Space Race Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Setup
  • Choosing a Faction
• The Missions
  • MERCURY
  • VOSTOK
  • CASSINI-HUYGENS
  • APOLLO (Cold War expansion)
• Faction Headquarters Setup
  • Standard Setup
  • Thematic Setup
• Gameplay
• Phase 1: Manage the Agency
  • Turn Order
  • Getting cards into your Agency
  • Empty Deck
  • Placing cards into the Universe
• Phase 2: Develop the Agency
  • Leaders
• Projects
• Phase 3: Check Mission Status
  • Closing a Project
  • Opening a New Project
  • Closing and Opening a Project
  • Agency Output
  • Breakthrough Domination
  • Lab Research
• End of the Game
• Appendix – Card Abilities
  • Permanent Abilities
  • Explanation of the abilities
  • Your Lab
  • No Universe card to take
  • Exhausted Astronauts
  • Combined Abilities
  • Investments
  • Special Abilities
  • Dedication
  • Reusable / Single-Use Abilities and Covering cards
• AI Players (Solo Variant)
  • Setup
  • Faction Headquarters Setup
  • Gameplay
    • Phase 1: Manage the Agency
    • Phase 2: Develop the Agency
    • Phase 3: Check Mission Status
  • Projects (AI players)
  • End of the Game (solo)
• Round Structure (Summary)
  • Phase 1: Manage the Agency
  • Phase 2: Develop the Agency
  • Phase 3: Check Mission Status
  • Mission tile symbols
• Distribution of Initiative values on Control cards (Thematic setup)
• Credits

Object of the Game

You are a director of a newly formed Space Agency. Your mission is simple: lead your country into the pages of history as the nation that explores the mysteries of the Universe. Hire astronauts and scientists, develop technologies, initiate space programs, and celebrate astonishing breakthroughs.

The game begins at the start of the Cold War in the 1950s. Over 7 rounds, you will gain Progress by participating in Projects, building a powerful Lab, being the leader in Breakthroughs, and maximising your Agency's output. The player with the most Progress at the end of the game is the winner. You must respond to an ever-changing environment in order to identify the best course of action while competing with your opponents for the most interesting discoveries.

1–5 players. 45–90 minutes. Age 14+.

Learn the game by watching a video tutorial instead of reading the rulebook at boardcubator.com/srtbg/howtoplay. See how to sort the components into the tray at boardcubator.com/srtbg/tray.

Components

1. 1 Game board
2. 1 Rulebook
3. 162 Space Race cards
4. 80 Control cards (16 per Faction)
5. 21 Mission tiles (3 missions each of 7 tokens)
6. 20 Projects (5 each of 4 different categories)
7. 5 Faction Headquarters (1 per Faction) with help card on the back
8. 5 Rocket miniatures (1 per Faction) with colored snap bases
9. 75 Astronauts (15 per Faction)

Setup

1. Place the game board in the middle of the play area.

2. Shuffle all Space Race cards to form the Deck and place it on the game board on the spot designated for the Deck.

3. Take 1 card from the Deck and place it in the Unexplored Universe face down.

4. Take 4 cards from the top of the Deck and place them face up in the Universe on the leftmost empty spaces in the row according to their type: Propaganda cards go in the top row, followed by Technology cards in the next row, then Space Programs, and finally Breakthrough cards.

5. Choose one of the available Missions and place its 7 Mission tiles face up on the board in the spaces matching the shape of the tile. For your first game, it is recommended to use the Mercury Mission.

6. Separate the Projects by category according to their backs. Select 1 random Project from each category; then randomly choose one category and take another Project from it. Place the rest of the Projects back in the box. Shuffle all 5 selected Projects and place them at random face down on the designated space on the board. Flip the bottommost Project face up.

   Cold War expansion: If you are playing with the Cold War expansion, you have an extra Project category. So, instead of selecting a second project from a random category, just use one project from each of the 5 categories.

7. Each player chooses one Faction, taking its Faction Headquarters, Rocket, and all Astronauts and Control cards in the appropriate color (Soviet = red, NASA = teal, ESA = purple, China = orange, Private Sector = dark grey). Each player then follows the setup according to their chosen Faction.

Choosing a Faction

You can let each player choose the Faction they want to play based on the color of the components or because they have a preference. If more than one player wants to play the same faction, choose at random who gets to play it.

Alternatively, you can assign Factions at random.

