Star Gazers Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Overview
• How To Play
• On Your Turn
  • Placing Galaxy Tiles
  • Placing Galaxy Tokens
  • Bonus Tokens
  • Token Reserve
• Types of Galaxy Tokens
  • Space Shuttles
  • Photo Opportunities
  • Black Holes
  • Stars
  • Suns & Meteors
• Creating Your Mural
  • Half icons
• Space Shuttle bonuses
  • Gain a Bonus token
  • Move a Galaxy token or a Circle Bonus token
  • Move a Galaxy tile
  • Choose a Journal card
• Journal Cards
  • Adjacent Tiles
  • Row/Column
  • Solar Systems
• Constellation Cards
• New Round
• End of Game Scoring
  • Photo Opportunities
  • Journal cards - Telescopes
  • Constellations
  • Other Scoring
  • Scoring Example

Components

• 1 Universe board
• 1 Journal Draft board
• 4 Mural boards
• 4 Journal boards
• 64 Galaxy tiles
• 4 Galaxy tokens with Galaxy bag (the token count used depends on player count; see Setup)
• 12 Circle Bonus tokens (Space Shuttle, Sun, Star)
• 12 Hex Bonus tokens (Moon, Comet, Space Station)
• 4 Starter Sun tokens
• 48 Journal cards
• 6 Constellation cards
• First Player marker
• Scorepad

Setup

1. Place the Universe board and Journal Draft board in the center of the table.
2. Place the Circle Bonus tokens (Space Shuttle, Sun, and Star) and Hex Bonus tokens (Moon, Comet, and Space Station) appropriate to player count near the Universe board in a general supply.

Player Count	Circle Bonus Tokens	Hex Bonus Tokens
2	2 of each	2 of each
3	3 of each	3 of each
4	4 of each	4 of each

3. Take one of each of the six types of Bonus tokens from the supply and place them at the appropriate ends of the Universe board.
4. Give each player a Mural board and a Journal board to place in their personal play area, and a Starter Sun token to place in one of the Reserve spaces in the top left corner of the Journal board. Return the unused player boards and Starter Sun tokens to the box.
5. Collect all Galaxy tokens for your player count, then add them to the Galaxy Bag and mix thoroughly. Return the unused Galaxy tokens to the box. Do not place any Starter Sun tokens or Circle Bonus tokens in the bag.

Player Count	Galaxy Tokens
2	32
3	48
4	64

6. Collect all the Galaxy tiles for your player count and shuffle them together. Create face-down stacks of eight tiles each, depending on your player count.

Player Count	Galaxy Tiles	Number of Stacks
2	32	4
3	48	6
4	64	8

7. Take one of the stacks of Galaxy tiles and use the tiles to fill the Universe board by placing them face-up in the eight spaces surrounding the center of the board.
8. For each of those eight Galaxy tiles, draw a Galaxy token from the bag at random and place it face-up in the center of the tile.
9. Separate the Journal cards according to the label on the back (I, II, III). Shuffle each type of card separately and place them face-up in the matching deck spaces on the Journal Draft board.
10. Draw one Journal card from each deck and place it face-up on the Journal Draft board, in the space beside that deck.
11. Deal one Journal card from the I deck and one from the II deck to each player. Each player chooses one of the cards they were dealt and adds it to their Journal board, and discards the other card, placing it at the bottom of its corresponding deck.
12. Separate the Constellation cards by the label on the back (A or B). Choose one A Constellation and one B Constellation at random and place them near the Universe board as the active Constellations for this game. Return the other Constellation cards to the box.
13. Give the First Player marker to the person who most recently used a telescope.

Overview

In Star Gazers, your goal is to create the most interesting Mural based on your astronomical sightings.

Choose Galaxy tiles and Galaxy tokens from the Universe board, representing observations you make through your telescope.

Place them on your Mural board to score points by making patterns of icons that match the goals of your private Journal cards, and the Star patterns shown on the public Constellation cards.

The Mural with the highest score wins!

How To Play

Star Gazers is played over a number of rounds equal to twice the number of players.

Player Count	Number of Rounds
2	4
3	6
4	8

In each round, players take turns to choose one Galaxy tile and token combination from the Universe board to add to their Mural board, starting with the player who has the First Player marker and proceeding clockwise.

The round continues until players claim all Galaxy tiles and tokens from the Universe board.

The player who takes the final Galaxy tile and token combination in the round also chooses one Circle Bonus token and one Hex Bonus token from the center of the Universe board to add to their Mural board.

When the round ends, refill the Universe board with Galaxy tiles and tokens, pass the First Player marker clockwise, then begin a new round.

On Your Turn

Choose one Galaxy tile and Galaxy token combination from the Universe board.

You must collect both pieces from the same square (you cannot choose a tile from one square and a token from a different square).

