Shoot for the Stars
Shoot for the Stars Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
In this game, every answer is a number. To win Star Coins, you need to get close to the correct answer... without going over it. After eight rounds, whoever has the most Star Coins wins!
Setup
First, it's time to build your spaceship. You've probably never done this before, but don't worry - check the back of the rules for a step-by-step guide. Next, load the Question Card deck into the dispenser. Then set out the game as follows:
- Captain's Seat - the raised seat at the front of the ship.
- Crew Section - the rest of the ship, behind the Captain's Seat.
- Game Board - the round space board, showing nearby planets.
- Star Coins - the coin stack, placed near the board.
- Question Cards / Dispenser - the card deck loaded into its dispenser.
- Astro-Meeples / Character Tokens - one Astro-Meeple and matching character token per player.
Players start by choosing an Astro-Meeple. The colour doesn't matter, but we think Pink is the best-looking one.
Place your Astro-Meeple in the Crew Section of the ship, then take the character token of the matching colour and place it in front of you.
Sequence of a Turn
Choose the most sensible player to read the first question (without taking it out of the dispenser).
That player becomes the first player and gets to answer first. They start by calling out a guess. For example:
"How many hot dogs is the record for eating in 10 minutes?" "12 hot dogs!"
Because their guess is the highest so far, they become the Captain and place their Astro-Meeple in the Captain's Seat at the front of the ship.
IMPORTANT: it doesn't matter if your first guess is a little low. You just need to make sure you don't go too high!
Play continues clockwise. The next player has 3 options:
1. Call out a higher number
If they do this, they become the new Captain. The previous Captain moves to the Crew Section of the ship.
2. Leave the ship
If they think the Captain's guess is too high, they can move their Astro-Meeple off the ship to a nearby planet. They won't be able to rejoin until the next Question Card.
3. Stay aboard
If they think the Captain's guess is close (but they don't want to risk making a higher guess), they can simply stay on the ship and join the Crew Section.
REMINDER: you can never call out a guess lower than the Captain's!
Play continues clockwise, with players calling out increasingly higher numbers, auction-style.
The round only ends once a player begins their turn already sitting in the Captain's Seat. If this happens, it means everyone else has decided to either stay in the Crew or leave the ship. It's time to reveal the correct answer by taking the Question Card out of the dispenser.
Turn Example
Question Card: what is the record for the number of hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes?
- Green: "I think it's 12 hot dogs!" Green becomes Captain.
- Red: "Oh yeah? Well I'd say 35!" Red becomes the new Captain. Green moves to the Crew Section.
- Blue: "35 is nothing! I say it's 60!" Blue is the new Captain. Red moves to the Crew Section.
- Pink: "That's too much... I'm leaving the ship!" Pink gets off the ship and leaves this round.
- Green: "Very well, then I'll go up to 80." Green is the new Captain. Blue moves to the Crew Section.
- Red: "80 sounds fine to me! I'm staying." Red stays in the Crew Section.
- Blue: "That's way too much! Abandon the mission!" Blue leaves the Crew Section and the ship.
Green starts their turn as Captain, which means the round is over. It's time to reveal the correct answer by taking the Question Card out of the dispenser.
The correct answer was 76 - which means the Captain (Green) guessed too high. They lose one Star Coin and the Crew members gain nothing. Everyone who left the ship each receives two Star Coins.
More on scoring on the next page!
Bonus Questions
Some questions work a little differently from the others (but are always worth the same number of points). Watch out for these icons:
Guess the Date: instead of starting from a low number, start with a date far away and get closer.
Player Question: for this round, the answer depends on the players present. Before anyone starts guessing, all players must secretly write down the answer as it applies to them. No cheating!
Scoring
Mission Successful: the Captain's guess was either exact or under the correct answer.
- The Captain gets 4 Star Coins.
- Crew members get 2 Star Coins.
- Anyone who left the ship gets nothing.
Mission Failed: the Captain went too high and went over the correct answer.
- The Captain loses 1 Star Coin.
- Crew members get nothing.
- Anyone who left the ship gets 2 Star Coins.
Solo Missions
If the Captain is the only player left on the ship (and everyone else has left), this is called a Solo Mission.
Solo Mission Successful: the Captain's guess was either exact or under the correct answer.
- The Captain gets 6 Star Coins.
- Everyone else, having abandoned the ship, gets nothing.
Solo Mission Failed: the Captain went too high and went over the correct answer.
- The Captain loses 1 Star Coin.
- Anyone who left the ship gets 2 Star Coins.
Moonshot! (Not Even Scared)
If you're feeling very confident on your turn, you can call "Moonshot!" and offer the exact answer to the question. In this case, you become the new Captain and the other players are no longer allowed to call out a higher number.
Instead, they must each decide whether they want to stay in the Crew or leave the ship. Then the correct answer is revealed.
"MOONSHOT" SUCCESSFUL: the Captain's guess was absolutely exact.
- The Captain gets 8 Star Coins.
- All Crew members get 3 Star Coins.
- Anyone who left the ship gets nothing.
"MOONSHOT" FAILED: the Captain's guess was either too high or too low.
- The Captain loses 2 Star Coins.
- Crew members get nothing.
- Anyone who left the ship gets 1 Star Coin.
IMPORTANT: You can only call "Moonshot!" if you have at least 2 Star Coins.
End of Game - Victory
The game ends after 8 Question Cards. Whoever has the most Star Coins wins!
Watch Out!
- If you have no Star Coins and you score too high as Captain, flip your character token to its -1 side. Your score is now below zero (but this is the lowest you can go).
- If you call "Moonshot!", your guess must be higher than the previous player's!
- When you leave the ship, it doesn't matter which planet you land on.
Ship Construction Guide
Here's a step-by-step explanation for building your spaceship for the Astro-Meeples. Don't worry, it's simpler than it looks!
- Take piece A and fold up the Captain's Seat to raise it.
- Slide piece B into the new space in front of the Captain's Seat.
- Piece C slides onto the Captain's Seat, clipping into piece B.
- Fold the 4 sides of piece D inward, then insert pieces E and F into piece D.
- Turn piece A over and slide piece G into piece B.
- Turn piece A back over and place piece D (with E and F already inside) into the central slot, fitting it into piece G (which is now underneath the ship).
- Crease the fold along the long edge of pieces H and I and flatten them back out. Then insert them at the back of piece A as shown, folding the front sections closed - first H, then I, clipping one inside the other.
Congratulations! You can now add "Super-Strong Aerospace Engineer" to your resume!
Components
1 spaceship, 8 Astro-Meeples, 100 Question Cards, 1 card dispenser, 8 character tokens, 50 Star Coins (3 kinds), 1 game board, this rulebook.