Galaxy Rush

Galaxy Rush Rulebook

Table of Contents

Rule book
2 wooden rockets
12 reputation tokens
4 medal tokens
1 orbit start board
1 prediction placement card
16 mini prediction cards (8 orange, 8 blue)
13 mini achievement cards
48 discovery cards
74 orbit cards

Players: 2. Ages: 10+. Time: 20 minutes.

Objective

To become history's beloved explorer, you must earn the most reputation points over the course of four galactic seasons (rounds). Reputation points are earned in many ways and are typically depicted throughout the game as a number in a star.

You can earn reputation in the following ways:

Earn medals by traveling the most distance in a season
Perform heroic acts
Discover new moons, planets, or stars
Complete sets of expeditions
Travel large distances
Earn achievements
Make successful predictions about each player

Each of these methods of scoring is noted on the score sheet and will be discussed in detail throughout this rule book.

Game Setup

This game is best played when the two players sit across from each other at the table. One player will play as the blue rocket ship and the other will play as orange. After deciding each player's color, cover both rockets in your hands, shake them, and draw one at random. The player whose rocket was drawn will go first.

Place the orbit start board (A) on the table and place the first player's rocket (B) on the number one (orbit one) and the second player's rocket on the number two (representing orbit two). This board will serve as the starting line for each season.

Next, shuffle the deck of orbit cards and create a line of six cards (C) in front of each orbit. To do this, draw two cards at a time and place the card with the lower distance (au) value face down in front of orbit number one. Place the higher distance value card face down in front of orbit number two. If both cards have the same value, randomly decide which card should be placed in orbit one and orbit two. Continue to draw two cards at a time and place them following the aforementioned rules in two lines until each orbit has six cards in it. Once each orbit has six cards, flip them all over so they are face up. Place the remaining deck of cards aside to be used in the next season.

Separate and shuffle the four Discovery decks. Set aside the Discovery decks marked for seasons two through four. Place the season one Discovery deck (D) face down behind the orbit board and reveal four cards placing them face up to form a draw pool.

Place the large prediction card (E) on the table oriented so the orange and blue rockets are near their respective players. Shuffle each player's Prediction deck and deal three cards (F) to each player from their own deck. Set the remaining Prediction cards back in the box. Form two stacks of star shaped Prediction tokens (G) from values one to six (one on the bottom, and six on the top). Place a stack next to the blue side of the large Prediction card, and the other next to the orange side.

Shuffle the Achievement cards and draw four, placing them face up in the center of the table (H). Put the remaining Achievement cards back in the box.

Place the medals (I) within reach of all players.

On Your Turn

The player whose rocket is in orbit one goes first. On your turn you will choose to take the next card from either orbit. Take that card and place it in front of you. Move your rocket onto the empty space created by taking the card.

Example: The blue rocket plays first and may choose either the Iridium fuel cell in orbit 1 or the Heroic card in orbit 2. After making a choice and moving the blue rocket, the orange rocket plays. The orange player will take the Heroic card. (Either player may choose to accelerate instead, which is discussed later.)

As you place the card on the table in front of you, decide whether you will play it face up or face down. Playing a card face up allows you to earn the Resource, Expedition, or Heroic indicated on the card. Playing it face down allows you to travel either 10, 15, or 20 astronomical units (au) which can help you win medals and other points at the end of the game. Each card indicates its distance value in the bottom right corner of the front of the card.

There are three types of cards you will encounter in orbit.

Resources

Resource cards include Iridium Fuel Cells, Osmium Cores, Palladium Ore, and Ruthenium Crystals. When collecting Resources, place them face up in same-Resource stacks on the table in front of you. These Resources are used to make Discoveries and are never spent or lost. If you choose and play a Resource card on your turn you may also choose one Discovery card (if you have enough Resources to achieve it). Each Discovery card shows the Resources required to achieve it at the bottom of the card. If you have the required resources, you may take the Discovery card and place it face up on the table in front of you. Replace the card with a new one from the Discovery deck (if available). Note that season one Discovery cards not only give reputation points, but also offer a Resource in the top right corner. Place those cards in your Resource stacks so you can keep track of your total available Resources.

