Solar Storm
Solar Storm Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
As a team, you will need to divert power from all the rooms on the ship to the Energy Core and then jumpstart the ship from within the Energy Core room itself. The Energy Core is the room in the centre of the ship; it cannot be damaged, but also cannot be activated until all other rooms have diverted their power to it.
Content
- 9 Room cards
- 24 Repair cubes
- 24 Damage cards
- 1 Hull Breach card
- 68 Resource cards
- 8 Action tokens
- 15 Data (Blue)
- 15 Metal (Red)
- 15 Nanobots (Purple)
- 4 Protection tokens
- 15 Energy (Green)
- 8 Universal
- 8 Diverted Power tokens
- 1 Escape Pod card*
- 1 Die
- 4 Reference cards
- 4 Protection cards
- 4 Meeples
*Expansion content
Deluxe version also contains:
- 8 alternative Room cards*
- 3 'Damage Control' Expansion cards*
*Expansion content
Setting Up the Game
NOTE: There is a diagram on page 6 to help with setup.
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Place the Energy Core Room card in the centre of the play area. Shuffle the remaining Room cards and place them randomly, face up, to form a 3 by 3 grid (with the Energy Core room in the centre), this creates the ship.
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Place 1 Repair cube on each of the 3 spaces of the repair trackers, located on the right-hand side of each Room.
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Take the Resource cards and Universal cards. Decide how difficult you want the game to be and select a number of Universal cards as shown below. Return any unused Universal cards to the box.
- EASY: 8 Universal cards
- MEDIUM: 6 Universal cards
- HARD: 4 Universal cards
- VETERAN: 2 Universal cards
- REALIST: 0 Universal cards.
Shuffle the Resource cards and Universal cards together, face down, to form the Resource deck and place it next to the ship.
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Deal each player a number of Resource cards from the Resource deck, face up, as shown in the table below:
No of Players 2 3 4 Resource cards for each player 4 3 2 NOTE: The cards you are dealt are common knowledge amongst all players and should be visible to everyone.
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Deal out the top 2 Resource cards face up next to the Resource deck.
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Separate the Damage cards by type and shuffle each type separately. The type is determined by the number of rooms the card damages. Place the 'type 3' Damage cards face down next to the ship. Place the 'type 2' Damage cards on top and then place the 'type 1' Damage cards on top of that to create the Damage deck.
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Draw the BOTTOM 2 cards from the Damage deck. These are the initial Damage cards and you should damage all rooms shown.
When a room is damaged remove the top-most Repair cube from that room's repair tracker. When Repair cubes are removed from a repair tracker, place them to the side of the Damage deck to create a Repair cube supply.
A room may be damaged up to 2 times during setup in this way, so the top 2 cubes would be removed. Once the 6 cubes have been removed; discard the 2 cards to form a Damage discard pile next to the Damage deck.
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Find the Hull Breach card and put this at the bottom of the Damage deck FACE UP.
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Place all of the tokens within easy reach of all players, sorted by type. This forms the general supply.
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Place the die in the general supply.
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Place the Protection cards in the general supply.
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You each choose a colour and take the reference card of that colour and place it in front of you. You also take the meeple of that colour and place it onto the Energy Core room card in the centre of the ship.
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The player who was last burnt by the Sun becomes the first player, or choose one at random.
For Solo Mode setup and rules see page 14-15.
For Expansion setup and rules see pages 15-17.
Setup Example
The rulebook includes a labeled diagram on page 6 showing the numbered setup steps (1-12) applied to the 3x3 ship grid.
How to Play
Solar Storm is a cooperative game. You will win or lose as a team. You win the game by diverting power to the Energy Core from all of the other rooms and activating the Energy Core room.
You will lose the game if you let the ship take too much damage, or if you run out of Resources in the Resource deck.
You each take turns in a clockwise order beginning with the first player. Each player's turn consists of 3 phases. Once a player has completed all 3 phases, the player to their left takes their turn.
Phase One: Actions
On your turn, you may take up to 3 actions from those listed below. These actions can be taken in any order and may be repeated as many times as you wish, as long as you have actions left to use. If you cannot, or do not wish to take any more actions, proceed to Phase Two: Resource Collection.
If you have any Action tokens, you may discard 1 (placing it back into the supply) to take an extra action. You may do this as many times as you have Action tokens to discard.
Move
You may move orthogonally to an adjacent room, each movement takes 1 action. You cannot move diagonally.
Scavenge
You may scavenge the ship for resources. To do so, roll the die. This takes 1 action.
If you roll a 3, 4, or 5 you can take 1 Resource from the face-up Resources or the top card from the Resource deck.
If you roll a 6 then you may take 2 cards from the face-up Resources, or 2 cards from the top of the Resource deck, or 1 from each.
If you roll a 1 or 2, then you gain nothing!