The Missions

MERCURY

Be a part of the first American human space program, helping Alan Shepard become the first American in space by making a suborbital flight in May 1961.

Mission tiles MM-1 to MM-7.

VOSTOK

It is April 12, 1961 and the Soviet Union is about to launch the Vostok spacecraft into low Earth Orbit. Yuri Gagarin is chosen to be the first human in space.

Mission tiles VM-1 to VM-7. In this mission, Lab Research is worth more than ever.

CASSINI-HUYGENS

Collaboration between NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and Italian Space Agency (ASI) resulted in a space-research mission. Its objective is to study the planet Saturn and its system. Cassini was the first probe to ever enter Saturn's orbit.

Mission tiles CH-1 to CH-7. Prepare yourself for a real battle for Breakthroughs as they are scored every round.

APOLLO (Cold War expansion)

Do you have what it takes to stand on the Moon? In the ultimate conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States, the Apollo 11 Mission was launched by a Saturn V rocket, and on July 16, 1969, the first human stood on the surface of the Moon.

Mission tiles AM-1 to AM-7. This mission will test all of your capabilities as a director of a Space Agency. You have to plan carefully for each Mission Status check. This mission is not usable in the solo variant.

Faction Headquarters Setup

For your first few games, we recommend playing with the Standard Setup shown on the Faction Headquarters. In this setup, all Factions have similar setup rules. Once you are experienced with the game, we recommend trying the Thematic setup instead where each Faction has different setup instructions and extra Control cards specific to their Rocket. The choice of setup must be the same for all players. After setup is complete, flip your Faction Headquarters to the other side.

NASA and the Soviet Union have a choice of two Rockets (Saturn IB or Saturn V for NASA, Soyuz or N-1 for Soviets). Use only the Faction Headquarters appropriate to the Rocket chosen. Place the other Faction Headquarters and Rocket back in the box.

Standard Setup

Each player does the following:

• Place your Rocket-specific Control cards back in the box. Place the remaining 12 Control cards face down in a stack nearby; there is no need to shuffle them.
• Place 1 Astronaut on the Launch Pad of the Game board.
• Place your remaining Astronauts into your Agency (an area in front of you).
• Draw a number of cards from the Deck into your hand as shown on your Faction Headquarters. These cards should be kept secret from the other players.
• In initial turn order (Soviet, NASA, ESA, China, and Private Sector), each player places their Rocket on the Progress track. Place the first player in turn order on the '1950' space and each other player, in turn order, behind the previous Rocket.

Thematic Setup

Each player does the following:

• Take the set of 12 Standard Control cards and remove the four indicated on your Faction Headquarters. Then, add in the set of 4 Rocket-specific Control cards so that you have 12 Control cards again (3 each of 4 different types).
• Place your Astronauts in the locations shown on your Faction Headquarters. This could be a combination of your Agency, a Breakthrough Zone (including the Launch Pad), and the Standby areas of Projects. If your Faction uses fewer than 15 Astronauts, return any remaining ones to the box.
• Place your Rocket on the space of the Progress track as shown on your Faction Headquarters.
• Draw the number of cards listed from the Deck and add them to your hand.

Your play area consists of: your Lab, your Played Control Cards, your Space Agency, your Hand, and your remaining Control Cards.

Gameplay

Space Race plays over 7 rounds. Each round is divided into 3 phases, carried out in the following order:

Phase 1: Manage the Agency: Players simultaneously choose a Control card for the upcoming round, and prepare the grounds for the development of their Agency by putting cards from their Hands face down into the Unexplored Universe. At the beginning of every round, players think about their possibilities and decide how to develop their Agency. Their choice of Control card will determine their Agency's development for that round.

Phase 2: Develop the Agency: Players develop their Agencies using the abilities on their cards.

Phase 3: Check Mission Status: Players evaluate the Progress of their Agencies and prepare for the next round.

After 7 rounds, the game ends and the player whose marker is farthest ahead on the Progress track wins.

Phase 1: Manage the Agency

Listen here, director. It's up to you to choose which way the Agency will progress, so prepare wisely. Make sure you got your priorities set straight, because once you choose a path, there is no going back. We've got some intel on the other factions, but you are mostly going in blind. I wish you the best, director. Godspeed!

This phase consists of 7 steps carried out in the following order:

1. (Skip this step in the first round of the game.) In turn order, each player draws 1 card from the Deck and adds it to their hand. Then take 1 card from the Deck and place it face down in the Unexplored Universe without anyone seeing it.

