Cities of Venus: Lost Contact Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Set-up
  • Cloud-drop Cards
  • Event Cards
  • Innovation Cards
  • First Player
• The Basics
  • Department Capacity
  • Victory Points (VP)
  • Population Boost Cards vs. City Upgrade Cards
  • Anatomy of a Cannister Card
• Time to Play
  • Step 1: The Cloud-drop
  • Step 2: Resolve Events
  • Step 3: Lower Shields
  • Step 4: Grow & Deploy population
    • Innovation
  • Step 5: City Actions
  • Step 6: Grab a cannister card from the Cloud-drop
• End Game
• Appendix: Additional Card Explainers
  • Innovations
  • Events

Set-up

Place the neoprene mat in the middle of the play area within reach of all players along with the general supply of V-nauts (astronaut meeples), and the general supply of the 3 different coloured gems.

Give each player a city player board and an International Innovation Station (IIS) mini-board. Place the mini board to the right of each city player board. Place four V-nauts in the food department, four in air, four in shields, and one in both power and mechanical. Do not place any population on the space station mini-board or mining departments.

Cloud-drop Cards

Cloud-drop Cards have a picture of a cannister with a parachute on the back. Separate these cards into their three phases (i.e., the number on the back of the cards). Find the Earth card and set it aside. Shuffle each phase deck independently. This randomizes the gameplay so that each game experience is different.

Count out 20 cards per phase, face-down, into three distinct piles. The remainder of the Cloud-drop cards can be placed back in the box and will not be needed for this game.

Remove the top card of the phase three deck and replace with the Earth card. The removed card can be placed back in the box. Now shuffle the phase three one last time to randomize the location of the Earth card. Stack the phase decks face down on the rectangle closest to the Earth on the neoprene mat. They need to be stacked in the following order to make one new deck: phase three on the bottom, phase two in the middle, and phase one on the top.

Event Cards

Event Cards have a yellow triangle on the back. Shuffle all the event cards and place the deck face down on the neoprene mat on the single rectangle to the left of the Earth.

Innovation Cards

Innovation Cards have the space station on their backs. Separate the cards into piles of matching cards. Randomly choose four of the upgrades and place them face-up along the bottom of the neoprene mat (opposite the event cards). These will act as the innovation market for this game. For games with two or three players, remove one of each of the upgrade cards (leaving two of each) and place them out of play back in the box.

First Player

The game is now ready to play. Roll a die to determine who the first player is. Turn order moves clockwise. First player rotates clockwise at the beginning of each round.

The Basics

Department Capacity

Each department (power, mechanical, shields, mining, water/air, and food) has a base capacity listed in the lower left corner (maximum of six V-nauts allowed). Cannister cards can alter this limit during the game, up or down (as indicated on the bottom left corner of the card), by inserting the card into the respective departmental slot on the player board.

Victory Points (VP)

Victory points are awarded on certain cannisters and innovation cards. All Innovation cards are worth 1VP. Cannister cards can have a range of 1 to 5 VP on them.

Population Boost Cards vs. City Upgrade Cards

• Boost Cards have a pink arrow pointing up on the bottom right of the card and a rocket in the bottom left.
• City Upgrade Cards have a departmental capacity number in the bottom left corner.

Anatomy of a Cannister Card

• Colour represents phase or innovation: Phase 1 - Green, Phase 2 - Yellow, Phase 3 - Red, Innovation - Pink.
• Department Impacted. Generic V-naut indicates applicable anywhere.
• Population Boost.
• Event triggered.
• Victory Points.
• Department Capacity. If there is a rocket here, it is a population boost card.
• Cost to acquire cannister. Return one resource per symbol to the general supply.

Time to Play

Each round proceeds through six steps, as outlined on each player's innovation board (along with the scoring guide). Simultaneous play occurs during steps one through five, with turn order being used for step 6 (grab cargo). Use a first player marker to keep track. At the end of a round, pass the first player mark to the left before beginning the next round.

