Galaxy Trucker: The Big Expansion
Galaxy Trucker: The Big Expansion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- New Technology
- Fifth Wheel
- New Ship Classes
- Evil Machinations
- Rough Roads
- Bonus Cards
- Combining Expansions
- Appendix
New Technology
This expansion adds new spaceship components that give your ship new capabilities or combine standard abilities in unusual ways. It also adds new figures, battery tokens, goods blocks, and cosmic credits. You will need to use this expansion in a five-player game (see Fifth Wheel below).
The New Technology expansion has the following parts:
- 42 new spaceship components (one of which is the starting component for a fifth player)
- 5 new figures for cyan aliens and 5 cards describing their roles
- 14 astronauts, 1 brown and 1 purple alien
- 6 battery tokens (two are extra, in case you have lost some already)
- 8 goods blocks (2 of each color)
- 24 new cosmic credit pieces
Setup
Mix in the new components with the original set, face down. Place the 5 cyan alien specialization cards near the bank.
For games with fewer than five players
With this expansion, there are 186 spaceship components. That is ideal for a five-player game, but too many if you have fewer players.
For each player less than 5, remove 25 components at random. So for a four-player game, remove 25 components; for a three-player game, remove 50; for a two-player game, remove 75.
Return these components to the box without looking at them. For all three rounds, you will be missing the same components. After two flights, you will have a good idea of which components will be in high demand in Round 3, and you can build your third ship accordingly.
New Components
Although Corporation Incorporated insists that they eliminate the competition simply by building a better product, many of these new components seem to have little to do with sewer systems and low-income housing. Truckers are advised not to notice this, unless they want an invitation to a Corp Inc. re-education seminar.
Some components are combinations of components from the standard game. These components are subject to the rules and restrictions of all the components they combine.
Some components can only function when they are joined to a certain type of component (shield, cannon, engine, battery). These can be attached to the ship in other places, but they will not do anything.
Luxury Cabin
Some people are so rich and so bored that they are willing to pay to experience the adventure of being in the crew of a space ship. These people get their own cabins.
A luxury cabin works just like a regular cabin with these three exceptions:
- When preparing your ship, a luxury cabin can only hold 1 astronaut. It can never hold an alien. (If we knew why aliens don't have any bored, rich people, it would give us more insight into the human race.)
- If you give up the astronaut in a luxury cabin for any reason, it has to stay empty for the rest of the flight.
- If you complete the flight, you earn cosmic credits for each crew member in a luxury cabin: 1 credit per occupied luxury cabin for the first flight, 2 credits for the second flight, and 3 credits for the third flight.
Stasis Chambers
When placing crew on your ship in preparation for flight, you lay 4 human astronauts in each stasis chamber. (Yes, they should be lying down, not standing up.)
These astronauts are in hibernation. They do not count as part of the crew. (Do not count them when counting crew for cards such as Abandoned Station, Combat Zone, or Sabotage.) They cannot run the ship if they are the only remaining humans on board. A stasis chamber does not count as a cabin (not even during an Epidemic).
If for any reason you lose a crew member, as long as you have at least one awake human left, you can immediately wake up as many hibernating astronauts as you want and put them in the available cabins. This means you can even put two astronauts in a cabin that previously held one alien. (However, you are not allowed to put any astronauts into an empty luxury cabin.)
If no human astronaut remains awake, you have to give up on that flight. Aliens don't know how to wake the astronauts up from hibernation.
Example
The player has 2 human astronauts, 2 aliens, and a stasis chamber with 4 hibernating humans. He wants to take advantage of an Abandoned Ship which requires giving up 2 crew members.
Giving up hibernating astronauts is not allowed; the player must give up crew members that are awake. If he gave up both humans, he would have to give up on the flight because he would have no awake human left on board his ship. He decides to give up 1 alien and 1 human. Because he has at least 1 human left on board, he can wake up 3 humans from hibernation – 1 to replace the human and 2 to replace the alien. Now he has a crew of 5 – 1 alien and 4 awake humans – and 1 human left in the stasis chamber.
Later he loses a battle with Slavers and has to give up 5 crew members. Unfortunately, his only option is to hand over all his awake humans and his alien and give up on the flight. No one is left to wake up his hibernating astronaut.
Bi-Directional Cannon
This works like a double cannon, but its barrels point in different directions. The rule "no component can sit in the square in front of a cannon's barrel" applies to both barrels of this cannon.
To use a bi-directional cannon, you must spend 1 green battery token. This fires both barrels. When counting strength, the barrels are counted individually. (A barrel pointing forward counts as 1. A barrel pointing to the side or to the rear counts as 0.5.) Thus, its maximum possible strength is 1.5. Although it does not give as much strength as a forward-pointing double cannon, a bi-directional cannon provides better protection against large meteors.
Cannon Engine
A cannon engine is simply a component combining a cannon with an engine. It is subject to the limitations of both parts. Because the engine must point to the rear, this means the cannon must point forward. The square in front of the barrel and the square behind the engine must be empty.
When a card or a rule refers to cannons or engines, this component is considered to be both.
