Race for the Galaxy: Alien Artifacts Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• OVERVIEW
• CONTENTS
• ADDING CARDS
• ORB GAME
• ARTIFACT POWERS
• NEW CARD POWERS (by phase)
  • Upon Placement
  • I: Explore
  • III: Settle
  • $: Trade
  • IV: Consume
  • V: Produce
• ORB GAME REMINDERS
  • Orb Game Summary
  • Orb Actions Summary

OVERVIEW

Alien Artifacts adds new start worlds and game cards, action cards and VP chips for a fifth player, and Alien orb rules, to Race for the Galaxy.

This expansion forms a complete expansion arc. Use it with just the Race for the Galaxy base game, not with any of the first three expansions.

Add the new cards and begin play. Later, add the Orb Game.

CONTENTS

• 5 start world cards, numbered 5-9
• 41 game cards
• 9 action cards for a fifth player
• 2 main airlock orb cards (2-sided)
• 2 small airlock orb cards (2-sided)
• 30 A orb cards (gray backs)
• 15 B orb cards (green backs)
• 5 Explore: Orb action cards
• 2 orb game summary cards
• 10 wooden survey teams
• 5 wooden priority disks
• 1 priority slide
• 9 VP chips: 7 @ 1, 1 @ 5, and 1 @ 10
• 30 A artifact tokens
• 15 B artifact tokens

Carefully remove the priority slide, VP chips, and artifact tokens from their frames before your first game. Use only pack 1 cards for non-Orb games.

ADDING CARDS

Alien Artifacts can be played without the Orb Game rules. Simply add the new start worlds and game cards to the base game. To do this, remove any cards from the first expansion arc, which have 1-3 gray marks in their lower left corners. Use the new start world and game cards. Alien Artifacts cards have a single gold mark. Action cards and VP counters for a fifth player and a fifth preset hand are included.

Do not use any orb cards, Alien artifact tokens, priority slide, disks, or figures. Ignore all powers that refer to survey teams and victory conditions that refer to Alien tokens. A few developments will be more specialized, but still useful in non-orb games.

Start world setup (rule change, unless using the preset hands): separate the start worlds by their blue (even) and red (odd) numbers into two groups. Shuffle each group separately. Deal two start worlds, one from each group, face down to each player. Shuffle any remaining start worlds with the game cards and then deal six cards to each player. Each player, after studying all eight cards, discards one of two start worlds and two of six game cards. Players then simultaneously reveal their selected start worlds and begin play.

Powers. Most new powers are variations on previous powers. Those that are not have text descriptions and are described in detail starting on page 9 (see NEW CARD POWERS below).

This expansion adds two Pay-for-Military powers, similar to the Contact Specialist's power. Pay-for-Military powers do not combine with each other.

Two worlds, Alien Uplift Chamber and Rebel Resistance, have VPs that vary, similar to 6-cost "?" developments.

Some powers, such as the Rebel Uplift World's power that provides Military equal to its owner's number of Genes worlds, refer to cards in your tableau. This includes only cards present at the start of that Settle phase.

Goods or cards gained from newly placed worlds, unlike powers, can be used in the phase they are placed (after the newly placed world providing them has been completely paid for or conquered).

ORB GAME

Introduction. Players explore the Alien orb, built from cards in the center, seeking Alien artifacts. These provide VPs and one-use powers, affecting orb exploration or providing discounts, temporary Military, or Alien goods. Players' Military and developments, in turn, affect orb exploration.

Drawing the last orb card ends the game (at the end of that round of play).

As the orb game is longer than a typical game of Race for the Galaxy, we recommend that you first play Alien Artifacts with just the new cards.