NOTE: If you take a Resource from the face-up Resource cards, replace it immediately from the top of the Resource deck.
Share Resources
You may share your Resource cards with each other if you are in the same room. This takes one action per card given or taken. Therefore, swapping 1 card with another player takes two actions.
Repair a Room
You may repair the room that you are in. To do this you must discard a Resource card that matches an exposed space on the repair tracker of that room. You can only repair a space that matches the Resource card that you are discarding.
Each repair space takes 1 action to repair. If you want to repair 2 spaces, then this will take 2 actions.
To show that a space has been repaired, place a Repair cube on that space from the supply.
NOTE: There is no order in which repair spaces need to be repaired.
Activate a Room
You may use the action of the room you are in. Each room has a unique ability that can be performed by taking 1 action*. However, these unique abilities can only be performed if the room is fully repaired i.e. all three Repair cubes are on the repair tracker.
The room's unique ability can be used as often as you like. However, it will take 1 action* each time it is used.
NOTE: See page 18 to find out what ability each room provides in detail. This includes details of the Protection tokens/cards used by the Armoury.
*Most room abilities take 1 action to use. However, some room abilities may not take an action or may cost more than 1 action to use. These exceptions are detailed on the rooms themselves.
Divert Power
You may divert power from the room you are in to the Energy Core. Diverting power from all 8 rooms is required to win the game.
The left-hand side of each room card shows the Resources that are needed to divert power from that room.
To divert power from the room you are in, to the Energy Core, you must discard all the Resource cards shown at the same time. This takes 1 action.
You must have ALL the required Resource cards.
IMPORTANT: You can only divert power to the Energy Core if the room you are in is fully repaired.
To show that the room has had its power diverted, place a Divert Power token on the room.
Once a room has had its power diverted, it can still take damage. However, diverting power from a room makes it easier to repair.
In a room where power has been diverted, 1 card matching any 1 of the Resources shown on the repair tracker may be discarded to repair ALL spaces. This only takes 1 action.
If there are no Repair cubes remaining then you may discard any 1 of the 3 Resources shown. This action is resolved as if all 3 Resources have been discarded so the repair tracker on this room is fully repaired by placing one Repair cube on each of the room's 3 repair spaces.
Take an Action Token
If you cannot, or do not wish to take any more actions this turn, take an Action token from the supply for each of your 3 actions you did not take. An Action token can be discarded on any of your future turns to give you an additional action.
Phase Two: Resource Collection
You MUST either:
Take 1 face-up Resource card and add it to your other cards. Then replace the card you took with the top card from the Resource deck.
OR
Draw 2 Resource cards from the top of the Resource deck and add them to your other cards.
You MUST take one of the two options above. If drawing these Resource cards causes the Resource deck to be emptied, you lose the game!
If you now have 7 or more Resource cards, discard Resource cards of your choice until you only have 6 remaining.
Phase Three: Damage Cards
Draw the top Damage card from the Damage deck and damage the room(s) that are shown on it by removing the top-most Repair cube from the repair tracker in each room.
If a room is damaged that has no Repair cubes on its repair tracker you lose the game!
The Hull Breach card is the last card in the Damage deck. When this becomes visible and there are no other Damage cards left to play, then PHASE THREE changes and the following happens instead:
You must now roll the die at the end of your turn and discard the following number of Resource cards from the top of the Resource deck:
- On a roll of 1 or 2, discard 1 Resource card
- On a roll of 3 or 4, discard 2 Resource cards
- On a roll of 5 or 6, discard 3 Resource cards
Game End Conditions
How to Win
There is only 1 way to win:
Divert power from all 8 Rooms and activate the Energy Core.
How to Lose
There are 2 ways to lose the game. If either of these conditions are met, the game ends immediately and you lose!
- If the Resource deck is empty. This does not include the face-up Resources or the cards in your hand, just the Resource deck.
- If a room is fully damaged (i.e. has no Repair cubes on its repair tracker) and is required to take more damage.
OPTIONAL RULE: You may not look through any of the decks or discard piles unless stated by an action the current player is taking. This includes counting the cards in any deck or pile. This optional rule will make the game more realistic and harder to win.
Solo Mode
In the solo mode, you play as a Communications Officer, directing 3 members of the crew onboard and managing their communal supply of Resources. Each crew member will be represented by 1 meeple and each one will get their own turns throughout the game as if it were a 3-player game.
Game Play
Play the game in the same way you would a multiplayer game with the following exceptions:
During Setup, place 3 meeples on the Energy Core. These are the crew members you will control during the game. Deal yourself 4 Resource cards. This is your starting hand.
During play, you will use the reference cards and the fourth meeple to indicate which crew member is active. You do this by placing the fourth meeple on the active crew member's reference card. Once that crew member has finished their turn, move the meeple to the next reference card. The corresponding coloured meeple is now the new active crew member. A crew member's turn is made up of all 3 phases, the same as in a multiplayer game. Each crew member carries out Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 on their turn.
