ExoBase Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Icons
• The Cards
  • Location
  • Task
  • Founder
• Setup
  • Starting Layout (figure labels)
• Turn Sequence
• Morning
• Placement
  • Danger check
  • Injured founders
  • Gain resources from work
  • Heal at the Hab
  • Repair damage
  • Build a location
  • Upgrade a location
• Hazard
  • Damaged locations
  • Destroyed locations
  • Destroyed Hab
• Night
  • Gain abilities from the task row
  • Rest
  • Refill the card rows
  • Advance the time tracker
• Build Example
• Upgrade Example
• Energy
• Adjacency Bonus
• Death
• Losing the Game
• Winning the Game
• Player Reference

Overview

1 player, 60 minutes, ages 10+.

Components

• 8 founder pawns
• 4 six-sided dice (d6)
• 20 yellow cubes
• 25 red cubes
• 4 core location cards
• 13 location/task cards
• 8 founder cards
• 3 tracker cards: Resource, Production, and Time

Icons

Resources:

• Minerals
• Metal
• Water
• Gas
• Food
• Any 1 type of resource

Other:

• Health points for founders ([health])
• Energy requirement ([energy])
• Passive ability
• Instant ability
• Increase production for shown resource (purple box)

The Cards

The location cards have two sides: Location and Task.

Location

Parts of a location card: Type; Adjacency bonus; Resources in purple increase production; Location class; Energy requirement; Resources gained from work; Danger Check; Work column; Location benefits; Build cost; Upgrade level; Upgrade cost; Passive ability and instant ability (on some cards).

Task

Parts of a task card: Name of location on reverse side; Danger Check; Work Spaces; Ability Type; Special Ability.

Founder

Parts of a founder card: Passive Ability; Instant Ability; Instant Ability Counters; HP Track (health track, from 4 down to 0).

Setup

An illustration of the setup is on pages 8 & 9 of the booklet.

1. Take the 4 core location cards (Greenhouse, Hab, Machine Shop, and Power Station) and place them in a square in the middle of the table to form your base, arranged as shown in the Starting Layout. Match up the dots on the doors to place these 4 cards. Leave some room around this group to add more cards to your base as you play.
2. The Power Station generates energy: 4 [energy]. Place one yellow cube on the [energy] icon in the level 1 row on the Greenhouse, Hab, and Machine Shop. These locations are now powered and operational. Place one yellow cube on the Power Bank box on the Power Station, and one red cube on its level 1 row.
3. Place the Time, Hazards, Storage, and Production cards in front of you. Place 1 red cube on the 1 space of the Time card, 5 cubes next to the Production card to track your daily production of each resource, and 5 cubes next to the Storage card to track how many of each you have stored.
4. Shuffle the founder cards; deal 4 close to you, to one side. Each founder has a matching pawn; place them on the Hab. Put unused founder cards and pawns back in the box. On each founder card, place a red cube on the highest point of the [health] track, and on all [instant ability] instant ability squares.
5. Shuffle the location cards. Draw 4 cards and lay them in a row with the location side face up. This forms the location row.
6. Draw 3 more cards and place them above the location row, with the task side face up. Place the remaining cards in a pile next to them, also with the task side face up. These cards - including the top card of the pile - form the task row.
7. Check your Founders for bonuses. (In the example layout, Aoki's passive ability increases food production by 1 and Kamal's passive ability adds 1 energy to the Power Bank.)

The Time, Hazards, and Production cards are double-sided. Use the sides with black borders for a normal game. Once you get the hang of it, use the sides with striped borders for Hardcore Mode.

Starting Layout (figure labels)

1. Base
2. Starting production / energy (see Setup 2)
3. Time, Hazards, Production & Storage
4. Founders
5. Location Row
6. Task Row (the top card of the draw pile is included)
7. Founder bonuses (see Setup 7)

Turn Sequence

Each turn is one day, made up of 4 phases: Morning, Placement, Hazard, and Night.

Morning

Move each cube on the Storage card up by the amount shown for it on the Production card.

Placement

In any order, place founders on a work or upgrade space in your base. You may also place founders on work spaces in the task row, on build spaces in the location row, or on a damage token to repair it.

Resolve each founder's placement before moving on to the next founder, and leave the founder pawn on the card until the Night phase.

• You may place multiple founders on different spaces on the same card; locations can be built, upgraded and worked on the same day.
• Each space can hold only one founder.
• You may not use a level 2 work space on a location that hasn't been upgraded.
• You may not place a founder on a location with a damage token, except to repair the damage.

Danger check

When placed on a space with a danger number 1, 2 or 3, the founder must do a danger check. Roll a number of dice equal to the number shown. For each roll of 1-4, lose 1 [health].

