Polaris Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Object of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Turn Sequence
  • A. Take an Action Card
  • B. Play Action Cards
    • Action Card Description
  • C. Take 3 Shooting Star Tokens
• End of the Round and Interim Scoring
• End of the Game
• Goal Cards

Overview

Players: 2-4. Age: 8+. Playing time: 40 minutes.

Object of the Game

In Polaris you place stars in the night sky, connecting them into constellations in order to fulfil common and personal goals. You play 5 rounds, with an interim scoring between them. To win, you must carefully watch the Moon phases, which change every round and determine the areas of the sky where you can place stars. The player with the most victory points (VP) at the end of the game wins.

Components

• 5 pieces of the frame with Moon phases
• 140 multicoloured stars (35 stars in each of 4 colors)
• 1 telescope token
• 4 player reminders
• Rulebook
• Modular starry sky made of 5 sectors and a central part
• Scoring board
• 15 common goal cards
• 10 personal goal cards
• 80 constellation line tokens
• 40 shooting star tokens
• 4 "60 VP" tokens (1 in each of 4 colors)
• 4 VP scoring markers (1 in each of 4 colors)
• 40 basic action cards (black frame on the face side)
• 24 advanced action cards (silver frame on the face side)

Player reminder (turn summary): Choose one of the following options: take a card from the scoring board (maximum 5 cards in hand); play action cards from your hand to place stars and/or connections in a sector; take 3 shooting stars. Final scoring summary: for lone stars and constellations (1 star: -2; 2: 0; 3: 2; 4: 3; 5: 5; 6: 7; 7+: 10); for personal goal (fulfilled 1 / 2 / 3 / 4+ times: 3 / 6 / 10 / 15); for every 2 shooting stars, 1 VP.

Setup

A. Assemble the starry sky by attaching the 5 sectors to the central part and place it in the center of the table. Check that you have placed the sectors correctly: the adjacent numbers on the sectors and on the central part must match.

B. Connect the pieces of the Moon-phase frame in the order shown in the picture (you can check the placement by the letters on them: they must be in alphabetical order). Place the Moon-phase frame around the starry sky. It does not matter which Moon phase ends up next to which sector of the sky.

C. Next to the starry sky place the scoring board, as well as the shooting star tokens and constellation line tokens, forming the general supply.

D. Shuffle the basic action cards face down and place them as a stack to the left of the scoring board. Take 4 cards from the top of the stack and place them face up in the basic action slots on the board, as shown in the picture.

E. Shuffle the advanced action cards face down and place them as a stack to the right of the scoring board. Take 2 cards from the top and place them face up in the advanced action slots on the board, as shown in the picture.

F. Shuffle the common goal cards face down, take 5 cards from the top of the resulting stack and place one card face up opposite each Moon image on the frame. Put the remaining common goal cards back in the box; they will not be used this game. Then place the telescope token next to the frame piece with the new moon phase.

G. Each player chooses a color and receives 35 stars of that color, forming their personal supply, as well as a VP scoring marker, which is placed on space "5" of the scoring board.

Note. In a 2-player game, place the stars of the colors not chosen by players in the 10 spaces with the symbol on the starry sky.

H. Shuffle the personal goal cards and deal 1 to each player face down; players must not see other players' goal cards until the end of the game. Put the remaining personal goal cards back in the box; they will not be used this game.

I. Deal each player 3 basic action cards from the corresponding stack face down. Players take these cards in hand without showing them to opponents.

J. The participant who last admired the stars becomes the first player. Then players receive shooting star tokens, the number of which depends on the player's turn order (players take turns clockwise):

• 1st player - 1 shooting star token
• 2nd player - 2 shooting star tokens
• 3rd player - 3 shooting star tokens
• 4th player - 4 shooting star tokens

Turn Sequence

In Polaris players take turns clockwise. On your turn you may perform only 1 of 3 available actions:

A. Take an action card B. Play action cards C. Take 3 shooting star tokens

Before passing the turn, the player must check whether the conditions for the end of the round and the interim scoring phase are met (see p. 6, "End of the Round and Interim Scoring" below).

A. Take an Action Card

Choose 1 of the action cards lying face up in the slots on the scoring board and take it in hand. A basic action card you may take for free; to take an advanced action card you must return 1 shooting star token from your supply to the general supply. Then reveal the top card of the corresponding stack and place it in place of the one you took. If one of the action card stacks has run out, shuffle the corresponding discard pile and form a new stack.

Important. You may have no more than 5 action cards in hand. You cannot take a new card if doing so would exceed this limit.

B. Play Action Cards

On your turn you may play any number of action cards, provided that all these cards show the same Moon phase. Place the chosen action cards in front of you and place all elements shown on them in the corresponding sector of the starry sky.

