SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
223 questions players ask about SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-24.
223 questions players ask about SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-24.
The rulebook's setup says to place the tiles technology side face down, and players confirm the board notch was a misprint.
Bonus side up. The tech tiles sit on the board with their one-time bonus showing and the technology side face down; when you take one, you gain the bonus and then flip it onto your player board. The notch printed on the tech board spaces of early copies points the wrong way, which was a printing mistake corrected in later print runs.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. Every main-deck card is shuffled together each game; the pack split is only for packaging. You will rarely get through the whole deck, but if it runs out you reshuffle the discard pile.
The rulebook's setup describes a random configuration with aligned sectors, and players agree the app is optional.
Turn each disc to a random position, making sure the sector lines on all three discs and the outer sector boards line up so there are eight clean sectors, each with one nearby star. The app only gives you an unbiased random layout; it is not required.
The rulebook's setup gives the neutral-milestone counts and end-of-round stack sizes, and no other player-count changes.
Only small ones. The neutral milestones scale: with 1–2 players put two neutral markers above both the 20- and 30-point spaces, with 3 players one above each, and with 4 players none. When someone reaches those scores, a neutral marker goes onto an alien discovery space, which speeds up discoveries at lower player counts. Each end-of-round stack also holds one more card than there are players. Everything else, including all four tiles of every tech, stays the same.
The rulebook's setup has you shuffle each tech's four tiles, and players explain why.
Because each tile has a different one-time bonus on its other side. The tech you get is identical, but the bonus is randomized, and all four tiles of every tech are used regardless of player count.
The rulebook's player setup says a tucked card's bonus is gained immediately and again each round.
Yes. Tucking a card for income always gives you its bottom-right resource immediately, and the setup tuck is no exception. From round 2 on, that card also pays out with the rest of your income.
The rulebook's player setup describes one setup tuck and income from tucked cards each round.
No. The single tuck shown on the starting income card happens once, during setup. After that you tuck only when an effect shows the income-increase icon; at the start of each round you just collect what your income card and tucked cards already provide.
A player close to the design team says the intent is simultaneous, and others agree the order rarely matters; there is no official ruling.
All at once is the intent. If your group feels the choice matters (for example with Space Agencies organizations that have extra income steps), choosing in turn order is a reasonable fallback; the rulebook does not specify.
No. Both mean one card of income. The starting income card simply prints a number beside each of its icons.
The rulebook's setup and between-rounds steps describe the four stacks and the moving reminder token.
With the end-of-round card stacks. There are four stacks, one per round 1–4, and the rotation reminder token moves to the current round's stack. Once the last stack has been taken, you are in round 5, the final round.
The rulebook's components list says these supplies are unlimited.
Use a substitute. Figures, markers, credits, energy and data are all unlimited, so any stand-in (an unused color, another token) works. Running out of figures never stops a launch; only the probes-in-space limit does. Before substituting, check that you have returned markers you no longer need, such as those from a reset sector.
The rulebook's player setup lists identical starting resources for everyone.
No. In the base game everyone starts with the same 4 publicity, 4 credits, 3 energy and 5 cards (then tucks one for income); only starting score differs by turn order. Asymmetric agencies come from the Space Agencies expansion.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Most effects are mandatory, but a few give you a choice. You may decline to tuck a card when you gain income, and you may choose not to use movement. You cannot skip a solar system rotation, a signal, a tech, gained resources or points, a trace (an overflow space is always open), or a main action a card grants, and milestones you reach always resolve.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Skip only the part you can't do and resolve the rest. Typical cases: no card in hand to tuck for income, no probe to move, already at your probe limit for a launch, or already owning all four techs of a color. If a card both rotates the solar system and gives a tech you can't take, you still rotate.
The designer and the publisher both ruled on this directly.
In printed order: left to right, then top to bottom. So on a card that gives a move and then marks a signal in your probe's sector, you must move (or decline to move) before marking; you cannot mark first and move afterwards. Any text at the bottom of a card can modify how the icons above it resolve.
“The order of the rewards on the cards is not exactly mentioned in the rules, but they must be evaluated in order from left to right.”
— Tomas_Holek, designer
The rulebook says free actions can come during the main action, and the publisher's FAQ adds that they cannot interrupt each other.
A main action, yes; another free action, no. You can pause a main action to take free actions, for example placing the data a Scan just gave you to gain publicity and then spending it later in the same Scan. But each free action, including anything it triggers, must finish before the next one starts: if placing data triggers an income increase, you must resolve that tuck before placing more data.
The rulebook's turn structure allows only one main action per turn.
No. Each turn is exactly one main action plus any number of free actions, so landing two probes takes two turns. Passing is also a main action, which means you can't spend a turn on free actions alone and stay in the round.
The rulebook allows any number of free actions during your turn.
Yes. Free actions have no per-turn limit. You can buy a card for 3 publicity twice, discard several cards for their corner effects, or exchange resources repeatedly, as long as it is your turn.
The rulebook's resource exchange places no restriction on which cards you trade.
No. Any two cards from your hand can be traded for 1 credit, 1 energy or 1 card, including alien cards (Exertian cards excepted, as they can't be discarded). The same 2-for-1 exchange works with 2 credits or 2 energy.
The rulebook's game overview and pass rules describe this.
Only when every player has passed. A round consists of many turns; players keep taking one main action each in clockwise order, skipping anyone who has passed. Once the last player passes, everyone collects income and the next of the five rounds begins.
The rulebook's Increasing Income rule describes the tuck and the immediate bonus.
No. The income-increase icon means you tuck one card from your hand under your income card and immediately gain just the resource shown on that card. Your full income is paid only between rounds.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No. You can only tuck a card when an effect gives you an income increase, such as orbiting a planet, a card, or covering a computer space; it happens as part of that effect.
The rulebook's "Getting cards" rule distinguishes the two icons.
Drawing a card lets you take a face-up card from the card row (then refill it) or the top card of the deck. A random card must come blind from the top of the deck.
A publisher-affiliated account answered this directly in 2025.
The active player first, then clockwise. Order rarely matters for blind draws, but use this order whenever it does.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. Probes never block each other, so any number of probes from any players can sit in the same space, Earth included. Moving into or out of an occupied space costs nothing extra.
The rulebook's movement rules define adjacency as orthogonal and exclude the Sun.
Any orthogonal direction: clockwise or counter-clockwise around a ring, or inward and outward between rings, one adjacent space per move. Diagonal steps are not allowed, a probe can never enter or cross the Sun, and the nearby stars outside the rings are not spaces.