   Note: If the Deck runs out, see the "Empty Deck" rule.

2. In turn order, each player may place any number of cards (including none) from their hand face down into the Unexplored Universe. If you have more than 7 cards in hand, you must place cards until you have 7 or fewer cards in hand.

3. Count the number of cards in the Unexplored Universe without looking at the front of the cards. If there are fewer cards than the number of players plus one, add cards face down from the Deck until there is 1 more card than the number of players. E.g. in a 3-player game, there should be at least 4 cards in the Unexplored Universe.

4. Shuffle the cards in the Unexplored Universe and then reveal a number of them based on the number of players:

   Players	Cards revealed
   2-player game	1 card
   3- and 4-player game	2 cards
   5-player game	3 cards

   Place the revealed cards into the Universe as per the rules in "Placing cards into the Universe".

5. Each player chooses one of their remaining Control cards and places it face down in their Agency. Slide any previously played Control cards up and place the new card overlapping the others, keeping the top part of each previous card visible.

6. Reveal all of the other cards in the Unexplored Universe and place them into the Universe, following the same rules as in step 4.

7. Each player then reveals the Control card they played in step 5. This is the active Control card for the round. The abilities on previously played cards are no longer active.

Every Control card can be used only once during the game (Propaganda 1 creates an exception to this). Therefore, choose wisely which one to play in each round.

Turn Order

At various times in the game, things are resolved in turn order. This is determined by looking at the relative positions of the Rockets on the Progress track, starting with the player farthest ahead and proceeding to the player at the back. At other times, things are resolved in reverse turn order, which start with the player whose Rocket is the farthest back on the Progress track and proceeding to the player at the front.

Getting cards into your Agency

In Space Race, you do not usually play cards directly from your hand into your Agency. Instead, you play cards into the Unexplored Universe which then get revealed and placed into the Universe where they can be acquired by any player using abilities on cards they have.

Empty Deck

If the Deck should run out of cards, and it is the first time this has happened during this game, shuffle the cards in the Investments area together and place them face down as a new Deck. If you still have remaining cards to draw, continue to do so from the new Deck.

If the Deck runs out a second time, it stays empty; cards can no longer be drawn from it.

In the unlikely event that there are not enough cards for all players to draw a card at the start of the round, players draw cards in turn order.

Placing cards into the Universe

Whenever cards are placed into the Universe from the Unexplored Universe, they are placed according to the following rules:

• The card is placed face up into the section of the Universe that matches the type of card (Propaganda, Technology, Space Programs, Breakthroughs).
• The card is placed in the leftmost slot that has the fewest cards in it, on top of any cards already there.

If there is more than one card in a slot, only the cards on top can be targeted by abilities.

For example: The Propaganda section currently looks like this: 1st slot: 1 card, 2nd slot: 2 cards, 3rd slot: 1 card, 4th slot: 0 cards. If 3 new Propaganda cards were revealed, the first card would go to the 4th slot, the second card into the 1st slot, and the third card into the 3rd slot.

Phase 2: Develop the Agency

What are your plans for the agency, director? Remember, you can't focus on everything, so make the best of what's available in front of you. If you have planned everything wisely, all actions will just fall into its place, if not however, then you will have to make it up as you go. Also, just a slight hint for you, you don't want to forget about your leader.

This phase consists of 5 steps carried out in the following order:

1. Propaganda: All players with an active Propaganda Control card may activate the yellow stripe abilities on their cards in initiative order (see below).

2. Technology: All players with an active Technology Control card may activate the teal stripe abilities on their cards in initiative order.

3. Space Program: All players with an active Space Program Control card may activate the purple stripe abilities on their cards in initiative order.

4. Breakthrough: All players with an active Breakthrough Control card may activate the red stripe abilities on their cards in initiative order.

   Note: For each of the steps 1–4, if no player has an appropriate active Control card, skip that step.

5. Bureaucracy: In reverse turn order, all players must resolve their Bureaucracy abilities.

In each of the steps 1–4, a player is considered "active" if their active Control card matches the current step. In a step, each active player takes a turn in an order determined by the initiative value of their active Control card. The player with the highest initiative value goes first, followed by the player with the next highest, and so on until all players who are active in that step have had a turn. If two players tie for initiative, the player who is ahead on the Progress track goes first.

