player carries out their turn. After all players have carried out their turns, the first player passes the First Player marker to the player to their left and a new round begins.

If on their turn a player fully terraforms a third Planet of the system (or fourth in a 4 player game) the current round needs to be finished and one more full round takes place after which the game is over and players sum up their points. The player with the most points is the winner.

Player's Turn

On their turn players perform these steps in order.

1. Ark upgrade (optional)
2. Space travel
3. Play Crew cards
4. Destination action(s)
5. Obtain Crew card

Obtaining and Spending Resources

The Cargo card contains 4 Resource tracks (Biomatter, Workforce, Minerals, Technology). Whenever you obtain a resource, move its marker the appropriate number of spots to the right on that resource's track. Whenever you spend a resource, move its marker the appropriate number of spots to the left of that resource's track. A player can never have less than 0 units of any resource. At the beginning players cannot have more than 4 units of any resource. After unlocking the Cargo upgrade, the Ark's Cargo capacity is increased to 6 units of each resource. If a player receives more units than the Cargo can hold, all excess resources are lost.

Specialists

There are 4 types of Specialists in the game: Engineer and 3 Leaders (red, green, blue). All specialists are represented by symbols in the center part of Crew cards or by Specialist tokens in their respective colors. If an action or upgrade requires the use of a Specialist, the player needs to discard a Crew card with the required Specialist or move the appropriate token to the spot marked for it.

Leader matching: the Engineer matches any Leader for the planet.

1 - Ark Upgrade

At the beginning of their turn a player can upgrade their Ark. There are 8 upgrades available on the Ark card and each of them gives a specific bonus. In order to unlock an Upgrade the player must use a specified Specialist (Engineer or a Leader of any color) and spend a given number of resources. After paying the cost the player removes the Colony token from the upgrade spot and places it in the available token pool. The player has access to this upgrade from this moment on.

Robotics - cost: 1 Engineer and 2 Technology. The player can perform up to 2 different Destination actions on a Planet where he has a Colony token.

Biodome - cost: 1 Engineer and Biomatter. Everytime a player arrives at a Space Station they gain 1 Workforce.

Space Mining - cost: 1 Engineer and 2 Minerals. Everytime a player arrives at a Moon they gain 1 Mineral.

Cargo - cost: 1 Specialist of any color and 1 Workforce. The capacity of the Cargo is increased by 2. From this point the players Ark can hold a maximum of 6 resources of each type.

Scout Vehicles - cost: 1 Engineer and 1 Workforce. Everytime a player performs the Explore action they draw 2 cards instead of 1. They pick 1 and resolve it as normal and discard the second one.

Leisure Facilities - cost: 1 Engineer and 2 Workforce. Everytime a player arrives at a Space Station they gain 1 Crew card from the Canteen.

Mining Vehicles - cost: 1 Engineer and 2 Biomatter. Everytime a player arrives at a Moon they gain 1 Crew card from the Canteen.

Engines - cost: 1 Engineer, 1 Workforce and 1 Technology. This is the only upgrade that has 3 steps. When the player pays for it for the first time they move the Colony token to the "4" spot. From this point on they can move up to 4 spaces during Space Travel. After the player pays for the upgrade the second time they remove the Colony token (and place it in its available pool) and can move up to 6 spaces during Space Travel.

When players remove Colony tokens from Upgrades opposite each other (Biodome/Leisure Facilities and Space Mining/Mining Vehicles) they gain a Trading Outpost token and place it in their pool. Each player can gain up to 2 Trading Outpost tokens this way.

2 - Space Travel

On each turn the player MUST move their Ark. At first they can move up to 2 galaxy routes but thanks to the Engines upgrade they can increase this to 4 or even 6 routes. Moving through 1 route means moving the Ark along the dotted line to the next spot. A player can never move through the same route on their turn twice and can never end on the spot where they started. Players move through but cannot finish their travel on a spot with the other players' Ark. The exceptions to this are Planets and the Star Portal which have enough room for any number of players' Arks.

When a player finishes their travel on a Planet with a Trading Outpost on it, its owner gains resources visible in the top part of that Planet.

Discover

Moving along a dotted line to an edge of a card, the player can discover a new Planet. When doing so they pick a card from the bottom of the Planet card deck, place it along the edge that they just crossed and place their Ark on the newly discovered Planet.