Mixed Cargo Hold
A mixed cargo hold is a special cargo hold with extra space for non-hazardous goods. Hazardous goods in a mixed cargo hold can only be stored in the specially marked containers. Non-hazardous goods can be stored in any of the containers.
Battery Hold
As you would expect, a battery hold can hold both battery tokens and goods. When a card or a rule refers to batteries or cargo holds, this component is considered to be both.
Shield Booster
A shield booster only works if it is joined to one or more shield generators. (Otherwise, it is just like a pretty structural module.)
A shield joined to a booster can be used to protect your ship from large meteors and heavy cannon fire (which cannot be defended against by any other means). Using a boosted shield requires 2 battery tokens: 1 to power the shield and 1 to power the connected booster.
It is still true that a shield generator, with or without a booster, can only protect you from two sides. It is still true that certain truckers claim that shield generators, with or without boosters, are for wimps.
Example
This spaceship is protected in every direction from small meteors and light cannon fire (at the cost of 1 battery token per use). This spaceship can also defend against large meteors and heavy cannon fire (at the cost of 2 battery tokens per use) from every direction except from behind – the shield covering the rear of the ship has no booster.
Cannon Booster
The cannon booster is based on the principle of particle resonance in strong magnetic fields under conditions of extremely blah, blah, blah, read the Corp Inc. brochure. Of interest to us is that a cannon booster only does something when it is joined to one or more cannons.
Whenever you need to determine the strength of your cannons, you can pay 1 battery token to activate your cannon booster to boost one of the cannons joined to it.
A boosted cannon gets a strength bonus. The bonus for a double cannon is the same as the bonus for a single cannon. For a forward-pointing cannon, this bonus is +3. For a cannon pointing to the side or to the rear, this bonus is +1.5.
The problem is, after you boost a cannon, it disintegrates. You have to put the component in your discard pile. The booster itself, however, remains undamaged and can be used in later adventure cards to boost other cannons joined with it.
You can boost the cannon on a cannon engine (but then you will, of course, lose the engine half of the component as well). You can also boost a bi-directional cannon. In this case, you get the +3 bonus if either of the two barrels is pointing forward.
You cannot boost a double cannon or a bi-directional cannon unless you pay the standard cost of 1 battery token to power it up. Even if multiple cannons are joined to a booster, you cannot use it to boost more than one of them.
Example
The players are dealing with the last row on the Combat Zone card. All players except the last one have counted up their cannon strength, with the lowest strength being 4. The last player only has 1 battery token. If he uses it to power his double cannon, he can only get to strength 3.5, which would still leave him as the weakest. Let's see if he can do better using his cannon booster:
- If he boosted the cannon pointing to the side, he would increase his strength only by +1.5. Using his battery token on his booster would leave him unable to power his double cannon, giving a total strength of 3.
- If he could boost his double cannon, the +3 bonus would give him a total strength of 6.5. This won't work, however. He only has 1 battery token and he can't boost the double cannon if he does not power it up.
- If he boosted the forward-pointing single cannon, he would get a +3 bonus for a total cannon strength of 4.5. That would be sufficient to avoid the negative effect of the Combat Zone card, but when he discarded the boosted cannon, his other two cannons and his booster would be disconnected from his ship.
So the player must choose between taking two hits from the Combat Zone or giving up his last battery token and 4 components.
Engine Booster
The engine booster displays all the attributes associated with the latest hyperspace technology: it is sleek, weird, powerful, random, and sometimes even useful.
Engine boosters only function when joined to one or more engines. You can use your engine booster to escape an adventure card. Spend 1 battery token to boost an engine joined to the booster. (If you boost a double engine you also have to spend 1 battery token to power it up.) The boosted engine is destroyed (put the component in your discard pile) and your ship is sent into hyperspace where it completely avoids all effects of the adventure card. It is as though you are temporarily not in the race. Your spaceship marker does not move.
Because of the unfathomable nature of this technology, you also remain in hyperspace for the duration of the next adventure card. Once the next adventure card has also been dealt with, you return to the game.
It is legal to use an engine booster to avoid the final adventure card in the flight, but in this case, you also miss arriving at your destination. This is the same as giving up.
An engine booster can allow you to avoid any adventure card, including Evil Machination cards. Its use has these limitations:
You can use it either when the adventure card is first turned up, or when any parameter of your ship (engine or cannon strength, number of crew) is checked. That means with certain cards (such as enemies or Combat Zones) you can wait until it is your turn to count up your strength, but you are not allowed to wait to see what those who count up after you will do.
Example 1
The Pirates adventure card comes up. Players are supposed to count up their cannon strength. The leader is the only one who could put together enough fire power to defeat the pirates – if he used his cannon booster. He decides that it is more amusing to use his engine booster. He pays 2 battery tokens (1 to use the booster and 1 to power up the double engine that it is boosting) to jump into hyperspace. (This causes him to discard the double engine.) The pirates attack the other players in order, as though the leader were not in the race at all, and because none of them can achieve the required cannon strength, they are all shot to pieces. In the end, only one of them is able to continue on; the others are forced to give up.