The rulebook's movement section says you can move a probe the turn you launch it.
Launching only places the probe on Earth. You can move it the same turn, though, because movement comes from free actions: spend 1 energy per move or discard cards for their movement corner, before or after the launch.
The rulebook's launch rules count every figure in the solar system rings as a probe in space.
Yes. Any of your figures anywhere on the solar system board, Earth included, is a probe in space. Without the probe-limit tech you can't launch again until that probe becomes an orbiter or lander.
The publisher's official FAQ covers skipping an impossible launch, and players agree.
Only if the card says it ignores the limit, as #9 Falcon Heavy does. Otherwise you can still play the card; you just skip its launch and resolve the rest.
The rulebook's Play a Card section says card-granted actions skip their standard cost.
No. When a played card includes an action such as a launch, you pay only the card's cost, not the action's usual cost. The probe limit still applies unless the card says otherwise.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Yes. Each move is separate, so a card or effect giving several moves can be divided among your probes however you like.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No. You may use any number of them, including none. Unused moves are simply lost; you can't save them for a later turn.
The publisher ruled on this directly in 2025.
No. Movement is resolved as you gain it, not banked as a pool for the rest of the turn. You may still interrupt a card's main action with free actions and then continue using that card's remaining moves, because they belong to the same effect. The one exception for combining separate moves is leaving an asteroid space (see the next question).
“Movement cannot be saved for later in your turn.”
— uhlik, publisher
The publisher ruled on this directly in 2025 and 2026.
Generate them back to back with nothing else in between. You may follow a single move with another from spending 1 energy or discarding a 1-move card corner, and these count as one leave-the-asteroids sequence even though they are separate free actions. A card-corner move plus the move from #138 Cornell University's trigger also works, as does #31 Space Launch System's move plus #80 Cape Canaveral SFS's. Two moves from #116 Control Center cannot combine, because a signal is marked between them.
The designer confirmed this directly in 2024, and it matches the rulebook's movement rules.
Yes. Each time a probe enters a space with a publicity icon you gain 1 publicity, whether you stop there or pass through, and moving back and forth onto the same planet earns it again for every entry (as long as you pay for each move). Visiting Earth gives nothing.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Moving a probe into that planet's space on the solar system board after the card is in play. You don't need to stop there. A probe that already sits on the planet when you play the card doesn't count until it leaves and comes back, and orbiters or landers at the planet never count as visiting.
The publisher confirmed in 2025 what rotation can push you onto, and the rulebook grants publicity for pushes.
Yes. A push from rotation is free movement, and the probe's owner gains any publicity on the new space, even on another player's turn (asteroids give publicity only with the tech that grants it). Rotation can only push probes onto comets or asteroids, never onto a planet, and a push on someone else's turn does not count as visiting for missions such as #129 Asteroids Research.
The rulebook's rotation rules describe pushes through cutouts, and players agree on the details.
It always stays in its own ring. If the turning disc pushes it, move it along to the next space of that ring (gaining any publicity there); if the gap is wide enough that the disc doesn't touch it, it stays where it is. A probe in the slot between Earth and Venus, for example, travels with the slot rather than being bumped onto Venus. Rotation never moves a probe more than one space.
They are printed spaces on the solar system board; two are in the Uranus/Neptune ring. Moving into a comet space gives 1 publicity, and the movement example in the rulebook shows a probe passing through one. Anomaly tokens from the alien species never cover comets.
The rulebook's orbit rules move the figure to the planetary board, and the publisher's FAQ confirms an orbiter cannot land.
No. Orbiting or landing takes the figure off the solar system board for good: an orbiter stays in orbit and a lander stays put unless a card removes it. To land on a planet you have orbited (or on its moon), fly a different probe there; it will land 1 energy cheaper because an orbiter is present.
The rulebook says figures on the planetary board are not probes in space, and the publisher's FAQ agrees.
No. A figure is a probe only while it is on the solar system board. Orbiters and landers are on the planetary board, have no sector, and are ignored by every effect that refers to probes.
The rulebook's landing rules grant the discount regardless of who owns the orbiter.
Yes. Landing costs 2 energy instead of 3 whenever any player's orbiter is at that planet. With no orbiter you can still land; you just pay the full 3 energy.
The rulebook's moon tech lands at the same cost as the planet, and the publisher's FAQ confirms the discounts apply.
Yes. Landing on a moon costs the same as landing on its planet, so an orbiter at that planet (anyone's) and the landing-discount tech both reduce it, and they stack. You still need the moon tech or an effect that allows moon landings.
The rulebook says there is no limit to orbiters or landers at a planet.
Yes. There is no limit on orbiters or landers at a planet, yours or anyone's; only the first orbiter and first lander get the first-arrival bonus. Moons are the exception: each has room for just one lander.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Yes. The emptied first space opens up, and the next player to orbit or land there takes it along with its bonus (3 points for orbiting, the data for landing). Other figures already at the planet do not slide over to fill it. Some early readings held that the bonus was gone for good, but the publisher's FAQ settled it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Neither. Points and rewards already gained are kept, and the figure goes back to your supply for reuse (figures are unlimited anyway).
The rulebook requires a probe on the planet's space to land, and players agree card landings follow the same rule.
No. A card's land works like the Land action without the energy cost: one of your probes must already be on that planet's space on the solar system board (moved there first if the card also gives movement), and it becomes the lander. Orbiters can't be used.
The publisher answered this directly in 2024.
You gain all the landing rewards, including the first-lander data even if another figure already covers it. Dragonfly also lets you land on a moon that is already occupied, as long as you can land on moons (the tech). It is otherwise a normal landing: you need a probe at the planet, and you may also use it on an empty space.
The publisher answered this directly in 2024, and the official FAQ gives the full rules.
Pluto has no space on the board, so you can't visit it. Its owner alone may Orbit or Land at Pluto with a probe anywhere in the outermost ring, at normal costs (landing is 2 energy with your orbiter there, and the tech discount applies). Pluto holds one orbiter and one lander. It counts as a planet for other effects, gold tiles and missions, and #15 Atmospheric Entry, #84 Sample Return and #16 Dragonfly let you use it a second time.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. Rewards resolve left to right, so a card drawn earlier in the reward is in your hand when the income icon comes up and can be tucked. Likewise, if your first tuck gives a random card, you can tuck that card with the second tuck.
Two of the eight sectors on the sector boards are black. Since black doesn't show up well on the dark board, they are marked with a dotted symbol instead of the colored lines the red, yellow and blue sectors use. The reward marks a signal in either of those two sectors.
One experienced player answered from the icons; there is no official ruling.