Step 1: The Cloud-drop

Deal out 5 cannister cards, face-up, along the Cloud-drop zone to the left of the cloud-drop deck. *For the 6 player expansion, deal one more card than the player count.

Step 2: Resolve Events

If any revealed cannister card has an "event" symbol on its face, you will be revealing event cards for each cannister card with an event symbol, BUT limited to the current phase number (i.e., a maximum of one per Cloud-Drop for phase one, two for phase two, etc.). Resolve each event card before revealing the next one. Events typically result in a loss of V-nauts from departments, or anywhere you choose when it depicts the "generic" V-naut symbol, although some may reward you instead. For each V-naut that you cannot pay for in a respective department (e.g., the event asks for the removal of two V-nauts from Power but you only have one) you must lose two from elsewhere in your city. V-nauts cannot be removed from your innovation board, they are already in orbit! For events that require you to remove half of a department population, round down for odd totals (e.g., keep two when you have three) and only affect departments where there are two or more V-nauts occupying it. Return lost V-nauts back to the general supply.

Step 3: Lower Shields

The acidic clouds are constantly wearing down city shields. Each player reduces their shields by one V-naut, returning it back to the general supply. If a player has no remaining V-nauts in their shield department, they must take two V-nauts from other areas of their city.

Step 4: Grow & Deploy population

Players survey their food and water/air department populations. Whichever department has the lowest number of V-nauts (unless they are equal) represents the population growth for this round. Players collect this number of V-nauts from the general supply and deploy them, in any increments, to any of their departments. During this step, players may also place up to two of their new V-nauts onto their Innovation Board (more on this below). Players should be mindful of where they place their V-nauts to plan for further population growth, anticipate event costs, and plan for cannister grabs. Cannister grabs are the core of the game. They cost department-specific V-nauts and minerals.

Buzzkill Rule: A player's population growth each round never drops below two, even if they have less than two V-nauts in their Food or Air/Water Departments.

Innovation

Each City can send their best and brightest citizens to the International Innovation Station (IIS). On this station, the city's V-nauts work tirelessly to innovate in ways that contribute to the success of their city with powerful innovative upgrades.

Players may place up to two V-nauts on the innovation board per deployment (i.e., step four, growth event cards, and cannister cards are considered separate deployments).

Once eight V-nauts are on the innovation board, a player may immediately retrieve an innovation card from the Innovation Market after returning those V-nauts to the general supply. Depending on the innovation upgrade, it will either be equipped to the respective department slot or be a population boost (which is set to the side of the player board upon activation). Please note that the Cryogenic Holding and the Food/Water/Air Temp Worker upgrades are attached to the city's holding bay, retrofitting it and rendering it unusable for temporary cannister storage. There is no limit to the number of innovation cards a player can acquire in a game.

If two or more players simultaneously fill their innovation board, use the turn order of the current round for determining who gets to pick from the Innovation Market first, second, etc.

Step 5: City Actions

In this step, players can perform any or all of the following actions in any order: Equip previously stored cannisters, Mine for minerals, Purchase Immigration.

Equipping previously stored cannisters: If a player has a cannister card stored in their holding bay (how this happens is explained in Step 6), and has the required resources to pay for it, they can move it from their holding bay and equip/activate it by paying the required resources + 1 V-naut from their Mechanical department. This can only be done during this step.

Purchase Immigration: Players can exchange four minerals for one V-naut with the general supply. Only one V-naut can be purchased per round.

Mining: Mining on Venus is very dangerous and unfortunately it is a one-way trip. Brave volunteers sacrifice their lives to extract the rare Venite mineral. To mine, a player returns one V-naut from their mining department to the general supply and rolls a die. The value of the die represents how many mineral points to retrieve from the general supply, placing them in the city's mineral storage. Black gems are worth one, Pink are worth four, and Clear are worth eight. Make change from the general supply when necessary.

