Skyward Republic Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • A note for original Skyward players
• Components
• Game Concepts
  • Buildings
  • Extensions
  • Critters
  • Vehicles
  • Card abilities
  • Other icons
  • Factions
  • Cogs
  • Faction cards
  • Benefactors
  • Benefactor tokens
• Setting Up the Game
  • Alternate Benefactor drafting for experienced players
• How to Play
  • Draft Phase
    • 1. Setup draft
    • 2. Flip or pick
  • Launch Phase
    • Launch 1 Building
    • Building your airspace
    • Scoring
  • Attach Extensions
  • Use ACTIVE/HAND abilities
  • Discard 3 cards to gain a cog
    • About cogs
• Benefactor Phase
• Game End & Scoring
  • Scoring
  • Scoring example
• 2 Player Draft Variant
  • Draft Phase (2 player variant)
• Summary of Play
  • 1. Draft Phase
    • 1. Setup draft
    • 2. Flip or pick
  • 2. Launch Phase
  • 3. Benefactor Phase
  • Final scoring

Overview

Players build a sky city together. As they do, they aim to score the most victory points (VPs) from Buildings, Extensions, Vehicles and Critters in their airspace, and from Benefactors whose requirements they can meet by building Buildings and Extensions to match Benefactors' resource icons during the game.

Players gain these cards through a 'flip or pick' draft method, and use Faction cards they draft and cog tokens they produce to pay for cards and build them into their airspaces.

Play continues over multiple rounds, until one player has 8 Buildings in their airspace. Players earn VPs from the cards in their airspace, Benefactors they claim, and the number of cogs they own. The player with the most VPs at the end of the game wins.

A note for original Skyward players

Skyward Republic is a standalone expanded version of Skyward. It adds more Buildings, Critters and Vehicles, and a new card type – Extensions, which can be attached to your Buildings.

Skyward Republic also expands player's airspaces to 8 Buildings from the original 6, and embeds goal cards called Benefactors into the game. It also uses a new flip or pick drafting method that scales well to all player counts, although the original Skyward drafting method is still available as a 2 player option (see page 19).

Components

• 154 Skyward cards
• 28 Benefactor cards (including 6 starting Benefactor cards)
• 20 tokens (5 in each of 4 colours)
• Scoreboard
• 33 cog tokens (front: 1 cog; back: 2 cogs)
• 4 +50 / +100 tokens
• 1 Warden token

Game Concepts

Buildings

Buildings launched into your airspace earn you VPs as you build them, and can provide other benefits as you play.

Extensions

Extensions attached to Buildings in your airspace earn you VPs as you build them, and may have an endgame SCORE (flag) ability that keys off things you build throughout the game.

Critters

Critters you acquire into your airspace are free. Most cost you VPs as you acquire them, but have various abilities which may benefit you.

Vehicles

Vehicles you acquire are free, and earn you VPs and other rewards as they arrive in your airspace, however they do so.

Card abilities

• LAUNCH: Trigger and resolve these abilities as you launch the card into your airspace in the Launch phase.
• HAND: Optionally discard these from your hand during your turn for their stated effect.
• ACTIVE: Trigger and resolve these abilities whenever they say to.
• SCORE: Use these to modify your score during end game scoring.

Other icons

• LIGHTNING: Play for free immediately (compulsory).
• VICTORY POINTS: Victory points, scored as the card enters play.

Factions

The five faction icons are: Seer, Preserver, Maker, Collective and Neutral.

Cogs

Wild resources you can use to pay for any 1 Faction resource requirement. They are each worth 1 VP during end game scoring.

Faction cards

Faction cards are single use resource cards you use to pay for Buildings and Extensions.

Benefactors

Benefactors are powerful organisations and people in Skyward Republic. If you meet their resource icon threshold requirements on cards you have in play you may earn VPs and special abilities.

Benefactor tokens

Your 4 Benefactor tokens may be used to seek the support of Skyward Republic's various Benefactors.