Three: one in a red sector, one in a blue sector and one in a yellow sector. The icons have no slash between them, so you get all of them, and you gain the data each marker replaces.
The publisher answered this directly in 2025, citing the official FAQ.
No. That marker only records your win and covers a first-win reward that is no longer available. It doesn't count for cards that count your signals or sectors with signals, such as #88 Chandra or ET.20 Amazing Uncertainty. Effects and gold tiles that count sector wins do use it.
The rulebook's Marking Signals section says a signal can never be skipped and excess markers are allowed.
Yes. Every signal you gain must be marked, and you always can: in a full sector it becomes an excess marker that gives no data but still counts toward winning. A Scan's two basic signals (Earth's sector and a card from the row) are therefore always marked. The extra signals from telescope techs are optional, since you choose whether to activate and pay for them.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
The solar system board is divided by white lines into eight wedge-shaped sectors running from the Sun to the edge, each lined up with one nearby star. To mark a signal in a planet's (or Earth's) sector, find which wedge that planet currently occupies and mark the signal at the star at the end of that wedge.
The designer answered this directly in 2024, and the official FAQ agrees.
Only after the whole Scan action is finished. If an effect has you discard two or three row cards for signals (#45–47, #49 Square Kilometre Array), discard and mark all of them first, then refill. A card you take from the row by drawing (for example buying one for 3 publicity) is different: it is replaced at once, even in the middle of a Scan, and the new card can then be used.
A publisher-affiliated account answered this directly in 2025, matching the rulebook's tiebreaker.
In favor of whoever placed their marker later. For second place use the same rule among the remaining players: for example, if A has 4 markers and B and C have 1 each, the one of B and C who marked later is second and leaves a marker in the first slot.
The rulebook's Completing a Sector section resolves sectors after the main action.
After the main action that completed it. Finish marking every signal the action gives you first, even if an earlier one filled the sector, then resolve all completed sectors in any order you choose. If the action was playing a card that includes a scan, wait until the whole card is resolved. You may still take free actions afterwards; milestones and alien discoveries come later, at the end of your turn.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. Resolving a sector isn't part of anyone's turn, so a passed player who has the most markers still wins it and takes the reward, and any contributor still gains 1 publicity.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
The first winner takes the reward in the small separate space and covers it with their marker. Every later winner places their marker in the large space and takes only its reward (usually points), and that space holds any number of markers. Sectors with only one large space give the same reward, typically a life trace, to every winner.
The publisher answered this directly in 2025.
Only if it shows the Scan action icon. Cards that just mark signals (such as #40 or #136 Algonquin) are not Scans: you don't mark Earth's sector or use the card row, telescope techs don't apply, and Scan-triggered missions like #78 SETI Institute or #101 Telescope Time Allocation don't trigger. A card granting a full Scan action (such as #135 Noto) does all of that.
The rulebook's Completing a Sector section grants 1 publicity per contributing player.
Once. Every player with at least one marker in the sector, the winner included, gains exactly 1 publicity.
The rulebook's sector reset keeps a marker only for the second-place player.
No. Only a second-place player leaves a marker on the first data space. If the winner was alone, remove all markers and refill the whole slot with data. Whenever there is a second place, that player leaves a marker again, even if they were second last time too.
The rulebook's Marking Signals section awards 2 points for the second position.
Only the player whose marker lands in the second data position of the slot, once per fill of the sector. Other positions give just the data.
The rulebook says a reset sector can be completed and won again.
Yes. After it is resolved the sector resets and can be completed and won again by anyone, including the previous winner. A single Scan can also mark the same sector more than once if two of its signals point there.
The rulebook says Scan works without needing a probe.
No to both. Scanning uses telescopes on Earth: the basic Scan marks Earth's sector and a sector matching a card from the row, wherever your probes are. Only cards that specifically mention a sector with your probe care about probe positions.
The rulebook's Scan section lists the steps and lets you do them in any order.
Without telescope techs, a Scan marks one signal in Earth's sector and one in either sector matching the corner color of a card you discard from the row, which can be anywhere on the board. With telescope techs you can add more. You choose the order in which to resolve these, which can matter for which sector completes or who places later.
The rulebook's card overview limits the sector color to scanning.
Only when an effect lets you, such as the telescope tech that discards a card from hand during a Scan. A free-action discard gives only the card's top-left corner effect; the sector color in the top-right is used only by Scans and effects that refer to it.
The rulebook's Analyze Data section requires only a full top row.
All six circular spaces in your computer's top row. If computer techs sit in some of those slots, their top spaces are part of that row; the lower spaces under the techs may be empty. You never put data on the hexagonal Analyze icon, and the action costs 1 energy.
The rulebook's Analyze Data section says to keep the data in your pool.
It clears every data token in your computer, top row and any lower tech spaces, and that is the only way to empty it. Data waiting in your data pool stays where it is and can be placed into the emptied computer afterwards.
The rulebook's Placing Data rule makes it a free action at any time during your turn.
Yes. Each placement is a free action you can repeat as often as you like on your own turn, never on someone else's. New data goes to your pool so you can choose when to place it, for example holding it until after you add a computer tech so its 2-point space scores.
The rulebook says the data pool can never hold more than 6 data.
Only your data pool beside the computer. Data already placed in your computer doesn't count, and any data you would gain beyond 6 in the pool is discarded.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
The general supply. You take data out of a sector's slot only when you mark a signal there.
The rulebook's computer tech rules allow the lower space once the upper one is full.
Any time on your turn, as long as the top space of that column already holds data. You don't have to fill it right away or in any order, and you may leave it empty when you analyze.
The rulebook's Research a Tech section says placing a tech under data doesn't score.
You can place it there, but the 2 points are not scored: slide the tile under the data, which doesn't count as placing data. You still gain the tile's immediate bonus, can fill its lower space later, and will score the top space when you place data there after your next Analyze.
The publisher answered this directly in 2024, and the official FAQ agrees.
A conditional mission shows a condition, an arrow and a reward; it checks the game state (such as having 2 landers or 3 purple traces), so a state you reached before playing the card counts. A triggerable mission shows triggers pointing down to circles you cover; it fires only for things you do after the card is in front of you, and it is complete once every circle is covered.
The publisher ruled on this directly in 2025, clarifying the rulebook's wording.
No. Resolve the card's whole main effect first; only then does the card go in front of you, and from that moment you may complete the mission, right away if the condition holds. The rulebook's line about completing a met condition immediately was clarified to mean only that you don't have to meet it again. So #89 NIAC Program draws its 3 cards first, and you must then empty your hand to complete it.