Setup. Set up the game normally, with the following extra steps:

1. Give each player an Explore: Orb action card, two survey teams, and a disk. Give the orb summary card to any new player.
2. Shuffle the gray (A) and green (B) orb cards separately. For each player fewer than five, remove 6 A and 3 B cards from the game (without examining them). Deal 3 A orb cards to each player (do not examine these cards). Stack the remaining A cards on top of the B cards to form the orb deck.
3. Set the two main airlock cards in the center of play, overlapping their edges to form a single large airlock space in the middle.
4. Mix the tan/green (A) and yellow-green (B) artifact tokens face down and set them nearby, along with the other two airlock cards, for later use.
5. Without examining the orb cards, players choose their start worlds and cards. Then put the priority disk of the player with the lowest numbered start world on the priority slide in the spot nearest its arrowhead to mark that this player will start highest in orb priority. Then, clockwise, put each other player's disk in the slide's next open spot to form the initial orb priority.
6. In reverse orb priority, each player examines his orb cards, plays one (see page 5), and places a survey team in a different corner square of the main airlock (the cards joined in step 3). In a 5-player game, the last player to play a card – who will be first in orb priority – places his survey team in the central main airlock space.

Begin play.

Play. Play proceeds normally, except that an orb step takes place whenever one or more players choose Explore, before resolving the Explore phase normally.

Important: selecting any Explore action, such as Explore: +1,+1 or Explore: +5, results in one orb step being done; it need not be an Explore: Orb action.

Orb Step. Shift the disks of any players who chose Explore: Orb to the top of the orb priority. If several players did so, maintain the relative order of their disks when shifting them.

The priority slide has six spaces to make it easy to slide disks, even in 5-player games, to create an opening before shifting a disk upwards.

Then, in this orb priority order, each player may either do orb actions or pass:

• a player who selected Explore: Orb does all three (different) orb actions.
• other players do two (different) of the three possible orb actions.
• a player who passes shifts his disk to the topmost priority spot and may return each of his survey teams to any of the placed airlock spaces.

(If several players pass in the same orb step, they will all shift to the top of the orb priority, but will end up in reversed order among themselves.)

The orb actions are: Move Survey Team(s), May Play Orb Card, and Draw Orb Card. Orb actions must be done in this order.

After all players have done their orb actions or passed, continue with the normal Explore phase and then the rest of the round.

Move Survey Team(s). The player moves each of his survey teams up to 4 spaces on the grid formed by the airlock and orb cards.

Players begin with only one survey team. The development Alien Research Ship provides a second one.

Each square is 1 space; the large airlock space is 1 space; and moving from a square with a jumptube to any other jumptube square counts as 1 space. Survey Teams may not move diagonally.

Survey teams may enter, pass through, or end in spaces occupied by other survey teams (either their own or other players' survey teams).

Survey Teams may not pass through walls.

Survey Teams may pass through beam barriers only if their current Military (including any specialized Military vs. Aliens) is ≥ its listed strength.

During the orb step, a player may use Settle powers to temporarily boost his Military. These effects last until the end of the Explore phase. Pay for Military powers cannot be used to pass through beam barriers.

Each survey team must end its move upon entering a square with an artifact token (A or B) and must pick it up. If an artifact is on a breeding tube space (marked with a !, only on cards), then the player whose survey team picks it up must immediately draw an orb card and play it, with the restriction that it cannot overlap any part of the orb card that this survey team is on.

Example. A survey team belonging to an empire with Military 6 moves from the main airlock space to the adjacent jumptube square (1), through it to a jumptube square on a distant tile attached to the orb (2), and passes through a strength 4 beam barrier into a space with an artifact (3). The survey team must now end its move and pick up that token, despite having moved only 3 spaces so far.

May Play Orb Card. This is optional, except during setup or after picking up an artifact on a breeding tube space. A player doing 2 of 3 orb actions may choose to do this action and not place a card (to avoid drawing an orb card).

During setup, if a player is unable to play any of his orb cards, he must reveal them and then doesn't place one. If a player is unable to play the orb card drawn after picking up a breeding tube artifact (very rare), he reveals it and removes it from the game (without drawing a replacement).