The next card is Sabotage which affects the ship with the smallest crew. Because the leader is still in hyperspace, it is as though only one player is left in the race. In this special case, Sabotage does nothing. (See page 14 of the standard rules.)
The leader then returns from hyperspace and the next card will affect both remaining players.
Example 2
A Meteoric Swarm is turned up. The player thinks his ship can withstand it and he does not use his engine booster. The first meteor takes off his shield generator and exposes a vulnerable part of his ship. Unfortunately, it is too late to use the engine booster. Dice have been rolled and he must suffer the effects of the remaining meteors as well.
Example 3
There are three players in the game. They have already dealt with the first two rows of the Combat Zone and now it is time to count up engine strength. The slowest ship will be shot at with heavy cannon fire. The first player has engine strength 7. The second player can get up to 6. The third player only has strength 1. However, the second and third players both have engine boosters.
The first player announces engine strength 7. The second player now faces a dilemma. She suspects that the third player won't activate his engine booster because that would destroy his only engine. She can't be certain, however, and she can't wait until after the third player decides.
The second player decides to jump into hyperspace. She pays 1 battery token, discards the boosted engine, and makes the jump. The third player does likewise. This leaves the leader as the only ship in the race for the moment. This means the third row of the Combat Zone has no effect.
The next card turned up is Open Space. Only the first player is affected. He moves his ship ahead 7 spaces, leaving the others far behind. The third player is glad to still be temporarily out of the race. With no engines, he would have to give up when faced with Open Space. As it is, he and the second player return to the race after the Open Space card is dealt with.
Reactor Furnace
A reactor furnace is only functional when joined to a battery component.
Whenever you gain goods, you can recharge one of the battery components joined to your reactor furnace by discarding 1 block. The battery component is fully recharged, meaning that you trade 1 block for as many green battery tokens as needed to fill up the battery component. The block that fuels the furnace can be one of those you are taking on board or one of those you already had. You can even fuel the furnace with blocks you don't have room for, including red blocks that don't have a special container to go into.
You can only use the reactor furnace when you gain goods, not at any other time. Each time you gain goods, each reactor furnace can only burn 1 block, even if it is joined to multiple battery components.
Indestructible Plating
Indestructible plating is made of a special alloy that can withstand anything. (Unfortunately, it even withstands attempts to form it into a shape more useful than a giant plate.)
These components don't do anything, but the sides that are plated are indestructible. This means that cannon fire (light or heavy) and meteors (large or small) have no effect if they hit a plated side of this component. The sides with connectors are not indestructible, however, so hits on them must be defended against in the usual way. Furthermore, this component is still susceptible to sabotage and other explosions (such as explosive goods or batteries from the Rough Roads expansion).
Cyan Life Support Modules
Cyan life support modules work the same as the alien life support modules in the standard game: they can be attached anywhere, but they only function when attached to a cabin. (No life support module can support alien life in the starting component, a luxury cabin, or a stasis chamber.) A cabin joined to an cyan life support module may hold one cyan alien.
If you have a cyan life support module connected to an ordinary cabin, you can place 1 cyan alien in the cabin. Cyan aliens follow the same rules as the other aliens: no player can have more than 1 cyan alien on board.
Cyan Aliens
The new aliens are a race of specialists. Each has a talent in a different field.
Example
It should be noted that all of these fields pay very well. This is yet another example illustrating just how unfair mother nature really is. Studies have shown that the only fields in which humans excel above the other species in the Galaxy are pantomime and the manufacture of plaster garden ornaments.
When you place your cyan alien on your ship, you choose one specialization card to go with it. Set the card on the table face up in front of you. As long as you have the cyan alien on board, you can use the advantage described on the card. If you lose the alien for any reason, you lose the advantage of the specialization card as well.
Players decide which aliens to take along in the order determined by the numbers they took when they were done building. Thus the players with the lower numbers get to choose specialization cards first, leaving fewer choices for those with higher numbers. Of course, if you don't like the specializations that are left, you can choose to put two astronauts in the cabin instead.
For the detailed description of specializations, see Appendix.
Fifth Wheel
The Fifth Wheel expansion allows you to play Galaxy Trucker with 5 players. You will need the New Technology expansion as well. (It would be very frustrating to play a five-player game without the additional ship components.)
Besides the New Technology components, the Fifth Wheel expansion consists of:
- 2 two-sided space ship boards (I/II and III/IIIA) for the fifth player
- orange rocket figures
- a fifth number tile
Setup
Set up a game with all the components, including the New Technology components from this set. Don't forget the fifth number tile.
Be certain that everyone can reach everything: the components, the number tiles, and the adventure card stacks. If someone has to reach especially far, make sure it's the person with the longest arms.
Adventure Cards for Five Players
When you have more players, the ones in the back are even less likely to get goods and rewards. On the other hand, they are also less likely to get shot at by enemies. To compensate for this, certain cards have special rules in a five-player game.
With these rules, the decisions get more complicated. We recommend against playing a five-player game until you are well acquainted with the standard game.
The special rules apply throughout the flight. Even if some players give up on the flight, you still use the five-player rules.