After collecting your tile and token, you must place them on your Mural board (except for Rocket tokens), but you are not required to keep them together. You can place them in separate squares if you wish, and you may place the tile first or the token first.

When filling your Mural board, consider the pattern shown on your Journal cards and the shared Constellation cards. In particular, the position of Star icons is important for completing the Constellations.

Placing Galaxy Tiles

Whenever you place a Galaxy tile, you must place it in one of the squares of your Mural board that does not already have a tile. You may rotate the tile and place it facing in whichever direction you choose.

After you place a tile, you cannot move or rotate it later, with one exception: you can use a special once-per-game ability on your Journal board to move a Galaxy tile to a different square (see Space Shuttle bonuses).

Placing Galaxy Tokens

Most Galaxy tokens are also placed onto the Mural board, except for tokens with the Space Shuttle icon, which are played to your Journal board instead.

You may place a Galaxy token in a Mural board square that does not already have a Galaxy tile, then later place a tile around the token.

Galaxy tokens and Circle Bonus tokens may also be placed in empty Reserve spaces on your Journal board, allowing you to delay placing the token.

Note: The number of Galaxy tokens on your Mural board at the end of the game varies. You are likely to have several Galaxy tiles with empty spaces in the center.

Bonus Tokens

The player who takes the final Galaxy tile and token combination has no choice in what they get. Instead, they receive two Bonus tokens:

• One Circle Bonus token of their choice from the center of the Universe.
• One Hex Bonus token of their choice from the center of the Universe.

Bonus tokens all have an icon surrounded by yellow targeting arrows, as if viewed through your telescope. You can tell Bonus tokens apart from Galaxy tokens by the presence of these yellow targeting arrows.

Circle Bonus tokens include a Star, a Space Shuttle, and a Sun. These tokens are played using the same rules as Galaxy tokens that have the same icon. These may also be placed in an empty Reserve space on your Journal board.

Hex Bonus tokens include a Moon, a Space Station, and a Comet. These tokens are placed on top of Galaxy tiles on your Mural board. They provide the same value as the same icons printed on Galaxy tiles.

Token Reserve

Your Journal board has two Reserve spaces where you can store Galaxy tokens and Circle Bonus tokens. At any time on your turn, you may move a token from your Reserve into your Mural, following the normal rules for placing that type of token.

You can only place tokens into your Reserve when you acquire them. You may not move tokens from your Mural into your Reserve.

Types of Galaxy Tokens

Space Shuttles

Space Shuttles are the only Galaxy tokens that you place permanently on your Journal board instead of your Mural board. There are 8 available spaces in the Space Shuttle section that provide an immediate bonus upon placing the Space Shuttle (see Space Shuttle bonuses).

Photo Opportunities

A Photo Opportunity is a Camera icon paired with one of five different celestial events that you can photograph to add to your Mural, as shown on your Journal board.

The score for Photo Opportunities increases depending on how many unique Photo Opportunities you capture. Duplicate photos do not count toward your total of unique Photo Opportunities, but may still help to complete Journal cards.

Black Holes

Black Holes must be placed on top of an existing circular token in your Mural. You may not place a Black Hole on another Black Hole.

If you cannot or do not wish to place a Black Hole when you collect it, you must place it in your Reserve instead. If you have no space in your Reserve, you must discard the token.

Black Holes can be used to complete some Journal cards. They also score 2 points for being included in your Mural.

Stars

Stars are used to match the pattern of Constellation cards and to complete some Journal cards.

Suns & Meteors

Suns and Meteors can be used to complete some Journal cards. Meteors also score 1 point for being included in your Mural.

Creating Your Mural

Where you place your Galaxy tiles matters for completing Journal cards, Constellations, and for creating Planets and Stars in your Mural. You may rotate tiles any direction before placing them, but you must align the tile corner to corner in exactly one square on your Mural board.

Placement of tiles is final, unless you use a Space Shuttle on your Journal board to activate the once-per-game relocation of a tile.

You may place a tile on an empty square, or on a square already containing a Galaxy token or Circle Bonus token.

Note: At the end of the game you will have exactly 16 Galaxy tiles, one for each square on your Mural board.

Half icons

Some tiles feature half the illustration of a Planet or Star. By placing these beside their matching halves, you can create a whole icon on your Mural.

There are also some 'wild' half Planets that may be paired with any other illustrated half Planet to complete that Planet.

Note: Two wild half Planets cannot be paired together.

You may place half Planets and half Stars without matching the halves, including at the edge of the Mural, but unmatched half icons score no points. See End of Game Scoring for details.

(Examples: a half Star with no matching half scores no points; placing two wild half Planets together is not allowed.)

Space Shuttle bonuses

Placing a Space Shuttle in one of the 8 spaces of the Space Shuttle section of your Journal board gives one of the following bonuses.

