Solar Sphere
Solar Sphere Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Solar Sphere: 1 Core hex, 18 Sphere hexes and 3 border tiles
- 8 Location cards
- 18 Resistance ship cards
- 4 Sphere scoring cards
- 48 Crew cards
- 45 resources: 15 ore, 15 gold, 15 crystal
- 1 turn order track
- 9 Corporation drones
- 1 Resistance die
- 6 morale tokens
- 12 solo cards (used in the solo mode)
- 4 player sets, each comprising: 1 Command Centre board, 4 ship dice (3 transparent, 1 opaque), 20 drones (cubes), 1 reputation marker, 1 morale marker, 1 turn order marker, 1 score marker, 1 '50/100' score tile, 1 faction track, 4 faction markers
Setup
The Sphere
- Place the Core hex in the middle of the play area.
- Shuffle the other 18 Sphere hexes face up. Depending on the player count, randomly flip hexes face down, then keep shuffling so the face-down hexes are distributed randomly through the stack.
- 2 players: flip 6 hexes face down.
- 3 players: flip 3 hexes face down.
- 4 players: flip 0 hexes face down.
- Lay the Sphere hexes clockwise around the centre hex to make two complete rings. Lay them face up, except any flipped hexes, which stay face down.
- In a 2- or 3-player game, place a Corporation drone on each face-down Sphere hex.
- Connect the 3 border pieces to form a ring around the Sphere hexes.
- Place the turn order track beside the play area.
Cards
- Place the 8 Location cards around the Sphere.
- Sort the 45 resources by type (ore, gold, crystal) and place each supply beside its matching Location card.
- Shuffle the 4 Sphere scoring cards, choose one at random and place it face up in the play area. Return the unused cards to the box.
- Sort the 18 Resistance ship cards into face-down stacks by their resistance value (the value in the red panel on the front) and shuffle each stack separately. Build a Resistance deck of exactly 12 cards by randomly taking the following number of cards from each stack. Shuffle the deck and place it face down beside the Resistance Fleet Location card. Return unused cards to the box.
| Players | Value 2 | Value 3 | Value 4 | Value 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 players | 6 | 6 | - | - |
| 3 players | 3 | 6 | 3 | - |
| 4 players | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
- Draw 2 Resistance ship cards from the Resistance deck and lay them face up beside the deck as the top row of the Resistance fleet. Leave space below them for a bottom row.
- Place 2 Corporation drones and the Resistance die beside the Resistance deck. Return any remaining Corporation drones to the box.
- Sort the 48 Crew cards into three decks by type (Tier 1, 2 and 3). Shuffle each deck separately and place the decks face down in a row beside the matching Location card. Reveal 2 cards from each deck to form the Crew display.
- Place the 6 morale tokens beside the Crew decks.
Command Centres
Give each player a player set in one colour: a Command Centre board, 4 dice, 20 drones, 4 markers (reputation, morale, turn order, score), a '50/100' score tile, a faction track and 4 faction markers. Each player then:
- Places their Command Centre board in their play area.
- Places their reputation marker on the start of the reputation track.
- Places their morale marker on the start of the morale track.
- One player takes everyone's turn order markers and arranges them randomly on the turn order track.
- Places their score marker on the '0' space of the score track around the Sphere, and their '50/100' score tile beside the '0' space.
- Places their 3 transparent ship dice above their board.
- Places their 1 opaque auxiliary ship die and 12 drones beside their board as their reserve.
- Places 6 drones in the active panel (blue) and 2 drones in the inactive panel (red) at the bottom of their board.
- Places their faction track beside their board with the 4 faction markers on the matching '0/10' spaces.
Your Command Centre
Reputation and morale
Each time you take an action whose benefit shows the Corporation icon, gain 1 reputation: move your marker forward to the next highlighted position on the reputation track. If you would ever gain more reputation than you can record, gain that number of morale instead.
When you gain or lose morale, move your marker up or down the morale track. If you would gain more morale than you can record, score that number of points instead. If you would lose more morale than you have, lose 2 points for each additional morale lost.
At the end of the game, both markers score points for their final positions, as shown by the point values below the tracks. Each marker scores independently.
Docking ports
Below the reputation and morale tracks are six docking ports. Each round, after you roll your dice, place each die on the matching docking space. Stack multiple dice showing the same result.