Planets
When choosing planets, one player can land on a planet that already has another player's ship on it. If you are the second player to land, you get one block less than is shown for that planet. (You choose which block you don't get.) Once one player has used this option, no one else can; the remaining players must land on unoccupied planets or not land at all.
Example
The leader has only 3 containers, but they are all special containers. He lands on the first planet and collects 3 red blocks (and a yellow block that he has to give back). The second player has several empty containers, and 3 of them are special containers. She could land on the first planet, too, and collect 3 red blocks. Instead, she chooses the second planet and collects 2 red and 2 green. The third player has several empty containers, but only two special containers. He decides to land on the first planet and collect 2 red blocks and 1 yellow block. The fourth player would like to collect 2 red blocks, too, but that is no longer an option. He decides the payout is still good on the third planet, so he lands there. The fifth player has no choices. He does not get to land on a planet.
All players except the fifth then go backward 4 flight days (with the players in the rear moving back first).
Abandoned Ship / Abandoned Station
In a five-player game, these cards can be used twice. The second player to use the opportunity must fulfill the same conditions (possess or give up the indicated number of crew members). The second player's reward, however, is less:
- The second player to use the Abandoned Ship gets 1 credit less.
- The second player to use the Abandoned Station gets 1 block less (his or her choice).
When two players take advantage of the opportunity, they both go back the indicated number of flight days, with the player in the rear going back first.
Enemies
In a five-player game, enemies have to be defeated twice. A defeated enemy continues to attack the players in order until it is defeated again. It does not stop until it is defeated twice or until it has attacked everyone.
The second player to defeat the enemy gets a lesser reward:
- The second player to defeat Pirates or Slavers gets one less credit.
- The second player to defeat Smugglers gets one less block (his or her choice).
On the other hand, an enemy that has been defeated once does less damage in later attacks:
- Slavers take one less crew member.
- Smugglers take one less block (but they still take the most valuable blocks first).
- Pirates leave out one blast of heavy cannon fire (the first one).
If two players defeat the foe and both decide to collect their rewards, they both go back the indicated number of flight days, with the player in the rear going back first.
Example
Attacked by Pirates, the players have the indicated cannon strength. The leader loses. The second player defeats the pirates, giving her the opportunity to gain 7 credits. She doesn't want to go backwards, though, so she chooses not to take the credits. The third player loses. The fourth player defeats the pirates and decides to accept the reward of 6 credits. The fifth player does not have to count up cannon strength because the Pirates were defeated twice.
The fourth player moves back 2 flight days. Now the leader rolls dice to see where the pirates hit the first and third players. The first heavy cannon fire from the front affects only the leader. The other two shots affect both players.
Combat Zone, Sabotage
In general, any card that penalizes the ship with the lowest cannon strength, engine strength, or crew now penalizes the two players with the lowest number in the given category. Again, in case of a tie, the player further ahead is the one considered to be lower.
The player with the lowest number suffers the full penalty. The player with the second lowest number suffers a reduced penalty:
- When losing flight days, the player loses one less flight day. (The player who is further to the rear moves back first.)
- When losing crew, the player loses one less crew member.
- When losing goods, the player loses one block less. (The most valuable goods are still taken first.)
- When getting shot, ignore the first blast of heavy cannon fire. (The dice are rolled for both players, but the player with the second lowest number is not affected by the first heavy cannon fire roll.)
- When sabotaged, the saboteurs only get 2 chances. (The first 2 die rolls apply to both players. The third roll, if necessary, applies only to the player with the lowest number. If the saboteur hits one player, only the other player needs to keep rolling.)
If there are only 2 players left in the flight (because the others jumped to hyperspace or gave up) these cards only penalize one player, as in the standard rules. If only one player is left, these cards have no effect.
Summary of Reduced Rewards and Penalties
Although they may seem complicated, the rules for rewards and penalties can be summarized simply:
- If a reward is available to a limited number of players, one extra player can claim the reward, but its value is reduced by 1 credit or 1 block.
- If a penalty affects only one player (the one with the lowest number) or a group of players (those who lost to a foe), the penalty applies also to the next player or group, but it is reduced by 1 (1 block, 1 flight day, 1 crew member, 1 blast of heavy cannon fire or 1 sabotage attempt).
Journey's End for Five Players
Bonus for Finishing
There are two first place prizes. The two players farthest ahead at the end of the flight each get the first place finishing bonus. The standard second place bonus goes to the player who finishes third in the five-player race, and so on.
Bonus for Best-Looking Ship
The bonus for fewest number of exposed connectors goes to at least 2 players. If multiple players are tied for fewest exposed connectors, they all get the bonus, as in the standard rules. If only 1 player has the fewest, then all players with the second fewest also get the bonus.
Variant: 4 = 5
If you like the five-player rules, you can try using them even in a four-player game. We recommend against using them in a three- or two-player game.
New Ship Classes
This expansion contains:
- 5 double-sided ship boards for Classes IA and IIA.
Ships of Classes IA and IIA can be used in any combination with the other expansions.
