Stellium Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Terms
• Components
• Setup
• Turn Sequence
  • 1. Placing a Celestial Body
  • 2. Completing Missions
  • 3. New Mission
• Final Round
• Scoring
• Missions
  • Simple Shapes
  • Placement in the Universe
• Credits and Acknowledgments
• Quick Reference Card

Objective

Players take turns drawing Celestial Bodies from the bag and placing them on the game board, which represents the Universe. To win, you must build the various shapes shown on the Mission cards and score victory points — Stelliums — for doing so.

When the deck of available Missions runs out, or when one of the players reaches the required number of points (usually 20-30 Stelliums, depending on the number of players), the final round begins.

Terms

• Ball = Celestial Body
• Disc = Galaxy
• Board = Universe
• Edge of the board = Outer Belt
• (symbol) = Stellium
• (symbol) = Black Hole

Components

• 1 game board
• 1 bag with 38 balls (11 green, 10 blue, 9 yellow, 8 pink)
• 40 Mission cards
• 16 tokens
• 1 first player marker
• 4 reference cards
• 1 rulebook

Setup

1. Assemble the Outer Belt from its three pieces.
2. Randomly lay out the discs, called Galaxies. Turn them so that the white lines between them and the Outer Belt form a grid.
3. Place the 4 triangular fragments in the remaining spaces between the Galaxies.
4. Shuffle the Mission cards and lay some of them face up on the table: 8 for four players, 7 for three players, or 6 for two players. These are the Available Missions.
5. Place the remaining cards in a face-down pile on the table — this is the Mission Reserve.
6. Choose 4 different balls for each Galaxy and lay them out randomly on the spaces marked with the (circle) symbol. These are the starting Celestial Bodies.
7. Return the remaining Celestial Bodies to the bag. It will be passed from player to player throughout the game.
8. Give each player a reference card.
9. Give each player 4 different Influence tokens. Give the oldest player the first player marker.

Turn Sequence

Sequence of a turn

1. Draw a Celestial Body from the bag.
2. Place the Celestial Body in the Universe. The Celestial Body triggers its effect on the Universe (mandatory), or an Influence token is used instead (optional).
3. Complete a Mission (optional) and discard all the Celestial Bodies used for it except one. Complete another Mission (optional) and discard all the Celestial Bodies used for it except one, and so on.
4. Draw a new Mission.
5. Pass the turn to the next player.

Players take turns clockwise, starting with the first player.

1. Placing a Celestial Body

It's quite hard to decide which Celestial Body to pick on the first turn of the game. Look at the Available Missions and how the Celestial Bodies are arranged on the board. On your turn, you can take one of the Missions and try to complete it over the course of the game.

There are 4 kinds of Celestial Bodies in the game, each different to the touch: this lets you find the Celestial Body you need without peeking into the bag.

Celestial Body	Texture
Planet	smooth
Comet	rough
Star	bumpy
Supernova	uneven

5 seconds: roughly how long each player is given to choose a Celestial Body from the bag. The other players may count down the remaining time out loud.

Placement: the player places the drawn Celestial Body in an empty space on the board (Comets are an exception to this rule — see Collision).

Black Holes

There are 10 Black Holes on the board. These are spaces between Galaxies where Celestial Bodies cannot be placed. However, a Celestial Body can be pushed or pulled into a Black Hole using special effects (see below). Note that Celestial Bodies do not disappear in Black Holes: they can still be used afterward to build shapes and complete Missions.

Influence: apply the Celestial Body's effect.

Swap: After placing a Planet on the board, choose any other Planet in the Universe and swap it with a neighboring Celestial Body (the Planet you just placed cannot be moved this way). If you want to use a green Influence token, then for Swap you must choose a Celestial Body of the same type as the one you placed (for example, if you placed a Star and used a green Influence token, you must choose any other Star in the Universe and swap it with a neighboring Celestial Body).

Collision: Pushes a Celestial Body and takes its vacated space. This way you can push several Celestial Bodies lying next to each other in a line, until one of them takes an empty space or goes off the edge of the board (yes, you can push a Celestial Body out of the game: it returns to the bag). A Comet cannot be placed into an empty space.

Rotation: Rotates the Galaxy that the Celestial Body was placed into, around its center. A full 360-degree rotation is not allowed.

Attraction: Activates any Black Hole, which pulls in any adjacent Celestial Body. A Supernova that triggers Attraction cannot itself be pulled in.

Influence Token

Instead of the effect of the placed Celestial Body, a player may use one of their Influence tokens to apply the effect of a different Celestial Body. The effect of an Influence token matches the effect of the Celestial Body of the corresponding color.

Example: (A) the player places a Star and applies (B) a green Influence token (Planet token) to swap another Star with a neighboring Celestial Body instead of Rotating the Galaxy. The player does not apply Rotation in order to complete their Mission (C and D).

All unused Influence tokens are worth 1 Stellium each and will be added to the final score at the end of the game.

2. Completing Missions

Players start with no Mission cards in hand. On the first round, players skip straight to step 3: "Draw a new Mission."

After placing a Celestial Body, a player may complete one or more of the Missions they have chosen previously.

Explanation

Each Mission is assigned a color, corresponding to the main Celestial Body in that Mission. Completing Missions of different colors will earn bonus points at the end of the game.

Completed Missions are laid out in front of the player so that the top right corner, which shows the number of Stelliums earned, is visible.

To complete a Mission, you must exactly recreate the shape shown on the Mission card on the board. Empty spaces shown on the Mission card may be occupied by other Celestial Bodies or may remain empty.

Announce the completion of a Mission: If a shape made of Celestial Bodies on the board matches a Mission card the player wants to complete, they must show it to their opponents. The player receives the number of Stelliums shown in the top right corner of the Mission card, then lays it face up in front of themselves.