The values below the docking ports are morale bonuses, gained during the Dock phase of each round.
Storage area
Whenever you gain ore, gold or crystal, take it from the supply beside the matching Location card and place it in your storage area.
You can store up to 6 resources. If you gain a resource but cannot store it, either discard a resource already in your store to make room, or discard the new resource. Spent or discarded resources go back to their supply.
Note: resource supplies are not intended to be limited. If a supply runs out, use a suitable replacement.
Drones
The panel at the bottom of your Command Centre is where you fabricate and store active drones, and where you regenerate or decommission inactive drones.
You start with 6 drones in your active panel (blue), 2 in your inactive panel (red), and 12 in your reserve beside your board. Drones in reserve must be fabricated to bring them into play. You can have at most 20 drones in play.
Fabricating drones
Move a drone from your reserve to your active panel (blue). If your reserve is empty, you may instead recover one of your satellite drones from a Location card and move it back to your active panel.
Exhausting drones
You exhaust a drone to change the value of a ship die, or to deploy a ship die to a location already occupied by any other ship die. Move a drone from your active panel (blue) to your inactive panel (red).
Deploying drones
Deploy drones from your active panel (blue) when you launch a satellite, build Sphere hexes, and attack Resistance ships.
- Launching a satellite: place the drone on the Location card you are visiting.
- Building a Sphere hex: place the drone over the die value in the middle of the hex.
- Attacking a Resistance ship: place the drone on the ship card.
A satellite drone stays on the Location card unless you recover it with a fabricate action. A Sphere hex drone is out of play and stays on the hex for the rest of the game. An attack drone stays on the Resistance ship card until the attack is resolved.
Salvaging drones
When you salvage a drone, either regenerate or decommission it.
- Regenerate: move it from your inactive panel (red) to your active panel (blue).
- Decommission: move it from your inactive panel (red) to the left-most empty space in one of the three rows of your matrix. A decommissioned drone is permanently out of play. You can only decommission a drone that is already in your inactive panel.
After decommissioning, gain the bonus shown in the matrix space the drone covers (1 resource, 1-3 points, or 1-3 morale). Each decommission action can move at most 1 drone into each row of the matrix; the 'x1' arrow is a reminder of this limit.
Gaining your auxiliary ship die
When you completely fill a column of the matrix, you temporarily unlock your opaque auxiliary ship die. Immediately take it from your reserve, roll it, and place it on the matching docking port as normal. You may deploy it on a later turn. It gives no morale bonus, and you must return it to your reserve at the end of the round. If you complete two columns in one round, you cannot take the die a second time and the benefit is lost.
Aim of the Game
Use your ships and drones to gain resources, hire crew members, fight the Resistance, and build the Sphere. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
How to Play
The game is played over a series of rounds. Each round has 4 phases:
- Dock
- Deploy
- Battle
- Recover
The game ends after 6 rounds (when the Resistance deck is used up), or at the end of the round in which the final Sphere hex is built, if that comes first.
Scoring points
Each time you score points, move your score marker on the track around the Sphere. If you pass 50 points, place your score tile in front of you with the '50' face up and continue around the track. If you pass 100 points, flip the tile over.
- Silver points, and red penalty points with a silver outline, are scored immediately.
- Gold points, and red penalty points with a gold outline, are scored once at the end of the game.
Sphere scoring card
At the end of the game you score points for the number and position of the Sphere hexes you built, based on the criteria of the Sphere scoring card in play.
Factions
Building the Sphere, hiring crew members, and attacking the Resistance fleet all gain you Faction icons. Each time you gain one, move the matching marker on your faction track.
At the end of the game you score 5 points for each complete set of three different Faction icons. Each silver faction icon is wild and can stand in for any one other Faction icon to complete a set.
Phase 1: Dock
All players simultaneously roll their 3 ship dice and place them on the docking ports of their Command Centre. Dice showing matching results are stacked on the same docking port.
Turn order
All players declare the total face value of their 3 dice. Adjust the markers on the turn order track so the highest total is in position 1, the second highest in position 2, and so on. Tied players reverse their relative turn order.
Morale bonus
For each docking port holding dice, read the matching morale bonus value below the port: with 1 die on the port use the first value (nearest the port), with 2 dice use the next value, with 3 dice use the final value. Total all your morale bonuses and move your marker that many spaces forward on the morale track.