Setting Up the Game

1. Collect all the Benefactor cards. Separate out the 6 starting Benefactor cards (marked with the 'S' symbol) and deal 1 randomly to each player. Then shuffle the remaining Benefactor cards back into the Benefactor deck, and deal a number of cards equal to the number of players face-up in a row: this is the Benefactor market. Place the deck face-down next to the Benefactor market.
2. Shuffle the remaining Skyward cards together and place them on the board, face-down, to form the central deck.
3. Discard the top 3 cards of the central deck face-up to make a discard pile next to the central deck.
4. Give players 5 airship tokens of 1 colour each. Use 1 of them as a scoring token, and the remaining 4 as Benefactor tokens.
5. Place the scoreboard near the play area. Each player places their scoring token on the 6th space.
6. Reserve an area in the middle of the table for cards to be dealt into a draft zone.
7. Reserve an airspace about 3 cards high and 4 cards wide in front of each player.
8. Give 3 cogs to each player and place the remaining cog tokens, '1 cog' side face-up, into a cog supply, within reach of all players.
9. The player who most recently took a flight is the starting player (the Warden). Give them the Warden token.

Alternate Benefactor drafting for experienced players

If all players have played before, you may draft your initial Benefactor cards. Shuffle all of the Benefactor cards together. Then deal 3 cards to each player, and place the remaining cards face-down into a Benefactor deck within reach of all players. Each player must now:

1. Choose one of the Benefactor cards they were dealt to keep in their hand,
2. Choose one card to put face-down into the Benefactor row next to the Benefactor deck,
3. Choose one card to place at the bottom of the Benefactor deck.

Once all players have completed these steps, reveal all of the face-down Benefactor cards placed in step 2 as the Benefactor market.

How to Play

Skyward Republic is played over several rounds, typically 6 to 8. Each round players each draft a pile of Building, Extension, Faction, Vehicle and Critter cards.

Vehicles and Critters you draft are immediately placed into your airspace for free, and scored. Then you may launch one Building and any number of Extensions, paying for them with matching Faction cards and cogs.

Finally you may attempt to claim a Benefactor card to earn VPs and special abilities.

Each round consists of 3 phases, played in order:

1. Draft phase
2. Launch phase
3. Benefactor phase

Example of a game at the beginning of round 4 (illustration).

Draft Phase

During the Draft phase, one starting draft pile of 2 cards is revealed to the table face-up for each player in the game. Then an equal number of face-down 2 card piles are dealt near the draft zone. Players will have an opportunity to flip (reveal), a card from the closest face-down card pile and move it into any face-up draft pile to stay in the draft. Alternatively, they may take one of the face-up draft piles into their hand, drop out of the draft, and add the remaining face-down cards from the face-down cards nearest them to the other draft piles.

Follow these steps in the Draft phase:

1. Setup draft
2. Flip or pick

TIP! During this phase you must balance the desire to pick draft piles with desirable cards in them early, at a cost of adding in the cards you haven't yet flipped into piles your rivals will later pick, against the desire to wait to get as many cards as possible – and potentially the Warden token and a free cog if you pick last.

1. Setup draft

1. The Warden deals cards from the central deck face-up into the draft zone. Deal a number of face-up 2-card piles equal to the number of players.

   For example, in a 4 player game, deal 4 sets of 2 face-up cards in the draft zone.

2. The Warden deals 2 cards per player face-down onto the table near the draft zone. Each player will choose what happens to the cards closest to them during the draft phase, but they do not own them and may not look at them nor take them into their hand.

3. Place the Warden token near the draft piles, and place 1 cog from the supply on top of it.

2. Flip or pick

Beginning with the Warden (the player who had the Warden token at the beginning of this round), and moving clockwise around the table, each player takes a turn to either FLIP or PICK:

a. Flip

1. Flip over one of the face-down cards dealt nearest to you this round, then. (The printed text reads "dealt dealt"; the duplicated word is corrected here.)
2. Place it face-up into one of the remaining face-up draft piles. (The printed text ends this step with a dangling "to".)
3. Remain in the draft to flip or pick again later this round. The next player still in the draft may now flip or pick.

b. Pick

1. Pick all the cards from 1 face-up draft pile to take into your hand. These are now your cards.
2. Immediately place any drafted cards with a lightning icon (typically Vehicles and Critters) into the top row of your airspace, resolve any LAUNCH abilities they have in the order of your choosing, and score their VPs.
3. Then, one at a time, flip over and place each of the remaining face-down cards dealt nearest to you this round into one or more of the remaining draft piles.
4. If you are the last player to pick a draft pile, you also take the Warden token and the cog on it. You are now the first player.
5. Once you have completed all of these steps, your Draft phase is over. The next player still in the draft may now flip or pick.