On your turn, you may activate as many abilities on cards in your Agency as well as on your active Control card with the appropriate colored stripe as you wish. Once all active players have had a turn, proceed to the next step.

Notes:

• You may activate your abilities in any order, even using one ability on a card, then an ability on a second card, followed by a different ability on the first card.
• You may activate a card's abilities on the same round that you added it to your Agency (as long as the abilities are in the active stripe).
• Using an ability is optional.
• You may activate each ability on a card once per round. However, if a card leaves your Agency and returns in the same turn, its abilities may be activated a second time.

Step 5 (Bureaucracy) is resolved in a similar way, but with the following changes:

• Players take turns in reverse turn order (according to the Rockets on the Progress track).
• All players must activate all of their Bureaucracy abilities, irrespective of their active Control card.

Exception: A Bureaucracy ability that starts with "You may..." is optional.

Bureaucracy abilities are described in the Appendix.

The abilities are all described in the Appendix.

Leaders

Some Propaganda cards are marked with a symbol in the top left that indicates the card is a Leader. Each Faction can only have one Leader at any given moment. If you play a second Leader card into your Agency, you must immediately move one of your Leaders to your Lab. If you move the new Leader you just played to your Lab, do not resolve any abilities on it. If you move your old Leader to your Lab, resolve any abilities of the new Leader at this point.

Projects

Projects are objectives that players can work on together. They are another way to gain Progress, but only if the project is completed before it closes. There are 4 categories of Projects (5 with the Cold War expansion), identified by their backs. Each category gives players a different challenge.

Each open Project (one that is face up) shows the requirement for placing an Astronaut on that Project. If at any point on your turn you meet this requirement, you may place a number of Astronauts from your Agency into the Standby area beside the corresponding Project. If the Project doesn't indicate how many Astronauts to place, you may place 1 each time you meet the criteria. If the criteria allows you to place more than 1 Astronaut, you may choose how many to place, up to the number shown. If you meet the criteria for more than one Project, you may place Astronauts on each of those Projects.

For example: the Brilliant Pebbles Project is open and you play Area 51 to your Agency. This is a level 3 Propaganda card, so you may place up to 3 Astronauts onto the Standby of the corresponding Project.

At the end of your turn, you must move every Astronaut you have on Standby onto a space of the appropriate Project. This can happen in phase 1 after you have played cards into the Unexplored Universe, in phase 2 after you have activated abilities on your cards, and also in phase 2 after performing your Bureaucracy step.

When you place your first Astronaut on a Project, you may place it on any empty space with a blue border. Any future Astronauts you place on the same project must be placed in the next empty space (following the arrows) towards the last space. If there are no spaces left, you cannot place any more Astronauts on the Project.

Notes:

• If a Project is completed (an Astronaut is on the last space in the upper-right corner of the Project), other Astronauts may still be placed on the Project following the previous rules.
• You cannot place Astronauts on a Project that has not yet been opened unless a card ability specifically allows this.
• If you run out of Astronauts in your Agency, you can take an Astronaut from a different Project (always from the space farthest away from the last space, or from any Standby area).
• Placing Astronauts from your Agency to Standby is optional, but moving them from Standby to a Project space is mandatory.
• If there are not enough spaces on the Project to move all of your Astronauts from Standby, return any excess to your Agency.
• If there are no empty spaces with a blue arrow when you are moving your first Astronaut to the Project, place your first Astronaut on the first empty space with a white arrow instead.

Phase 3: Check Mission Status

Now, the real test begins. It's time to take a look at your agency, director. We've got to make sure the operation is running smoothly, so expect these routine checks every once in a while. Today, I'd like to know the current status on the project. The funding window is coming to a close, so you better work fast. I can also see that you improved your agency and the new R&D center looks great. Speaking of which, I want to hear what the current research strategy for your laboratory is. And finally, let's take a look at the most important thing, your space program. It is imperative to outperform all of the other factions!

During this phase, your Faction will gain Progress, represented by your Rocket moving up the Progress track. If your Rocket would end its movement in the same space as another Rocket, place it on the next empty space in front of the other Rocket instead.

First, resolve the Mission tile for the current round (i.e. the face-up tile in the lowest position). Each Mission tile has the name of the Mission and the associated round number shown on the left side of the tile. Also depicted on the tile is a number of symbols which represent the different ways each player can gain Progress. Resolve each symbol in order from left to right, one at a time, with players gaining their Progress in reverse turn order. After all symbols have been resolved, flip the Mission tile over.