The publisher answered this directly in 2025, and it matches the rulebook.
Any time during any of your turns while the condition is true, as a free action; you don't have to claim it the moment it is met. The condition must hold when you claim it, so if a rotation pushes your probe away or a figure is removed first, you must meet it again. Once completed, the mission stays completed whatever happens later.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
No. You may decline, for example when you have no probe to use a move reward, but to cover that space later you will need a fresh trigger.
The publisher ruled on this directly in 2024, and the official FAQ agrees.
Each triggering effect covers just one space, your choice among all your mission cards, even if it matches several (including a specific trigger and a generic one like any planet). But one action often contains several separate effects, and each can trigger its own space: a Scan marking a yellow and a blue signal can cover both on #116 Control Center, a Scan that also launches a probe triggers both a Scan mission and a launch mission, and two traces from one landing count separately.
Players agree, quoting the rulebook; a publisher-affiliated account said missions can be completed outside your turn but did not distinguish the two types.
Triggerable ones, yes: if another player's action triggers your mission (for example you gain a trace from a sector they completed), you mark it then. Conditional missions are claimed as a free action, so you claim them on your own turn while the condition still holds.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. The reward comes as soon as the trigger happens, so a card drawn from a mission during a Scan is in your hand (or the row is refilled) in time to be used for that same Scan.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. Missions react to effects, wherever they come from. If one mission's reward launches a probe, that launch can trigger another mission that rewards launching. Two identical missions still need two separate triggers.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. Every move into the space is a new visit, so stepping off and back on (paying for the moves) triggers again, even in the same turn.
The publisher's official FAQ covers skipping unresolvable effects, and experienced players agree.
Yes. Resolve what you can, skip what you can't (such as a landing with no probe in place), and the card's mission or end-game scoring still goes in front of you.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Yes. Playing any card for its effect is your main action for the turn, whatever it costs.
No. Cards are played from your hand. Take it into your hand first, for example by spending 3 publicity as a free action, then play it as your main action.
The rulebook's Play a Card section says which cards stay and which are discarded.
No. A played card goes to the shared discard pile unless it has a mission or a gold end-game scoring box, in which case it stays in front of you. The discard pile is reshuffled only when the draw deck runs out.
The publisher confirmed this directly in 2024, citing the official FAQ.
Yes. Those cards are missing the note, but a lander on the planet's moon was always meant to count and was playtested that way.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. You may discard a card for its corner even if the benefit is wasted, and it still counts as discarding for that free-action effect, so it triggers missions like Cornell University.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
On a conditional mission it is something you must already have, such as three telescope techs. On a triggerable mission it is an event: you cover a space each time you research a matching tech after playing the card.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
As many as it gives you: its two launches ignore the probe limit, so with 1 probe already out you end up with 3 (or 4 if you have the two-probe tech and 2 out). The limit still applies to your later launches, so you must turn probes into orbiters or landers before launching normally again.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Yes. Take the card from the row or blind from the deck, reveal it, gain its top-left corner effect, and keep it in hand. A blind draw risks a corner effect you can't use.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
You must move into the planet, asteroid or comet space after playing the card; the space you start on doesn't count. Their effects last the rest of your turn, so moves bought with energy or card corners afterwards also count. The Flybys, Asteroids Flyby and Cometary Encounter pay their reward only once per turn, however many times you visit.
The designer confirmed the scoring of this case directly in 2024, and the German publisher fixed the wording.
It means different planets: each planet scores its 1 point only once, so bouncing onto Venus twice still scores Venus once. You do gain the usual publicity for every entry, though. The German edition's word was changed in later printings to make this clearer.
The publisher ruled on James Webb directly in 2024, and the official FAQ covers the rest.
Resolve the move first, then mark signals based on one of your probes on the solar system board (orbiters and landers don't qualify). Kepler puts both its signals in that probe's sector. James Webb marks three signals: one in the probe's sector and one in each neighboring sector.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
You skip the Scan's base cost but still pay the extra cost of any telescope tech you choose to use. Cards that score per signal of a color during that Scan (such as Parkes Observatory or VERITAS) count every matching signal it marks, including ones from Earth's sector or your techs.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
A sector matching the color in the top-right corner of the discarded card. With #122 resolve the three cards one at a time, marking each signal before revealing the next, and mark all three even if they help opponents, since signals are mandatory. These are not Scan actions, so telescope techs don't apply.
The publisher ruled on revealing the cards directly in 2025, and the official FAQ covers the rest.
Clean Space Initiative discards all three row cards for their top-left corners even if you can't or don't want to use some of them. Pre-launch Testing launches a probe and gives 1 move for each card you reveal from hand with a move corner; reveal the whole cards (opponents may inspect them), and they stay in your hand.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this; no other players weighed in.
No. The four signals must be on the board when you complete the mission. You may, however, mark the card's own signals and complete the mission before resolving a sector those signals completed.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
First gain the reward for each card you already have tucked of the shown type, then tuck this card for income, which counts as an income increase and gives its resource immediately. The starting income card is not a tucked card and never counts.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
After you play it, each Scan action lets you cover one of its spaces (any order) and mark a signal in a sector of that space's color, which needn't be a sector you scanned. If the Scan completed a sector, you can cover a space and place its signal before that sector resolves, possibly as an excess marker that wins it.
The publisher ruled on this directly in 2024, and the official FAQ covers Westerbork.
#103 Westerbork requires winning the same sector twice. A mission asking for two wins in yellow sectors is met either by winning one yellow sector twice or each yellow sector once.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
It scores the gold tile you didn't mark as if your marker were on its lowest, rightmost space, no matter how many spaces others have taken. If you marked fewer than three tiles, choose which unmarked tile it scores.
The publisher corrected the FAQ directly in 2025.
Your markers replace data as usual, but the data goes back to the supply instead of to you; the 2 points for a second position still apply. PLATO puts its signals in one sector with your probe, which makes it good for excess markers. The FAQ's remark that Algonquin is good for excess markers was a copying error from PLATO.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Only if you had no markers in that sector's data slot before playing it. If its signal completes the sector, you can still take it back before the sector resolves, as long as that signal was your only one there. The probe must be on the solar system board.
The publisher ruled on this directly in 2025, matching the official FAQ.
Only on your own turn. If your own research or pass rotates the board and pushes your probe into asteroids, it counts as a visit; a push on another player's turn does not. You can trigger it several times by visiting asteroids repeatedly, and a probe already there when you play the card doesn't count.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
One for each planet and each comet in line with Earth outward from the Sun, i.e. in Earth's sector, for a maximum of 3.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Any move that keeps the probe at the same distance from the Sun. Moves bought with energy or card corners that turn count as well as the card's own.
