Moonrollers
Moonrollers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 12 dice
- 30 Crew cards
- 45 Hazard tokens
- 5 reference cards
- 50 player tokens
- 1 Prestige board
- 1 rulebook
Card and Dice Breakdown
- Faction - Represents the Crew's Faction.
- Hazard - Signifies to draw 2 Hazard tokens and return 1 to the pile.
- Requirements to hire crew - Shows the specific die symbol needed.
- Requirement number / Prestige - Reflects the number of locked dice needed for each symbol and Prestige granted for completing Crew missions.
- Reminder icon - A small indicator that relates to the Crew's special ability.
- Double Prestige - Signifies double Prestige gain on Wild requirements.
- Special ability - An effect that may be used during your turn.
- Requirement symbols - Damage, Reactors, Thrusters, and Shields.
- Wild symbol - May be locked as any of the 4 possible requirements.
- Extra die symbol - Adds a die to your rolling pool from the supply.
Table Setup
- Each player takes a reference card, starting Crew (signified by a starting-crew icon on the top right of the card), and 10 player tokens in a color of their choice. Each player places 1 token on the 0 space of the Prestige board.
- Shuffle the unused starting Crew cards with the remaining 25 Crew cards and place them face down within reach of each player, forming the Crew deck.
- Shuffle the Hazard tokens face down in a pile.
- Reveal a number of cards from the Crew deck according to player count face up beside the deck to form the starting display:
- 2 players: 4 Crew cards with no duplicate Factions.
- 3 players: 5 Crew cards with no duplicate Factions.
- 4-5 players: 6 Crew cards with at least 1 of each Faction.
- Set the 12 dice next to the Crew deck, forming the dice supply.
- The first player is the player who last won a game of Moonrakers (or is chosen randomly).
Details and Dice Pools
Starting with the first player, players take turns going clockwise around the table until the game ends. The game ends immediately when a player has hired 1 Crew of each Faction or 3 Crew from the same Faction. Afterwards, proceed to final scoring.
On your turn, make space for the following 3 separate dice pools:
- Rolling Pool: This starts with 5 dice, since you start your turn by taking 5 dice from the supply and rolling them.
- Supply Pool: This starts with 7 dice, since there are 7 dice left in the supply after you take your starting 5 dice.
- Locked Pool: This is where dice that are locked and contributed to requirements go. This starts at 0 dice.
Rolling and Choosing Crew
Each turn consists of a series of rolls, where you will attempt to fulfill requirements on 1 Crew card to earn Prestige, Hazard tokens, and potentially the Crew card itself. On your turn, follow these guidelines:
- Roll 5 dice.
- Choose a Crew.
- Commit to a requirement.
- Bust, roll again, or stop.
Roll 5 dice
Take 5 dice from the supply and roll them to form your rolling pool.
Choose 1 Crew card to work on this turn
After looking at your initial roll, choose 1 Crew card to work on their contract.
- This may be any Crew card in the display.
- Each Crew has 3 or 4 requirement types.
- The requirement numbers indicate how many locked dice of the matching type must be contributed to clear the requirement.
- Requirement numbers also signify Prestige values.
- You may only work on 1 Crew each turn.
- Wild die faces: Dice depicting a Wild face may be contributed to any requirement. However, Wild requirements only take Wild faces. As such, these requirements are harder to meet, but they award double Prestige when scored (as denoted by the "x2" above the requirement).
Crew Requirements
Commit to 1 requirement on the chosen crew card
You must commit to any 1 requirement on the chosen Crew that does not have a player token on it.
A. Place 1 of your player tokens above the requirement as a reminder that you are committing to it. B. Lock in at least 1 die of that requirement. C. To lock in a die, move it from your rolling pool to your locked pool.
Extending your turn: While you can lock in more than 1 die, it does not mean you always should. Leaving dice behind in your rolling pool increases your odds of rolling Extra Dice, which can extend your turn.
You complete a requirement after you lock in a number of matching dice equal to its requirement number. You do not need to complete a requirement in 1 roll, but you do need to complete a requirement in 1 turn.
