Outer Earth Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup Instructions
• Your Company Dashboard
• Game Play Overview
• Phase 1: Buying Planets
  • In Summary
  • Step 1: Planets For Sale
  • Step 2: Bidding
  • Planet Summary
• Phase 2: Building and Selling Planets
  • In Summary
  • Company Actions
  • Action #1: Draw development cards
  • How to read Development Cards
  • Action #2: Build infrastructure on planets
  • Company Action Example
  • Reading Bonus Revenue Cards
  • Action #3: Sell Planets
  • Sell Planet Example
  • End of Phase 2
• Phase 3: Upkeep
  • Upkeep Order
  • Replenish Planet Market
  • Last Round of the Game?
  • New Round Begins
  • Did you just complete your last round?
• End Game Scoring
  • Total Profits
  • The Winner

Components

• 100 development cards: Blue (40 cards), Yellow (35 cards), Red (25 cards)
• 4 company dashboards
• 20 planet cards
• 30 bonus revenue cards
• 4 sets of bidding paddles
• 12 dice (6-sided)
• Starting player tracker and meeple

Game Setup Instructions

Game setup is determined by the number of players and if you want to play a short or long game. A short game is recommended for new players.

# of Players	Galaxy Deck (Planets), Short	Galaxy Deck (Planets), Normal	Planet Market (Revealed Planets), Short & Normal	Bonus Revenue (BR) Piles (# of decks / # of cards in a deck), Short	Bonus Revenue (BR) Piles, Normal
2P	12	20	3	2/3	2/6
3P	18	30	4	3/4	3/7
4P	24	40	5	3/6	3/10

1. If you are playing a short game, remove all Planet and Bonus Revenue Cards with an L in the bottom right corner from the game.
2. Shuffle the planet cards and create the galaxy deck. Use it to create the planet market.
3. Shuffle the Bonus Revenue Cards and create the 3 Bonus Revenue Piles. Reveal the top card of each Pile. In a 2 Player game, create 2 bonus revenue piles instead of 3.
4. Each player gets:
   • 1 company dashboard,
   • a set of bidding paddles,
   • 3 dice.
5. Roll dice to determine the starting player. Place the starting player token onto the starting player tracker.
6. Place three dice onto the company board indicating 2 draw, 2 build and 1 Sell.
7. Shuffle the development cards and give 4 development cards to each player.

Example: 2-player setup. Layout: development deck and discard pile; galaxy deck and planet market (the planet market slots are numbered; slots marked "Used during 3-player games" and "Used during 4-player games" are only used at those player counts); bonus revenue decks; starting player board and meeple; each player's starting hand of development cards, company dashboard and bidding paddles.

Your Company Dashboard

The company dashboard is every company's tool to keep track of progress. Every side of the dashboard is reserved for different uses:

• The left side is used as the construction area for your planets in development.
• You may keep any number of planets in your construction area equal to your company sell ability for free. Every additional planet is taxed during the upkeep phase for 2 development card each.
• The right side is used for your planet portfolio where your sold planets go after performing the sell action.
• The bottom side is used for profits that include bonus revenue cards and excess development cards.
• The 3 dice represent your companies initial ability to perform the draw, build and sell actions.
• At the beginning of a game, every player turns their company ability dice 2 draw, 2 build and 1 sell.

Game Play Overview

• Phase 1: Buying Planets - Companies bid for the exclusive rights to develop on planets.
• Phase 2: Building and Selling Planets - Companies use actions to build and sell their acquired planets for a profit.
• Phase 3: Upkeep - Companies pay taxes on excess planets and the planet market is replenished.
• Last round of the game? If no, a new round begins. If yes: End game scoring - Companies tally up their victory points (VP). The last round is triggered when either the galaxy deck or one of the bonus revenue decks run out (see Last Round of the Game below for the exact condition).

Phase 1: Buying Planets

In Summary

Phase 1 consists of companies buying planets that are available in the planet market. If planets are desired by multiple companies, companies have the opportunity to make a competing offer using the cards in their hand. The company with the highest offer wins the right to build on the planet.

Step 1: Planets For Sale

Planets are put up for sale one after the other, starting with the planet furthest away from the galaxy deck.

Sale order: the planet furthest away from the galaxy deck gets put up for sale first (1st), then the next one closer (2nd), then the next (3rd), and so on toward the galaxy deck.

Step 2: Bidding

Companies express their interest in buying planets through bidding.