Class IA is intended for the first flight and Class IIA is intended for the second, but how you use them is up to you. You can use an alternative class to replace just one of the classes in a standard game, or you can use the alternative classes to add more flights to your game.
We recommend that you not use these alternative ship classes until you know the standard game well. The new ship classes have more complex rules that make the game more difficult.
Class IA
Class IA has a few special features:
Getting Hit
A standard Class I ship can frequently avoid meteors and cannon fire by being small and lucky. Not so with Class IA. It seems to attract trouble.
Note the numbering system along the sides of the board. Each row and column has several numbers. For example the middle row or column is hit on a roll of 6, 7, or 8.
Direction of Flight and Creativity Bonus
According to the technical documentation, a Class IA ship can fly in any direction. You decide during building which direction will be the front. (You can choose any of the four sides, even though two of them seem to be "prettier".) You can even change your mind while building. (Don't turn your board; just keep track of it in your head.)
The final decision is made during the spot check before the flight. In launch order, starting with the leader, players turn their boards to indicate which direction their ship is intended to fly.
Of course, all engines still have to point toward the rear of the ship. Engines pointing in the wrong direction are considered to be building mistakes and must be moved to your discard pile.
At the end of the flight, if your ship is oriented differently from all the other ships that completed the flight, you get a creativity bonus equal to the bonus for best-looking ship (2 credits at the end of the first flight).
Note there are two discard piles denoted on the board. According to the rotation of your board, use the one that is at the top.
Insurance
As with ships of Class IIIA, ships of Class IA are uninsurable. You have to pay for each component lost along the way.
Class IIA
Class IIA is actually a pair of ships flying together. To be consistent with the rest of the rules, we'll still speak of this pair as being one Class IIA ship. The two pieces will be denoted as the left and right half.
Remember when your dream was to be the captain of a spaceship? Well, you did that. This ship is for people whose dream was to be the admiral of a space flotilla.
Setup
As you can see, neither half has a place for your starting component. Set your starting component aside. You won't use it in this flight.
Building
You build the two halves simultaneously. In each half, the first component can be placed in any square, but the rest of the components are added to it in the usual way. Thus, the components of each half must always be connected, although the two halves will not be connected to each other.
You still can only have 2 components set aside during building (note the discard pile between the halves). You may use a component set aside in either half of the ship.
You cannot look at the adventure cards until each half of your ship has at least one component.
Preparing for Launch
You are still limited to 1 alien of each color, so if one half of your ship has an alien on the board, the other half can have no aliens of the same color.
The Flight
The two halves fly together. (They are represented by a single rocket figure on the flight board.) The following (fairly intuitive) rules apply during flight:
- Batteries can only be used to power components in their own half of the ship.
- When counting engine strength, count up each half individually and use the lower number. The brown alien's bonus only applies to its half of the ship, and only if that half has engine strength above zero.
- When counting cannon strength, add the strengths of the two halves together. The purple alien's bonus only applies if its half has cannon strength above zero.
- When counting crew members, add the crews of the two halves together. However, if an adventure card leaves you without any humans on one half of your ship, that half must give up the flight. (See below.)
- When gaining goods, you can reorganize goods any way you like between the two halves. (They are usually at the same dock, so moving goods between them is no problem.)
- Whenever you lose crew members, goods, or battery tokens (except when spending battery tokens to power something) you choose where they come from. However, astronauts in the stasis chamber (see New Technology) can only be distributed in that half of the ship and only if there is at least one human left in that half.
- Small meteors from the side only hit the first component in their path. (So they only hit one half of the ship.)
- Large meteors from the side can be shot by a cannon from either half of the ship.
- A shield generator can only protect the components of the half of the ship that it is installed in.
- As far as cyan aliens (see New Technology) are concerned:
- The Lawyer and the Diplomat work on both halves of the ship.
- Abilities useable during flight (the Techie and the Manager's +1 bonus to the other aliens) only work on the half where the alien is.
- If both halves of the ship complete the flight, the Merchant's ability and the Manager's reward for finishing with aliens aboard apply to the whole ship. If only one half completes the flight (see below) the Merchant or Manager apply only to the half it is on.
Giving Up
It is possible that half of your ship might have to give up on the flight while the other half continues on.
Some of the standard rules for giving up apply only to one half of the ship. Others apply to the whole ship:
- Before the next adventure card is drawn, you can choose to withdraw one half or both halves from the flight.
- If an adventure card leaves one half of your ship without any humans, that half must give up once the card has run its course. Astronauts in a stasis chamber can only be woken up by a human in their half of the ship.
- If you are lapped (i.e., if your rocket figure is a full circle behind) both halves of your ship must give up.
- If half of your ship has engine strength zero when confronted with an Open Space card, that half of the ship must give up. The other half continues on and you move your marker forward based on the engine strength of the remaining half. Of course, if both halves have engine strength zero, both halves must give up. If neither half has strength zero, you advance as determined by the strength of the slower half. (It is not possible to decide to give up the slower half so you can move ahead at the faster speed; the decision to voluntarily give up must be made before the adventure card is revealed.)
When one half gives up
- You immediately gain half the credits for the goods aboard that half. Round up.
