Pets on Mars Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What's Included
• Before the First Game
• Before You Begin
• Game Set Up
• Let's Get Started
  • Phase 1: "Pre-Flight Preparation"
  • Phase 2: "Loading Cargo"
  • Phase 3: "Flight to Mars"
• When Does It End?

What's Included

• 1 Mars (box bottom)
• 1 cargo overview (inside of the box lid)
• 1 launch pad (4 pieces)
• 4 rockets
• 44 cargo cards
• 9 mission cards
• 1 fuel gauge (2 pieces)
• 44 cargo pieces

Before the First Game

Ask an adult to help you. Carefully punch out all cardboard and wooden pieces from the die-cut sheets. You do not need the pieces marked with the trash can symbol (see symbol illustration). Dispose of them properly.

Assemble the fuel gauge. It can remain assembled after the game and be stored that way in the box.

Before You Begin

Set up the launch pad as shown in the illustration and place it in the center of the table. Insert the fuel gauge into the slot on the far left above the viewing window.

Game Set Up

1. Shuffle all rockets face down and place them in a stack next to the launch pad.
2. Shuffle all mission cards face down as well. Place three mission cards face down next to the launch pad. Remove the remaining mission cards from the game; they will not be needed this time.
3. Shuffle all cargo cards face down and place the stack in front of the launch pad. Leave space next to it for a discard pile.
4. Place the cargo pieces in a supply in front of the launch pad.
5. Set the Mars board next to the launch pad, leaving a little space in between.
6. Keep the cargo overview nearby for reference.

Let's Get Started

Players take turns clockwise over several rounds (one round per rocket). The player who most recently saw a shooting star goes first. Take the top rocket from the stack, place it face up on the launch pad, and start the first round.

In each round, one rocket goes through three consecutive phases:

• Phase 1: "Pre-Flight Preparation"
• Phase 2: "Loading Cargo"
• Phase 3: "Flight to Mars"

You may talk to each other throughout the entire game about what to do and when to move from one phase to the next. However, the final decision is always made by the player whose turn it is.

Phase 1: "Pre-Flight Preparation"

Turn over the top cargo card from the stack. What does the cargo card show?

• One cargo item: Take the matching cargo piece from the supply. If that cargo piece is no longer in the supply, you may choose any cargo piece.
• Two cargo items: Choose one of the two cargo items shown and take it from the supply. If one of the pictured cargo items is no longer in the supply, you must take the other one. If that one is also no longer in the supply, you may choose any cargo piece.

Place the cargo piece in front of the cargo supply to start your cargo row for this rocket. Then place the cargo card on the discard pile. After that, the next player takes a turn.

Important: Overloading the rocket costs you valuable fuel! Do you think turning over another cargo card would be too risky and might overload the rocket? If so, end Phase 1 "Pre-Flight Preparation" for everyone and move on to Phase 2 "Loading Cargo."

Phase 2: "Loading Cargo"

Choose any cargo piece (only 1) from the row in front of the cargo supply and place it into the rocket's cargo hold. Please keep the following rules in mind:

• You may rotate and flip the cargo piece as you like.
• Start loading at the bottom of the cargo hold.
• Each new cargo piece must touch at least one cargo piece that has already been placed.
• If there are already cargo pieces in the cargo hold, they may not be covered or moved.
• Cargo pieces may not stick out of the sides of the cargo hold.

Then it is the next player's turn.

Important: Are there no cargo pieces left in the row? If so, move directly to Phase 3 "Flight to Mars."

Attention: Do one or more cargo pieces no longer fit into the cargo hold? If a cargo piece extends into the red tip of the rocket, or if the cargo pieces no longer fit into the cargo hold at all, Phase 2 "Loading Cargo" ends immediately.

For each cargo piece that causes the rocket to be overloaded, move the fuel gauge one slot to the right. Put these cargo pieces, along with any others still remaining in the row, back into the cargo supply. Phase 2 "Loading Cargo" ends immediately. After that, the next player takes a turn and begins Phase 3 "Flight to Mars."

Phase 3: "Flight to Mars"

If fuel is still shown in the viewing window of the launch pad, you may begin the journey. Carefully remove the loaded rocket from the launch pad and fly it to Mars. Unload all cargo pieces there. Use the cargo overview to check whether any of the pieces now on Mars belong together. If so, assemble them and place them anywhere on Mars. Important: The four animals can be combined with any suitcase.

Now turn over a mission card. It shows which cargo pieces you need to fly to Mars over the course of the game in order to complete the mission.

Important: The final mission card stays face down as a surprise until the end of the game.

Already experts? Then don't turn over the first mission card until you have brought one animal with a suitcase to Mars. You may turn over the second mission card once three animals with suitcases are on Mars.

After that, the round ends. Set the empty rocket aside. Take a new rocket from the stack and place it face up on the launch pad. The next player takes a turn and begins again with Phase 1 "Pre-Flight Preparation."

When Does It End?

The game can end in two ways:

1. All four rockets have successfully flown to Mars.
2. The fuel gauge is all the way to the right in the slot and no fuel is shown in the viewing window. No rocket can make the journey to Mars anymore.

Turn over all the mission cards that have not been revealed yet. Compare the cargo pieces assembled on Mars with your mission cards.

Important: Individual cargo pieces may be used more than once to complete missions.

How many mission cards were you able to complete in full?

• 3: Fantastic! You're a great team. With smart planning and perfect judgment, you completed all the missions.
• 2: Very good! You may not have brought all the favorite items to Mars, but the four friends are still happy.
• 1: There's room for improvement! Don't be discouraged, start a new space adventure right away.
• 0: What happened there? Good preparation and teamwork are important. You'll do better next time for sure.