First, indicate which planet is up for sale. Second, every company locks in their decision whether they are bidding (green paddle) or not bidding (red paddle) on buying that planet. Companies put their bidding paddle face down that reflects their decision. Third, companies reveal simultaneously what their decisions were.

(Indicate - lock in - reveal.)

There are three outcomes possible during the bidding process:

• 0 green paddles - Nobody gets the planet. A development card is placed face down under the planet, making it more valuable for the next round.
• 1 green paddle - The bidding player gets the planet for free.
• 2+ green paddles - The starting player chooses to make the initial bid which is equal to the number of green paddles visible. If the starting player bows out, the next interested player clockwise becomes the starting player and the initial bid is lowered by 1.
  • A development card is equal to one auction bid.
  • When a company accepts the initial bid, subsequent bids either:
    • Increase the bid by 1, or
    • bow out of the auction.
  • If there is only one interested company left in the bidding process, that company has to buy the planet by discarding the same number of development cards as their bid value.
  • Whenever a player buys a planet, move the starting player token to their space on the starting player tracker.
  • Indicate the next planet closer to the galaxy deck and repeat the bidding process.
  • After the planet closest to the galaxy deck has been put up for auction, proceed to Phase 2: Building and Selling Planets.

Planet Summary

• Start paths
• Planet Requirement
• Company benefits
• Dice increase icon
• Long game icon

Bid Smart on planet cards. There are many factors that can influence your decision to bid on a planet. Things to keep in mind while evaluating planets:

• Start paths: Choose planets that reflect the development cards in your hand or the path you want to take to achieve a bonus revenue.
• Planet Requirement: The minimum number of developments required before it can be sold.
• Company benefits: Some planets provide great company benefits when sold.
• Dice increase: When sold, each dice increase symbol allows you to increase your company draw, build or sell die by 1.
• Long game: Include these cards when setting up a long game during game setup.

Phase 2: Building and Selling Planets

In Summary

In Phase 2, companies build infrastructures on their planets so they can be sold for profit. Building infrastructure on a planet is easy: if you want to build a blue development card, make sure there is a blue exit path you can hook up to. You can also draw more development cards if you don't have the right development type in your hand, or perhaps you are stocking up to prepare for Phase 1 in the next round. Whatever you decide to do, remember to pay attention to the available bonus revenue cards. Selling planets that fulfill the requirements for a bonus revenue card gives extra profits and can be the difference between winning and losing!

Company Actions

Every company begins 2 draw, 2 build and 1 sell as their basic company action values. The most recently sold planet in your planet portfolio may provide your company with a temporary action value increase.

In clockwise order starting with the company that is the starting player, each company takes 3 consecutive actions points during their turn. Companies have three possible actions they can do during Phase 2:

1. Draw a development card,
2. Build infrastructure on the planets in their construction area, and
3. Sell a planet for profit.

Example: Company Dashboard in Play. The dashboard shows the construction area, the company board, the planet portfolio, the infrastructures built on planets, and the profits.

Action #1: Draw development cards

This action allows companies to draw cards from the development deck to put in their hand. Keep in mind that during the upkeep phase, players need to discard down to 10 Development cards.

How to read Development Cards

Development cards come in three types: blue, yellow and red. Development cards make up a company's hand and are used for two purposes:

• As currency during the initial offer for planets in Phase 1: Buying Planets
• As infrastructure companies can build on their planets that are in development in Phase 2: Building and Selling Planets. The development type determines the start path. Example: a red development has a red start path. The exit path(s) determine what development types can be built next.

(Card parts: start paths, exit paths, development type.)

Action #2: Build infrastructure on planets

This action allows companies to play development cards from their hand on any planet in their construction area. The infrastructure must continue the path of the card below.

(Example: Red does not continue the path of the yellow card; Blue continues the path of the yellow card.)

• If a company can build two or more infrastructures with one action, the development cards may be built on more than one planet.
• A company might have built infrastructures on a planet that fulfill other requirements.

1. Bonus revenue: Check to see if the planet's infrastructure fulfills the infrastructure cost for any of the bonus revenue cards. If so, the company discards the infrastructure cost of the bonus revenue card in exchange for the bonus revenue card. The bonus revenue card goes into the company's profits along with the remaining infrastructures that were not used to pay for the bonus revenue card. Make sure the next bonus revenue card is revealed. You can only collect 1 bonus revenue card per planet.
2. Dice Increase: Some planets have a company stat increase icon. When these planets are sold, Choose to increase your company Draw, Build or Sell action dice by 1 per dice increase icon.