- Return the crew, battery tokens, and goods from that half to the bank. Return that half's components to the center of the table. The components that fell off during flight, however, remain in your discard pile. You will pay for them at the end of the flight.
- The other half continues on according to the standard, single-ship rules (including the standard rules for giving up).
Engine Boosters
An engine booster only works on its half of the ship. To avoid an adventure card with both halves of your ship, you must activate a booster (and sacrifice its attached engine) on each half. If you only use one booster, only that half jumps into hyperspace. (For the rest of the current and the next adventure card, it is as though you only have the remaining half in the race.)
Example
This ship is in trouble. A Combat Zone has come up and it looks like this ship will be weakest in the first and third categories. First the Combat Zone will take the goods then it will shoot the ship to pieces.
The player uses his engine booster on the first row of the Combat Zone (based on crew size) which sends the right half of his ship into hyperspace. He still has the smallest crew, but now his goods and batteries are in hyperspace, so he doesn't have to give up anything. Someone else has less cannon strength, so he is not harmed by the second row either. Now it is time to count engine strength. Since he only has one half in the race right now, he counts up an engine strength of 5, which is nowhere near the slowest. Someone else's ship gets shot apart.
If the other half had not been in hyperspace, his ship's engine strength would have been 2, because the alien only applies to the left half of the ship.
The next card to turn up is Planets. The player cannot load any goods here. The left half of the ship has no cargo holds and the right half is still in hyperspace. The two halves will not be reunited until before the next card.
Bonus for Finishing
All players who finish with both halves are considered to finish ahead of those who only finish with one half.
Example
The players finish in this order: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue. Red and Blue finish with only one half, while Yellow and Green finish with both halves. Yellow gets 8 credits, Green gets 6, Red gets 4, and Blue gets 2.
Bonus for Best-Looking Ship
Ships with both halves are automatically prettier than those that finish with only one half. If anyone finished with both halves, only ships with both halves are considered when counting up exposed connectors.
The only way a player who finishes with half a ship can win this bonus is if no one finished with both halves.
Insurance
In our rules, we call a ship of Class IIA a ship, but Pangalactic Insurance Corporation views it as a flotilla. Flotillas are uninsurable. You have to pay for every component you lose along the way.
Evil Machinations
Evil Machination cards are adventure cards that the players get to put in the deck themselves.
The Evil Machinations expansion contains:
- 24 Evil Machination cards
- 12 loan tokens
Before each flight, you get to prepare one Evil Machination adventure card that the other players don't know about. In general, these are unpleasant surprises that you can prepare for by building your ship a certain way or by making certain decisions during the flight.
The Evil Machinations expansion is recommended for truckers who already have a few successful flights under their belts.
Setup
Before the Game
Shuffle the Evil Machination cards and deal out four to each player. You can look at your cards, but don't show them to anyone else.
Return the leftover cards to the box without looking at them.
Before Building
Before building, each player chooses one of his or her Evil Machination cards. The chosen cards are placed in a pile near the flight board. No player is allowed to look at them.
You keep your remaining cards for use in later rounds. (Under your ship board is a good place.) In a three-flight game, you will use all but one of them.
If you are also using the Rough Roads expansion, don't draw the Rough Road cards until everyone has chosen an Evil Machination.
Preparing the Adventure Cards
The Evil Machination cards are shuffled into the middle of the adventure cards as follows:
- Shuffle the standard adventure cards as usual.
- Remove the top and bottom quarters of the deck. (Each quarter will have 2, 3, or 4 cards depending on the flight.)
- Shuffle the Evil Machination cards into the middle of the deck. When you are done shuffling, an Evil Machination card should be on top.
- Replace the top quarter onto the deck, and set the deck on top of the bottom quarter.
More Foresight Variant
If you use the More Foresight variant from the basic rules (where adventure cards don't get shuffled), use following rules:
- Players do not put the chosen cards on a pile, they keep them face down in front of them.
- When preparing the adventure cards, sort the Evil Machination cards into a pile according to the players' launch order; the card of the player with tile number 1 will be on top. This pile is then put between second and third group of adventure cards.
Turning Up an Evil Machination
Evil Machination cards work just like the standard adventure cards. When you turn one up, read it and proceed accordingly. It affects all players, including the one who put it in the deck.
Detailed explanations for some of the cards can be found in the Appendix. You should also read the General Principles section at the beginning of the Appendix.
Loans
With the Evil Machination cards in play, you may need money during your first flight. Fortunately, you can go deeply into debt. To take out a loan, just take 1 loan token and 10 cosmic credits from the bank.
You can re-pay the loan at any time. Just return the loan token and 12 credits to the bank.
You have to re-pay all your loans by the end of the game. If you can't, you lose.
Debt
When playing with the Evil Machinations expansion, the rule about not going into debt no longer applies. If you don't have enough money to pay the penalty for lost components, you have to take out a loan to pay for them.
Rough Roads
This expansion first came out as a free download on the internet. This is the official version with more cards and prettier artwork.