Injured founders

If a founder's [health] is at 1, they gain 1 fewer resource when working. If it goes to zero, they die (see Death).

Gain resources from work

Place a founder on a work space to gain resources. Account for any adjacency bonuses or founder abilities, then move the relevant cubes on the Storage card. You may only store 6 of each resource. If you build the Storage Silo onto your base, it increases your capacity.

If a work space shows two resources separated by a slash, you must choose one. For example, 2 minerals / 1 metal means you gain either 2 minerals or 1 metal, not both.

If there is an arrow between two icons, pay the amount on the left to get the amount on the right. For example: 2 metal > 1 any resource means you pay 2 metal to gain one resource of any type.

Heal at the Hab

The Hab has work spaces that increase [health] for founders. When you place a founder on one of these spaces, increase their [health] by that amount - the [health] cannot be applied to other founders.

[Health] does not count as a resource. "Working" at the Hab is not affected by adjacency bonuses (see Adjacency Bonus); an injured founder (see above) heals the full amount shown.

Repair damage

Place a founder on a damage token to repair it; remove the token from play. That founder cannot take any other actions during this placement phase; leave their token on the picture portion of the location until Night.

Build a location

Place a founder on the build space of a card in the Location Row and pay its build cost. You must have enough energy to power the new location. Take the card and add it to the base, without rotating it.

Keep the founder pawn on the card; you can use any applicable adjacency bonus that might apply to that founder in their new location (see Adjacency Bonus).

Receive instant benefits, if any. Doors on new locations must line up with existing doors. (Illustration: a new card may be placed where its doors align with existing doors; placements where doors do not line up are marked as invalid.)

See the Build Example and Energy.

Upgrade a location

To upgrade a location that's already part of your base, place a founder on its upgrade space. You must upgrade to level 2 before upgrading to level 3. Pay the upgrade cost by moving cubes on the Storage card, and receive instant benefits, if any.

Move the energy cube up one row to indicate the location's new upgrade level. Some upgrade levels require an additional energy cube; if you do not have enough energy to power the new upgrade level, you cannot upgrade the location.

See the Upgrade Example and Energy.

Hazard

In the Hazard phase, roll a D6 and add the number for the current day, shown on the Time card. This is your hazard roll; consult the Hazard card to see what new setback has befallen your team.

If a hazard causes you to lose resources and you don't have enough of that type of resource, lose the same number of [health] from founders of your choice instead.

Some hazards indicate a target roll [target]. Roll a D6; place the damage token on a location with the matching dice value - shown to the left of the location's title - that has the fewest damage tokens. If there's a tie, choose which location gets the token. If none of your locations match the number on the die, reroll. For hazards that show 2 [target], etc, you must roll the number of times shown, one at a time, and resolve the hazard for each roll.

Damaged locations

To indicate damage to a location, place a damage token on the artwork portion of the card. If a founder is in a location when it takes damage, they lose 2 [health].

Remember: you may not place a founder on a location with a damage token, except to repair the damage.

Damaged generator locations operate at half capacity, rounded up. Start by removing energy cubes from your Power Bank and placing them on the artwork portion of the damaged generator card. The remainder are taken from locations in your base.

Unpowered locations cannot be used for work, and do not produce resources - lower your production accordingly. Place a red cube where each yellow energy cube was on an unpowered location, to remind you of the upgrade level for that location.

See "Repair damage" to learn how to remove damage tokens.

When you repair a generator, redistribute the energy cubes on its location card to power your unpowered locations. Don't forget to move the production back up, if you re-power a location that was generating resources.

Destroyed locations

If a location has 2 damage tokens, it is destroyed. Return energy cubes on the card to the Power Bank on your Power Station, and remove the card from the game. If a founder is in a location when it is destroyed, they lose 3 [health] and move to an adjacent location of their choice. If the location was producing resources, be sure to lower the appropriate track on the Production card.

If locations become separated from the main part of the base, everything still functions as normal. The founders have suits and emergency power lines they can use to access and power detached locations. You may build a new location in the place of a destroyed location, but all doors must line up.

Destroyed Hab

If the Hab is destroyed, you may not spend food to restore [health] for founders during the Night phase.

Night

At the end of the day, all founders return to the hab.

Gain abilities from the task row

Founders can gain new abilities by completing tasks.

When a founder returns from the task row, you may choose to take the task card they worked on and tuck it under the bottom edge of their founder card. That founder gains the ability listed on the bottom of the task card.

Passive abilities are always active for the founder they are attached to.

Instant abilities may be used once - at any time - by discarding the card from play.

Abilities may only be used by the founder they are associated with.

