Solstice Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Set Up
  • Two Player Set Up
  • Setup Example
• How to Win
• Action Cards Explained
• Event Cards Explained
• Planets Explained
• How to Play
• Draft Cards
  • Two Player Exceptions
• Dispatch Cards
• Resolve Planets
• Check the End of Game
• Clean Up
• End of the Game
• Action and Event Cards
• Key Terms
• Action Cards
  • Assassin Tie Resolution Examples
• Event Cards
• Two Player Events

Overview

Players represent powerful houses, each seeking to be in ascent of the throne. Every player has the same six cards, which provide strength, favor, victory points, and bonuses. Unfortunately, the path forward is shrouded in fog, forcing players to manage the uncertainty of the times.

Solstice is a game whose strategy is not immediately apparent. The individual mechanisms are simple, but the whole that is formed requires a few rounds to grasp. The strategy may initially seem fraught with randomness, but once you understand the experience, you will see that isn't the case!

Every round, players draft a hand of cards, choosing a mix of their cards, their opponents' cards, and powerful events. The key is building a viable strategy with your own cards and events, while denying essential cards from your opponents. Then, cards are played face down one at a time to the planets. Limited information about each card is disclosed.

Players are forced to make decisions with imperfect information gained during the draft and by reading your opponents. Finally, the cards are revealed and resolved in initiative order. In most cases, players want to be the strongest or favored faction to score victory points.

Solstice requires that you manage uncertainty to strike quickly before your opponents can respond.

Components

• 24 Action cards, 6 of each color per player (Diplomat, Duchess, Legions, Marshal, Assassin, Elder)
• 24 Event cards
• Five Planet cards
• Four Reference cards and four Quick Start Rules cards
• Tokens: First Player, 24 VP, 12 Casualty, 1 Favored, 1 Strongest. Tokens are only provided with the Deluxe Edition. Otherwise, use paper to track score.

Set Up

1. Set the Victory Point and Casualty tokens aside to form a supply. Set the favored and strongest tokens near the Planets.

2. Give each player a Reference card. Return any unused Reference cards to the box.

3. Place Planets: Choose one planet randomly per player and place them face up in a vertical line. The Desert is only used in two player games.

4. Gather six Action cards with a matching color per player. Return unused Action cards to the box.

5. Gather Events: Two Fortune, two Deception, and four Destruction Events chosen randomly. Share them with all players. Return remaining Events to the box. Quagmire and Mercenaries are only used in two player games. Events are explained fully on Page 4.

For your first game, use the following Events: Whispered Secrets, Rumor, Hidden Base, Orbital Bombardment, Blockade, Honor Guard, Planetary Siege, Famine.

6. Shuffle all Action cards and the eight events. Deal six cards to each player. Set the rest of the cards aside face down to form a deck.

7. Determine a first player randomly and give them the First Player token. You're ready to begin!

Two Player Set Up

For two player games, follow the 3-4 player Setup rules, with these exceptions:

1. Place Planets: Use the Desert in addition to two other planets. It is placed last.
2. Gather Events: Choose one Deception and Fortune event randomly, as well as Quagmire and Mercenaries.

Setup Example

A three player game is set up in the image above.

1. Casualty tokens.
2. Victory Point tokens.
3. Six cards dealt face down to each player.
4. Three planets, with space set aside to dispatch cards to each planet.
5. Reference card.
6. Deck of cards.
7. Discard space.
8. First Player token.
9. Favored/strongest tokens.

How to Win

The player with the most Victory Points (VP) at the end of the game gains the imperial throne. The game ends at the end of a round in which either one player has earned 16 or more Victory Points OR one player has three casualties. Victory Points represent your house's support from the population, economic and military dominance.

Action Cards Explained

1. Strength: This indicates the strength provided by the card. Strength tends to be used to score VP. Strength represents military power.

2. Favor: This indicates the favor provided by the card. Favor tends to be used to activate events and bonuses. Favor represents diplomatic resolve.