Closing a Project

Check to see if the collaborative work of the Factions paid off.

When resolving this symbol, the oldest Project (the face-up Project in the lowest position) is closed. If there is an Astronaut on the last space, the Project is considered to be completed. In this case, each player, in reverse turn order, gains Progress equal to the sum of the numbers in the spaces containing their Astronauts. If the Project was not completed, no Progress is gained.

Then, each player takes back all of their Astronauts from the closing Project and places them back into their Agency.

Finally, close the Project by removing it from the game board and placing it back in the box.

For example: The ZVEZDA MOONBASE Project is closing. Since the blue player has an Astronaut on the last space, the project is complete. Each player who participated on this Project gains Progress according to the positions of their Astronauts: Blue = 6 Progress, Red = 5 Progress, Black = 3 Progress. This Progress is awarded in reverse turn order. After scoring, everyone takes their Astronauts back into their Agency, and the Project is closed and removed from the board.

Opening a New Project

A new possibility for the Factions to cooperate becomes available!

When resolving this symbol, turn the next Project (the face-down Project in the lowest position) face up. It is now open and players can now place their Astronauts on it following the normal rules.

Closing and Opening a Project

Projects come and go, make sure to stay on top of things.

When resolving this symbol, first close the oldest Project, and then open a new one, following the previous rules.

Agency Output

Use the skills of your leader, exploit new technologies, and advance your space program.

When resolving this symbol, each player gains Progress equal to the sum of the levels of each card in their Agency that have a matching stripe to their active Control card. If the Mission tile lists a modifier, apply it.

The level of a card is the number depicted in the colored arrow on the left side of the card.

For example: Your active Control card is Breakthrough, so you add the levels of each card in your Agency that has a Breakthrough level depicted. In this case, 4. Since the Mission tile depicts a 2× multiplier, you gain 8 Progress.

Breakthrough Domination

Which Faction has made the most astonishing breakthroughs?

When resolving this symbol, check each of the Breakthrough Zones except the Launch Pad. The player with the most Astronauts in that Zone gains Progress as depicted on the Mission tile.

If two or more players tie for the most Astronauts, the player with the fewest exhausted Astronauts (those lying down) gains the Progress. If there is still a tie, all tied players gain the Progress.

Note: In a 2-player game, Breakthrough Domination is worth less Progress as depicted on the Mission tile. For a tile showing 4/3, having the most Astronauts gains 3 Progress instead of 4.

Examples, for a Mission tile showing the 4/3 symbol, the player(s) gain Progress in the following way:

1. Purple and black gain 4 Progress each.
2. Only purple gains 4 Progress.
3. In a 2-player game, red gains 3 Progress.

Lab Research

It's time to see what your scientists come up with!

When resolving this symbol, each player gains 1 Progress for every card in their Lab. If the Mission tile depicts a multiplier, apply it.

For example: You have 4 cards in your Lab, so you gain 4 Progress (assuming the Mission tile does not depict any multiplier).

End of the Game

After you resolve the scoring of the last (7th) Mission tile, the game ends. The player whose Rocket is furthest on the Progress Tracker wins the Space Race.

Appendix – Card Abilities

Almost every card in the game has one or more abilities. These are depicted as symbols on a colored stripe. The color of the stripe determines the step of phase 2 in which you may activate the ability:

• Yellow stripe: Propaganda
• Teal stripe: Technology
• Purple stripe: Space Program
• Red stripe: Breakthrough

Some cards have abilities printed on the bottom of the card. These abilities are activated depending on the type of the ability, irrespective of your active Control card.

Note: Some cards also have further explanations of how their abilities work on the bottom of the card.

• Abilities with the Bureaucracy symbol shown at the bottom of a card must be resolved during the Bureaucracy step of phase 2, irrespective of which Control card is active.
• Abilities with the immediate symbol shown at the bottom of a card must be resolved immediately when placing that card into your Agency.

Permanent Abilities

There are some abilities in a card's bottom section without any preceding symbols. In that case, read the ability description to determine when and how such an ability is triggered, or if it is a permanent effect.

For example: The Science Popularisation card says that whenever a Propaganda or Technology card enters your Agency, you may place an Astronaut on a Project.