Note: the planetary system can consist of a maximum of 9 Planet cards (3 rows of 3 cards). Players can never move in a direction that would go outside these bounds. After discovering all 9 cards, further expansion is not possible.

After discovering a new Planet the player receives a bonus. They increase the terraforming level of that Planet by 1 - they pick a Resource marker of their choice and place it on spot "1" of the appropriate Resource track of that Planet and place their Terraforming marker on spot "1" on the Planet's terraforming track.

Example: The yellow player is moving to the top edge with an unmapped region of space. After picking a new Planet card they place it along that edge and immediately place their Ark on the blue planet (even though their Engine power allows them to move only up to 2). As a bonus they decide to place 1 Mineral on the Resource track and by doing so they place their Terraforming marker on spot "1" of the terraforming track.

3 - Playing Crew Cards

Players can have a maximum of 6 Crew cards in play at any given time. Obtained cards are immediately placed face up in 2 rows: upper (above the Cargo card) or lower (below the Cargo card). Each of these rows can hold up to 3 cards. If a player has a total of 6 Crew cards in their play area they cannot obtain any more.

On their turn a player may play up to 2 Crew cards. If they are playing a card from the lower row they can either discard it or move it to the upper row. If they are playing a card from the upper row the card needs to be discarded. The same card can be played twice on the same turn, first by moving it to the upper row and later by being discarded.

If the color of the edge of the card at play matches the color of the Destination the player is on, they can perform that part of the Crew card's action. Crew card actions allow players to obtain resources, gain Crew cards or trade in Resources for other Resources or cards.

Examples of Crew card actions:

1. If the player finished their travel on a Space Station or Moon and the top edge of the Crew card is touching the player's Cargo card, after playing this card they gain 1 Resource of their choice.
2. If the player finished their travel on a red planet and the bottom edge of the card touches the player's Cargo card, after playing this card they can trade in any 1 Resource for 2 units of Technology and a Crew card.

Example: The player finished their Space Travel on a green Planet. They can now play up to 2 Crew cards. They could play the card from the upper row which edge is touching the Cargo card and perform its action. Unfortunately they do not have the Cargo Upgrade yet which means they would obtain only 1 unit of Biomatter. Instead they decide to first play the card from the lower row. The edge of this card is red so they do not perform this card's action, instead they simply move it to the upper row. The same card can be played twice. The edge of the card that's touching the Cargo card is now green which means that after playing it the player may perform its action. They trade in 1 unit of Technology for 2 units of Workforce, 1 Mineral and 1 Crew card. After playing a card from the upper row the card is being discarded so the just obtained Crew card can be placed either in the upper or lower row of cards.

NOTE: If a player finished their travel on the Star Portal, they can play only one Crew card but they may use any of the Crew cards actions that are touching the Cargo card regardless of their color.

4. Destination Actions

Depending on where the player's Ark finishes its movement, the player may perform one or more actions of that Destination.

Planets

Each planet, regardless of its color, allows the player to perform 1 of 6 available actions:

• A. Gather Resources
• B. Terraform
• C. Scout
• D. Settle
• E. Create Colony
• F. Create Trading Outpost

Reminder: If a player already unlocked the Robotics upgrade and has a Colony on a Planet, they may perform 2 (different) actions instead of 1.

Star Portal / Moons / Space Stations

The Star Portal as well as each Moon and Space Station allow the player to perform both of the available actions:

• A. Gather Resources
• B. Gain Crew token

Asteroids

Asteroids are only stops along your way to your Destination and they do not provide any actions.

Gather Resources

Resources the player may gather as a result of this action are shown in the upper part of a Planet, beside a Moon or a Space Station or inside the Star Portal. Players mark the gathered Resources on their respective tracks on the Cargo card. Any excess Resources are lost. When gaining Crew cards a player may only draw up to the limit of 6.

Terraform

This action allows the player to increase the planet's resource levels. In order to do this the player needs to spend Resources from their Cargo - each spent Resource increases that Resource level on the planet by 1. These levels are indicated by resource tracks on the Planet card. When increasing a level for the first time, take a resource marker of the corresponding color from the pool. Subsequent increasing of that resource means moving the marker up on the resource track up to its maximum level. At the beginning players can raise the Resource level of a Planet by 2 (two different Resources by 1 or one Resource by 2 levels). Each Colony and Trade Outpost belonging to a player increases that amount by 1.