3. Initiative: The order a card's action text will be resolved on planets (lowest to highest).

4. Faction: This color (black, white, blue, green) indicates the faction (player) to whom the card belongs.

5. Action Text: What the card does when resolved, which is often a scoring condition.

6. Card Type: This is sometimes disclosed when playing a card to particular planets. Some action text references specific card types.

Example: An Assassin action card with Strength 1, Favor none, Initiative 7, and the action text "Kill one enemy Duchess. Strongest wins ties. Score 3 VP if successful."

Event Cards Explained

Events, like action cards, have initiative, action text, etc. Unlike action cards, they do not belong to a faction!

There are three types of events, indicated by the illustration. From left: Destruction, Fortune, Deception.

Events that say to play face up are dispatched to a planet face up and resolve immediately.

Unless explicitly indicated otherwise, when an event is dispatched, the player always declares "event."

Planets Explained

1. The information players must disclose when playing cards to this planet.

2. Victory Points gained when the planet is scored (typically by a Duchess or Imposter).

A maximum of six cards can be dispatched to each planet.

How to Play

The game is played in rounds. Each round follows these phases in order:

1. Draft Cards
2. Dispatch Cards
3. Resolve Planets
4. Check End of Game
5. Clean Up

Draft Cards

Players each draft a hand of five cards that will be used in the following Dispatch Cards phase. Cards are drafted from those dealt at the start of the game, or end of each round. To draft, players choose one card in their hand and place it face down in front of them. They then pass the remaining cards in their hand to the player sitting to their left. Each round, players alternate the direction of the draft.

Players continue drafting until all players have drafted five cards. Then, all remaining cards from players' hands (typically one per player) are shuffled and dispatched face up one at a time to each Planet from top to bottom until one card per player is dealt. If there aren't enough cards (due to some Events), randomly deal them from the top of the deck.

Example: In a three player game, three cards are dispatched. See diagram on Page 6.

Players now take the five cards they drafted into their hand.

Two Player Exceptions

1. At the beginning of the Draft Cards phase, players choose two cards instead of one.
2. Do not dispatch a card to the Desert at the end of the Draft Cards phase.

Example: In a three player game, there are three planets. At the end of each draft, the three cards that weren't drafted are shuffled and played face up, one each, to the planets, beginning with the Industrial planet and continuing downwards to the Jungle planet.

Dispatch Cards

Starting with the First Player and continuing in the same direction as the preceding Draft Cards phase, players play one card out of the five drafted. Players continue doing so until every player has no cards in hand, or is unable to play a card.

To dispatch, the active player plays a single card from their hand face down on one of the planets that has fewer than six cards. A maximum of six cards can be dispatched to each planet. Instead of dispatching, a player may also capture a prisoner once per Dispatch Cards phase.

To capture a prisoner, the active player plays a single card from their hand (event or action card) face down beneath their reference card. This card is now a prisoner, and will be in the player's hand for the next Draft Cards phase.

When dispatching, every Planet requires players to disclose some information:

• Capital/Industrial: Disclose the type of the card. Example: "This is an Assassin."
• Water: Disclose the faction OR the type of the card. Never both! Faction Example: "This is a blue card."
• Jungle: Play all Events face up. Non-Events played to the Jungle are played face down and NO information is disclosed.
• Desert: Nothing is disclosed.

Important: When an Event is played to ANY planet, unless explicitly stated otherwise (i.e. Play Face Up, or Jungle), you merely disclose "event" when the card is played.

Example: An Assassin is played to the Capital face down. When cards are dispatched to the Capital, the active player must declare the card's Type: "This is an Assassin."

Resolve Planets

For each Planet, starting at the top of the line and moving down, follow these steps:

1. Reveal all face down cards dispatched to the planet. Cards dispatched at the end of the Draft Cards phase and some cards dispatched by players are already face up.
2. Arrange cards by initiative from lowest to highest.
3. Calculate initial strength and favor and award strongest and favored tokens. This can change as cards are killed.
4. Resolve cards beginning with the lowest initiative.