This expansion contains:
- 25 Rough Roads cards
Warning
This is a nasty expansion designed for experienced truckers only. If you routinely build ships that overcome every obstacle and arrive nearly unscathed, if you shed a nostalgic tear recalling your first flights when your ships were smashed to pieces and you arrived with only a few sad fragments, then this expansion is for you. This expansion puts the kick back into space travel, and it kicks so hard that the tears will be in your eyes once again.
On the other hand, if you don't think it's funny when your ship breaks into two pieces, this expansion is not for you.
If you have only played a few games of Galaxy Trucker and your ships often fall apart en route, we recommend you do not use this expansion yet. This expansion, like the universe, is unfair. Save it for later, when you begin to feel that space flight is just too easy.
But most importantly: Do not use this expansion when introducing new players to the game.
Difficulty Level
Well, it looks like our warnings didn't turn you away. Let's get truckin'.
Before you begin, all players should agree on a difficulty level. We recommend level 2 or 3. Everyone must agree. If you can't get everyone to agree, play at the lowest suggested difficulty level. Of course, it's possible that one of the less courageous players will insist that you play without the Rough Roads expansion (or that you toss it into the wastepaper basket) and you will have to play the standard game (or play concentration with the spaceship components).
Shuffle the Rough Road cards. At the beginning of each round, before you begin building, draw a number of Rough Road cards equal to the chosen difficulty level. Place these cards face up where everyone can see them. They describe special rules that will apply for that round's voyage. More detailed explanations can be found in the Appendix.
Draw new cards at the beginning of each round (discarding those from the previous round). Players know about the special rules even before they begin building and have some chance to prepare their ships for the upcoming flight (and prepare themselves psychologically for the fact that they might be taking a loss this round).
If you are also using the Evil Machinations expansion, players choose their Evil Machination cards before the Rough Road cards for that flight are revealed.
Variant – Rough Road Handicaps
If you have players with various levels of experience you can use the Rough Road cards to handicap the more experienced players.
For this variant, remove the Remoreseless Fate card.
Choose a difficulty level. Before each flight, draw that many Rough Road cards. The cards will apply only to the experienced players. Beginners are not affected by them.
You can also give each player a different handicap. For example, the beginner ignores the Rough Road cards, the experienced player is affected by two of them, and the player who always seems to win gets two extra. It is up to you to decide the best way to even the playing field.
Bonus Cards
The Bonus Cards are new adventure cards for the standard set. To keep from drastically reducing the frequency of "normal" cards, there are only a few of them.
This expansion contains:
- 2 cards for each flight, labeled I, II, or III.
For each level of cards – I, II, and III – there is one bonus special event card and one bonus special opportunity card. The new special events make the game more interactive, while the new special opportunities add interesting decisions.
The bonus cards can be shuffled in with the standard adventure cards for that flight. Two of these cards were given out as bonus cards with the first edition. If you already have them, replace them with the new ones from this expansion.
Detailed explanations of the bonus cards can be found in the Appendix.
Combining Expansions
The expansions in this set can combine with your standard game in many, many ways. How you use them is up to you.
Some expansions (Fifth Wheel, New Technology, Bonus Cards) focus on bringing variety to the game. Others (New Ship Classes, Evil Machinations, Rough Roads) bring variety by increasing the difficulty level. Be careful with these, and try to keep the game easy enough that the less experienced players can still enjoy it.
Choosing Expansions
Of course, if you are all very experienced truckers who don't mind having your ships blown apart, you can use the New Ship Classes, Evil Machinations, and Rough Roads all together. But even that might get old after a while.
For the Indecisive
If you don't want to spend time thinking about and discussing which expansions to use, try this:
The standard game with no Rough Road cards (level 0), no Evil Machination cards, and standard ship classes is difficulty level 0. Choose a difficulty level (for example, 3, 4, or 5) that specifies how much to add to the standard game. Roll a six-sided die that many times to determine which expansions to use.
- 1 – Use Class IA instead of Class I. If you are already using IA, increase the Rough Road level by 1.
- 2 – Use Class IIA instead of Class II. If you are already using IIA, increase the Rough Road level by 1.
- 3 – Use Class IIIA instead of Class III. If you are already using IIIA, increase the Rough Road level by 1.
- 4, 5 – Play with the Evil Machination cards. If they are already in the game, increase the Rough Road level by 1.
- 6 – Increase the Rough Road level by 1.
Of course, you can fudge the roll and put your favorite expansions into the game even without a die roll. And you certainly don't have to use any expansions you don't like. This table is just to help you decide.
Appendix
General Principles
There are some basic principles that apply generally to all cards.
Order
Unless otherwise stated, the following things are done in order:
- If players have to make a decision, players decide in order, starting with the leader.
- When determining parameters of the ship, players count up in order, starting with the leader. (A player may choose to jump into hyperspace instead when it is his or her turn to count up.)
- When gaining flight days, the player farthest ahead moves forward first. When losing flight days, the player farthest behind moves back first.