Explanation of the abilities

Many abilities allow you to move one or more cards or Astronauts from one place to another.

• A: Where to take the card or Astronaut from.
• B: The type of thing to move and how many.
• C: Where to move the card(s) or Astronaut(s) to.

Notes:

• Unless explicitly stated in a card's text, all icons on your cards refer to your own areas (your hand, Lab, or Agency).
• You may always move fewer cards or Astronauts than the ability allows, and even if you move nothing, the ability is still considered activated. There is one exception: abilities that move cards to the Investments area; you must move the exact number of cards indicated in order to activate the ability.
• If you run out of Astronauts in your Agency, you can take an Astronaut from a Project (always from the space farthest away from the last place) or any Standby area.

Examples of abilities:

• This ability allows you to take a Technology card from the Universe and place it in your Agency.
• This ability allows you to take up to 3 cards from the Deck and add them to your Hand.
• This ability allows you to take up to 2 cards from your hand and add them in your Lab.
• Move one of your Astronauts from any Breakthrough Zone (including the Launch Pad) into the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Zone.
• Move one of your Astronauts from any Breakthrough Zone into either the Man in Space Zone or the Planet Exploration Zone.
• Place two new Astronauts from your Agency onto the Launch Pad.
• Whenever you place or move an Astronaut into any Breakthrough Zone.

Your Lab

When an ability allows you to place a card into your Lab, it is placed face up to the left of your Agency. Cards placed in your lab are placed sideways, slightly offset against any other cards in your Lab so that everyone can see how many cards you have there. Everything printed on the card itself is ignored, it is simply the number of cards in your Lab that matters. However, there are abilities that allow you to move a card from your Lab to your Agency.

No Universe card to take

If a card ability allows you to take a card from the Universe, and there are no cards of the appropriate type available, you can, instead, do one of the following:

• Choose a card from the closest preceding section (i.e. a step that is already finished) and put it into your Agency. You may only do this if the ability that allows you to do this is the first ability you activate on your turn.
• Draw 3 cards from the Deck into your hand.

Exhausted Astronauts

Unless otherwise stated, all Astronauts are placed upright. However, some effects instruct you to place exhausted Astronauts or to 'exhaust an Astronaut'. This is done by placing the Astronaut on its side, instead of standing up.

Whenever a card tells you to refresh exhausted Astronauts, stand those Astronauts up.

Combined Abilities

These abilities depict two effects. Before resolving this ability, you must decide and announce how to divide the maximum number of cards between the top and the bottom effects. The top effect is resolved first, followed by the bottom effect.

For example: A combined ability with a value of 2 has three possible effects. You can do one of the following:

• Draw 2 cards from the Deck to your hand.
• Draw 1 card from the Deck to your hand and then place 1 card from your hand to your Lab.
• Place 2 cards from your hand to your Lab.

Investments

An ability that requires you to place cards into the Investments area represents expenses that must be paid when such a card is placed in your Agency or during Bureaucracy.

Cards are placed into the Investments area face up. If you cannot pay the full cost of the ability, it cannot be resolved. For Bureaucracy abilities, there is a penalty associated with not paying the cost, shown in the text on the card.

Special Abilities

Abilities marked with an asterix are explained in the bottom section of the card.

For example: The ability says: Draw 1 card from the Deck to your hand. If it is a Technology card, place it into your Agency.

Dedication

Some abilities can only be activated when your faction is dedicated.

Your faction is dedicated if your active Control card or a card in your Agency indicates this is the case.

For example: During the Bureaucracy step, the Chang'e Program card allows you to move 1 card from your hand to your Lab, if you are dedicated.

Note: All Control cards with Initiative value 3 make your faction dedicated until the end of the round.

Reusable / Single-Use Abilities and Covering cards

Abilities are located either on the left or the right side of a card. This position determines whether the ability is reusable or single-use:

1. Reusable Abilities are on the left. They may be activated once during each round.
2. Single-Use Abilities are on the right. After using a single-use ability, cover the whole right side of the card with another card in your Agency. Abilities on the covered side of the card may no longer be activated.

Note: If you do not have another card in your Agency to cover with, use one of your Astronauts instead. Once you add another card to your Agency in future, use this to cover and take back the Astronaut.

Other game effects might also cause you to cover a card. This is done in the same way as above. Some abilities allow you to uncover a card. When you do this, remove the covering card so that the single-use abilities on the card's right side are usable again.