The publisher ruled on the asteroid case directly in 2026, and the official FAQ covers the trigger.
Each time you discard a card for its top-left corner and gain publicity, data or a move (alien corners that include one of these qualify), you may cover the matching space for its bonus. A move from a discarded corner plus Cornell's triggered move can be combined to leave an asteroid space.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It is a triggerable mission, not three launches. Each later launch, however you make it (including through a telescope tech during a Scan), lets you cover one space and move a probe 1. Three launches complete it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
In moves: the probe must be where a probe leaving Earth would be after at least 5 moves, so there are 4 spaces between it and Earth.
The publisher ruled on this directly in 2025.
Yes. It is a conditional mission (have a probe there), not a visit mission, so you can complete it right away as a free action or on a later turn, as long as rotation hasn't pushed your probe off or moved it away from Earth.
The rulebook's Research a Tech section lets you choose any tech you don't have.
No. You may take any tech you don't own yet, in any order, so the moon-landing tech can be your first probe tech. Probe and telescope techs are numbered only because each has a fixed slot on your board.
The rulebook says computer techs go in any computer slot, and the publisher's FAQ adds the advice.
No. A computer tech can go in any empty computer slot. Filling the leftmost slot first usually lets you reach its rewards sooner, but skipping a slot that already holds data can be better, since covering data forfeits that tile's 2 points.
The publisher ruled on this directly in 2025, clarifying the rulebook wording.
No. A tech tile must go in an empty slot, not one already holding another tech. The rulebook's wording was not precise on this, but that was always the intent.
The rulebook's Research a Tech section limits you to techs you don't have.
No. You may own each tech only once, including computer techs even though they have no fixed slot. If a card would give you a tech type you already own all four of, skip that part (you still rotate).
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
No. The tech raises your limit to two probes in space at once, but each Launch action still launches a single probe. When you're at the limit, turn a probe into an orbiter or lander before launching again.
The rulebook says this tech's immediate bonus launches a probe for free, and players agree the new limit already applies.
Yes. The higher limit applies as soon as you take the tile, so its free launch can be your second probe. Only if cards have already put two or more of your probes in space is that launch lost. Only the first probe tech has this launch bonus; the other probe techs don't.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Only the 1 energy shown on the tech, paid during a Scan action; you don't pay the 2 credits. Outside a Scan, the normal Launch action still costs 2 credits.
The rulebook's telescope tech description gives the adjacent-sector ability and the 2-data bonus.
When you take it you gain 2 data once, as its immediate bonus. From then on, the Scan's Earth signal may go in a sector adjacent to Earth's instead of Earth's own; it is still one signal and one data, not an extra one.
No, it's intended. Every stack's tiles share the same four baseline bonuses (energy, a card, publicity or 3 points), and stacks with weaker abilities add an extra one on top: every first telescope tech also gives 2 data and every first probe tech also launches a probe.
The rulebook says a card's tech rotates the solar system without paying publicity, and the publisher's FAQ confirms it is a single rotation.
Rotate once, and pay no publicity. Researching a tech always starts with one rotation; the rotation icon on the card is just a reminder of that, not a second rotation.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
You don't rotate the solar system; the card says so. You also skip the tile's usual immediate bonus (3 points, publicity, energy or a card), but the special extras still apply: the free probe launch from the first probe tech and the 2 data from the first telescope tech.
The rulebook's Research a Tech section starts with the rotation.
Before. Rotate first, then choose and take the tile and gain its bonus. This matters for launch or movement-related bonuses, since you get them after the board has shifted.
The rulebook's rotation rules give the sequence and direction.
Every rotation, whatever triggers it (research, a card, or the first pass of a round), follows the rotation counter: disc 1 the first time, disc 2 (carrying disc 1) the second, disc 3 (carrying all) the third, then back to disc 1. Each rotation turns the disc one sector counter-clockwise.
Yes. The hidden parts of the board are fixed, public information, so checking what lies underneath or how the board will look after a rotation is fine; it's not a memory test.
No. The tech grants publicity when a probe moves onto asteroids, so a probe already sitting there earns nothing until it moves in again.
No. Only tech tiles you research during the game count as techs for cards, missions and gold tiles.
The publisher answered this directly in 2024, and the official FAQ agrees.
No. Each player who reaches or passes a neutral milestone moves just one neutral marker; in a 2-player game the second marker at that score moves only when the other player also gets there. A player who passes both the 20 and 30 milestones in one turn moves one marker for each.
The publisher answered this directly in 2024, and the official FAQ agrees.
On the leftmost empty discovery space, treating the six spaces under both species as one row: all three spaces under the left species (the 5-point ones) fill before any under the right species. Nobody scores that space. If all six discovery spaces are full, nothing happens, and neutral markers never go on overflow spaces or on the alien boards themselves.
The rulebook's Milestones section gives the timing and order.
At the end of the turn in which they were reached, after the active player's free actions; no free actions can follow. If several players crossed milestones that turn (points can be gained on another player's turn, e.g. by winning a sector they completed), the active player resolves first, then the others clockwise, with neutral milestones last.
The rulebook's turn structure and discovery rules put milestones before discoveries at the end of the turn.
Traces are marked when you gain them, during your turn. After your main action and free actions, milestones are resolved, and only then is any species whose three discovery spaces are full revealed. So a trace you earned this turn can't go onto a species that is revealed at the end of this same turn.
The publisher ruled on this directly in 2024.
No. Milestones resolve at the end of a turn, and final scoring isn't part of any turn, so crossing a gold milestone or an alien milestone (such as a Centaurian message) then gives nothing.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. Milestones are checked at the end of whichever turn you crossed them, and having passed doesn't change that, so you mark a gold tile (or trigger a neutral milestone) at the end of that player's turn.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No. Each milestone refers to a score, not a spot on the track, and triggers only once per player; lapping the track does nothing. This includes alien milestones like the Exertian ones.
The rulebook's Milestones section describes the neutral milestones.
No. Those are the neutral milestones at 20 and 30 points, used only with fewer than 4 players to advance alien discovery with neutral markers. They never give anyone cards.
The rulebook's Pass section applies the 4-card limit only when passing.
Only when you pass: discard down to 4 cards, then take your end-of-round card, so you can start the next round with 5. During the round you may hold any number, and you can receive cards after passing. Before passing, consider discarding extra cards for their free-action corners instead. Exertian cards don't count toward the limit.
