Black Hole: Kyrum

Black Hole: Kyrum Rulebook

Table of Contents

Introduction

Black Hole is a 'Print and Play' game, it means you have to print and cut out by yourself the basic components and add some other components to be able to play.

Basic components

20 Planet Cards
15 Discovery Cards
10 Encounter Cards
18 Objective Cards
3 Crafting Cards
1 Journey Card
X Narrative Discovery Card(s)
1 Elements Board
1 Dashboard
1 Fuel and Knowledge Board
A Script Booklet
4 pages Questionnaire

Components to add

2 Exploration Dice (one white and one black)
4 Distance Dice (colour of your choice)
18 Elements cubes or tokens (wooden or plastic)
6 Gauges tracking cubes / tokens (wooden or plastic)

Of course, you can adapt the components to add according to what you already own. The important thing is to find your way around.

Aim of the Game

Black Hole is a narrative game that comes in a series of 30/50 games which together make up a unique Campaign.

Each games offer independent Objectives, but gradually allow you to reach the main Goal of the Campaign: The End-of-Campaign Questionnaire.

Games Objectives

Each game will ask you to achieve a certain number of Objectives before the end of your 4th Journey through Kyrum. When the Objectives are achieved and validated, the game is won.

Campaign Goal

The Campaign Goal is the most important achievement in the game. You must be able to answer the End-of-Campaign questionnaire which will be revealed at the end of the Campaign (30/50 games).

Symbol description

Fuel, Spacesuit Integrity, Firepower, Knowledge, Ship Integrity, Health, Common Element, Uncommon Element, Rare Element, Discovery, Notoriety Points.

Card Description

Planet Cards: They represent the planets that you can explore during a game. Each Planet has its own characteristics and Scripts.
Discovery Cards: They represent the discoveries you will make during your explorations. There are 5 types of Discovery: Plant, Fossil, Micro-organism, Mineral and Animal.
Encounter Cards: They represent the encounters, but especially, the dangers that you will come across on your Journeys through Kyrum.
Journey Card: A game consists of a maximum of 4 Journeys. This card will allow you to track your Journeys and specify the Notoriety points that you can win at the end of the game.
Objective Cards: They allow you to keep an eye on your game Objectives. Each card is labelled with a letter of the alphabet from A to R.
Crafting Cards: The three Crafting Cards remind you the costs of each Repair / Crafting possibilities.
Narrative Discovery Cards: These are special cards. During your games, some Scripts will offer you to add narrative discoveries to your inventory. It will therefore be necessary to fill out the Narrative Discovery Cards by writing on it the name and characteristics of the discovery.

Boards Description

Fuel and Knowledge Board

This is the board that allows you to track your Fuel and Knowledge. You start a game with 10 Fuel and 0 Knowledge. For both gauges, it is impossible for you to exceed 16 or have a negative value.

Elements Board

This is the Board that allows you to track your resources. There are 3 types of resources: common elements, uncommon elements and rare elements. At the start of the game, you start without any elements. When you win an element, place a cube/token in the corresponding location. You can never have more than 6 elements of the same type.

Dashboard

This is the Board that allows you to track your dashboard. It includes your Health, Spacesuit integrity, Ship Integrity and Firepower of your ship. Use a token to track each characteristic. They cannot exceed 6 or be less than 0. You start with 6 Health, 6 Spacesuit Integrity, 6 Ship Integrity and 0 Firepower.

Game Setup

Shuffle all separately the Planet Card deck, Encounter Card deck and Discovery Card deck. Place them close to the playing area.
Place the Journey Card under the Planet Card deck leaving the "1st Journey" side visible.
Keep the Objective Cards nearby.
Keep a few Narrative Discovery Cards not far from your playing area, they could be required during the game.
Place the Elements Board in your playing area and the 18 small cubes / tokens outside the board.
Place the Fuel and Knowledge Board in your play area and place a token at 0 Knowledge and 10 Fuel.
Place the Dashboard in your play area and place tokens on 6 Health, on 6 Spacesuit Integrity, on 6 Ship Integrity and on 0 Firepower.
Place the 3 Crafting Cards close to your playing area.
Place the Script Booklet close to your playing area.

Starting the game

Black Hole is played in a single Campaign of at least 30 games. To start a game, you need to go to the Game Scoreboard on page 160 of the Script Booklet. In this table you will find 6 columns.

The number of the game. It is impossible to restart an already finished game. The games must be played in order.
The Objectives to be achieved to win the game.
Victory or defeat. (To be specified at the end of your game)
The number of Notoriety point(s) gained during the game.
Your comments on the game.
Script to read at the end of the game, regardless of the outcome.