Expeditions

There are three types of Expeditions that can be completed within the game and include visiting Comets, Asteroids, and Nebulae. When you choose an Expedition card from an orbit, place it face up in front of yourself on the table. Create a separate stack for each type of Expedition. Expeditions score reputation points when they are collected in sets. See the scoring section for more details.

Heroics

If you choose a Heroic card you earn reputation points according to the value in the top left corner of the card. These heroic acts boost your fame and popularity throughout the galaxy and can help you gain the victory over your opponent.

Distance (playing a card face down)

Any card drawn from orbit may instead be played face down indicating that you have traveled some distance (measured in astronomical units). At the end of each season, the player who has traveled the most distance (in that season) earns a medal. Additionally, each 10au traveled throughout the entire game is worth 1 reputation point in the end. If your opponent is focused on collecting Resources or Expeditions it may be beneficial to log some distance and win the medal for the season. When you play an orbit card face down, you don't gain the benefit on the front of the card, only the distance traveled.

Once you have selected and played a card from an orbit, it becomes the other player's turn. Note that the second player will only have one card left to choose. That is, unless they accelerate...

Accelerating

Instead of choosing a card from the next pair in orbit, you may choose to accelerate. Skip one pair of cards in orbit and choose from the next pair. This technique will allow you to regain the first orbit or secure a very important card for yourself. Be careful with this strategy because each time you accelerate you leave a card behind and end up with one fewer card than your opponent!

There are several scenarios that can occur as a result of accelerating. No matter whose turn was just finished, the player who is farther behind on the orbit track should play next. This can result in the same player taking multiple turns in a row. When both players are even in their progress along the orbits, the player in orbit number one should go first.

When accelerating, at least one card will go unused. Remove any unused cards from the game area. There is no limit to the number of times you can accelerate.

Examples:

It's the orange captain's turn because he's currently behind along the orbit path. The orange captain may choose to take the Nebula card available or may choose to accelerate and pick from the Asteroid or Osmium Core. If he does accelerate, neither player will collect the Nebula card and it will be discarded.
The blue captain was in orbit one and has chosen to accelerate. The orange captain is left with two cards to choose from. She may still only choose one. However, no matter which one she chooses, she will still be behind the blue rocket and will therefore immediately take another turn. The card that isn't chosen should be discarded.

Tip: While you can accelerate from any position, it's usually most beneficial to use this maneuver when you're in the second orbit to speed around the other player and take over the first orbit.

It's important to note that all cards played must remain on the table in front of each player so as to be visible to each other at all times.

It's easiest to play your cards in stacks according to the card type. Keep each Resource type in its own stack as well as Expeditions. Stack your Discoveries together and keep your Heroics in their own group as well. Place your distance for this round in a stack.

Ending a Galactic Season

Once all the cards have been chosen from both orbits the season ends. Whichever player has traveled the most distance in that season wins a medal. One medal is awarded each season starting with the lowest value (5 reputation), increasing to the highest value (9 reputation). If both players traveled the same distance, the medal for the season is awarded to the player whose rocket is in the first orbit. If neither player traveled any distance during the season, the medal is still awarded to the player in the first orbit.

Predictions

Between each of the four rounds you will make a prediction about the outcome of the game. Look at the three prediction cards you were dealt at the beginning of the game and choose one to play. Starting with the player in the first orbit, choose a Prediction card from your hand and place it on the large card on the table face down on top of the rocket of the player you think will accomplish that card. For instance, if one of your Prediction cards reads, "Complete the most Expeditions" and you clearly have fewer Expedition cards than your opponent, you might choose to place that card on your opponent's rocket, thereby predicting that they will have the most Expedition cards at the end of the game.

You are not allowed to look at Prediction cards once they are played. As you add Predictions throughout the game, be sure to stack them on top of one another since the order the Predictions were made will affect the scoring in the end.

You must make exactly one Prediction during each of the three intermissions between seasons. After making your prediction, set your remaining Prediction cards aside until the end of the next season.

Preparing for the Next Season

Discard all remaining Discovery cards and set the entire season's deck aside. Replace that deck with the next season's Discovery deck and reveal four Discovery cards. Note that each Discovery deck has a number of circles in the top left corner indicating which season it belongs to.