All action cards have text that indicates either a scoring condition or an effect to resolve. If the scoring condition is met, or there is a choice involved in how the effect is resolved, the player to whom the card belongs scores the VPs and/or makes the choice, not the player who played the card. Many events are resolved by the strongest or favored player (defined on Page 10).

Cards only affect the planet to which they were dispatched unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Example: Two Assassins, a Duchess, and a Legions are played to the Capital. When the Capital is resolved, all cards are revealed and arranged by Initiative. Legions has the lowest initiative at 0, so is resolved first. The Assassins tie at 7, followed by the Duchess at 9.

Example: The black Legions does not have text to resolve or a score condition, but it does provide 2 strength and 2 favor.

There are two Assassins! As indicated on the card, strength is used to break ties. Black has 3 strength (2 from Legions + 1 from Assassin), which is greater than the blue player's 1 strength (1 from the Assassin). Therefore, black is strongest. The black Assassin will kill first, then the blue Assassin.

The black Assassin kills the white Duchess and scores 3 Victory Points. The white Duchess is discarded and does not resolve. The white player takes 1 casualty token. There is only one Duchess, so the blue Assassin does not resolve.

Example: Two Diplomats and a Marshal are played to the Capital. The two Diplomats will resolve first as they have initiative of 5. The Marshal will resolve last as it has initiative of 12.

Example: Diplomats score VP if their faction is favored. In this case, blue has 1 Favor and green has 3 favor. Green is therefore favored and scores 3 VP with their Diplomat. The Marshal scores if strongest. At 1 Strength from the Marshal versus 1 Strength from the blue Diplomat, they are tied. Nobody is strongest. The Marshal doesn't score.

Check the End of Game

Proceed to End of the Game if either (or both) of the conditions below are met:

1. One or more players have earned at least 16 Victory Points. Casualties do not count against a player's score when checking to see if it is the end of the game!

2. One or more players have sustained at least three individual casualties.

Example: The green player has 17 VP and 2 casualties. As they have earned at least 16 VP, the game is over.

Example: The blue player has eight VP and three Casualties. As they have three casualties, the game is over.

Clean Up

If the game did not end, follow these steps:

1. Shuffle all cards played or discarded during the round and place them at the bottom of the deck. The cards not dealt the previous round should be at the top of the deck!
2. Players with a Prisoner remove it and place it in front of them face down.
3. Deal cards to all players until they have six. Therefore, players with a Prisoner are dealt five, with the Prisoner being the sixth. Set the remaining cards aside to form the deck.
4. Give the player with the most VPs the First Player token. If players are tied, the tied player closest to the left of the current First Player is First Player.
5. Begin a new round.

End of the Game

At the end of the game, each player loses 1VP per casualty they have. Then, all players tally their remaining Victory Points. The player with the most Victory Points is the winner.

In the event of a tie, the player with the fewest casualties wins. If still tied, the player lowest in turn order (first being the best) wins.

Action and Event Cards

Each player has the same six Action cards. There are also 24 Event cards. If a card's text contradicts these rules, the card always takes precedence.

Each Faction has a different card that scores 3 Victory Points. Otherwise, cards Score 0, 1, or 2 Victory Points.

Key Terms

Kill: Discard the indicated card. If it was a non-Event card, the owning player takes a casualty token.

Casualty: A token for which factions deduct 1 VP at the end of the game per token.

Heal: Return one of your casualties to the supply.

Strongest and Favored: The faction with the most strength on the planet is strongest, and the one with the most favor on the planet is favored.

These values are are summed from all of a faction's cards, regardless of Initiative. If tied, no faction claims either title.

Use the strongest/favored tokens to mark this.

Reveal: Flip a face down card dispatched to a planet so that it is face up.

Claim: Place the card face up in front of you once the planet is fully Resolved. Next round, adhere to the bonus or penalty indicated, then discard the claimed card.

Sacrifice: Before one of your cards is killed, you may force the killing player to kill your sacrificed card instead.

Example card: Event Martyr (value 11). "If strongest, you may kill your non-Event prisoner to score 1 VP. The card's faction takes a casualty."