Example: Arlo rolls 1-1-2 and docks the dice, stacking the two 1s. Two 1s give +4 morale and one 2 gives +1 morale, so Arlo gains +5 morale and moves his marker 5 spaces forward.
Phase 2: Deploy
Players take turns in turn order. On your turn:
- Take kickbacks (optional).
- Deploy 1 ship die to visit a location.
Keep taking turns in turn order until all players have deployed all their dice.
Take kickbacks (optional)
Before you deploy a ship die on your turn, you may take a kickback from the Corporation at the cost of morale.
Move your morale marker backwards on the morale track to any spanner space; you may move back as far as you like. For each spanner icon you pass or land on, take 1 kickback. For each spanner you pass or land on that is either below or behind your reputation marker, take 1 additional kickback.
For each kickback, choose one of:
- Gain 1 resource (ore, gold or crystal)
- Fabricate 1 drone
- Salvage up to 2 drones
Examples: Arlo moves his morale marker back 4 spaces, passing one spanner and landing on a second; each earns 1 kickback, so he takes 2. Esther moves back 6 spaces, passing two spanners and landing on a third; the first earns 1 kickback, and the second and third are each below or behind her reputation marker so each earns 2, giving her 5 kickbacks in total.
Use 1 ship die to visit a location
Choose one ship die on your docking ports and move it to any Location card with a compatible die requirement. Each Location card shows which die values may visit it: 1 or 2, 3 or 4, 5 or 6, even, odd, or any.
Operating drones
Before you deploy a ship die, you may exhaust 1 or more drones to change its value by +1 or -1 per drone. Die values do not cycle: turning a 1 into a 6, or the reverse, takes 5 drones.
Occupied locations
If any other ship dice, including your own, have already visited the Location card this round, you must exhaust 1 drone to visit it (only ever 1 drone, whatever the number of dice present). Without at least one active drone, you cannot visit a Location card that already holds ship dice.
Take an action
When you visit a Location card, choose one of:
- Deploy a satellite drone on the Location card. Move a drone from your active panel (blue) onto the card, then end your turn. Each player can have at most 1 satellite drone on each Location card, but any number of players may have satellite drones on the same Location.
- Take the action of the Location card. If you have a satellite drone on that Location card, the card is boosted.
You cannot pass your turn. If you cannot or choose not to deploy a die to visit a Location card, instead discard one of the ship dice on your docking ports and gain 1 morale. Place the discarded die above your board, out of play for the round.
Locations
Asteroid Belt
- Ship die: any one die matching either of the two values on the card.
- Action: gain 1 resource of the matching type (ore, gold or crystal).
- Satellite boost: gain 2 more resources of that type, for 3 in total.
Drone Fabricator
- Ship die: any die.
- Action: fabricate up to 2 drones.
- Satellite boost: fabricate 1 more drone.
Salvage Ship
- Ship die: any die.
- Action: salvage a number of drones up to the value of the die.
- Satellite boost: instead, salvage up to 6 drones regardless of the die value.
Solar Sphere
- Ship die: any die.
- Action: build any viable Sphere hex whose central die value is equal to or lower than the value of the ship die you deployed.
- Satellite boost: instead, build any viable hex regardless of your ship die value.
A Sphere hex is viable if it has not already been built (it has no drone on it) and it is adjacent to at least one already-built hex (a hex holding a drone belonging to any player or to the Corporation).
To build a Sphere hex, pay its resource cost and deploy a drone from your active panel (blue), placing it over the die value in the centre of the hex. If you cannot pay the cost and deploy a drone, you cannot take this action.
If you build the final Sphere hex, the game ends at the end of the current round. Otherwise the game ends after 6 rounds.
Benefits. After building a hex, gain the benefits shown at the bottom of the hex. If they include a Corporation icon, gain 1 reputation. Faction icons on hexes you build score at the end of the game, as do points from the Sphere scoring card in play.
Morale bonus. After you build a Sphere hex, check each already-built adjacent hex. The builder of each of those hexes, which may be you, gains 1 morale.
Example: Esther builds a hex adjacent to 2 hexes she built and 1 hex Arlo built. Esther gains 2 morale and Arlo gains 1 morale.
Crew Station
- Ship die: any odd-valued die.
- Action: hire 1 crew member.