The rulebook's Pass section resolves its steps without further free actions, and the publisher's expansion FAQ repeats it.
Before the pass steps, yes; after, no. Passing is a main action, so you can take free actions earlier in that turn. Once you start resolving the pass (discard to 4, rotate if first, choose a card), no further free actions are allowed, so you can't tuck or use the card you just picked. A probe launched by a mission after you pass can't move until next round.
The rulebook's Pass section gives this rotation step.
Only the first player to pass each round rotates, immediately as part of their pass. It still happens in round 5; that player then discards the rotation token instead of moving it.
The rulebook's turn order skips players who have passed.
No. You pass once per round and take one end-of-round card; after that your turns are skipped until everyone has passed and the round ends.
The rulebook's Pass section has you choose one card from the stack.
Yes. You look at the available cards in the current round's stack and choose one; the earlier you pass, the more there are to choose from.
Players agree, and one close to the development team says the intent is to choose the card first; there is no official ruling.
No. Choosing the card is part of your Pass, and income belongs between rounds, so finish the pass first. The rulebook's allowance for passed players to collect income early, to speed things up, applies only once the pass is complete.
The rulebook lets you mark any empty matching space and use overflow at any time, and the publisher's FAQ confirms there is no order.
No. Mark any empty space of the trace's color: a discovery space of an undiscovered species, any matching space on a discovered species' board, or an overflow space, which is always available even when other spaces are open. If the chosen space shows a cost (such as exofossils on 'Oumuamua), you must pay it, including for traces granted by cards.
The rulebook rewards only the players on the three discovery spaces.
No. Only the players who marked the three discovery spaces under the alien board are rewarded on discovery. An overflow marker earns just its 3 points when placed.
The rulebook says overflow markers count for cards referring to a species' traces, and the publisher's FAQ adds the discovery spaces.
Yes. Whenever a card refers to traces marked for a species, count your markers on its discovery spaces and its overflow spaces as well as those on its board. Each species has its own overflow spaces, so when you use one you choose which species it belongs to.
The rulebook's further-research rules open the alien boards to any matching trace.
Yes. Each trace can go on either species, discovered or not, and you don't need to have helped discover a species to use its board. Nothing forces anyone to discover the second species, though in smaller games neutral milestones keep filling its discovery spaces.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Usually one card per discovery space you marked, dealt from that species' shuffled deck rather than chosen from a display. Overflow markers and markers on the other species earn nothing, and triggering the discovery gives no bonus. Some species change this; check its rule sheet.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
The alien card icon on a species board gives a card from that species only: its face-up card or the top of its deck. Ordinary draw icons always use the main deck or card row, so they never give alien cards.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Yes, alien cards in your hand count as cards: they can be traded 2-for-1 (even mixed with normal cards) and discarded for a signal with the telescope tech that allows it. The face-up alien card displayed next to its deck is not part of the card row, so a Scan can't discard it, and Exertian cards can't be discarded at all.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. A trace reward can go on either species (or overflow) unless it specifically says this species. The Centaurian cards that grant traces work the same way.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
One. Choose a species where you already have a marked space (discovery and overflow spaces count) and mark one more trace there, paying any cost on the space you pick.
The rulebook exempts only Exertian cards from the hand limit, and players agree other alien cards count.
Yes, once in your hand they are cards like any other, unless the species' rule sheet says otherwise. Exertian cards are the exception: they don't count.
The publisher's development team answered this in 2025, and experienced players agree.
No. Players with no danger lose nothing. The rule sheet's line that all players tied for the most danger lose points could be read to include a tie at zero, but the development team has said the penalty applies only to players who actually have danger.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. Every Exertian card you played adds its danger whether or not you fulfilled it, along with danger from your traces on the Exertian board. Danger is never subtracted as points itself; only the player (or tied players) with the most danger loses one-tenth of their score.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
No to both. Although they score at game end, Exertian cards don't count for the gold tile that scores missions and end-game scoring cards. Each scores its points once if its condition is met ("at least", so exceeding it is fine), even if you meet it twice over.
Yes. They are hidden only from the other players until the end of the game.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes. You receive your Exertian cards and, for each of your discovery markers, play any one of them of your choice face down.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
No to both. Exofossils are spent to mark certain 'Oumuamua board spaces or on some 'Oumuamua card effects. They can't be exchanged like credits, energy or cards, and unused ones score nothing.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
For game purposes 'Oumuamua is a planet you can fly to, orbit and land on: the top arc holds orbiters and the spaces below it landers. Those spaces have nothing to do with yellow traces. It is not an asteroid field, so a probe there doesn't satisfy #127 NEAR Shoemaker.
The publisher's official FAQ covers part of this, and experienced players agree.
The tile is inside its sector, so a signal on the tile and one at that sector's star are both signals in that sector (which matters for #120 Orbiting Lagrange Point). Cards such as ET.23 Exofossil Discovery that mark a signal in 'Oumuamua's sector let you choose the star or the tile. The tile has no printed overflow space, and no second-place marker stays on it when it resets.
The publisher answered this directly in 2025.
Signals. The three icons mark one signal each in a red, a yellow and a blue sector. Discarding an exofossil then lets you mark one more signal in any sector.
The publisher ruled on comets and anomalies directly in 2024, and players agree the tokens remain.
They stay on the board and trigger again each time Earth reaches them. They are placed so they don't cover comets (or Uranus and Neptune), and a space with both a comet and an anomaly still gives the comet's 1 publicity.
No. The reward goes to whoever has the highest marker in that color's column, so if you are the only one there, even a low marker collects it.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
All your signals currently marked in the three sectors with anomaly tokens, including the one the card just marked; sector-win markers don't count. If the card's signal completed a sector, score first, then resolve the sector.
The publisher ruled on final scoring directly in 2024, and players agree on the rest.
When you play the card, put one of your markers 15 points ahead of your current score; when your score reaches or passes it, you complete the card and take its reward at the end of that turn. Each card gets its own marker; if several are reached together, resolve the oldest first. Crossing a marker during final scoring does nothing.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
They are not missions, so they don't count for mission gold tiles (alien cards with real missions, like many Mascamite cards, do). Centaurian cards showing an income icon can be tucked with any normal income increase without completing their message first.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
They grant a normal landing (or orbit for Mass Sample Collection) without its cost, so you need a probe at the planet. You can use them anywhere, but you only pick up a sample at Jupiter or Saturn, including when landing on one of their moons, and only while sample tokens remain. To deliver, the capsule must be on Earth (Mars for Martian Quarantine Lab); you can complete the mission any later turn while it stays there.