Action Cards

Legions (0): Sacrifice: If one of your cards on the same planet as Legions is about to be killed, you may instead force your Legion to be killed. You still take a casualty, and the player initiating the kill still scores any VP that would be awarded.

Example: A green Legions, blue Assassin, and green Duchesse are played to a planet. The blue Assassin is going to kill the Duchess, but the green player sacrifices their Legions instead. Green takes a casualty, the blue still Scores for their Assassin. The Duchess is still alive to resolve and score the planet.

Diplomat (5): If you are the favored player, score the VP shown on the card.

Assassin (7): Kill one enemy Duchess. If successful, score the VP shown on the card. Unlike most cards, the Assassin resolves based on the presence of an enemy Duchess, not being strongest or favored! If there are multiple Assassins, resolve ties by the strongest to the weakest player. If there is ever not a strongest player due to ties, no more Assassins resolve.

• Whoever owns the Assassin chooses which Duchess to kill if there are multiple.
• Assassins score as long as they cause a kill, unless otherwise explicitly noted.

Assassin Tie Resolution Examples

1. There are two Assassins. One player has a strength of 4, the other 2. The Assassin with a strength of 4 resolves first, then the 2.
2. There are three Assassins, with strengths of 2, 2, and 1. There is no strongest Assassin, so no Assassins resolve.
3. There are three Assassins, with strengths of 3, 2, and 2. Only the 3 resolves. The other two Assassins do not resolve because there is a tie of strength.

Duchess (9): Score the VP on the planet. If you are the favored faction, score the bonus VP on the card. If there are multiple Duchesses, only the favored faction resolves. If tied, none resolve.

Planet Marshal (12): If you are the strongest faction, score the VP shown on the card.

Elder (13): If you are the strongest and/or favored faction, score the VP shown on the card. If one condition is met, only score that one. If both conditions on the Elder are met, score both of them!

Event Cards

Events alter the tactics you must employ to win. Experienced players should feel free to choose their events, ignoring restrictions defined in setup. Some events state "Play Face Up." When this is the case, dispatch the card face up during the Dispatch Cards phase and immediately resolve it.

Whispered Secrets (0): Play face up. Reveal one card and score 1VP.

• If this card is randomly played to a planet at the end of the Draft Cards phase, it has no effect. It merely occupies one of the six card slots for the planet.

Rumor (0): You may declare any faction or card type when dispatching this card. In other words, you lie!

• When playing Rumor, you must still adhere to the planet's disclosure requirement.
• If this card is randomly played to a planet at the end of a Draft Cards phase, it has no effect. It merely occupies one of the six card slots for the planet.

Atmospheric Storm (0): The Atmospheric Storm contributes three neutral strength and vies for strongest. It is a useful card to block an opponent.

Vision (0): Play face up and choose one: Reveal all cards here or All future cards are played here face up.

• If this card is randomly played to a planet at the end of a Draft Cards phase, all cards must be played face up.
• If the latter option is chosen for Vision, the disclosure rule on the planet is ignored as future cards are played face up.

Mimic (0): The favored player may place a non-Event prisoner on top of Mimic. They then treat prisoner as if they own it while resolving this planet. If a card on Mimic is killed, the card's owner still takes the casualty.

Example: The blue player is favored and resolves Mimic. They place their prisoner, a white Planet Marshal, on the Mimic. The white Planet Marshal is treated as a blue Planet Marshal on this planet for its strength, favor, and action text.

Example: The blue player resolves Mimic and places a white Duchess on it. The white Duchess is killed! The blue player does not resolve it, as it's discarded, but the white player still takes the casualty as it is their card that was killed.

Blockade (0): Play face up. The card limit on this planet is reduced by one. A planet can typically hold six cards. With Blockade, it can only hold five.

Escape (0): The favored player may add their prisoner to the planet (ignoring card limit). It resolves normally. Escape is useful for waiting to see all the information before you dispatch a card.