A. Upon completing a requirement, slide your player token down to cover the requirement. You do not earn Prestige immediately. B. If the requirement contains a Hazard symbol above it, immediately take 2 random Hazard tokens. C. Look at them privately and return 1 of them to the pile face down, keeping the other. You are free to inspect your Hazard tokens at any time, but other players may never do so.
Bust, Roll Again, or Stop
Busting
If you are unable to lock in at least 1 die after a roll, you bust. Remove all the player tokens you placed this turn. Any player tokens from previous turns remain. You do not return any Hazard tokens you gained this turn. Your turn ends and play proceeds to the next player.
Rolling again
Roll all the dice in your rolling pool. Repeat this step until you stop or bust.
A. Before rolling all the dice in your rolling pool, count the number of Extra Dice symbols depicted. For each of these, add 1 die from the supply to your rolling pool. If the supply is empty, you cannot add more dice to your rolling pool this turn. Then, roll your dice. B. If you have already committed to a requirement type, then you must lock in at least 1 die of that requirement. C. If you are not currently committed to a requirement (because you just completed a requirement on your last roll), you must commit to any requirement on the chosen Crew that does not have a player token on it, then you must lock in at least 1 die of that requirement.
Stopping
You may choose to stop instead of continuing to roll (because you do not want to risk busting). If you are currently committed to an uncompleted requirement, take your player token off the requirement. However, keep all your player tokens on completed requirements. Your turn ends and play proceeds to the next player. Since you may only work on 1 Crew each turn, you must stop if you complete the last requirement on a Crew card.
Prestige and Hiring Crew
Prestige
Once all requirements on a Crew card have been met, award Prestige to players who contributed to the mission. Return each player token to its owner; they gain Prestige equal to the requirement number below each token returned. Wild requirements reward Prestige equal to 2 times the requirement number (as denoted by the "x2").
Example: Blue player - 4 Prestige (4 Reactors); Green player - 3 Prestige (3 Thrusters); Orange player - 7 Prestige (3 Shields, 2x2 Wilds).
Hiring crew
The player who completes the last requirement on a Crew gains the card. When hiring a Crew, place it in front of you.
- If this is your first hired Crew card of its Faction, place it next to your other Crew cards, in a row.
- If you already have a Crew card of that Faction, you must place the Crew either on top of or under your Crew card(s) of the same Faction. When you hire a duplicate Faction, you may also immediately return 1 of your Hazard tokens of your choice face down to the pile.
- Each visible Crew card gives you a special ability. These benefits are clarified in detail in the glossary. You may only use the abilities of cards at the top of a Faction's stack (thus, you will only ever have 1 ability from each Faction).
When a Crew is removed from the display, draw the top card from the deck to replace it before the next player starts their turn. There should always be the same number of Crew cards in the display for the entire game.
Game End and Hazards
Game End
Once any player has hired 1 Crew of each Faction or 3 Crew from the same Faction, the game ends immediately. In the rare case that the last card of the Crew deck is drawn, the game ends. Players proceed to final scoring.
Hazards
Players now reveal their Hazard tokens. Players have a chance to score these tokens for additional Prestige, as long as they are not the player with the most Hazard symbols.
- The player(s) with the most Hazard symbols across their Hazard tokens are disqualified from scoring Prestige from their tokens.
- In the case of a tie for the most Hazard symbols, all tied players do not score their tokens.
- In 2 player games, the player with the most Hazard symbols is only disqualified from scoring additional Prestige if they have at least 3 more Hazard symbols than their opponent.
- Remaining players gain the amount of Prestige depicted on their tokens.
- Reminders: Draw 2 Hazard tokens and return 1 to the pile when completing requirements with Hazard. A Hazard token may be returned to the pile when hiring a duplicate Faction.
Example Hazard tokens: 1 Prestige / 0 Hazard; 2 Prestige / 1 Hazard; 5 Prestige / 2 Hazard.
Determining the winner
After scoring additional Prestige from Hazard tokens, the player with the most Prestige wins. In the case of a tie, the Player with the least Hazard symbols across their tokens wins.