Several experienced players agree, citing the Mascamites rule sheet; there is no official ruling.
Yes. Capsules move like probes and count as probes for card and tech effects: the asteroid tech helps them, and a capsule on asteroids satisfies #127 NEAR Shoemaker. A capsule gains no publicity just for being placed on a planet's space when you collect the sample; only moving into a space does that.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No. A delivered capsule completes only one mission of your choice; you need another capsule for each additional sample mission.
The rulebook's Gold Scoring Tiles section scores the marked value per set at game end.
Marking a tile scores nothing at the time; it only locks in the value under your marker. At game end you score that value once for every set the tile asks for, so 3 complete sets on a tile marked at 11 is worth 33 points.
The rulebook's End of Game section ends the game after round 5's last pass.
There is no early end trigger: the game ends when the last player passes in round 5, and you go straight to final scoring with no income phase. Final scoring (end-game cards, gold tiles, any alien scoring) is added to the points already on the track.
The publisher answered this directly in 2024, and the official FAQ agrees.
No. Mission and end-game scoring conditions always refer to your own pieces and actions unless the card explicitly says otherwise. So #12 Europa Clipper and #14 Mars Science Laboratory count only your orbiters and landers.
The rulebook's Gold Scoring Tiles section defines the pairs, and the publisher's FAQ adds the 0-point detail.
Only completed missions count, conditional or triggerable (a triggerable one once all its spaces are covered). For the pairs side, end-game scoring cards with the gold box also count, even one that scored you 0 points, and a pair can be two missions, two scoring cards or one of each. Ordinary cards and unfinished missions don't count.
The publisher ruled on alien income types directly in 2024, and the official FAQ covers the rest.
Count only cards tucked under your starting income card, never the resources printed on the card itself. For the three-types side, each set is one credit, one energy and one card-income card. For the other side, score for whichever of credit or energy cards you have more of. Special income from alien cards (publicity, data and so on) doesn't count for either.
The rulebook's Gold Scoring Tiles section uses the smaller of the two totals.
Count all your sector-win markers (repeat wins of the same sector included) and all your orbiters plus landers (moon landers too; probes in space don't count), then score the tile value for each pair, which is the smaller of the two totals. The pieces don't need to be in the sectors you won.
The rulebook says overflow markers count for this tile, and players agree discovery spaces and both species count.
All your trace markers of each color, wherever they are: discovery spaces, overflow spaces and the alien boards of either species. A set is one of each of the three colors, and they don't need to be on the same species.
The rulebook's Gold Scoring Tiles section defines both sides.
One side scores a set for each probe, telescope and computer tech trio, so the color you have fewest of limits you; missing a color scores nothing. The other side scores for each pair of techs, regardless of color.
The publisher answered this directly in 2024, and the official FAQ agrees.
No. The rival has no starting income card, no starting credits, energy or cards, and collects nothing between rounds. Whenever it would increase its income (usually by placing an orbiter), it advances 4 spaces on its progress track instead.
The rulebook's solo rules have the rival take the first gold spot and skip gold scoring.
It reaches gold milestones like a player but only ever takes the first, most valuable space of a tile, which blocks it from you; once every tile's first space is taken it marks nothing more. It never scores gold tiles. Instead, at game end it scores 5 points for each objective you didn't complete.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Yes. Objectives and missions are separate, so researching a purple tech can mark both a purple-tech mission space and a purple-tech objective. Two identical objectives, though, need two separate triggers, while different triggers within one action (playing a 3-credit card that then researches a tech) can each mark a different objective.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Mostly no. Objectives work like triggerable missions, so each task needs something done after the objective is revealed; an orbiter or lander objective, for example, needs a new placement. The exceptions are the state checks the rulebook says to mark immediately, such as reaching a points total, holding a number of data in your pool, or reaching a publicity level.
The rulebook's solo objectives rules describe the refill and the end-of-round cost.
Yes. Completed objectives are replaced at the end of your turn, so you can complete more than three in a round and bank them. At the end of rounds 1–4, before income, spend as many completed objectives as the round number; for each you can't spend, the rival advances 3 progress spaces. An objective that becomes impossible is simply failed.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Only with its 'Oumuamua action card, whose signal icon shows 'Oumuamua; that signal always goes on the tile. For every other signal it ignores the tile and marks the star system of that sector.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
It never takes cards: each card it would gain, alien cards included, advances its progress marker 1 space instead. When a species is discovered, that species' special action card (S.15–S.19) replaces the rival card that says so. For the Exertians, that card plays a random Exertian card face down for the rival, but only while its played Exertian cards plus its danger traces on the Exertian board total fewer than 5.
The publisher answered this directly in 2024, citing the updated rulebook.
On top of its freshly shuffled action deck, so it is the first card the rival resolves next round. This is how the updated rulebook words it.
On the physically lowest available space in that color's column across both species. Before discovery, the discovery spaces count as the lowest spaces; overflow spaces are used only when everything else is full. The three colors sit at the same level (the offset is just graphic design), and ties between species go by the decision arrow on the rival's card, even if the other space is worth more.
Several experienced players agree, citing the species sheets; there is no official ruling.
Yes. It gains the reward of any space it marks and must pay any cost the space shows, such as exofossils or data. A space it can't afford counts as unavailable, so it takes the next lowest one instead.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It prefers whichever action lets it be first, taking an open first orbit or first landing space at its target planet; the orbit/land order on its card only breaks ties. It needs no tech to orbit or land on planets, and discards a probe tech only to land on a moon.
The rulebook's solo rules have the rival prefer techs with a 2-point tile, and players agree on the details.
Start at the tech its progress marker points to; if that stack's 2-point tile is gone, check the next techs in order (without moving the marker) for one that still has its 2-point tile. Only if no 2-point tiles remain does it take the first available tech from its marker, which can rarely repeat one it has; you don't need to track that.
Several experienced players agree, citing the solo rules; there is no official ruling.
The ordinary immediate bonuses and the 2-point tile, but never the probe-launch or 2-data bonuses, and nothing from the front (tech) side of the tile.
The rulebook's solo rules give the rival's telescope priorities, and players agree on the tiebreak.
For each signal separately, in order: a sector where that signal wins it, then one where it scores the 2 points, then the sector where it has the most markers, with ties going to the bigger sector, meaning more data spaces in total. Signals are mandatory, so if its only option hands you a sector, it still marks it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
After the rival has marked all its signals from the row, exactly as in a player's Scan; then replace every discarded card at once.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No. Data goes straight into the rival's computer, and anything beyond that waits in its pool without a limit; after it analyzes, refill its computer from the pool right away.