You only have ONE hand of cards for ALL the crew. This means that your crew are sharing these Resources. There is a hand limit of 6 shared across all crew members NOT 6 per crew member.
Instead of trading with other players, you may now trade with the face-up Resources instead. This includes using the Mess Hall action.
Any Action tokens that are gained are to be placed on the reference card of the crew member that they belong to. Only this crew member can use their own Action tokens on their turn.
Any Protection cards gained are to be placed with the reference card of the crew member that they belong to. These Protection tokens work in the same way that they do in a multiplayer game.
Expansions
Alternative Room Cards
If you are playing with the '8 Room cards' mini-expansion, shuffle all 16 cards in Setup step 1. If you place a room card that has the same name as one already present, discard it and deal again. The grid should be made up of 8 differently named rooms but may contain a mix of V1 and V2 rooms. The Energy Core should still be placed in the centre of the grid as the ninth room.
Damage Control
The Damage Control mini-expansion is a set of 3 cards that replaces some of the cards in the Damage deck. This expansion gives more control to the players, but it also makes the game more challenging.
To play with the Damage Control mini-expansion you need to change step 6 of the setup.
- Separate the Damage cards by type and shuffle each type separately. Remove 1 card from each type and return it to the box without looking at it. Replace it with the 'Damage any room' card of the same type and re-shuffle. Place the 'type 3' Damage cards face down next to the ship. Place the 'type 2' Damage cards on top and then place the 'type 1' Damage cards on top of that to create the Damage deck.
When a Damage Control card is drawn you may choose which room(s) are damaged by that card. When a card from the Damage Control mini-expansion does more than 1 damage, the damage must be done to multiple rooms. You cannot choose to damage the same room more than once from one Damage Control card.
Escape Pod
(3 & 4 Players Only)
The Escape Pod mini-expansion offers you a chance at survival when all other hope is lost. However, there is only space for one crew member, and they may still perish in the scorching abyss.
To play with the Escape Pod mini-expansion, place the Escape Pod somewhere near the ship.
The Escape Pod is offline and inaccessible until 7 rooms have had their power diverted. Once this happens, you can access the Escape Pod.
To access the Escape Pod, you must go to the Energy Core and transport from there onto the Escape Pod. This takes 1 action.
There is only room for one player in the Escape Pod, and once a player is there they can not choose to come back onboard the ship.
The player who has activated the Escape Pod (now known to everyone else as the Deserter) now takes the top card from the Resource discard pile. They then roll the die. If the die roll is equal to or lower than the number of Resource cards they have, they draw another card from the Resource discard pile.
If the die roll is higher than the number of resources that player has, then they survive, for now. This player's turn ends. They do not draw Resources or Damage cards.
The Escape Pod player's turn from now on is as follows:
They MUST draw 1 Resource card from the top of the Resource discard pile. Then, they roll the die to see if they need to draw an additional card as detailed above.
When the game ends, if the players who are left on the ship survive, the player in the Escape Pod automatically loses.
If the crew on the ship have lost, then the person in the Escape Pod draws 1 more card from the Resource discard pile and then rolls the die one last time. If the die roll is higher than the number of Resource cards they have, then they win alone. If it is equal to or lower than the number of Resource cards they have, then they lose along with everyone else!
Room Actions
NOTE: V2 are the alternative room cards that are only available in the deluxe version. They are not included in the base game.
Crew Quarters
V1 - You may move any meeple from any room to another room that already has a meeple in it. This action may be used to move the meeple that has activated this room.
V2 - You may move any meeple from any room to a room that does not have another meeple in it. This action may be used to move the meeple that has activated this room.
Cargo Hold
V1 - You draw the top 5 Resource cards from the deck. Arrange them in any order you like, then put all 5 cards back on top of the Resource deck face down.
V2 - You draw 1 card from the Resource deck or 1 card from the face-up Resources next and add it to your other Resource cards.
Mess Hall
V1 - You may either: Take 1 card from another player, OR give 1 card to another player, OR swap 1 card with another player. This means you can swap 1 card of yours for 1 card of another player's. If you want to give, take, or swap more than 1 card, this will take additional actions. You must be involved in any exchanging of cards. The player you are exchanging cards with does not need to be in this room.
V2 - You (the active player) choose to swap 1 or 2 cards between 2 other players, not including yourself. All players involved must agree with the cards that are being exchanged, so this should be discussed openly and agreed as a team. You cannot give your own cards or receive any cards as part of this action.
V2 of the Mess Hall may only be used in a 3 or 4 player game.
Engine Room
V1 - You may swap 1 card that you have for any 1 card in the Resource card discard pile. If you want to swap more cards you will need to take additional actions.