Achievement cards are not replaced. They are objectives to be completed and tallied at the very end of the game.

Move the rockets back to the orbit start board, keeping each one in its current orbit. Draw and place 12 new orbit cards according to the rules mentioned in the game setup.

Each player should rotate any distance cards completed during the season 90 degrees indicating that they were earned in a previous season. This step is important to aid in determining which player travels the most in the next season.

End of Game

When the fourth season concludes the game is over. Note that there will not be a Prediction phase after the fourth season. Award the final medal for the most distance traveled and begin tallying scores using the provided score sheet.

Scoring

Using a score sheet, tally the points each player earned in each category. Remember that cards played face down are only counted as distance traveled, and cards played face up are not counted as distance.

Medals

Add the reputation value of each medal you earned.

Heroics

Add the reputation value of each Heroic card you collected.

Discoveries

Add the reputation value of each Discovery card you collected. Be sure to include season one Discoveries which may be stacked among your other resources.

Expeditions

Tally the points earned from Expeditions. For each pair of Comets collected, score 8 reputation points. For each set of three Nebulae collected, score 15. Unfinished pairs/sets score nothing. Asteroids are scored according to the table shown on the card. For example, if you collect four Asteroid cards, you will score 10 reputation points.

Asteroids	1	2	3	4	5	6	7+
Reputation	1	3	6	10	15	20	25

Distance

Score one point for every 10au you traveled (rounded down).

Achievements

Read each of the four end of game Achievement cards and score the reputation points for each one that you successfully completed. If both players complete an Achievement, they both score the points. Details about each Achievement card are included at the end of this rule book.

Predictions

Carefully pick up the stack of Predictions on one of the rockets. Beginning with the first Prediction played in that stack (the one on the bottom), review each one and give a reputation token to the player who made the Prediction if it is correct. The first correct Prediction will receive the token worth 6 reputation, the second will receive the 5 and so on. Each Prediction card displays the color of rocket of the player who played the card. In this way you can see who made the Prediction and should be awarded the next token from the stack. After reviewing each Prediction on the first rocket, pick up the stack of Predictions on the remaining rocket and follow the same process to award reputation tokens for correct Predictions. Note that half of the reputation tokens will not be used since there are only 6 total Predictions made in a game. Once all the Prediction cards have been reviewed, add up the reputation points earned from Predictions and write it on the score sheet for each player.

Finally, add the scores in each column to determine the total reputation score of each player. Whoever has the highest score at the end wins. In the case of a tie, the player who ended in the first orbit wins.

Achievement Card Clarifications

Each Achievement card is intended to clearly define what is required to earn the reputation points. However, to prevent any disputes, all the Achievement cards' requirements are detailed below.

Earn 3 reputation for each set of Resources (one of each type). One set of Resources consists of one Iridium Fuel Cell, one Palladium Ore, one Osmium Core, and one Ruthenium Crystal. So, if you have one of each resource, gain 3 reputation, if you have two of each resource, you'll score 6 reputation and so on.
Collect at least 5 of one Resource type. At the end of the game have at least 5 of one Resource type (Iridium Fuel Cell, Palladium Ore, Osmium Core, or Ruthenium Crystal). It doesn't matter how many other Resources you have. Playing Resources face down as distance does not count.
Complete 5 or more Heroics. Over the course of the game you must have collected and played at least 5 of the Heroics cards. Playing them face down as distance does not count.
Do not complete any Expeditions. Over the course of the game you must not play any Expedition cards face up (whether part of a set or not). Playing an Expedition card face down as distance is okay.
Do not complete any Heroics. Over the course of the game you must not play any Heroics cards face up. Playing a Heroics card face down as distance is fine.
Complete at least one of each type of Expedition. Collect at least one Asteroid card, one Comet card, and one Nebula card. You do not need to complete whole sets of Expeditions for this achievement.
Earn 1 additional reputation for every 10au traveled. At the end of the game, add 1 reputation point for every 10au of total distance you traveled. This is in addition to the 1 point you normally earn for your distance score.
Complete at least 7 Expeditions. Collect 7 or more Expedition cards. These 7 cards do not need to be in complete sets. Face down Expedition cards do not count toward your total.