Yes, it keeps taking turns until it starts a turn with an empty action deck; then it passes, takes the top card of the current round's end-of-round stack (advancing 1 progress), and rotates the solar system if it passed first. Its played cards are then shuffled into a new deck for the next round.
The rulebook's rival resources rule converts cards into progress.
No. The rival doesn't draw or burn cards; each credit, energy or card it would gain just advances its progress marker 1 space. The only card it removes is the end-of-round card it takes when passing.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Effectively no. Its launch is skipped if it already has a probe out, and its probe goes straight from Earth to a planet to orbit or land, so it has at most one probe at a time.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
With organizations and quick start cards you skip round 1 and play rounds 2–5, so four rounds. Playing five rounds with organizations isn't recommended (they were balanced for four, and the game gets much longer), and quick start cards without organizations don't fully make up for the lost round. If you add only the new cards and aliens, play the normal five rounds without quick start cards.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
It replaces them. Leave the base starting income cards in the box; you start with the organization's resources plus those of the 2 quick start cards you keep. The cards your organization tucks for income come from your 4 starting cards (plus any you gained during setup), one at a time, each giving its resource immediately, so a random card from one tuck can feed the next. Quick start cards themselves can't be tucked.
No. The organization setup already includes your income and the game begins in round 2, so the first regular income comes between rounds 2 and 3.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It takes the first free space, which is usually the bonus space, but you gain only what the quick start card shows, not the planet's printed rewards. Such an orbiter counts for conditional missions about having one there; a triggerable mission still needs a new orbit or landing.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No. You place your own markers in place of the data as usual, but the data returns to the supply and you get none of the normal signal bonuses; instead you gain the rewards printed at the bottom of the quick start card. A quick start card that increases income gives the tucked card's resource once, not twice.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Reveal 4 extra quick start cards and apply only their top halves for a neutral color (signals in sectors, orbiters, traces), ignoring the bottom parts; a card with no top-half effect simply adds nothing. The rulebook has you reveal them before players choose their organizations and quick start cards. The neutral milestones are still used.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Once per round, not once per turn, so up to four times in a four-round game. Passive powers apply all the time.
The publisher answered this directly in 2025, and the official expansion FAQ covers the rest.
Its techs always cost exactly 5 publicity; you can't choose to pay the usual 6. Its once-per-round card can come from the row or blind from the deck (revealed so others can see its corner), and you keep that card.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Take one of your probe or telescope techs out of its slot and set it beside your board: you lose its ability and may never research it again, but it still counts as researched for scoring and other effects. Then tuck a card for income and gain its resource immediately. Using the ability also clears the marked spaces on its passive power.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
They look like triggerable missions but aren't, so they don't count as missions, and a single trigger can mark both one of these spaces and a real mission. Their marked spaces are cleared only when you use that organization's once-per-round ability, not between rounds.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
You may use the chosen tech's ability for that turn only; it doesn't count as researching it, so it gives no research bonus (no free launch from the two-probe tech) and doesn't trigger research missions. Borrowing the two-probe tech lets you launch beyond your limit that turn, and the extra probe stays afterwards. You can activate it mid-action, for example partway through a Scan.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Only one card can be prepared at a time, and only cards that cost credits (not energy-cost Centaurian cards). Once your score is on or past the token, you may play that card for free as your main action, whenever you like; it doesn't add an extra action. A prepared card is out of your hand, so you can't discard it, tuck it or take it back. You can prepare the next card only after the free card is fully resolved.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
It starts with two probes on Earth and a higher probe limit, which the two-probe tech raises further. If one of the probes moved by its once-per-round ability starts on asteroids, you may add a move (1 energy or a 1-move card corner) to get it out.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Mission Relay starts with its tile marked on the lowest space; that marking is in addition to your usual three, and you can't mark that tile again. If you end up with all four tiles marked, Solvay Conference's gold box gives you nothing. Its publicity trigger applies to any card with a mission played with the Play a Card action.
No. The round icon is a printing error; it should be the hexagonal action icon used on Lunar Gateway. These missions trigger when you perform an orbit or land action after playing them, not for orbiters or landers you already have, and one action still covers only one space.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
At most 2 per Scan action, which together with the normal card-row discard lets you use all three row cards; the row is refilled only after the Scan. Signal tokens can't be traded 2-for-1 like credits, energy or cards.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Any player's lander counts, but it must be on the planet itself, and you must land on the planet; a lander on one of its moons doesn't qualify.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
No. It counts only the data in your data pool (up to 6); data already placed in your computer doesn't count.
The publisher's official FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
No. The whole effect resolves first, including the income-corner benefits of the cards you discard (you may discard none), and only then does the card go in front of you so its mission can be checked against what you have left.
The publisher's expansion FAQ covers the free-action part, and experienced players agree on the Cape Canaveral case.
Not with free actions: no free actions are allowed after you pass, so energy or card corners can't move it until next round, and at your probe limit you mark the mission without launching. Players agree, however, that if the launch triggers #80 Cape Canaveral SFS, you can take that mission's 1 move, since a mission trigger isn't a free action.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No. The rotation icon is the normal rotation that comes with researching a tech, so you rotate once.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
You gain a glyph by orbiting or landing at a glyph planet after the Glyphids are revealed; existing orbiters and landers get nothing. Encoding is a free action, so you can encode a glyph mid-action and use it for a mission that triggers in that action, but a glyph won through a sector win arrives too late for that Scan. Glyph spaces have no limit on markers. At game end, split your glyphs into sets of different types, largest first, and score each set by its size.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
The mission needs your traces of all three colors on the Amoeba, counting its board and overflow spaces but not its three discovery spaces. The reward scores the empty trace spaces on the Amoeba board itself, not overflow spaces, discovery spaces or organelle spaces.
The publisher's official expansion FAQ covers this, and experienced players agree.
Your marker on the Amoeba board, on a discovery space below it, or on one of its overflow spaces; you then gain the organelle bonuses of that color and move the tokens. A neutral milestone marker never fills the freed discovery space, since neutral markers only go to undiscovered species.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No. Security is breached only by marking an overflow space after Arkhos is revealed, so earlier overflow markers don't unlock the security card; you need a new one. A double minor-exploration icon means revealing two exploration cards and taking the minor reward of each.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Setup effects don't complete objectives or long-term goals, even though you choose your organization after seeing them; the updated rulebook says so. The expansion's new S.1 rival card is added alongside the base S.1, not swapped in, and it resolves whenever drawn using the normal rival trace rules.