Longer game variant
If you'd like to play a longer game, do not deal starting Crew cards during setup. All other rules remain the same (only recommended for 2-3 players).
Turn Examples
Example 1: Angelo begins his turn by rolling 5 dice. Since he has Salatar, he may re-roll his starting dice, but he elects not to. He decides to work on Namari this turn. Danielle has previously completed the 1 Reactor requirement on Namari, as denoted by her token, so Angelo cannot commit to that requirement.
Angelo did not roll Shields or Wilds, but uses Zek Zarag to lock 1 Thruster as a Wild. 3 out of the 4 Shield requirements are now completed. He rolled no Extra Dice so he only has 4 dice for his next roll.
Angelo rolls his final Shield! He locks this in and slides his token down. He can stop and secure his token on the card, or roll again. If he rolls again, he will end up having to commit to either Damage or Thrusters.
He commits to the 4 Shield requirement. He locks in 1 Shield and 1 Wild, and places one of his tokens above the Shield requirement as a reminder of his commitment. Before rolling again, he adds 2 dice to his rolling pool because he rolled 2 Extra Dice. As long as Angelo rolls at least 1 Shield or Wild, Angelo will not bust.
Angelo rolls a Wild and 2 Thrusters. He locks his final 3 dice and places his token on the Thrusters requirement. This ends his turn.
Example 2: Adria begins her turn by rolling 5 dice. Given her roll, she could complete the 3 Damage requirement on Namari immediately, taking the card, or go after something with more risk. She decides to play it safe and lock her 2 Wilds and 1 Damage to complete Namari's 3 Damage requirement.
Since the Damage requirement is Hazardous, she draws 2 Hazard tokens and keeps 1 of them. Since players may only work on 1 card per turn, this ends her turn.
Prestige is now distributed: 7 to Angelo, 3 to Adria, and 1 to Danielle. Namari goes to Adria as the player who completed the card.
Example 3: Alex starts their turn by rolling 6 dice, since they have Kal Damar. They decide to lock in 1 Damage on Lee Van Cribb, completing the requirement by placing their player marker on it. They draw 2 Hazards and keep 1.
They roll again and lock 2 Wilds as Reactors, completing that requirement by placing their player marker on it. They rolled 1 Extra Die, so they gain a die from the supply before rolling again.
Alex decides to roll again, but they rolled no Shields or Wilds so they bust! They take back all tokens they placed this turn, but keep their Hazard tokens. Alex flips the table, ruining game night (not pictured).
Crew Ability Appendix
Special Crew Ability Rules
- You only bust if you cannot lock in any dice after using your abilities.
- If an ability mentions a specific die face, it requires the actual die rolled and not one modified from a different Crew ability.
- Abilities that allow you to re-roll any amount of dice must be used before other abilities.
- All abilities are optional to use.
Ada Massa - Each Extra Die may be locked as 2 Reactors. If a die is locked in this way, it does not add an additional die to your rolling pool if you roll again.
Aponi - If your rolling pool contains 1, 2, or 3 dice, each Wild or Reactor locked may count as 2 Reactors.
At-0k - If you roll 2 or more Shields and you do not bust on this roll, you are safe from busting on the next roll. On your next roll, you may stop and keep your completed requirements or roll again even if you are unable to lock any dice.
Avari - If you roll all Wilds, add 3 dice from the supply to your rolling pool when you roll again.
B3-Ar - If you roll 3 or more Thrusters, complete your current committed requirement. If you are not currently committed to a requirement, you must first commit to one by locking at least 1 die and then use this ability on the same roll. Since you complete your requirement, you do not bust this roll.
Bill Bendo - If you roll exactly 1 Shield, that Shield may be locked as a Wild.
Dana Powalki - Each Extra Die may be locked as 2 Damage. If a die is locked in this way, it does not add an additional die to your rolling pool if you roll again.
Dr. Umbrage - If your rolling pool contains 1, 2, or 3 dice, each Wild or Damage locked may count as 2 Damage.
FT-1000 - If you roll exactly 1 Wild, that Wild may be treated as an Extra Die. If you use this ability, it may not be locked as a Wild.