Example: A player that has 2 Colonies on different Planets and 1 Trade Outpost may increase a planet's Resources by 5 during a Terraform action.

Everytime a player terraforms a planet they increase their level of merit in that process. After increasing the planet's resources for the first time the player needs to place their terraforming marker on the planet's terraforming track on a spot equal to the number of levels that planet's resources have been increased during that action. After subsequent terraform actions the player's marker needs to be moved further to the right. More than one marker can be situated on the same spot. Markers are placed on top of each other. The player whose marker is on top is considered the one whose merits in making the planet habitable are higher.

When all Planet resources reach their maximum levels that Planet is considered fully terraformed. The active player moves their Terraforming marker a number of spots equal to the amount of Planet Resources they increased during this action. Further increasing is impossible even if the player hasn't used their Terraforming to the fullest.

Perform the following steps:

• Players that helped terraform the Planet receive Victory Points equal to the spot they are on on the Terraforming track.
• The player whose marker is furthest on the Terraforming track receives 3 VP and the player who's second, receives 1 VP.
• All Resource markers have to be placed back to the marker pool and Terraforming markers are retrieved by their owners.
• Players remove all remaining markers and tokens from the Planet card (i.e. The Arks, Colonies and Trading Outposts), flip it over and put them back to their spots.

Note: A terraformed Planet provides extra Resources (now visible in the top of the card) during the Gather Resources action and can now be Settled by Survivors.

Example: The yellow player performs the Terraform action on the red Planet. They have a total of 2 Colonies and 1 Trading Outpost in the whole planetary system. During one action they could potentially increase the planet's Resources by 5 but this Planet only requires 2: 1 Biomatter and 1 Technology. The yellow player increases these levels to their maximum value by spending the appropriate Resources from their Cargo and moves their marker on the Terraforming track by 2 spots to the right. Their marker is furthest on the track which means they receive a total of 9 VP. The brown and purple players' markers are both on the same spot with the purple one on top which means that the purple player receives an extra 1 VP ending with a total of 3 VP and the brown player with a total of 2 VP.

Scout

To perform this action a player needs to use a Leader in the color of the Planet they wish to scout. They then draw 1 card from the top of the Survivor deck and gain Resources visible in the top of the card. If the color of the background matches the color of the Planet the player's Ark is present on, they can take that card and place it in their play area, below the Bridge. At any given time a player may have a maximum of 3 Survivor cards in their play area. After reaching that limit they may still perform the Scout action, but they won't be able to take that card until they free up a slot by performing the Settle action.

If a player cannot or doesn't want to take a Survivor card, it needs to be placed face up onto the discard pile. Whenever players need to draw a Survivor card and the Survivor deck is depleted, shuffle the discard pile and create a new deck.

Reminder: If a player unlocked the Scouting Vehicles Upgrade they draw 2 Survivor cards during the Scout action and keep one which they resolve according to the rules above.

Settle

If a player's Ark lands on a terraformed Planet matching the color of the Survivor card in their play area they may perform the Settle action by playing that card and moving it, face down, to a separate pile in their play area. Only one Survivor can be Settled in during one action but each terraformed Planet may be Settled multiple times during subsequent turns.

During end game scoring players gain extra VPs for the number of Survivors they were able to Settle onto new planets.

Create Colony

In order to perform this action the player must have a Colony marker in their pool (after unlocking any Upgrade) and must pay the appropriate cost. The first Colony costs 1 Engineer and 1 Leader of any type. Costs for every subsequent Colony are higher as shown in the table below.

Colony #	Any Leader	Leader in the color of Planet	Engineer	Any Resource
1	1		1
2	1		1	1
3	1	1	1
4	1	1	1	1
5	1	1	1	2
6	1	1	1	3
7	1	1	1	4
8	1	2	1	5

After paying the cost, the player takes a Colony marker from their pool and places it on the Planet.

Creating a Colony not only increases the effectiveness of the Terraform action but also gives Victory Points at the end of the game based on the number of total Colonies created.

Note: If the player unlocked the Robotics Upgrade they can perform another action right after creating a Colony on a Planet.