V2 - You may take any card from the Resource discard pile. Then, place the top card from the Resource deck into the discard pile.
Repair Centre
V1 - You may use this action to repair any other room by 1 space by discarding a matching Resource card as if you were in that room. Only 1 Repair cube is placed, unless the room being repaired has a Diverted Power token on it. If it does discarding 1 card will repair all damaged spaces on the repair tracker.
V2 - You must give a Repair cube to another player from the supply. You cannot give yourself a Repair cube. If there are no Repair cubes available in the supply, then you cannot take this action.*
*You can use your Repair cubes to repair a room you are in as 1 of your actions without the need to discard any cards. Place the cube on the damaged section of a repair tracker. If the room has diverted power and you are using Repair cubes gained from the Repair Centre, you must use all of your Repair cubes to fill the repair tracker before using the Repair cubes from the supply.
Medical Bay
V1 - If you are in this room at the start of your turn and the room is fully repaired before you take any actions, then you gain 2 Action tokens. This is the only room that does not cost you an action to activate.
V2 - This room takes 2 actions to activate. You may take up to 3 Action tokens from the supply and give these tokens to other players. You can give these out in any way you choose. However, you cannot keep any of the Action tokens for yourself.
The Bridge
V1 - You may take the top 3 Damage cards from the Damage deck, look at them, arrange them in any order, and then return them face down on the top of the Damage deck.
V2 - You may take and look at the top 2 Damage cards from the Damage deck. You must then return 1 or both to either the top or bottom of the Damage deck in any order you choose. Make sure the Hull Breach card is always at the bottom, putting any cards from this action above it.
The Armoury
V1 - You may place 2 Protection tokens in rooms. You may place both tokens in the same room, or place 1 in one room and 1 in another. You should also take the corresponding Protection cards that match the Protection tokens placed. This is to help you remember which tokens you placed on this turn.
These tokens will be removed instead of a Repair cube if the room takes damage from a Damage card. At the START of your next turn, remove any unused Protection tokens you placed and return them, with the corresponding Protection cards, to the supply.
V2 - You may take a Protection token from the supply and give it to any player, including yourself. If a room is damaged and a player in that room holds a Protection token, they must return the Protection token to the supply to prevent that room from being damaged.
These protection tokens DO NOT need to be returned at the start of that player's next turn and are only returned if the room they are in is damaged as described above.
The Energy Core
This room can only be activated once all other rooms have diverted power to it. When this room is activated then all players win the game!
Credits
Designer: Ayden Lowther
Lead Developer: Simon Milburn
Solo Mode Designer: Jason Broad
Illustrations: Vladimir Ishelin, Elias Stern, and Szymek Dmitruk
Graphic Designers: Sebastian Koziner and Rory Muldoon
Rulebook Editors: David Digby, Ayden Lowther, and Simon Milburn
Senior Playtesters: Paul Berrow, Helen Lowther, and James Hopton
Other Playtesters: Stuart Parton, Damien Sturdy, Megan Brown, Andrew Brush, Mike Shillaker, Tez Nash, Aaron Brush, Anabelle Parton-Blades, Peter Bloomfield, Jim Richardson, Tom French, Simon Medland, Luke Boyce, Scott Moore, Richard Buxton, Nicki Lloyd, Andy Hopwood, Andy Lefter, Tom Holness, The Birmingham Board Bash, and Birmingham Playtest UK.
With thanks to: Esther Lowther, Clare Lowther, Andrew Lowther, Antonia Lowther, Hannah Milburn, Caezar Al-Jassar, Chas Gregory, Lesley Gregory, Gareth Bowen, and all of the Kickstarter backers that made this game a reality!
Published by Dranda Games Ltd 2 Tower House, Tower Centre, Hoddesdon, Herts, England, EN11 8UR
Manufactured in China by Gameland
Turn Order Quick Reference
Phase One: Actions
Take 3 Actions:
- Move
- Scavenge (roll the dice: 1 or 2 gets you nothing. 3, 4, or 5 gets you one card. 6 gets you two cards)
- Share Resources
- Repair a Room
- Activate a Room
- Divert Power
- Take an Action token
Phase Two: Resource Collection
Take 2 Resource cards from the top of the Resource deck OR Take 1 of the face-up Resource cards.
Phase Three: Damage Cards
Draw the top Damage card and damage the room(s) shown on it. When no Damage cards are remaining, the Hull Breach card action happens at the end of each turn.
How to Win
There is only 1 way to win: Divert power from all 8 Rooms and activate the Energy Core.
How to Lose
There are 2 ways to lose the game. If either of these conditions are met, the game ends immediately and you lose!
- If the Resource deck is empty. This does not include the face-up Resources or the cards in your hand. Just the Resource deck.
- If a room is fully damaged (i.e. has no Repair cubes on its repair tracker) and is required to take more damage.