- Satellite boost: before hiring, gain 1 resource of your choice.
To hire a crew member, choose a Crew card in the display, pay its resource cost, and score the points shown on the left-hand side of the card. If the card has a morale token on it, also gain morale equal to the token's value and return the token to the supply.
Place the Crew card in one of the three slots below your Command Centre. You can have up to 3 current crew members at any time. If you already have 3 and hire another, you must permanently retire one of your other crew members; you cannot hire and then immediately retire the same crew member, and you cannot retire a crew member at any other time.
When you retire a crew member, earn the bonus on the right-hand side of the card, then place it face down in a personal retirement discard pile beside your Command Centre. Faction icons on both your current and retired crew score at the end of the game.
After you hire a Crew card, do not refill the display immediately; the display is refilled during the Recover phase.
Using crew members. You may use the action of your current crew members on your turn during the Deploy phase. Rotate the card 90 degrees to show it has been used. Each crew member's action can be used only once per round.
Resistance Fleet
- Ship die: any even-valued die.
- Action: attack any number of Resistance ships.
- Satellite boost: before you attack, salvage up to 2 drones.
For each ship you want to attack, pay 1 crystal and then deploy any number of drones from your active panel (blue). Place your drones in the left-most empty drone column on the card; drones deployed on a later turn go in the same column as your existing drones. If you cannot attack at least 1 ship (pay at least 1 crystal and deploy at least 1 drone), you cannot take this action.
Attacks on Resistance ships are resolved during the Battle phase.
Phase 3: Battle
Resolve the attack on each Resistance ship one at a time. In round 1 there are only the two ships in the top row of the fleet; in later rounds, undefeated ships from the previous round have shifted into the bottom row.
The player who deployed the most drones on the ship is the Commander. If tied, the tied player who deployed drones earlier (left-most on the ship card) is the Commander. The Commander rolls the Resistance die and adds the value rolled to the resistance value printed on the card; this is the total resistance value of the ship.
If the total number of drones on the card, deployed by all players and including a Corporation drone if present, is equal to or greater than the total resistance value, the attack succeeds. Otherwise it fails.
Successful attack
All players who deployed drones on the ship earn bonuses:
- The Commander scores the 1st bonus and gains 1 morale.
- The player with the second-highest number of drones scores the 2nd bonus and gains 1 morale.
- All other attackers score the 3rd bonus and gain 1 morale.
- Ties are won by the tied player who deployed drones earlier (left-most on the ship card).
The Commander claims the Resistance ship card. If it shows a Corporation icon, the Commander gains 1 reputation. Its Faction icons score at the end of the game.
Finally, return all player drones on the card to their owners' inactive panels (red).
Failed attack: top row
If the ship is in the top row of the fleet, the attack continues next round. Shift the card into the bottom row and place 1 Corporation drone in the first empty drone column; that drone will support the attack next round. All player drones stay on the card.
Failed attack: bottom row
If the ship is in the bottom row, the attack ends in defeat. No player scores points, and all players — including those who did not join the attack — lose 1 morale.
The Commander still claims the card. If it shows a Corporation icon, the Commander gains 1 reputation, and its Faction icons still score at the end of the game.
Return all player drones on the card to their owners' inactive panels (red), and put the Corporation drone back beside the Resistance deck.
In the final round (round 6, or the round in which the final Sphere hex is built, if earlier), fully resolve all failed attacks as if every Resistance ship card were in the bottom row of the fleet.
Corporation drones
A Corporation drone acts as a neutral player who deployed 1 drone against the ship. If the Corporation is the Commander, a player still rolls the Resistance die, but no player scores the highest bonus on the card or claims the card after the attack resolves. If the Corporation holds the second- or third-highest number of drones, it reduces the bonuses earned by players who deployed after it.
Examples: Arlo deploys 3 drones as the only attacker, rolls 1 on the Resistance die for a total resistance of 3, and matches it, so the ship is defeated — he scores the 1st bonus of 3 points, gains 1 morale and claims the card. In another attack Esther deploys 1 drone and Arlo later deploys 2; Arlo is Commander, rolls 0 for a total resistance of 2, and with 3 drones the ship is defeated — Arlo scores 4 points and 1 morale and claims the card, Esther scores 2 points and 1 morale. In a third, Arlo and Esther each have 2 drones and there is 1 Corporation drone; Arlo placed first so he is Commander, and he rolls 2 for a total resistance of 6 against 5 drones, so the ship survives. As it was in the bottom row the players are defeated: no points or morale bonuses are awarded, every player loses 1 morale, and Arlo still claims the card.