Once every player has chosen and resolved the pick option once, the Draft phase ends. Play then proceeds to the Launch phase.

Launch Phase

During the Launch phase players take turns to launch 1 Building each, and build any number of Extensions onto their Buildings. They may also take various actions using cards in their airspace or hand.

Starting with the Warden player, players take turns in which they complete any or all of the following actions, in any order:

• Discard 3 cards to gain a cog, any number of times.
• Launch 1 Building into your airspace.
• Attach any number of Extensions to Buildings in your airspace.
• Use any number of ACTIVE abilities on cards in your airspace, typically once each, or as specified.

Launch 1 Building

You may pay to launch 1 Building from your hand into your airspace. You may normally launch only 1 Building per turn.

To launch a Building follow these steps in sequence:

1. Pay
2. Place
3. Score
4. Activate

Note: Some card abilities allow you to launch an additional Building beyond the normal 1 Building per turn limit. Repeat the steps above to do so.

1. Pay

Pay a Building's cost by discarding at least enough Faction cards with icons that match its required icons, and/or cogs. You may discard any Faction card to satisfy a Neutral cost requirement. Cogs are wild resources, so you may discard any number of cogs to pay for an equal number of Faction or Neutral cost icons. Once used, discard Faction cards to the central deck discard pile, and cogs to the cog supply.

2. Place

Place the launched Building face-up in your airspace, following the rules on building your airspace.

Many cards in Skyward Republic reward you for certain placement combinations, so carefully consider where you launch them.

Building your airspace

Your airspace is the grid of 8 Building spaces (and an unlimited sky area above it) in front of you. Most cards you gain or play will go into your airspace. Here are some important things to know about your airspace:

1. You may place your first Building anywhere into a theoretical tableau grid in front of you.
2. You must launch all subsequent Buildings next to a Building already in your airspace, and from then into a 2 rows x 4 columns grid around your first Building; ie, you can build up to 4 Buildings in each of 2 horizontal rows of Buildings.
3. Buildings cannot be moved after being launched, unless a card ability specifically allows it.
4. If you find a way to launch 9 or more Buildings, you may ignore this grid rule and launch them to either side of your airspace, next to the Buildings there.
5. Critters and Vehicles you gain in the Draft phase are typically immediately placed in your top row, in the sky above your grid of Buildings. These may go wider than 4 cards. They may move between players, but won't alter your score if they leave.

3. Score

After you place a Building, score its VPs (the shield icon), tracking them on the score track with your scoring meeple.

4. Activate

Resolve the LAUNCH ability of any Building you place. Launch abilities will generally gain you something extra.

Then check if any other Buildings with ACTIVE abilities in your airspace are activated by your just launched Building's placement.

Example: You launch an Anarchist Noodle House Building. You pay with an Elite Maker Faction card whose 2 icons can be used for the Anarchist Noodle House's 2 neutral cost icons. In order to use the LAUNCH ability of your Anarchist Noodle House, you launch it to a space neighbouring the World Fair, gaining 2 cogs matching its 2 Neutral cost icons, as it is launched.

Scoring

Track all VPs on the score board.

During the game, immediately score the VPs shown in the card's shield (VP) icon whenever you:

• acquire a Vehicle or Critter, by drafting them or gaining them from a rival.
• launch a Building,
• attach an Extension, or
• claim an empty Benefactor,

Certain LAUNCH abilities may also score you VPs as you launch Buildings.

Certain Benefactors may also score you VPs as part of their abilities when you claim them.

At the end of the game you track VPs for:

• Any SCORE [flag] abilities on your cards
• Your cogs, 1 VP each.

VPs you score are scored forever. If you destroy a Building you do not lose the VPs you scored when you built it.

It is possible to lose VPs before you score them, eg, by acquiring a Critter before you have built anything.

If you score in excess of 49 VPs take a +50 VP token and continue around the score track as if the 0 spot is 50.

Attach Extensions

You may pay to attach any number of Extensions from your hand onto any number of Buildings in your airspace.

To attach an Extension follow these steps in sequence:

1. Pay
2. Place
3. Score

1. Pay

Pay its cost by discarding enough Faction cards with matching icons, or cogs (in the same way as paying to launch a Building).