Note: Remember that each ability may be activated only once per round, so you could not activate a single-use ability, cover it, activate another ability to uncover it, and then activate it again on the same round.

AI Players (Solo Variant)

Use these rules if you want to play the game solo, against up to 4 AI players. You may also add AI opponents into a normal multiplayer game if you wish to increase your player count (i.e. you can have 2 human players and two AI players for a 4-player game).

Setup

Follow the normal setup rules for the multiplayer game, but with the change detailed below. We recommend using the Mercury Mission for your first solo game; it will give you a challenging experience while teaching you how to play against the AI.

Cold War expansion: Note: Project Sanguine and the Apollo Mission from the Cold War expansion should not be used when playing with an AI player.

Faction Headquarters Setup

Determine the number of AI opponents you want to challenge based on your desired difficulty.

Difficulty	Normal	Hard	Challenging	Expert
Number of AI opponents	1	2	3	4

Instead of drawing cards from the Deck into their hands, each AI player gets 1 card from the Deck into their Lab. You draw cards as normal.

Shuffle each AI's Control cards to form a Control card deck and place it in their Agencies.

Gameplay

You play your turn as normal. The AI players follow these rules:

Phase 1: Manage the Agency

• Step 1: Instead of drawing a card from the Deck, each AI player puts 1 card from the Deck into their Lab. Skip this step in the first round as normal.
• Step 2: Each AI player puts one card from the Deck into the Unexplored Universe.
• Steps 3 and 4: The AI players count as players for the purpose of determining how many cards should be in the Unexplored Universe and how many to reveal.
• Step 5: Each AI player puts the topmost card from their Control card deck face down into their Agencies.
• Steps 6 and 7: No change.

Phase 2: Develop the Agency

When each AI player takes its turn, it takes the rightmost card of the section matching its active Control card. If there are no cards of this type available, it takes a card from the previous (already played) section. If there are no cards in any of the preceding sections, the AI player takes 1 card from the Deck and places it face up into their Agency.

For steps 1–4, if an AI player is the only one active during a given step (for example, if only an AI player played a Propaganda card), it also takes 1 card from Deck and places it into their Lab.

Important: AI players do not resolve any of their card abilities with the exception of taking a Breakthrough card with the ability to place Astronauts into a Breakthrough Zone; these are resolved normally, including placing exhausted Astronauts if indicated.

In step 5 (Bureaucracy), AI players do not resolve Bureaucracy abilities. Instead, if an AI player is dedicated (determined by its active Control card), it moves 1 of their Astronauts from the Launch Pad into a Breakthrough Zone (or to the Launch Pad if it doesn't have one there). This is explained in detail in the next section.

Phase 3: Check Mission Status

Resolve the Mission tile following the normal rules for a multiplayer game, but with the following changes:

Agency Output: AI players gain double the Progress for their Agency output.

Breakthrough Domination: Before resolving Breakthrough Domination, each AI player, in reverse turn order, moves one of their Astronauts, according to these rules:

• If the AI player does not have any Astronauts on the Launch Pad, it places 1 Astronaut onto the Launch Pad from their Agency.
• If the AI player already had at least 1 Astronaut on the Launch Pad, the AI player moves 1 Astronaut from the Launch Pad to a Breakthrough Zone as detailed below.

Follow the steps below, in order, attempting to move an Astronaut that meets the conditions of the step, until an Astronaut is placed. When checking Zones, start with Reaching for the Stars and go clockwise:

1. Move 1 Astronaut into the first Breakthrough Zone where it increases the Progress it would gain by doing so and not tie with another player.
2. Move 1 Astronaut into the first Breakthrough Zone where it would tie with another player.
3. Move 1 Astronaut into the first Breakthrough Zone where it would break a tie and then have more Astronauts in that Breakthrough Zone than any other player.
4. Move 1 Astronaut into the first Breakthrough Zone which would bring it the closest to having more Astronauts than any other player.

Example 1: The first step is to check whether there is a Breakthrough Zone in which the AI player will increase the Progress it gains and not tie. The Search for Extraterrestrial Life Zone is empty so the AI player moves its Astronaut there, because it will gain more Progress by doing so.

Example 2: There are no zones where the AI player can achieve the conditions of the first step, so we check the next step where it looks to tie. The first Breakthrough Zone (moving clockwise from Reaching for the Stars) to meet this condition is the Man in Space Zone, so the AI player places an Astronaut there.