Phase 4: Recover
Prepare for the next round:
-
Ship dice. All players take back all their ship dice. If you gained your opaque auxiliary die this round, return it to your reserve.
-
Resistance ships. Draw 2 cards from the Resistance deck to form a new top row of the fleet.
-
Crew members. All players refresh their current Crew cards, turning them upright so they can be used next round.
-
Crew display. Place morale tokens on Crew cards in the display in this order:
- First, if a Crew card already has a 2-morale token, discard the card and the token: put the card on the bottom of its own deck and the token back beside the display.
- Then flip any 1-morale tokens over to show 2 morale.
- Finally, add a 1-morale token to any Crew card that has no token.
Then draw new cards from the Crew decks as needed to refill the display to 2 cards of each Tier.
End of the Game
The game ends after 6 rounds (when the Resistance deck is used up), or at the end of the round in which the final Sphere hex is built, if earlier.
Always complete the Battle phase of the final round, fully resolving all failed attacks as if the Resistance ship cards were in the bottom row of the fleet, but skip the Recover phase.
Each player then scores additional points:
- Sphere: points for the number and position of your Sphere hexes, based on the criteria of the Sphere scoring card.
- Factions: count all Faction icons across your active and retired Crew cards, your claimed Resistance cards, and the Sphere hexes you built, recording them on your faction track. Each complete set of 3 different Faction icons scores 5 points. Each silver Faction icon is wild and can stand in for any one other Faction icon to complete a set.
- Reputation and morale: each marker scores separately according to its final position, compared against the point values beneath the tracks.
- Drones and resources: score 1/2 point for each active drone and each resource on your player board. Inactive drones, decommissioned drones, and drones still in your reserve score nothing.
The player with the most points wins. Ties are broken by most reputation, then by most morale; if still tied, all tied players share the victory.
Almanac: Crew Cards
Tier 1
Each Tier 1 Crew card costs 2 gold to hire and scores 1 point.
| Action | Retirement bonus |
|---|---|
| Trade 1 ore for 2 gold | Gain 1 gold |
| Trade 1 ore for 2 crystal | Gain 1 crystal |
| Trade 1 gold for 2 ore | Gain 1 ore |
| Trade 1 gold for 2 crystal | Gain 1 crystal |
| Trade 1 crystal for 2 ore | Gain 1 ore |
| Trade 1 crystal for 2 gold | Gain 1 gold |
| When you visit the Solar Sphere, gain 1 ore | Gain 1 ore |
| When you visit the Crew Station, gain 1 gold | Gain 1 gold |
| When you visit the Resistance Fleet, gain 1 crystal | Gain 1 crystal |
Tier 2
Each Tier 2 Crew card costs 2 gold plus any 1 additional resource to hire, and scores 2 points.
| Action | Retirement bonus |
|---|---|
| Gain 1 ore | Gain 2 ore or any 1 resource |
| Gain 1 gold | Gain 2 gold or any 1 resource |
| Gain 1 crystal | Gain 2 crystal or any 1 resource |
| Gain 1 morale for each 2 crew members (count current and retired crew)* | Gain 4 morale or 1 reputation |
| Gain 1 morale for each 2 Sphere hexes you have built* | Score 1 point for each Sphere hex you have built |
| Fabricate 1 drone | Fabricate 2 drones or salvage 4 drones |
| Salvage 2 drones | Fabricate 2 drones or salvage 4 drones |
| Salvage 1 drone for each Resistance ship card you have | Score 1 point for each Resistance ship card you have |
| If a Resistance ship wins an attack in which you deployed drones, reroll the Resistance die once (even if you are not the Commander) | Gain 4 morale or salvage 4 drones |
* In each case, count your crew members or Sphere hexes, divide the total by two and round down.