To start the 1st game, you need to get the Objective Cards labelled B, F and N and keep them close to the playing area. These are the Objectives to be achieved for win this 1st game. The other Objective Cards are removed from the game.

Objective cards

Explanation of the 18 Objective Cards:

A - You must be at 6 on your Health gauge when resolving the game Objectives. Being below 6 is not a condition of defeat, but it will be necessary to raise your Health level back to 6 the next time you want to resolve the game Objectives.
B - You must be at 6 on your Ship Integrity gauge when resolving the game Objectives. Being below 6 is not a condition of defeat, but it will be necessary to raise your Ship Integrity level back to 6 the next time you want to resolve the game Objectives.
C - You must bring your Firepower level at its maximum (6).
D - You must be at 6 on your Spacesuit Integrity gauge when resolving the game Objectives. Being below 6 is not a condition of defeat, but it will be necessary to raise your Spacesuit Integrity level back to 6 the next time you want to resolve the game Objectives.
E - You must reach a level of 9 or higher in Knowledge.
F - You must have 3 studied Discoveries in your inventory.
G - You must have 2 studied Plants in your inventory. The Plants are found in the Discovery Card deck.
H - You must have 5 Discoveries in your inventory.
I - You must have 6 Uncommon Elements in your inventory when resolving the game Objectives.
J - You must have 6 Common Elements and 2 Uncommon Elements in your inventory when resolving the game Objectives.
K - You must have 5 Rare Elements in your inventory when resolving the game Objectives.

Journeys and Areas

Each game consists of 4 Journeys. At the end of 4th Journeys, the game ends, even if you have not fulfilled its Objectives. Each Journey is made up of 5 areas to explore, which you will have to reveal progressively. One area represents 4 Planet Cards. You have to explore one area at a time.

Draw the top 4 cards from the Planets Card deck and place them face up in front of you in order and from left to right. Roll the 4 Distance Dice, then place them in front of each Planet card, from left to right, minding that the lowest value is furthest to the left and the highest is furthest to the right.

1 trip = the entire Planets Card deck (= 5 Areas).
1 game = 4 trips = 4 times the Planets Card deck.
4 Planet Cards = 1 Area

Example: After rolling the 4 Distance Dice, you roll a 6, a 3, a 2, and another 3. You must therefore place the Dice from left to right as 2, 3, 3, 6.

The value of each Distance Die, under each Planet Card, represents the amount of Fuel required to reach the displayed planet. If you decide to explore Rymios (with a Distance Die of 2), you will need to reduce your Fuel gauge by 2.

When you explore an Area (4 Planet cards), you can explore one, two, three, four, or no planets in this Area. You can explore the planets in the order of your choice. You cannot explore the same planet twice in any one Area. Before each exploration, it is imperative to spend the required Fuel. Some effects will allow you to spend less Fuel than necessary. When you want to leave an Area, discard the 4 Planet Cards and draw 4 new ones to form a new Area.

Fuel

Fuel is one of the most important resources in the game. Without it, it will be impossible for you to travel through Kyrum. Be careful not to run out of Fuel!

You can, at any time, craft Fuel from the Elements you find on the Planets. Be careful with the management of your Elements, because if you reach a level of 0 on the Fuel gauge and you have nothing in your inventory to craft, you lose the game.

Resolve a Planet Card (Exploration Action)

After using the Fuel to reach a Planet, you must resolve the Exploration Action on the said Planet. To do this, roll the two Exploration Dice (black and white Dice).

If the value of the black Die is greater than the white Die, you must resolve the black arrows.
If the value of the white Die is greater than the black Die, you must resolve the white arrows.
If the two Dice have the same value, you must resolve the black and white arrows.

Examples:

In Example 1, the white Die is greater than the black die, so you have to resolve the white arrows.
In Example 2, both Dice have the same value, so you have to solve the black and white arrows. (See "Resolve a Script")
In Example 3, the black Die is greater than the white die, so you have to resolve the black arrows.

When performing the Exploration Action, you must solve only one of the three arrows.

Description of Possible outcome of your Exploration

Gain one or more Common Elements.
Gain one or more Uncommon Elements.
Gain one or more Rare Elements.
Lose one or more Ship Integrity levels. If your Ship Integrity gauge reaches 0, you lose the game!
Lose one or more Health points. If your Health gauge reaches 0, you lose the game!
Lose one or more Spacesuit Integrity levels. If your Spacesuit Integrity gauge reaches 0, you lose 1 Health and your Spacesuit Integrity level becomes 1.
Draw a Discovery Card and add it to your inventory.