Imdar Shade - If you roll no Shields, you may draw 1 Hazard token from the pile.
Kal Damar - Your rolling pool starts with 6 dice instead of 5.
Kary Powalk - Any number of Damage on the first roll of your turn may be treated as Extra Dice. Any dice used for this ability may not be locked as Damage.
Lee Van Cribb - If you roll exactly 1 Reactor, that Reactor may be locked as a Wild.
Lila Al Bindar - If you roll 2 or more Reactors, you may re-roll any dice in your rolling pool. This may include the Reactors themselves.
Meg Gallak - 1 Wild from the first roll of your turn may be saved for your next roll. When you roll again, do not roll this die, but instead place it back into your rolling pool.
Moro Mada - If your rolling pool contains 1, 2, or 3 dice, and you roll at least 1 Extra Die, you are safe from busting. You may stop and keep your completed requirements or roll again even if you are unable to lock any dice. Rolled Extra Dice still add dice to your rolling pool.
Myla Dystra - If you roll 2 or more Thrusters, any die may be treated as an Extra Die. If you use this ability, that die may not be locked.
Namari - Gain 2 Prestige after you bust.
Nella Van Daval - Each Extra Die may be locked as 2 Thrusters. If a die is locked in this way, it does not add an additional die to your rolling pool if you roll again.
[Redacted] - If your rolling pool contains 1, 2, or 3 dice, each Wild or Shield locked may count as 2 Shields.
Ryan Rogal - If you roll 2 or more Damage, roll 2 dice from the supply and add any Wilds to your rolling pool. These dice are immediately available to use.
Ryle Al Wren - Each Extra Die may be locked as 2 Shields. If a die is locked in this way, it does not add an additional die to your rolling pool if you roll again.
Saghari - If you roll no Damage, roll 1 die from the supply and add any Wild or Extra Die to your rolling pool. This die is immediately available to use.
Salatar - Before locking any dice or using any abilities on the first roll of your turn, you may re-roll all dice in your rolling pool.
Sella Pelleon - If you roll exactly 1 Extra Die, that Extra Die may be locked as a Wild. If a die is locked in this way, it does not add an additional die to your rolling pool if you roll again.
Sol Forst - If your rolling pool contains 1, 2, or 3 dice, each Wild or Thruster locked may count as 2 Thrusters.
Tantin Al Vale - If you roll exactly 1 Damage, that Damage may be locked as a Wild.
Vanta Sae - If you roll no Extra Dice, 1 die from your rolling pool may be locked as a Wild.
Vila Noir - If you roll no Reactors, you may re-roll 2 of the dice in your rolling pool.
Zek Zarag - If you roll exactly 1 Thruster, that Thruster may be locked as a Wild.
Credits
Game Design: Robert Hovakimyan
Art Direction: Zac Dixon
Graphic Design: Dane Baudoin
Illustrations: Alex Griendling, Michael Cribbs, Hazal Hidir, Glenn Thomas, Christina Young, Kelly Nakamura
Moonrakers Original Art: Alex Griendling / Lunar Saloon
Editors: Dr. Liz Miller
Production: Samuel Cowden, Katie Lentile, Austin Harrison, Zac Dixon, Max Anderson
IV Studio: Zac Dixon, Samuel Cowden, Austin Harrison, Katie Lentile, Rachel Loven, Jourdan Lees, Nayt Cochran, Michael Cribbs, Max Anderson, Kelly Nakamura, Lilly Quach, Tyler Thompson
Playtesters: Aaron Quintanilla, Angelo Cassano, Burton Wright, Eszter Zimet, Evan Winch, GundarHStriker, Ian Hunt, Johnest of Pauls, John McCustion, Kriptiko, Kris Chesney, Lucha, Mathias Andersson, Nick Murray, Nicolas Perez-Lozana Alonso, Peter McPherson, Scott Sherman Darrington, Steven Lewis, tatztastic (Brian)
2601 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, TN 37211 USA
If you need to get in touch with the team at IV Studio regarding Moonrollers, you can reach us at: [email protected]