Create Trading Outpost

The player places a Trading Outpost marker (gained after unlocking a pair of Upgrades) and places it on the Planet.

If both of the player's Trading Outpost markers are already placed on Planets, performing this action means moving any one of the Trading Outposts and placing it on the Planet the player is currently on. Everytime a player creates a new Trading Outpost or moves it from a different location they gain 2 VP if they have a Colony marker on that Planet.

From this point on whenever any player's Ark arrives on a Planet with a Trading Outpost, its owner receives a Resource shown in the upper part of the Planet.

Gain Specialist Token

Moons, Space Stations and the Star Portal allow players to discard 1 of their Crew cards and gain 1 Specialist token on their Cargo card by moving it to the spot marked for it. When discarding a card with an Engineer symbol, the player gains a Leader token of their choice. When discarding a card with any Leader the player gains an Engineer token.

A Specialist from the Cargo card can be used in the same way as a Crew card with that symbol but it doesn't count towards the Crew card limit.

5. Gaining Crew Card

At the end of their turn the player can draw 1 card from the top of the Crew card deck (if they don't go over the 6 card limit by doing so) and places it in an open spot in the above or below the Cargo card. If the Crew card deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile and form a new deck.

End of Game and Final Scoring

Whenever any player fully terraforms a third Planet in the Planetary system (fourth in a 4 player game) finish the given round and play one more full round. After that the game ends and players move onto final scoring. Apart from Victory Points gained during the game, players add points for the number of Colonies, Survivors settled and points from terraforming tracks on all Planets that haven't been fully terraformed (the position of the players' terraforming markers is equal to the number of Victory Points).

Points for Settling:

• 1 Survivor - 5 VP
• 2 Survivors - 12 VP
• 3 Survivors - 20 VP
• 4 Survivors - 30 VP
• 5 Survivors - 40 VP

Points for Colonies:

• 1 Colony - 2 VP
• 2 Colonies - 5 VP
• 3 Colonies - 9 VP
• 4 Colonies - 14 VP
• 5 Colonies - 20 VP
• 6 Colonies - 27 VP
• 7 Colonies - 35 VP
• 8 Colonies - 45 VP

The player with the most Victory Points is the winner. In case of a tie, the player with more Resources in their Cargo is the winner. If there is still a tie, players share the victory.

Solo Mode

The solo mode allows for a 1 player game against a virtual opponent called the Automa.

Setup

Set up the game as a normal multiplayer game with a few changes listed below:

1. Automa has its own unique Ark card.
2. Place 6 Colony markers on the Automa's Ark card, one on each spot marked for it. Put the remaining two markers by the card.
3. Place the Automa's Ark on the Planet above the Star Portal.
4. Do not give any Crew cards to the Automa. Automa uses a dedicated deck of Automa cards during the game. Shuffle all the cards and place them above the Cargo.
5. You are always the starting player.

Gameplay

The gameplay is similar to the standard multiplayer game. First resolve your turn and then move on to the Automa's turn. The end game is triggered when a third planet is fully terraformed. Finish the current round, after which both you and the Automa resolve one more turn.

Changes in the Player's Turn

Carry out your turn according to basic rules with the exception of not being able to finish your turn on the same planet as the Automa.

Automa Turn

At the beginning of the Automa's turn draw a card from the Automa deck. If there are no cards in the deck, shuffle the discard pile and create a new deck. After drawing the Automa card resolve all of its actions one by one from top to bottom. After resolving all actions from the card the round is over.

Crew Cards

Automa is only interested in the Specialist symbols on the Crew cards. Any Crew cards gained by the Automa can be put into stacks divided by Specialist type or put one on top of another with the Specialist symbols visible. There is no limit to the number of Crew cards the Automa has.

If an action requires the use of a Specialist the Automa doesn't have, it can always use any two Specialists instead. If the Automa has to use any type of Specialist, you choose which one it uses.

Space Travel

The Automa Ark moves only onto Planets and contrary to you it can end its movement on a Planet with your Ark. The icon and description of this step determine the Planet where the Automa ends its movement. The icon shows the direction of movement and the description defines the criteria the Automa considers when choosing the Planet.

Direction of movement:

• Movement clockwise.
• Movement counterclockwise.
• Jump to the Planet card on the other side of the Star Portal and move according to the direction indicated by the arrows. If there is no Planet on the other side of the Star Portal, ignore the jump icon and simply move according to the direction of the arrows.