Each orb card must attach to the orb and align to its grid of squares. When placing a card, it can either overlap just edges or it can cover some portion of existing orb cards, but at least one of its squares must cover some space not covered by any other orb cards. Squares with an artifact token, survey teams, or airlock card squares cannot be covered. Empty token spaces and (non-airlock) jumptube spaces may be covered.

Edges of the new card which overlap the existing orb's perimeter (only) must match it or make the perimeter's edge "worse", by replacing an open edge with a beam barrier or a wall or by replacing a beam barrier with a higher strength beam barrier or a wall.

Illegal: cannot replace a wall with a beam barrier.

Legal: replaces a wall with a wall.

Important: ignore all other card edges and orb perimeter edges; what matters is only where the new card's edges go directly on top of the orb's perimeter. Other card edges which don't intersect the orb's perimeter can replace walls or beam barriers with clear space; similarly, walls and beam barriers in the orb's previous perimeter can be covered by the inner areas of the new card.

Legal: replaces clear space with clear space at the only spot where the new card's edges go directly on top of the orb's perimeter.

It is possible to wall in or "strand" survey teams by orb card plays. (A player can pass to return his survey team(s) to any airlock space.)

When placing the card drawn after a breeding tube token is picked up, it may not overlap any part of the card that the survey team is on (not even a corner).

After playing an orb card, draw a matching colored artifact token (A or B) and put it face down (without examining it) on each of its token spaces.

Draw Orb Card. Draw an orb card from the orb deck. If it is exhausted, do not draw one. Orb cards do not count against your hand limit; the number of them you hold is open information; and they cannot be discarded for payments.

When the orb deck is exhausted, the game ends at the end of that round.

Artifact Tokens (A or B). When you pick up an artifact token, you may examine it, but keep it face down in front of you until you choose to use it. Most artifact tokens have a power, either to modify one of its owner's survey team moves in the orb or to provide a cost discount, temporary military, or an alien good in a phase. To use an artifact's power, flip it face up. Each power can be used only once to modify a given survey team's move or action. You may use several artifact powers to modify the same move or action. Artifact powers are cumulative with each other and with card powers.

A few artifacts list two powers. You may use only one of them.

During end game scoring, flip up any unused artifact tokens. Then, score all artifacts you picked up during play. Most artifacts are worth 1 or more VPs as shown. Uplift tokens score variable VPs based on the number of Uplift feeding stations that are visible in the orb at the end of game.

Orb card placements (especially on the final round) can affect this by placing or covering up Uplift feeding stations.

Three 6-cost developments score 1 VP for each artifact of a specific type that their owners collect (whether or not they use its power).

ARTIFACT POWERS

The small numbers printed on some of the artifact power tiles are not reproduced in this text.

• One survey team may move up to 4 more spaces. This cannot be played on a survey team that has picked up a token (as its move is over).
• One of your survey teams may pass through one wall (or one beam barrier) on its move.
• One of your survey teams can pass through one beam barrier of higher strength than your Military on its move or increase your Military by the amount shown (+1, +2, or +3), until the end of this phase. You may choose to increase your Military during Explore (if this increase enables Survey Teams to pass through multiple beam barriers), instead of using this token to pass through 1 beam barrier. (Four tokens, each with one of these powers: +1, +2, +2, +3.)
• Reduce the cost to place a development by the amount shown (-2 or -3). Terraforming Unlimited scores 1 additional VP for each Alien Science token.
• Reduce the cost to place a non-military world by the amount shown (-2 or -3). Terraforming Unlimited scores 1 additional VP for each Alien Science token.
• Play to reduce the cost of or increase your Military vs. Genes worlds by 2 until the end of this phase.
• (both tokens) Score 1 VP for each visible Uplift feeding station at game end.
• Gold "B" Alien Uplift tokens have no power and score +2 VPs at game end.
• Uplift Alliance scores 1 additional VP for each Alien Uplift token.
• May play as an Alien technology good in any phase. To trade this good, you must choose Consume: Trade. To consume this good during a phase, you need an unused power which can consume an Alien Technology good.