2. Place

Place the Extension face-up attached to a Building.

You may stack multiple Extensions on a single Building.

3. Score

Score its VPs (the shield icon), tracking them on the score track with your scoring meeple. You may attach any number of Extensions to a Building.

Note: Extensions allow you to modify the cost, faction and size properties of your buildings in ways which may help you score more points than they add by themselves. They add to the combined 'cost', and to the Faction properties of the Building they are attached to. They also make them 'taller,' with each Extension adding 1 height level to a Building. This may affect both in game scoring of some Buildings, and the end of game scoring calculations for some cards.

Example: Attaching a 1 cost Landing Pad to a 3 cost Clock Tower scores you 1 VP when you attach it, and makes the Clock Tower a 4 cost Building of both Maker and Seer Factions, that is now 2 levels tall. You will also gain 2 VPs during scoring at the end of the game, if you have a Vehicle in your airspace then.

Use ACTIVE/HAND abilities

You may use any ACTIVE ability on any card in your airspace once each, or as specified.

Some of these trigger as an action. Some have an ongoing effect, and/or trigger when something else happens.

You may use HAND abilities on cards in your hand at any time they say you may.

Discard 3 cards to gain a cog

At any time in the round, you may choose and discard 3 cards from your hand (including Benefactor cards) to gain 1 cog. You may do this as many times as you wish.

About cogs

Cogs are used to:

1. Pay for any 1 resource icon as you launch Buildings and Extensions.
2. Pay to trigger some ACTIVE abilities on cards in your airspace.
3. Score 1 VP per unspent or unused cog in your airspace during end game scoring.

Some cards may even double the scoring value of cogs, or convert cogs into Extensions worth 2 VPs each. In this case you can flip a cog to its 2 VP side.

End of your Launch turn

Once your Launch phase turn is complete, play passes clockwise to the next player who takes their own Launch turn.

End of the Launch phase

Once all players have finished their Launch phase turns, the Launch Phase ends and the Benefactor phase begins.

Benefactor Phase

Benefactors are powerful figures or organisations in Skyward Republic that may assist players.

During the Benefactor phase, beginning with the player with the Warden token and continuing clockwise, each player may either pass or use one of their 4 Benefactor tokens to claim 1, and only 1, public Benefactor, or 1 of their own in-hand private Benefactors, for whom they have met the threshold requirements.

To claim a Benefactor, your airspace must contain a mix of Buildings and Extensions with faction cost icons matching or exceeding the threshold requirements shown on that particular Benefactor. (The printed text reads "airpace"; the spelling is corrected here.)

To claim a public Benefactor, place one of your unused Benefactor tokens on one of the claim spaces on a Benefactor card you meet the threshold requirements for, but do not already have a Benefactor token on.

When you place a Benefactor token on a Benefactor card, if there are no other Benefactor tokens on that Benefactor, you immediately score its VPs, then resolve its ability.

If you claim a Benefactor while there are other Benefactor tokens there, resolve its ability, but do not score its VPs.

Instead of claiming a public Benefactor, you may claim 1 private Benefactor from your hand in the same way. Take it from your hand and place it alongside the other public Benefactors, place one of your remaining Benefactor tokens on it, then score it and resolve its ability. That private Benefactor becomes public after you have claimed it, and other players may now claim it for its ability as well.

Example (Solar Pact Benefactor): To claim the Solar Pact Benefactor, you must already have at least 2 Seer and 3 Maker icons on Buildings and Extensions in your airspace. Its VP for first claimant is 4, and its ability is: "Reveal a card per player from the deck. Give 1 to each player. Reclaim 1 other benefactor token."

Example: Jonas is the first to claim the Solar Pact Benefactor. They place their Benefactor token on the card, score 4 VPs, and then resolve its ability. Skye then claims the Solar Pact Benefactor, but because Jonas has a Benefactor token there, Skye only gets to use its ability, without scoring its 4 VPs.

Once all players have passed or claimed 1 Benefactor, they must discard down to a maximum 7 cards in hand. The next round then begins, with the Warden dealing out the next round's Draft phase cards.

Game End & Scoring

When a player has 8 or more Buildings in their airspace, the end of game is triggered, making this the final round of the game. All players complete each phase of this round as usual. Then players move to scoring.