Resolve a Script

When you need to resolve the black and white arrow, you need to read the corresponding Script.

Each Script in the Script Booklet is associated with a code like this: A.10.XX

The A does not matter at the moment; it is common to all Scripts.
The 10 represents the number of the Planet (here, the planet Rymios).
The XX is to be replaced by the sum of the values of the both Exploration Dice. For example, if you roll the Exploration Dice and the result is two 4s, you must replace the XX by 08.

Example: You want to perform the Exploration Action on Rymios. You roll the Exploration Dice and the result is a double 4, so you have to resolve the black and white arrows. Impact: You must read Script A.10.08.

Special Case: the RAHEL Planet Card is special. When you do a double with the Exploration Dice, whatever the Dice result, you must read the Script A.29.01.

General rule: You can refuse to read a Script and therefore re-roll the Exploration Dice.

Script Booklet

The Script Booklet is the centrepiece of Black Hole. The Scripts will make you experience Jaakub's story in unshattered way. Each Planet offers a total of 6 Scripts: these are the Main Scripts. The Scripts that will arise from the Main Scripts will be the Secondary Scripts.

Each Script will take place at a different time. Sometimes it will only be a few months apart, other times, several decades. So, you will experience Jaakub's story in a shattered way and not chronologically. It is important not to hesitate to take notes of your adventures, in order to put this long story in order.

From page 1 to page 149 are the Main and Secondary Scripts. Each Planet is accompanied by a description text: Don't forget to read it when you explore one of them.
From page 150 to page 156 is the Glossary. Each word (or group of words) that is found in the Script Booklet with the particularity of being in Bold AND in Italics will be further developed or explained in the Glossary. It is advised to read the Glossary as you discover these "words".
From page 157 to page 158 is the table "Main Scripts Tracking List". This is a tracking table that allows you to check off Scripts that have already been discovered and keep an eye on the amounts of Scripts still to be discovered. Important: Some Scripts ask you to make choices that will lead to a Script conclusion. Nothing prevents you, later in a game, to discover a Script already discovered in order to make a different choice and experience a different Script conclusion.
From page 159 to page 161 is the Game Scoreboard.
From page 162 to page 165 is the Thoth market.
From page 166 to page 186 are blank pages for possible note taking.

Spacesuit Integrity

Some Planet cards can only be explored if the level of your Spacesuit integrity is equal to or greater than the Planet's danger level. These Planets Cards have a Spacesuit symbol next to their name, along with a number being the Planet's danger level.

If your Spacesuit Integrity level does not allow you explore a Planet, you can increase it before the exploration (see Crafting Cards).

Reminder: If your Spacesuit Integrity level reaches 0, you lose 1 Health point and the Spacesuit Integrity must automatically raise to 1.

Discoveries

When you are exploring a Planet and you need to resolve the Discovery symbol, draw a Discovery Card and add it to your inventory. When you have a Discovery Card in your inventory, you can study it. Studying a Discovery comes at a cost. This cost is displayed on the upper part of the Card. When the Discovery Card is studied, you gain the amount of Knowledge displayed on the lower part of the Card. When a Discovery is studied, you have to rotate it in order to remember it. Once studied, some cards will also allow you to earn Notoriety Points (see Notoriety Points).

At the end of a game, Discoveries, studied or not, are discarded and do not remain in your inventory for the next game.

Important: A Discovery can be studied in several times during the same game. You may partially pay the cost of the study, keep the study on hold, then pay the remaining of the cost later in the game.

Card layout: the study cost is at the top, the type of discovery is shown on the card, the Notoriety gained once studied (Victory) and the gain of related knowledge for its study are at the bottom.

Example: This Discovery Card is a Plant. Its study cost is 2 Common Elements. Once studied, you gain 2 Knowledge. If you win the game, it allows you to also gain 1 Notoriety Point.

Narrative Discoveries

Narrative Discovery Cards are special Discovery Cards. Only a Script can ask you to add a Narrative Discovery Card to your inventory. The Script will formulate a sentence as follows: Add a Narrative Discovery to your inventory and write on it: "Name of the Narrative Discovery. Study = X Elements. Once studied, read the Script A.XX.XX".

You will have to write on the upper part of the Card the name of the Narrative Discovery as well as its study cost, and on the lower part, the Script to read when the Narrative Discovery is studied. The Script can be read only after completion of the study of the Narrative Discovery.

Like the Discoveries, the Narrative Discoveries can be studied in several sessions. However, unlike Discoveries, Narrative Discoveries are not discarded at the end of a game if they have not been studied. You keep them from game to game until they have been fully studied.