Peace Accords (1): Factions present with least strength are considered the strongest. Also, the favored player scores 1VP. Players must have at least one strength to be considered for strongest. Peace Accords is a strong counter to Legions and Planet Marshals.

Ambush (2): The strongest player may kill one card. No VP is scored. Both event and action cards can be killed. If the killed card belongs to a player, they take one casualty.

Transport (4): The favored player scores 1VP and moves any unresolved cards to one unresolved planet (ignoring the card limit). Players may Transport ANY cards.

• If Transport is played to the last planet, cards moved are discarded.
• Transport is a good way to escape an Assassin or dogpile a planet once you have more information.

Prophecy (5): The favored player scores 1 VP. They then Claim Prophecy. In the next round, they choose to which planets the remaining cards are dispatched at end of the Draft Cards phase. Typically, these cards are dispatched to planets randomly. Furthermore, the player with Prophecy can distribute the cards however they wish to the planets, ignoring the typical one card limit!

Honor Guards (8): Honor Guards must be killed before any other card. When this happens, Assassins do not score. If Honor Guards resolves, the favored player may heal once. The Honor Guards is a good way to protect your Duchess.

Imposter (9): The favored player scores the planet if a Duchess doesn't score. Assassins can kill Imposter and score for it as if they killed a Duchess.

• When dispatched, Imposter may be disclosed as an Event OR a Duchess.
• If Imposter is on a planet with a Duchess, the favored Duchess scores, not the Imposter.

Hidden Base (9): Play face up. The Duchess Scores +2 VP here.

• Hidden Base's bonus is provided for scoring the planet, not the favor bonus.
• The Imposter does not benefit from the Hidden Base.

Example: The Capital is worth 3VP when a Duchess scores. With Hidden Base, the Capital is worth 5VP.

Planetary Siege (9): The Duchess and Imposter cannot score this planet.

• Planetary Siege cancels the effect of Hidden Base.

Orbital Bombardment (10): Do not resolve any more cards on this planet.

• Cards that resolve before Orbital Bombardment still use all cards on the planet, even those that resolve after Orbital Bombardment, to determine strongest and favored.

Martyr (11): The strongest player may discard a non-Event prisoner to score 1 VP. The owning faction gains a casualty token. You cannot use Martyr to discard an event.

Sentry (11): The strongest player scores 1 VP. They Claim Sentry. In the next round, at the beginning of the Resolve Planets phase, they place the Sentry on one planet to gain its strength and favor.

Example: At the start of the Resolve Planets phase, the green player places the Sentry on the Water Planet. When it is resolved, the green player adds 1 Strength and 1 Favor to green cards when determining strongest and favored players.

Messenger (12): The favored player scores 1 VP. They Claim Messenger. In the next round, they draft one additional card.

• Typically, this means the player with Messenger will draft six cards!
• If the player with Messenger also has Poison, the two cards cancel each other out, and the player drafts five cards as normal.
• The player with Messenger plays all six cards, which means they gain an extra turn.
• If the player with Messenger is unable to play their sixth card due to all planets being full, and have already taken a prisoner, they simply discard the card.

Famine (14): The favored player loses 2VP if able. If the favored player only has 1VP, they lose 1VP.

• Famine is a good way to hinder the player in the lead.

Poison (15): The strongest player Claims Poison. In the next round, they draft one fewer card.

• Typically, this means the player with Poison will draft four cards!
• If the player with Poison also has Messenger, the two cards cancel each other out, and the player drafts five cards as normal.
• The player with Poison only plays four cards, which means they get one fewer turn and are skipped when they would normally take a fifth turn.

Medical Team (15): The Favored player Heals once. If they have no Casualties, they instead score 2VP.

Two Player Events

These events are used only in two player games. Experienced players can feel free to swap the two player events for others or use these in 3-4 player games.

Quagmire (6): All Legions on the planet are killed. Discard the cards and their owners take a casualty. Quagmire competes for strongest.

Mercenaries (7): Strongest Assassin may kill one card and score 2 VP. If an Assassin uses Mercenaries, they do not also kill a Duchess.