Criteria of choosing Planets:

• Planet without Colony: Automa picks the closest Planet it doesn't have a Colony on.
• Unterraformed Planet: Automa picks the closest Planet that hasn't been fully terraformed yet.
• Discover: Automa moves to the nearest undiscovered area of space and lands on the newly discovered Planet. Automa gains a bonus of 1 Mineral and puts the Mineral resource token on spot "1" of the appropriate Resource track. Place its terraforming marker on spot "1" of the terraforming track.

Automa Actions

Upgrade

Automa upgrades its Ark in the order (1-6) shown on the Ark card. Automa doesn't gain any bonuses from unlocking upgrades. The only exception is the Cargo upgrade which increases the Automa's cargo capacity. After upgrading, take the appropriate Colony marker and place it beside the Automa's Ark card.

Gather Resources

Automa gains the indicated Resources up to the maximum capacity of its Cargo.

Terraform

Automa terraforms according to standard rules. When raising the planet's Resource levels it tries to raise the leftmost Resource first.

Scout

Automa performs this action according to standard rules but is interested solely in gathering the Resources on the Survivor card. Move the Resource markers on the Cargo card accordingly and discard the Survivor card.

Whenever the Automa gains a Resource of choice, they gain the Resource which they have the least of. If two or more are equal in amount the Automa gains the topmost one in the Cargo.

Create Colony

Automa has two available Colony markers at the beginning of the game and gains additional ones performing upgrades. If the Automa has an available Colony marker, it pays the appropriate cost and creates a Colony - place a Colony marker on the planet.

Whenever the Automa needs to spend a Resource of choice it spends the Resource of which it has the most of. If two or more are equal in amount the Automa spends the topmost one in the Cargo.

Create Trading Outpost

After unlocking a specific pair of upgrades the Automa gains a Trading Outpost marker. When performing this action the Automa places a trading outpost on the planet it's on. From this point on, whenever any player's Ark (including the Automa itself) finishes its movement on a planet with the Automa's Trading Outpost, the Automa gains Resources visible in the top part of the Planet.

Whenever the Automa is supposed to gain a resource but has no room in its Cargo, it gains 1 VP immediately.

Final Scoring

Automa adds victory points from created Colonies and partially terraformed Planets apart from Victory points gained during the game. Automa doesn't perform the Settle action so doesn't gain any points for Settlers. Contrary to the human player, Automa gains points (values depend on chosen difficulty level - see below) for the number of upgrades it has.

You are considered the winner if you have MORE points than the Automa. In case of a tie the Automa wins.

Difficulty Levels

There are a couple of ways to increase the difficulty level in the solo mode. Depending on the chosen difficulty level, Automa can gain additional points for every upgrade, start the game with a Colony on its starting Planet (the marker comes from the Automa's pool) or with additional Resources in its Cargo.

EASY

Points for Upgrades:

• 1 Upgrade - 0 VP
• 2 Upgrades - 1 VP
• 3 Upgrades - 3 VP
• 4 Upgrades - 6 VP
• 5 Upgrades - 11 VP
• 6 Upgrades - 15 VP

EASY+

Points for Upgrades same as on the EASY difficulty. Automa starts the game with a Colony on its starting Planet.

MEDIUM

Automa starts the game with a Colony on its starting Planet.

Points for Upgrades:

• 1 Upgrade - 0 VP
• 2 Upgrades - 2 VP
• 3 Upgrades - 5 VP
• 4 Upgrades - 10 VP
• 5 Upgrades - 17 VP
• 6 Upgrades - 25 VP

MEDIUM+

Points for Upgrades same as on the MEDIUM difficulty. Automa starts the game with a Colony on its starting Planet +1 Resource of each type.

HARD

Automa starts the game with a Colony on its starting Planet.

Points for Upgrades:

• 1 Upgrade - 0 VP
• 2 Upgrades - 5 VP
• 3 Upgrades - 10 VP
• 4 Upgrades - 15 VP
• 5 Upgrades - 22 VP
• 6 Upgrades - 30 VP

HARD+

Points for Upgrades same as on the HARD difficulty. Automa starts the game with a Colony on its starting Planet +2 Resource of each type.