Narrative Discoveries do not count towards game Objectives.

Example: A Script asks you to add a Narrative Discovery whose study costs 4 Rare Elements. Draw on the Card 4 boxes representing the 4 Rare Elements. When you discard a Rare Element from your inventory, check one of the boxes. If the game ends and you didn't fully study the Narrative Discovery, save it for the next game, you will be able to continue studying again. Except indication to the contrary, after studying a Narrative Discovery and after reading its Script, put it aside until the end of the Campaign. It will no longer be of any use to you.

Knowledge

Discoveries, Narrative Discoveries and some Scripts allow you to gain Knowledge.

What is Knowledge for?

Knowledge can be required to achieve some game Objective. Objective Card E, P and R require you to reach a certain level of Knowledge to win the game. This means that you will have to do a maximum of studies during the game.
Knowledge is a great way to earn Notoriety Points. At the end of a game, your level of Knowledge will award you a certain amount of Notoriety Points.

A level of 5 rewards you 1 Notoriety Point. A level of 7 rewards you 2 Notoriety Points. A level of 9 rewards you 3 Notoriety Points. A level of 12 rewards you 4 Notoriety Points. A level of 16 rewards you 5 Notoriety Points.

Crafting Cards

Before or after an Exploration, you can discard Common / Uncommon / Rare Elements in order to Craft or repair some of the content of your gauges.

The 3 Crafting Cards remind you of the cost of each craft / repair that is possible.

For each Common Element spent:

Gain 2 Fuel.
Or get 1 re-roll of a Distance Die. (Right after a roll, you can re-roll a Distance Die)

For each Uncommon Element spent:

Gain 3 Fuel.
Or gain 1 Spacesuit Integrity.
Or gain 1 Ship Integrity.
Or gain 1 Firepower.
Or reduce a Distance Die to 1. (Right after a throw, you can set a Distance Die to 1)

For each Rare Element spent:

Gain 6 Fuel.
Or gain 1 Health.

Elements used in this way are returned to the discard pile outside the Elements board. There is no limit to crafting.

Encounter Cards

Encounter Cards represent the Encounters you will make during your Journeys through Kyrum. They usually will be dangers. There are 10 Encounter Cards in total.

2 Asteroids
2 Dark Threat
2 Rick Cloud
2 Pirates
1 Itinerant Trader
1 Black Hole

Encounter Cards can only be activated at a very specific time during your games. On the back of some Planet Cards is an exclamation mark. As explained previously, when you reach a Kyrum Area, you reveal 4 Planet Cards. After revealing the 4 Planet Cards, check the back of the next Planet Card (the one on the Planet Card deck): if this symbol is visible, you must immediately resolve an Encounter Card. To resolve an Encounter Card, draw one, place it in your play area, apply its effect, then discard it. Discarded Encounter Cards are removed from the game. If the Encounter Card deck is empty, ignore future Encounters.

Example: You draw 4 Planet Cards and the back of the next Planet Card has the "exclamation mark" symbol, you must immediately, even before rolling the Distance Dice, resolve an Encounter Card.

Encounter Cards Description

Out of the 10 Encounter Cards, 8 are Dangers Cards, 1 is the Itinerant Trader Card and 1 is the Black Hole Card.

Dangers

When you need to resolve one of the above cards, you must roll the Exploration Dice. If the value of the black Die is greater than the white Die, you must resolve the black arrows. If the value of the white Die is greater than the black Die, you must resolve the white arrows. If the two Dice have the same value, the Encounter is cancelled and discarded.

Example 1:

If you need to resolve the white arrows, check your Firepower. If it is strictly less than 2, lose 2 Ship Integrity.
If you need to resolve the black arrows, check your Firepower. If it is strictly less than 3, lose 2 Ship Integrity.

Example 2:

If you need to resolve the white arrows, check your Ship Integrity. If it is strictly less than 2, lose 2 Health.
If you need to resolve the black arrows, check your Ship Integrity. If it is strictly less than 5, lose 1 Health.

Itinerant Trader

The Itinerant Trader is a special Encounter, which allows you to trade Discoveries for Elements. When you need to resolve this Card, you will have the option to trade:

Either an unstudied Discovery for 2 Common Elements.
Either a studied Discovery for 3 Common Elements.
Or 2 studied Discoveries for 1 Rare Element.

You can only select 1 out of the 3 options. If you cannot or do not want to trade anything, just move on.

Black Hole

Here is one of the most unique Cards in the game. Black Hole is exclusively a solo game, but it can be experienced in duo!

Before starting a Black Hole Campaign, find yourself a Black Hole Partner, in order to experience it together. Unlike a classic two-player game, you will never be in direct contact with the second player.