Note: There are a limited number of locations, which are needed to generate resources. For every ability card you take, you are removing a location from the game. Taking too many ability cards will limit your ability to increase production.

Rest

Spend 2 food to restore 1 [health] for any founder. This may be done multiple times.

Refill the card rows

1. If necessary, draw new cards to refill the task row.
2. If there are fewer than 4 cards in the location row, choose a card from the task row, flip it over, and place it in the location row. The name of the location is shown on the right side of the task card, and you may look at the back of the task cards at any time - it's ok if you see the second card down on the draw pile. Continue placing cards in this manner until the location row is full.
3. Draw new cards to refill the task row, if necessary. At the end of each Night, there should be 4 cards in each row.

Near the end of the game, you may run out of cards in the draw pile. There will be empty spaces in the task row, then in the location row, until the cards have all been used.

Advance the time tracker

Advance the cube on the Time card one space.

Build Example

To build the Well location (a Biotech location with adjacency bonus, a target-roll number, and two levels), follow these steps:

1. Place a founder at the level 1 build space; pay resources shown (2 minerals, 2 food).
2. Increase your food production by 1, as a benefit from the purple production box on level 1.
3. Move the Well card to your base, following the placement rules for doors. Move the founder along with it.
4. Place an energy cube from your power bank at the energy requirement to power the location and indicate its current upgrade level.

Upgrade Example

To upgrade the Well location, follow these steps:

1. Place a founder at the level 2 upgrade space; pay resources shown (2 minerals, 2 metal, 2 food).
2. Increase your water production by 1, as a benefit from the purple production box on level 2.
3. Level 2 of the Well requires more energy. Add an additional energy cube at the level 2 energy requirement to indicate its new upgrade level.

Note: When you build or upgrade the Lab, increase production for any one resource of your choice (purple box showing "any 1 type of resource").

Energy

Energy does not count as a resource. When you upgrade or build a location with [energy] on it, immediately add that number of energy cubes to the Power Bank on your Power Station.

When building a new location, you must take an energy cube from your power bank and place it on the location at level 1. If you do not have a spare energy cube in your power bank to power your new location or upgrade, you cannot build it.

There are two exceptions:

1. Generator locations produce energy rather than consume it; use a red cube from the supply to indicate their upgrade level.
2. The Storage Silo does not require energy.

When you upgrade a location to a level that requires 2 energy - shown as a double lightning bolt icon - add a second cube to indicate the new upgrade level.

Adjacency Bonus

Some cards get a bonus from adjacent locations (the card shows a location-type symbol with +1; three examples are shown).

Locations with an adjacency bonus next to a location of the matching type produce +1 resource.

In this example, the Lab produces +1 resource from its work spaces, because it is next to a Mining card (the Refinery). The bonus resource must be of the same type as the resource you worked for.

Locations that are part of your base and are connected through one doorway are considered adjacent.

Note: Placement order matters for founder adjacency bonuses. For example: it's a good idea to place Li or Burman before you place founders adjacent to them, so that their adjacency bonus can be applied.

Bonuses do not stack. A founder can only gain a maximum of +1 resource from work each day; whether it's from an Adjacency Bonus or from an adjacent founder's ability.

Death

If a founder's [health] reaches zero, they die and any ability cards they have are removed from the game. They do not complete the work/build/upgrade they were doing when they died. You may not use their instant abilities as they die!

Passive abilities that increase resource production or energy are lost; lower your production and/or remove energy from your power bank accordingly.

Losing the Game

If all your founders die, or the time tracker reaches the final space, the game ends and you have lost.

Winning the Game

To win, all markers on the Production card must be in the green area and your Power Station must be fully upgraded, for your base to withstand the coming barrage of meteorites.

Every unit of production into the green area is worth one point.

Each day left on the Time card, including the day the marker cube is currently on, is worth one additional point.

(Example illustration: the Production card shows markers in the green area worth 2 points (minerals), 1 point (metal), 2 points (food), 1 point (water) and 1 point (gas) - 7 total.)

Player Reference

Morning

• Generate resources from the Production Tracker.

Placement

• Work in the task row or in your base. Roll for danger, if applicable. Gain resources - when working in your base, adjacency bonuses may apply.
• Upgrade a location on your base. Check energy requirement, pay upgrade cost, receive benefit, move upgrade marker.
• Build a new location onto your base. Check energy requirement, pay build cost, receive benefit, move location - with the founder - to the base.

Hazard

• Roll 1d6, add the number of the current day on the Time card, then activate that hazard on the Hazard cards.

Night

• Founders return to the Hab, taking new abilities from the Task row, if applicable.
• Heal founders: 2 food > 1 [health] (if the Hab is not destroyed).
• Refill the card rows.
• Advance the cube on the Time card.