Important. You can change the Moon phase shown on cards in order to play them together with other cards. To do this, return to the general supply 2 shooting star tokens for each action card whose Moon phase you want to change.

Action Card Description

A. The sector of the starry sky where you may place the elements shown on the card (stars / constellation lines / etc.). B. The central part of the card shows which elements you may place in that sector of the starry sky and how you may arrange them. Next to the constellation lines, arrows are shown indicating their direction. Lines may be placed on either side of a star, preserving their orientation in space. C. Some cards bring you shooting star tokens. D. Some cards have a dawn symbol. When you play such a card, you do not discard it but place it in the first free space on the dawn track on the scoring board.

Note. Such a card lets you choose 1 of 3 available actions: place a star; place a vertical constellation line and receive a shooting star token; place a horizontal constellation line and receive a shooting star token.

Stars can be placed in any empty round spaces in the suitable sector of the starry sky, including spaces on the borders of sectors (with a red background). Constellation lines can be placed on any images of lines connecting two stars on the board that do not yet have a constellation line token.

If the action card shows more than 1 element, it is important to orient them correctly relative to each other and to neighboring elements. Constellation lines can be placed on either of the opposite sides of a star, but they must correspond to the direction of the arrows on the card and be in the correct sector of the sky (see the example below).

By connecting 2 or more of your stars with line tokens you form a constellation. Constellations are an important source of victory points at the end of the game (see "End of the Game").

Important. The North Star is located in the center of the starry sky and can also be considered part of your constellations if it is connected by a constellation line to one of your stars. You can even connect stars in different sectors of the sky through the North Star. However, the North Star cannot be used to fulfil personal goals.

To place your star on a sector border, in spaces with a red background, you must return 1 shooting star token from your supply to the general supply. When you place your star in a space with a white background, on the contrary, you receive 1 shooting star token.

Note. You may use a shooting star token you have just received on the same turn to place a star in a red-background space or to change the Moon phase on an action card.

At the end of your turn put all played action cards into the corresponding discard pile (for basic action cards or for advanced action cards), except cards with the dawn symbol. Such cards are placed in free spaces on the dawn track from left to right. Then check whether the conditions for the end of the round and interim scoring are met (see below).

Example. Herman plays these 3 action cards (1st, 2nd, 3rd) to place the elements shown on them in a sector. When playing the 3rd card he must return 2 shooting star tokens to the general supply to change the Moon phase on the card. The 1st card allows him to place 1 star and 1 horizontal constellation line to the left or right of it. With the 2nd card he can place a vertical constellation line anywhere in the sector and receive 1 shooting star token. Playing the 3rd card, Herman places a star in a space with a white background, which brings 1 more shooting star token, and a vertical line. Herman returns the 2 shooting star tokens received on this same turn to the general supply for using the 3rd card. Then he discards the 1st and 3rd cards, and places the 2nd card in an empty space on the dawn track.

C. Take 3 Shooting Star Tokens

Take 3 shooting star tokens from the general supply and put them next to you in your personal supply. This ends your turn.

End of the Round and Interim Scoring

As soon as all spaces of the dawn track on the scoring board are filled with cards, the end of the round and interim scoring occur. Players do the following.

1. The player who placed the last card with the dawn symbol in a space of the dawn track takes the telescope token.

2. The other players each take one more turn, clockwise. If on their turn they play cards with the dawn symbol, those cards go to the discard pile.

3. The player who received the telescope token gets 2 VP. Then players receive VP for fulfilling the condition of the common goal card lying opposite the frame piece with the new moon phase. Each player counts how many times they managed to fulfil the goal shown on the card. Depending on this, the player receives a certain number of VP and advances their marker the corresponding number of spaces on the scoring board. Also, the player who fulfilled the goal the greatest number of times receives an additional 3 VP. In case of a tie all contenders get 3 VP each. For more on common goal cards see p. 8 ("Goal Cards" below).

Note. During interim scoring a player may lose VP. In this case their scoring marker moves backward. If the marker reaches space "0" on the scoring board, the player cannot lose more VP.

4. Rotate the Moon-phase frame clockwise so that the new moon phase is opposite the next common goal card, for which VP will be awarded at the end of the next round.

5. Place all action cards lying on the dawn track into the discard pile. Place the common goal card for which VP were just scored face down in the first free space of the dawn track. Note that with each round the number of spaces for cards with the dawn symbol will decrease, which means the round end will come faster.

6. Place the telescope token next to the common goal card opposite the frame piece with the new moon phase. This is the goal for the next interim scoring. The game continues by the usual rules; the first to move is the player who placed the last dawn card in the previous round.

After the end of the 5th round and interim scoring, the game ends with the final scoring.