Gain a Bonus token

Choose any one available Bonus token (Circle or Hex) from the general supply (not from the center square of the Universe board) and add it to your Mural board or Reserve.

Move a Galaxy token or a Circle Bonus token

Choose any one circular token in your Mural. You can either:

1. Move it to a new empty square.
2. Swap its position with another circular token in your Mural.

You cannot move Hex Bonus tokens this way.

Move a Galaxy tile

Choose any one Galaxy tile in your Mural. You can either:

1. Move it to a new empty square.
2. Swap its position with another Galaxy tile in your Mural.

You may rotate the orientation of one or both tiles during this move or swap action. Any circular tokens remain where they are but Hex Bonus tokens on the tile move with the tile.

Choose a Journal card

Choose a face-up card from any of the six options available on the Journal Draft board and add it to your own Journal board. Refill the Journal Draft board from the appropriate deck if needed.

Journal Cards

Each Journal card offers one of three types of objectives. They require a pattern of adjacent tiles in your Mural that together have all of the icons shown in the blue sky area on the Journal card. Some cards also require a Star or Planet icon between the Tiles.

Adjacent tiles share an edge horizontally or vertically. Tiles that touch diagonally are not adjacent.

The required icons can be on a Galaxy tile or a Hex Bonus token placed on the tile, or they can be on a Galaxy token or Circle Bonus token in the center of the tile.

Telescope icons are not part of the requirement — they are the reward for completing the Journal card, scoring 3 points for each Telescope.

Important: Some Journal cards require Planet icons or Star icons. For half Planet and half Star icons printed on tiles, you must correctly match the two halves to form a whole icon to use it for a Journal card. However, only one half of the completed Planet or Star is required to be inside the tiles used for the Journal card for it to be counted.

Some Journal cards that require a Star have an asterisk on the Star. For these Journal cards you may use either Star tokens or completed printed Stars on Galaxy tiles to complete the Journal card.

Adjacent Tiles

Your Mural must have two adjacent tiles, either left-to-right or top-to-bottom, that together have all of the required icons.

Row/Column

Your Mural must have four adjacent tiles in a row or column, that together have all of the required icons.

Solar Systems

Your Mural must have a tile that has a Star icon surrounded by eight tiles that together have all of the required icons. The central Sun icon must be placed in one of the four tiles in the center of your Mural board, to allow space for a full eight tiles around it. Multiple Solar Systems can overlap.

Constellation Cards

Every game of Star Gazers has two Constellation cards available for all players to use. Each Constellation card shows a 4x4 grid, the same size as your Mural, with a pattern of Star icons.

The Stars are sometimes placed within the squares, and sometimes on the edges between squares.

You can score points by placing stars in your Mural in the same position as shown on the Constellation card.

You can choose to rotate the pattern to best match your Mural, but you cannot flip or mirror it.

You can use the same stars to score two different Constellation cards.

New Round

At the start of a new round:

1. Deal a new stack of Galaxy tiles face-up onto the Universe board and fill their centers with Galaxy tokens from the Galaxy bag, placing them face-up.
2. Refill the center square of the Universe so that it contains one of each of the six types of Bonus tokens. If any type of Bonus token has no tokens remaining, that type of token is not available for the rest of the game.
3. Pass the First Player marker clockwise to the next player.

Once all the prepared stacks of Galaxy tiles are used up and there are no tiles remaining to refill the Universe board at the end of the round, the game ends.

End of Game Scoring

Photo Opportunities

Score points for the number of unique Photo Opportunities in your Mural. A Photo Opportunity is the combination of the Camera icon with one of the five celestial events shown on your Journal board.

Unique Photos	Points
1	1
2	2
3	5
4	8
5	12

Journal cards - Telescopes

If you have completed the requirements of a Journal card, you receive the number of Telescopes shown. Score 3 points for each Telescope on your completed Journal cards.

Constellations

Score points for the number of Star icons in your Mural that are placed in a position that matches a Constellation. The Constellation card shows the required number of stars and the points scored.

No. of stars	Points
2	4
3	7
4	10
5	13
6	16

Other Scoring

• 1 point each: Comet, Meteor, Moon, and Space Station in your Mural.
• 2 points each: Black Hole and completed Planet in your Mural.

The player with the highest points total is the winner! If there is a tie, the tied player with the most Telescopes wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.

Scoring Example

Mural feature	Points
2 × Unique Photo Opportunities	2
1 × Meteor (1 point each)	1
4 × Space Stations (1 point each)	4
5 × Moons (1 point each)	5
3 × Comets (1 point each)	3
3 × Black Holes (2 points each)	6
5 × completed Planets (2 points each)	10
6 × Telescopes from completed Journal cards	18
3 Stars in the correct place for the Pegasus card	7
Total score	56