Example 3: In this situation, there are no empty Breakthrough Zones, and the AI player cannot tie, so it tries to place an Astronaut in a Breakthrough Zone where it will break a tie. The first Breakthrough Zone which meets this requirement is the Planet Exploration Zone, so it places an Astronaut there.

Projects (AI players)

If an AI player meets the requirements for placing Astronauts on open Projects, it does so following these placement rules:

If there are no Astronauts from the AI on the Project yet, they place their Astronauts onto the Project in a way that the last Astronaut they place occupies the closest available blue space to the end space. AI players cannot place their Astronauts on spaces with a white arrow with their first Astronaut placement.

If the AI already has Astronauts on the Project, continue placing new Astronauts following the normal rules for a multiplayer game.

End of the Game (solo)

After you resolve the scoring of the last (7th) Mission tile, the game ends. As per the multiplayer game, the player whose Rocket is furthest on the Progress Tracker wins the Space Race.

Round Structure (Summary)

Phase 1: Manage the Agency

1. Each player draws 1 card. Then place 1 card from the Deck into the Unexplored Universe.
2. In turn order, players place any number of cards from their hand face down into the Unexplored Universe. Maximum of 7 cards in hand after this step.
3. Add cards into the Unexplored Universe, if needed (number of players +1).
4. Shuffle the cards in the Unexplored Universe and then reveal 1/2/2/3 cards based on the number of players 2/3/4/5.
5. Players choose a Control card for this round, placing it face down in their Agency.
6. Reveal the rest of the cards from the Unexplored Universe.
7. Players reveal their new active Control card.

Phase 2: Develop the Agency

1. Propaganda
2. Technology
3. Space Program
4. Breakthrough
5. Bureaucracy

For steps 1–4, in initiative order, players with an active Control card of the appropriate type may activate their matching stripe abilities. For step 5, in reverse turn order, all players must resolve their Bureaucracy abilities.

Phase 3: Check Mission Status

1. Resolve each symbol on the current Mission tile from left to right. Players gain progress in reverse turn order.
2. Flip the current Mission tile face down.

Mission tile symbols

Closing a Project: If the oldest Project is complete, players gain Progress according to the placement of their Astronauts. Then, whether complete or not, the project is closed and any Astronauts on it are returned to their Agencies.

Opening a new Project: Turn the next available Project face up; it is now open.

Agency Output: Players gain Progress based on the sum of the levels of each card in their Agencies that have a matching stripe to their active Control card.

Lab Research: Players gain 1 Progress for each card in their Lab.

Breakthrough Domination: Check each Breakthrough Zone except the Launch pad (Reaching for the Stars, Man in Space, Planet Exploration, and Search for Extraterrestrial Life). The player with the most Astronauts in each zone gains Progress (based on the current Mission tile). In case of a tie, the player with the fewest exhausted Astronauts gains the Progress.

Distribution of Initiative values on Control cards (Thematic setup)

Rocket (Faction)	Propaganda	Technology	Space Program	Breakthrough
Soyuz (Soviet)	0, 3, 6	1, 3, 4	1, 2, 6	1, 3, 7
Saturn IB (NASA)	2, 3, 6	1, 2, 6	1, 4, 6	0, 1, 3
Ariane 5 (ESA)	1, 4, 6	0, 3, 6	2, 3, 6	3, 4, 6
Long March 2F (China)	1, 3, 5	1, 3, 7	0, 3, 6	2, 3, 6
Falcon Heavy (Private Sector)	1, 3, 7	1, 3, 5	0, 3, 6	1, 2, 6
N-1 (Soviet)	1, 2, 6	0, 1, 3	1, 3, 5	0, 1, 6
Saturn V (NASA)	0, 3, 6	2, 3, 6	1, 3, 7	1, 3, 5

Credits

Game design by Jan Soukal, Michal Mikeš, and Martin Řehořík. Art direction by Marek Loskot. Illustrated by Dalibor Krch, Michael Petrus, and Michal Rumlena. Graphic design by Pavel Richter. Box cover by Rado Javor. Cards layout graphic design by Zak Eidsvoog. Rocket miniatures design by Juan Hernández. 3D graphic visualization by Luboš Zbranek. Astronaut meeples original design concept by Jeff McDowall. Rulebook editing by Paul Grogan and the Gaming Rules! team.

Published by Boardcubator.