Example. At the end of his turn Herman placed a card with the dawn symbol in the last free space of the dawn track. The round ends and interim scoring begins. Herman takes the telescope token and gets 2 VP, while Yura, Valya and Sveta each take one more turn. Then points for the common goal are counted. In this example each player counts how many stars they placed in a certain sector of the sky. Herman has 5 stars in this sector - he gets 3 VP. Sveta has only 1 star - she loses 2 VP. Yura has 2 stars - he gets 1 VP. Finally, Valya placed 6 stars in this sector - she gets 6 VP and 3 bonus VP for having fulfilled the goal the greatest number of times. After scoring, the Moon-phase frame is rotated clockwise until the new moon phase is opposite the next common goal card. The action cards lying on the dawn track are discarded, and the common goal card just scored is placed in the first empty space. Herman places the telescope token opposite the new moon phase image and takes a turn, beginning a new round.

End of the Game

After the 5th round and interim scoring the game ends and final scoring takes place.

1. A player loses 2 VP for each of their stars that is not part of a constellation. Each player counts the constellations they formed. For each of their constellations (depending on the number of stars) a player receives the number of VP given in the table below.

Stars in constellation	1	2	3	4	5	6	7+
VP	-2	0	2	3	5	7	10

Important. The North Star, the star in the center of the starry sky, is also counted when counting stars in your constellations, if it is connected to your stars by constellation lines.

2. Each player reveals their personal goal card and counts how many times they fulfilled its condition. If the shape of a constellation exactly matches the images on the goal card, the goal is considered fulfilled; all other variants bring no VP. A constellation matching a personal goal may be part of a larger constellation, but each star can be part of only 1 constellation counted for the personal goal. Depending on how many times the player fulfilled the personal goal, they receive the number of VP given in the table below.

Fulfilled	1	2	3	4+
VP	3	6	10	15

Important. The North Star is not counted as part of your constellations when fulfilling a personal goal.

3. A player receives 1 VP for every 2 shooting star tokens remaining in their personal supply.

The player with the most VP becomes the winner. In case of a tie the players share the victory.

Example. Before final scoring Sveta already has 21 VP. She loses 2 VP for her star that is not part of a constellation (A). She gets 2 VP for her constellation B of 3 stars, 7 VP for constellation C of 6 stars and 10 VP for constellation D of 7 stars passing through the North Star. For fulfilling her personal goal Sveta gets 6 VP. Although she was able to repeat the required shape twice in constellation C, 1 star cannot be part of 2 constellations when fulfilling a personal goal, so the goal is counted as fulfilled only 1 time in this case. She fulfils the personal goal 1 more time in constellation D. Finally, she gets 2 VP for the 5 shooting star tokens remaining in her personal supply (E). In total Sveta earns 46 VP.

Goal Cards

This appendix describes in detail the common goal cards, for which players receive VP during interim scoring. (Cards are listed in the order printed in the rulebook; the card icons are not reproduced.)

• Number of stars in a sector X. You get -2/1/3/6/10 VP if you placed 0/2/4/6/8 stars in the indicated sector of the starry sky. Stars placed on sector borders (in spaces with a red background) count as located in both sectors.

• Number of stars in orbit X. You get -2/1/3/6/10 VP if you placed 0/2/4/6/8 stars on the indicated orbit.

• Number of stars on sector borders. You get -2/1/3/6/10 VP if you placed 0/2/4/6/8 stars on sector borders (in spaces with a red background).

• Presence of stars on different orbits. You get -2/1/3/6/10 VP if on 0/1/2/3/4 orbits there are at least 2 of your stars. The player who managed to place at least 2 stars on the greater number of orbits receives a bonus 3 VP. In case of a tie, 3 VP go to the player who placed 3 stars on a greater number of orbits. If the tie remains, all contenders get 3 VP each.

• Number of stars in the longest constellation. You get -2/1/3/6/10 VP if you placed 0/2/4/6/8 stars in your longest (but not necessarily largest) constellation. Only stars forming a continuous line count toward this goal. The North Star may be part of your longest constellation.

• Presence of stars in different sectors of the starry sky. You get -2/1/3/6/10 VP if in 0/1/2/3/5 sectors of the starry sky there are at least 2 of your stars. Stars placed on borders (in spaces with a red background) belong to none of the sectors and are not counted for this goal. The player who placed at least 2 stars in the greater number of sectors receives a bonus 3 VP. In case of a tie, 3 VP go to the player who placed 3 stars in a greater number of sectors of the starry sky. If the tie remains, all contenders get 3 VP each.

• You get -2/1/3/6/10 VP if 0/1/2/3/5 of your stars are completely surrounded by constellation lines. Around most stars you must place 4 constellation line tokens, but there are stars for which only 3 tokens are needed. The player with more stars surrounded by constellation lines than their opponents receives a bonus 3 VP. In case of a tie, 3 VP go to the player who has more stars surrounded by 4 constellation lines. If the tie remains, all contenders get 3 VP each.