NEW CARD POWERS (by phase)

Upon Placement

Discard to Add Good. May discard 1 card from hand to add 1 Rare elements good when placing this world. This discard is done before receiving any cards from a Settle bonus or any Draw After powers for settling this world.

Add Survey Team. Orb Game Only. Play one of the set-aside airlock cards and place your second survey team on that card's airlock space.

I: Explore

Increased Survey Team Movement. Orb Game Only (SETI scores for it only in Orb Games). Your survey team(s) can now move two more squares in the orb.

III: Settle

Military. +1 Military for each world in your tableau at the start of this phase.

Orb Game: Alien Uplift tokens do not count towards this power.

Temporary Military. May discard the indicated kind of good for +Military as shown until the end of this phase.

Goods on a newly placed world can be discarded (after that world has been paid for or conquered).

Orb Game: an Alien Technology token may be used instead of discarding an Alien good.

Pay for Military. May, as an action, place a military Alien production or windfall world as a non-military world. The cost is its defense, with any discounts.

May, as an action, place a military Genes world as a non-military world. The cost is its defense, with any discounts (including, for Uplift Researchers, its -1 discount).

Only one pay for military power may be used to settle a given world.

Conquer Again with Excess. May, after conquering a military world, conquer a second military world using only excess Military (beyond that used to conquer the first).

This cannot be used with pay for military powers.

Discard to Place at 0 Cost. May, in addition to any (or no) Settle action, discard this card from tableau to place a non-military world – except an Alien production or windfall world – at 0 cost.

This can be used with a (non-Alien) pay for military power.

Settle if Lucky. May, as an action, turn over the top card from the supply. If it is a non-military world, place it at 0 cost. If not, add this card to your hand.

This cannot be used with pay for military powers.

$: Trade

Cannot Sell Good. A good on this world cannot be sold (using the Consume: Trade bonus).

Consume powers, such as Trade League's power, can be used. Trade League and Wormhole Prospectors do score for this world.

IV: Consume

"Up to" Four Different Kinds. Discard up to 4 different kinds of goods to gain 1 VP and a card draw apiece.

Draw if Lucky (Updated Table). Number of cards at each cost/defense (with expansion):

Card type	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Development (diamond)	14	16	8	10	4	18	0	0	0	0
Non-military world (circle)	3	6	15	13	6	8	3	0	0

V: Produce

Store Goods. At the start of Produce, shift any Rare elements goods on worlds in your tableau to this world. Multiple goods can be stored on this world. All these Rare Elements goods can be spent, traded, or consumed normally.

ORB GAME REMINDERS

Orb Game Summary

• Setup
  • Remove 6 A and 3 B cards from the orb deck for each player fewer than 5.
  • Deal 3 A cards to each player.
  • In reverse order, play an orb card and put a survey team in a main airlock corner (put a 5th team on the airlock).
• Play – do an orb step whenever Explore is called, before resolving Explore normally.
• Orb Step – shift up Explore: Orb players in priority. Each player does orb actions or passes:
  • Explore: Orb players do all 3 orb actions.
  • Other players do 2 orb actions.
  • Pass: move up in orb priority and may return survey team(s) to airlock(s).

Orb Actions Summary

• Move Survey Team(s)
  • up to 4 spaces (each)
  • from a jumptube to any other jumptube is 1 space
  • may not pass through beam barriers unless Military vs. Aliens is ≥ the barrier's strength
  • must stop on any token and take it
  • draw and place an orb card elsewhere after taking a breeding tube token
• May Play Orb Card
  • cannot cover airlock card squares
  • 1+ squares must cover some new space
  • must match/worsen edges that overlap both the card's and the orb's perimeter
• Draw Orb Card
  • if the orb deck is exhausted, the game ends after this round