Company Action Example

A company's draw, build and sell value equal your company dice plus the most recent planet in your planet portfolio (the example shows the construction area, company dashboard, planet portfolio, and action points (AP) per turn).

• Company benefits will change every time another planet gets sold.
• When you sell a planet with a dice increase icon, you increase a company dice of your choice by 1.
• When drawing development cards, building infrastructure on planets or selling planets, the number of times you do an action equals your company action dice + any planet portfolio bonuses.

Example: For one action, this company can either

• Draw 3 development cards,
• Build 2 development cards on planets, or
• Sell 2 planets at the same time.
• The Sell action also represents the number of planets (2 in the scenario above) you may keep in the construction area for free.

Reading Bonus Revenue Cards

A bonus revenue card shows its victory points and its infrastructure cost.

• Unlinked - Infrastructures can be built in any order.
• Linked - Infrastructures must be built in the specific order shown.

Action #3: Sell Planets

This action allows companies to sell planets, exchanging them for profits and other benefits. Each planet has a minimum development value and a planet must meet this requirement in order to sell the planet. The sell value also allows you to have multiple planets in development without paying planet tax. Each additional planet requires 2 development cards to be discarded during the upkeep phase. See pg. 14 for Planet Tax.

Selling a planet consists of three things:

1. Trading in and discarding development cards on the planet for a Bonus Revenue card (if applicable) and place it and the remaining development cards into your profits slot.
2. Move the planet to the company's planet portfolio. The most recent planet provides temporary action bonuses until another planet is sold.
3. If the planet has the dice increase icon, increase your draw, build or sell dice by 1 per icon.

Tip: Only the most recent planet sold provides your company with benefits. Make sure to plan ahead in order to maximize profits and benefits.

A companies Sell action value also indicates the number of planets a player may keep in the construction area tax free. For every additional planet beyond your sell value, a company discards 2 development cards or discards a planet.

• If a company cannot or decides to not pay the space tax, the player chooses one of their planets, discard all the development cards built on it and places the planet into their profit slot.
• Planets in your profit slot count as -2VP.

Sell Planet Example

When a sold planet has the Increased Stat Dice icon, increase either your draw, build or sell dice by 1.

A company uses an action to sell this planet. Sold planets also count for points (+2 vp).

One of the bonus revenue cards needed a sequence of a red and two yellow infrastructures. The company made sure that a part of the planet's infrastructure fulfilled the cost of the bonus revenue card. The infrastructure cost is discarded face up and the bonus revenue card is added to profits (+8 vp).

Infrastructures not used to pay for bonus revenue cards are put into a company's profits (+1 vp each).

At the end of the game, this planet and its infrastructures would have contributed to 13 victory points in total (= 13 vp).

End of Phase 2

Once every company has completed their turn, Phase 3: Upkeep begins.

Phase 3: Upkeep

Upkeep Order

1. Pay planet tax. Check to see if any player has more planets in their construction area than their sell action value. For each additional planet over the sell value, a player must either:

   • discard 2 development, or
   • discard the planet into the profit pile.

   Planets in your profit slot count as -2VP at the end of the game.

2. Companies discard development cards down to the 10 cards limit.

Replenish Planet Market

The planet market is replenished if planets were bought during Phase 1.

1. Move old planet(s) to the slot(s) furthest away from the galaxy deck.
2. Add planets according to the player count + 1.

Last Round of the Game?

There are two ways to trigger the last round of the game: either the galaxy deck or two of the bonus revenue decks have run out. If one or both end game conditions have been triggered, the game lasts for one more round.

New Round Begins

After completing Phase 3: Upkeep, you are now ready to tackle a new round!

Did you just complete your last round?

If so, skip this phase and go straight to End Game Scoring.

End Game Scoring

Total Profits

• From a company's profits pile, every development card counts as 1 VP.
• Every bonus revenue card is also added to the total VP count according to their face value.
• Each planet in your planet portfolio count as 2VP.
• Planets that were placed in the profits pile count as -2VP.
• Each planet still in development count as -2VP. The development cards build as infrastructure on the unfinished planets count for 0VP.

The Winner

The company with the most VP is declared the winner as the most successful planetary development company in the galaxy!