Scoring

Each player adds the following VPs to their score track:

1. VPs earned from SCORE [flag] abilities on Building, Extension, and Critter cards in your airspace.
2. 1 VP per cog left in your supply.

The player with the most VPs wins. If scores are tied the player with the most placed Benefactor tokens wins. If that doesn't result in a winner, the game is a tie.

Scoring example

Skye scored 38 VPs during the game from cards and Benefactors.

Then, during game end she scores another:

1. 6 + 8 + 4 + 6 + 6 + 3 = 33 VPs.
2. 4 cogs = 4 VPs.

For a grand total of 75 VPs.

The example card scores are annotated on the printed page as follows:

• +2 VPs per unique Faction card in your hand: 2 VPs (x4) = 8 VPs
• +2 VPs per Critter in your airspace: 2 VPs (x3) = 6 VPs
• +2 VPs per neighbouring Building that shares a Faction with this card: 2 VPs (x2) = 4 VPs
• +1 VP per cog in your supply: 1 VP (x4) = 4 VPs
• You have more Faction Buildings (4) than each rival: 3 VPs (x2) = 6 VPs
• You have a Critter in your airspace = 3 VPs

2 Player Draft Variant

You may instead use the original Skyward drafting method when playing Skyward Republic with 2 players only. To do so, all other setup steps and rules remain the same, but these steps replace the Draft phase:

Draft Phase (2 player variant)

1. Setup draft

   The Warden deals 8 cards from the Skyward deck face-up into the draft zone.

   The Warden then splits those 8 cards into 2 groups of cards in whatever way they wish; eg, 2 groups of 4 cards each, or a group of 5 and a group of 3 cards.

   Place the Warden token with one of the draft piles, and place 1 cog from the supply on top of it.

2. Pick

   The non-Warden player picks 1 of the available groups of cards.

   The other player takes the remaining group.

   Whoever picks the group with the Warden token and its cog, takes those too, and becomes the Warden.

   Play proceeds as normal from here.

Summary of Play

This summary is printed on the last page of the rulebook as a reference sheet.

1. Draft Phase

1. Setup draft

1. The Warden deals 2-card piles equal to the number of players into the draft zone.
2. The Warden deals 2 cards per player face-down onto the table near the draft zone.

Place the Warden token nearby with 1 cog on top of it.

2. Flip or pick

Starting with the Warden and going clockwise, each player takes a turn to either FLIP or PICK:

a. Flip

1. Flip over one of the face-down cards nearest you, then
2. Place it face-up with one of the remaining draft piles, to (printed text ends this step with "to")
3. Remain in the draft to flip or pick again later this round.

b. Pick

1. Pick 1 face-up draft pile to take into your hand.
2. Place any Lightning cards into the top row of your airspace, resolve their LAUNCH abilities, and score their VPs.
3. One at a time, flip over and place each of the remaining face-down cards nearest you into the remaining draft piles.
4. If you are the last player to pick a draft pile, you also take the Warden token and the cog on it.
5. The next player still in the draft may now flip or pick.

Once every player has chosen and resolved the pick option once, the Draft phase ends.

2. Launch Phase

Starting with the Warden and going clockwise, players take turns. On your turn you may do each of these in any order:

a. Launch 1 Building

Pay the card's cost by discarding cards with the required faction icons, and/or cogs. Place the card face-up in your airspace, score its VPs (shield icon), and resolve its LAUNCH ability.

b. Attach Extensions to Buildings in your airspace

Pay the card's cost by discarding cards with the required faction icons, and/or cogs. Place the card face-up attached to a Building, and score its VPs (shield icon).

c. Use ACTIVE/HAND abilities on cards in your airspace

You may use any ACTIVE abilities on any cards in your airspace or HAND abilities on cards in hand any time they say you may.

d. Discard 3 cards to gain a cog, any number of times.

3. Benefactor Phase

Starting with the Warden and going clockwise, each player may use 1 of their Benefactor tokens to claim 1 public Benefactor, or 1 of their own in-hand private Benefactors, for whom they have met the threshold.

Final scoring

1. Score VPs earned from SCORE abilities on Building, Extension, and Critter cards in your airspace.
2. Score 1 VP per cog left in your supply.