Mining upgrades: These upgrades are active every time a player mines, so long as they have the upgrade equipped on their city.

• Re-roll: The player can re-roll their mining die for a better outcome, but they must take the second roll. There is a limit of one re-roll per round.
• 2 Dice: The player can sacrifice a second V-naut per round and roll twice, taking minerals equal to the summation of both rolls.
• Extra Pips (+3): The player adds the +pips number on the card to their mining roll and takes minerals equal to the total. (i.e. if they rolled a 2, but had the +3 pip upgrade, they would collect 5 mineral points.)

Step 6: Grab a cannister card from the Cloud-drop

There are two types of cannisters that are sent from Earth: City Modifications, and Population Boosters.

Modifications are equipped to the city player boards by inserting them into the respective departmental slot. If replacing an earlier-equipped cannister card, the replaced card is jettisoned to the surface and the respective VP are lost.

Population Boosters are one-time use cards, immediately adding V-nauts once purchased. These cards are placed next to the player's city board for end game scoring. If the increase in V-nauts for a particular department exceeds that department's capacity, the remainder of the V-nauts are lost. For example, if the player's Food Department has a capacity of six V-nauts, and they currently have three V-nauts in that department, a cannister that added eight V-nauts to Food, would only add 3 more V-nauts to that department, bringing it to capacity.

Generic immigration (no defined department) can be deployed anywhere in the player's city with a max of two going to the IIS board.

In player turn order (which moves to the next player clockwise each round), each player chooses a cannister they want to "purchase" (if any). The cost for that cannister is listed along the right side of the card. Return one population from each respective department along with the required minerals to obtain the card. If a player does not want any of the available cannisters, they may take a V-naut from the general supply instead of a cannister card and deploy it immediately. All cannisters not claimed during this Cloud-drop are lost to the surface. Place them on the surface discard pile located on the central mat (indicated by flame symbol).

Holding Bay: If a player does not have the resources yet to pay for a chosen cannister card, they may store that card in their holding bay, reserving it until they have the required resources. They can pay and activate it during Step 5 in a later round for the additional cost of one V-naut from the Mechanical department. No more than one card can occupy the holding bay at a time.

A new round begins, return to step 1.

End Game

When the Earth card is revealed in the third phase, the end of the game is triggered. This is the last Cloud-drop coming to Venus. Leave this Earth card in the drop area (resulting in one less cannister). Finish steps 1-6 and move to end-game scoring as outlined on each player's IIS board as follows:

• Sum of VPs on all equipped upgrades, activated boosters, and innovation cards
• + 1 VP for every 2 V-nauts in the player's city excluding IIS
• + 1 VP for every 4 mineral points in mineral holding area
• + 2 VP bonus for the player with highest city population
• + 2 VP for the player with the most mineral points
• - 2 VP for any cannister (excluding innovation upgrades) that is still in the holding bay

Bonus VPs are given to each player in a tie.

If there is a tie scoring, the winner is the person with the most VP on their cards. If there is still a tie, the winner is the player with the most cannister cards. After that, just call it a tie!

Appendix: Additional Card Explainers

Innovations

• Stable Shields: Shields don't degrade each round. However, they are still affected by Events.
• Food Air/Water Temporary Workers: Deploying V-nauts to this card allows the players to take and add V-nauts to this card instead of pulling/adding to Food or Air/Water departments. However, it does not add to population growth calculation.
• Cryogenic Holding: Players can deploy V-nauts to this card, then move them to another department during Step 5 of a later turn.
• Autonomous Installation: Anywhere a Mechanical Department cost symbol shows up, it is free. I.e. purchasing Cannister Cards or equipping cards from the Holding Bay. Mechanical Department is still impacted by Events.
• Rapid Transit: Player can move up to two V-nauts between departments per round during Step 5. V-nauts cannot leave the ISS.

Events

• Lost Drop Run: Resolve all remaining events, then move all canister cards to the discard pile. Players do not get to pick a canister this round.