Explanations: Each player will play as Jaakub (the main character), but will live their own adventures in a parallel universe. You and your Black Hole Partner will discover Jaakub's story in a completely different order.

The Black Hole Card will allow you to get in touch with a Jaakub from another reality (the second player). It will be strictly forbidden to contact the second player about the game outside the resolution of this Card. To resolve a Black Hole, you just need to read the Script A.53.11 and follow it exactly.

If you don't want to play with a Black Hole Partner, just remove that card from the game.

Journey Card

The Journey card, which is placed below the Planet Card deck, must be rotated 180 degrees when the deck is depleted for the first time. Then, it must be flipped to its other side when the deck is depleted a second time. Then, once again rotated 180 degrees when the deck is depleted a third time.

When the deck is depleted for the fourth time, the game ends!

Notoriety Points are displayed on the Journey Card. This is the number of Notoriety Points that you will earn once completing your game Objectives.

If all the Objectives are completed before the end of the 1st Journey, you earn 4 Notoriety Points.
If all the Objectives are completed before the end of the 2nd Journey, you earn 3 Notoriety Points.
If all the Objectives are completed before the end of the 3rd Journey, you earn 3 Notoriety Points.
If all the Objectives are completed before the end of the 4th Journey, you earn 2 Notoriety Points.

Notoriety points

At the end of a game, you have the opportunity to earn Notoriety Points.

There are 3 ways to earn Notoriety Points:

With Knowledge.
With Discoveries.
With the Journey card.

Notoriety Points can be spent in the Thot Market at the end of the game. They can be stacked from game to game.

Note: If your game ends in a loss, you only win half (rounded down) of the Notoriety Points earned during this game. Notoriety Points of the Journey Card will not be earned at all.

Thot market

At the end of each game, if you have Notoriety Points to spend, go to Thot Market. It can be found on page 162 of the Script Booklet.

The Thot Market will grant you technological items that you can use during your next Journeys through Kyrum.

Game end

Defeat conditions

When your Health reaches 0.
When your Ship Integrity reaches 0.
When you run out of Fuel and no resources to craft some more.
When the 4th Journey ends and you have not completed the game Objectives.

Winning condition

When you complete the game Objectives before the end of the 4th journey.

Important Note: Completing game Objectives does not result in automatically ending it, it is up to you to decide when to validate the Objectives by spending 1 Fuel. The benefit of further play a game is to go explore new Planets in order to discover new Scripts. However, you risk losing some Objectives conditions in this quest for curiosity. Caution advised...

End of Campaign

When you complete the Black Hole Campaign (30 games minimum), the game will offer you answer an End-of-Campaign Questionnaire.

The Questionnaire will be graded on a score of 50 according to your correct answers and on which you will add the score of your Black Hole Partner. This will give you a shared score out of 100.

If you score below 60, the Campaign is lost.
If you score between 60 and 69, you win the Campaign with the Traveller status.
If you score between 70 and 79, you win the Campaign with the Great Traveller status.
If you score between 80 and 89, you win the Campaign with the Explorer status.
If you score 90 or above, you win the Campaign with Great Explorer status.

(If you play without a Black Hole Partner, double your result and you will get your score out of 100)

Game summary

Game Setup
Select your game and place the objectives close to your playing area.
Discover an Area by drawing 4 Planet Cards.
Roll the 4 Distance Dice and associate them with the Planets.
Spend Fuel and explore the planets that interest you using the 2 Exploration Dice.
Discard the 4 Planet cards and discover a new Area by drawing 4 new ones.
Repeat the operation until the end of the 4 Journeys.
Validate your Objectives by spending 1 Fuel. (At any moment)
End of the game: Count your Notoriety Points. Read the Endgame Script (if there is one). Spend your Notoriety points at the Thoth Market.

Game Tips

The spice in the game is the discovery of Scripts. Take the time to read them carefully and try to link them together. Remember that some Scripts take place in the past and others in the future. The present remains a moving point that does not have time to exist.

If you don't take the time to experience each Script, Black Hole will become a very mechanical and repetitive game. Part of the flavour of the game is what you do with it.

The concept of the Black Hole Card is a powerful concept if well exploited, but can become anecdotal if it is neglected. Try to make each exchange with your partner as interesting as possible. At the beginning of the Campaign, you will have little to tell them, but after a few games you will know what kind of information it will be interesting to share with them.

Don't forget to spend your Notoriety points at the Thot Market. You will find technological items that will ease your access to missing Scripts.

Some Scripts deserve to be discovered several times; it is up to you to find them.