Tier 3
Each Tier 3 Crew card costs 2 gold plus any 2 additional resources to hire, and scores 3 points.
| Action | Retirement bonus |
|---|---|
| Salvage 4 drones | Salvage any number of drones |
| Refresh 1 crew member (turn it upright so you can use its action again this round) | Salvage any number of drones |
| When you Deploy a ship die, change it to any other value of your choice | Gain your auxiliary die* |
| Pay 2 morale to gain 1 reputation | Gain your auxiliary die* |
| When you visit the Solar Sphere, take 1 kickback (do not lose morale) | Take 1 kickback (do not lose morale) |
| When you visit the Resistance Fleet, take 1 kickback (do not lose morale) | Take 1 kickback (do not lose morale) |
* Take the die from your reserve and roll it; if you already gained the auxiliary die this round, this benefit is lost. Place it on the matching docking port. You may deploy it on a later turn. It gives no morale bonus, and you must return it to your reserve at the end of the round.
Quick Reference
- Phase 1: Dock — simultaneous. Roll your dice, gain morale, and establish turn order for the round.
- Phase 2: Deploy — in turn order. Take turns visiting locations until you have no dice left to place.
- Phase 3: Battle — in order of ship appearance. Battles are resolved in the order the ships appeared, by the Commander of each combat: bottom left, then bottom right, then top left, then top right.
- Phase 4: Recover — simultaneous. Take your dice back, assign morale to crew and refresh the crew market, draw two new Resistance cards and move any undefeated ships down a row.
Solo Mode
In the solo mode you play against DRANDA (Delta Rift Area Nexus Defence Automa), an AI hired by Enigma GMC. You win if you score more points than DRANDA.
Difficulty level
Choose a difficulty level before you play. It determines how many points DRANDA scores for morale and reputation, how many drones it deploys and discards when attacking Resistance ships, and how many points it scores per drone left in its supply at the end of the game.
| Level I (Easy) | Level II (Medium) | Level III (Hard) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points scored each time DRANDA would gain 1 morale | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Points scored each time DRANDA would gain 1 reputation | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Drones deployed each time DRANDA attacks the Resistance Fleet | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Drones discarded each time DRANDA takes part in a successful attack | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Points scored per drone left in DRANDA's supply at end of game | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Solo setup
Set up as for a 2-player game, with these changes:
- You must use the red player set.
- When revealing Resistance cards, arrange the cards within each row of the fleet so the card with the highest resistance value is on the left.
DRANDA does not use a Command Centre board, but does use the black turn order marker, score marker, and a '50/100' score tile. Set up a separate play area for it:
- Place all 20 black drones in the play area.
- Shuffle the 12 DRANDA cards into a face-down deck.
- Flip the top card of the DRANDA deck face up to start the discard pile.
- DRANDA uses 2 black, 2 blue and 2 yellow dice — 1 transparent and 1 opaque of each colour. Place the 3 transparent dice beside the discard pile as DRANDA's ship dice, leaving space for 3 cards to be laid to the right of the discard pile.
- Place the 3 opaque dice in a separate reserve for later use.
- Place a faction tracker and tracker tokens in the play area.
Solo Phase 1: Dock
After you roll and resolve your own ship dice, roll DRANDA's 3 ship dice and arrange them in the order shown on the bottom edge of the top card of the discard pile. This sets the order in which DRANDA will play its dice. Leave space above each die for a card.
Turn order is established as normal, comparing the total value of your ship dice against the total of DRANDA's.
Solo Phase 2: Deploy
Take your turns as normal. On DRANDA's turn:
- Reveal the top card of the DRANDA deck and place it above the left-most ship die.
- Check the location icon on the card that matches the colour of DRANDA's die.
- Place that die at the matching location and follow the instructions below. Leave the card where it is for now; do not discard it.
General rules for DRANDA:
- DRANDA does not need to match a location's die value requirement, but the die value still matters for some actions.
- If DRANDA places a die on a location holding one or more other ship dice, discard 1 drone from its supply (out of play). If its drone supply is exhausted, it loses 1 point instead.
- If DRANDA would gain morale, it scores 0, 1 or 2 points instead, depending on difficulty.
- If DRANDA would gain reputation, it scores 0, 1 or 3 points instead, depending on difficulty.
- If DRANDA lacks enough drones to complete an action, it reclaims enough from those removed from the game and loses 1 point per drone reclaimed.
- Where a location asks which Faction icon DRANDA has fewest of, silver Faction icons are always preferred, so DRANDA always treats these as the icon it has fewest of.
Asteroid Belt
Place DRANDA's ship die on the Asteroid Belt Location card matching its die value. DRANDA never gains resources.