Discard Celestial Bodies: Discard all the Celestial Bodies used to complete the Mission except one (of your choice). These Celestial Bodies go back into the bag and cannot be used to complete another Mission this turn.

Empty Galaxy: If a Galaxy is left without any Celestial Bodies during the game, the players must refill it:

1. The player on whose turn the Galaxy became empty draws 5 Celestial Bodies at once.
2. The previous player chooses one of them and places it on any space of the empty Galaxy. The other players (in counterclockwise order) do the same. The remaining Celestial Bodies are returned to the bag.

Completing several Missions: On a single turn, you may complete several Missions, one after another.

Important: You cannot complete a Mission you have just drawn.

3. New Mission

Choose: The player takes one of the Available Missions, shows it to the other players, and either takes it into their hand or places it face down in front of themselves. This ends their turn.

Refresh: A new Mission card is revealed from the Mission Reserve and added to the Available Missions.

3 Missions maximum: If a player already has 3 uncompleted Missions in hand, they may keep them, or discard one to draw a new one. Discarded Missions are returned to the box.

Final Round

Victory by points: when a player, by completing Missions (color bonuses are not counted), reaches or exceeds the required number of Stelliums, the final round is played: players who have not taken a turn in the current round each take one final turn. This way, all players take an equal number of turns. After that, each player totals all the Stelliums from their completed Missions and adds any bonuses due.

Points needed to win: 2 players = 20 Stelliums, 3 players = 25 Stelliums, 4 players = 30 Stelliums. For a first game, it is recommended to lower these numbers by 5 (15, 20, and 25).

Empty Reserve: If no player has reached the required number of Stelliums but the cards in the Reserve have run out, the final round is played: players who have not taken a turn in the current round each take one final turn. This way, all players take an equal number of turns. After that, each player totals all the Stelliums from their completed Missions and adds any bonuses due.

Scoring

Each player totals their points scored: completed Missions + unused Influence tokens + color bonuses.

The player with the most Stelliums is declared the "Great Creator of the Universe."

Color bonus: each player gets 1 Stellium for each different color among their completed Missions: 1/2/3/4 colors give +1/+2/+3/+4 Stelliums.

Scoring example

3 colors = 3 Stelliums, 2 tokens = 2 Stelliums. 3 + 4 + 7 + 5 = 19 Stelliums (from completed Missions), Total = 24 Stelliums.

Ties: If several players have scored the same number of Stelliums, the winner is whoever reached the required amount first. If no player reached the required amount, no one wins, and no one earns the title.

Missions

Simple Shapes

• Three neighboring Celestial Bodies must be arranged in a line.
• Three neighboring Celestial Bodies must be arranged in a semicircle.
• Four Celestial Bodies must be arranged in a rectangle and be adjacent to each other.
• Two Celestial Bodies of the matching color must be arranged in a diamond with two other Bodies of the color specified on the Mission.
• Three neighboring Celestial Bodies must be arranged in a triangle.
• Three Celestial Bodies must be placed adjacent to a single space.
• Four Celestial Bodies must be arranged consecutively in the shape of the letter "S." This Mission can only be completed with Celestial Bodies in different Galaxies.

Reminder: Simple Shapes can be built from Celestial Bodies placed in different Galaxies or in Black Holes.

Placement in the Universe

• Two Celestial Bodies must be neighbors and be located in different Galaxies.
• The player must place as many Celestial Bodies as possible in the centers of Galaxies (the number in parentheses indicates how many Celestial Bodies are needed to complete the Mission).
• The player must have as many Celestial Bodies as possible on spaces of the same color (the number in parentheses indicates how many Celestial Bodies are needed to complete the Mission).

Credits and Acknowledgments

• Creator: Rémi Saunier
• Rules and game design: Henri Pym
• Illustrator: Aurélie Guarino
• Lead graphic designer: Vincent Lombard, Romain Libersa
• Rules proofreading: PH, Rémi Saunier
• Russian translation: vk.com/geekmediagroup
• Russian rulebook layout: Bziko
• Publisher: Fabrika Igr
• Importer: SR Postavka LLC

The creators of the game would like to thank the players of the "Tas de Beaux Jeux" community, friends from CAJO, Henri — for believing in the project's success — as well as all the beta-testers, near and far, and everyone who took part in the development.

Quick Reference Card

Sequence of a turn

1. Draw a Celestial Body (5 seconds to choose).
2. Place it in the Universe.
3. The Celestial Body triggers its effect on the Universe (mandatory), or an Influence token is used instead (optional). Complete a Mission (optional) and discard all the Celestial Bodies used for it except one. Complete another Mission (optional) and discard all the Celestial Bodies used for it except one, and so on.
4. Draw a new Mission (3 maximum in hand).
5. Pass the turn to the next player.

Celestial Body reference

• Planet — 11 (smooth ball) — Swap: Swaps another Planet with a neighboring Celestial Body. The Planet you just placed cannot be moved this way. If you want to use a green Influence token, then for Swap you must choose a Celestial Body of the same type as the one you placed on the board.
• Comet — 10 (rough ball) — Collision: Pushes a Celestial Body and takes its vacated space. This way you can push several Celestial Bodies lying next to each other in a line, until one of them takes an empty space or goes off the edge of the board (yes, you can push a Celestial Body out of the game: it returns to the bag). A Comet cannot be placed into an empty space.
• Star — 9 (bumpy ball) — Rotation: Rotates the Galaxy that the Celestial Body was placed into, around its center. A full 360-degree rotation is not allowed.
• Supernova — 8 (uneven ball) — Attraction: Activates any Black Hole, which pulls in any adjacent Celestial Body. A Supernova that triggers Attraction cannot itself be pulled in.