Salvage Ship
Place DRANDA's ship die on the Salvage Ship Location card. Reveal a card from the DRANDA deck and take the opaque die from the reserve matching the left-most colour on the bottom of that card. Check the matching icon on the newly drawn card, roll the opaque die, place it at the appropriate location and take the action. Place the new card in the play area and put the card that triggered the Salvage Ship action on the discard pile.
If the opaque die of that colour has already been placed, put the card on the bottom of the deck and draw a replacement.
Solar Sphere
Place DRANDA's ship die on the Solar Sphere Location card. DRANDA builds 1 unbuilt hex, chosen by applying these criteria in order until a single hex remains, then deploys a drone from its supply onto it:
- A hex matching the value of DRANDA's ship die.
- A 6-point hex according to the Sphere scoring card in play.
- A hex with a Faction icon DRANDA currently has fewest (or joint fewest) of.
- A hex adjacent to as many of its own hexes as possible.
- The left-most hex of the remaining possibilities.
- The top-most hex of the remaining possibilities.
If no hex matches the die number after applying the above, choose an available hex of the next lowest value, and so on. If only higher-value hexes remain, DRANDA loses one drone to place on a hex of any value that best meets the criteria above.
Resistance Fleet
Place DRANDA's ship die on the Resistance Fleet Location card, ignoring the even-value requirement. DRANDA deploys 3 or 4 drones depending on difficulty.
DRANDA deploys drones using these criteria in order, until it has no more drones to deploy. At each step compare the total drones on a ship (its power) against that ship's resistance value (the target):
- A. Bottom row, left to right: deploy drones to each ship, if needed, so that power = target. If power = target on both cards, continue.
- B. Bottom row, left to right: deploy 1 drone at a time to each ship, unless power > target + 2. If power > target + 2 on both cards, continue.
- C. Repeat step A, then step B, on the top row, left to right. If drones remain, continue.
- D. Bottom row left to right, then top row left to right: deploy 1 drone at a time to each ship. If drones remain, repeat step D.
Crew Station
Place DRANDA's ship die on the Crew Station Location card, ignoring the odd-value requirement. DRANDA hires a crew member based on the die value:
- Value 1 or 2: hire a Tier 1 crew member.
- Value 3 or 4: hire a Tier 2 crew member.
- Value 5 or 6: hire a Tier 3 crew member.
Given a choice, DRANDA hires the crew member of the correct Tier with a Faction icon it currently has fewest of. If tied, it hires from the top row if its die value was odd, and from the bottom row if the value was even.
If there are no crew members of the correct Tier, DRANDA hires from the next highest Tier using the same choice rules; if that Tier is also empty, it hires from a Tier below.
DRANDA collects all its hired crew but never uses their actions and never needs to retire crew to hire more. It scores points from hired crew as normal.
Solo Phase 3: Battle
Resolve attacks on the Resistance ships as normal. DRANDA scores points, gains morale, and claims Resistance ship cards like a regular player — remembering that morale becomes 0, 1 or 2 points depending on difficulty.
After a successful attack DRANDA took part in, remove and discard 2 or 1 of its drones (out of play) depending on difficulty, before returning the rest of its drones to its supply.
After an unsuccessful attack DRANDA took part in, return its drones to its supply. DRANDA does not lose morale.
Solo Phase 4: Recover
- Flip the top card of the DRANDA deck and place it on the discard pile.
- Collect the 3 cards set aside in the DRANDA play area, shuffle them back into the DRANDA deck, and place it face down as the new draw deck.
- Never shuffle cards from the discard pile back into the DRANDA deck; discarded cards are never reused.
- Resistance ships: when revealing Resistance cards, arrange the cards within each row so the highest resistance value is on the left. If tied, place the card with Faction icons DRANDA has fewest of on the left. If still tied, leave the order unchanged.
- Opaque DRANDA dice: discard any opaque dice DRANDA used this round; they are not used again for the rest of the game.
Solo end of the game
The game ends as normal. DRANDA scores points as normal for the Sphere hexes it built and for the Faction icons it collected on Sphere hexes, hired Crew cards, and claimed Resistance ships. In addition, DRANDA scores 1, 2 or 3 points for each drone remaining in its supply, depending on difficulty.
If you scored more points than DRANDA, you win.