- When players bid, the leader begins (or passes). In flight order, players either bid some amount over the highest bid or pass. Once a player has passed, he or she is cut out of the bidding (printed as "cut of"). Bidding continues in order from first to last as many times as necessary until all players but one have passed. The highest bidder pays up and collects the reward. If everyone passes, no one gets the reward.
Rolling for Hits
- Whenever multiple players risk taking a hit, they do not roll individually. One roll of the dice applies to all of them.
- When rolling for coordinates, first roll for the column, then the row.
- When a player is the source of a hit, that player rolls the dice. Otherwise, the dice are rolled by the player who is farthest ahead among those who are affected by the die roll. (It doesn't really matter, of course, but if people are going to get mad at someone for a bad roll, it's nice to do it by the book.)
- When you are supposed to receive a shot from a player behind you, it does not matter whether that player has cannons or not. You still get shot at. Don't ask how they do it; truckers can be very inventive when it comes to playing jokes on their buddies.
Lost Components
At the end of the flight, players must pay for components lost along the way. For some cards, it matters how the component was lost. There are three ways components can end up in your discard pile:
- Components are destroyed by meteors, cannon fire, sabotage, and cards that specify the component is destroyed.
- Components fall off when they are no longer connected to the rest of the ship or when a card specifies that the component falls off.
- Some cards require a player to give up a component.
All of these count as components lost along the way.
Rough Roads
Most of the cards are self-explanatory. If a Rough Road card seems especially harsh to you, you are probably interpreting it correctly.
Most of this section is just to assure you that you are playing correctly. However, cards that require a more detailed explanation have been marked with a book symbol. The first time these cards come up, you should look them up here.
The construction symbol indicates which cards play a role during building. (This is important for the Nasty Surprise card.)
Stiff Competition
If you choose to use an Abandoned Ship or Abandoned Station, you count up your strength. All players flying behind you also count up their strength and all those who are stronger than you send you a blast of heavy cannon fire.
After the cannon fire is resolved, you have the option to change your mind. (The cannon fire might leave you without enough crew to use the opportunity, or you might lose cargo holds, making the Abandoned Station less useful.) If you change your mind, you do not lose the flight days and the opportunity passes to the next player in line, who must fulfill the same conditions. This means that players might have to count up strength multiple times during a single adventure card.
Engine Envy
Engine Envy takes effect any time the leader at the end of an adventure card is different from the leader at the beginning. In particular, if the leader gives up or jumps into hyperspace during the course of the adventure card, there will be a new leader, who will be shot at.
A player who returns from hyperspace and becomes the leader is considered to return at the end of the adventure card and will be shot at before the next adventure card is turned up.
If the shot results in the new leader giving up, do not apply Engine Envy a second time. Just move on to the next adventure card.
Space Junk
If at least one component falls off during an adventure card, the players must face Space Junk afterwards. (Note that this card does not apply to components which are destroyed or given up.) When any component falls off a ship, it is put in a special pile.
Once the adventure card has been dealt with, any components that fell off the leader's ship act as large meteors. The leader rolls to see which columns his or her loose components will strike, once for each component in his or her special pile. These strike all following players' ships from the front. Components that fall off their ships during this barrage are accumulated in their special piles. Next, the second player rolls for his or her loose components, which strike all ships behind the second player, and so on. (The last player does not need to roll because there is no one flying behind.)
After dealing with Space Junk, move the special piles into the normal discard piles.
Note: Space Junk is evaluated after the adventure card is completely dealt with (including possible loss of flight days). Rarely, it may happen you are hit by components falling off a ship that was behind you at the time when it was hit.
Déjà vu
During the flight, adventure cards need to be sorted into 2 piles:
- A face-up pile of cards where someone used an opportunity (Planets that were landed on by at least one player, Abandoned Ships or Abandoned Stations that were used, defeated enemies; from the Bonus Cards, a Space Depot or Junkyard that was visited; from Evil Machinations, a Junker for Sale that was purchased or a Stranded Ship that was helped).
- A face-down pile of cards that players have to suffer through (Meteoric Swarm, Open Space, Combat Zone, yellow special event cards, all Evil Machinations not mentioned above) and cards where no one used the opportunity (including enemies that were not defeated).
After completing the last adventure card, take the face-down cards and without shuffling them continue the flight with them as the remaining adventure cards. The second time through, the adventure cards are discarded face up.
Cosmic Psychosis, Metal Fatigue
Roll for coordinates as with the Sabotage card, but only once. And yes, if you roll 7-7, the card affects your starting component. Cosmic Psychosis also affects players in hyperspace (your mad crew is there with you), Metal Fatigue does not (you avoided the Open Space card).
Bum Batteries
For example, using a shield, a double engine, or a double cannon costs 2 battery tokens instead of 1. Boosting a single engine or single cannon costs 2 battery tokens to power the booster. But the combinations shield + shield booster, double engine + engine booster, or double cannon + cannon booster only cost 3 battery tokens, not 4.
Meteoric Inversion
With this card, you might get large meteors from the rear. As with meteors from the front (and unlike meteors from the side) you can only shoot them with a cannon in that column.
Tough Trip
In Round 1, you add 2 level III cards. In Round 2, you add 3 level III cards. In round 3, you add 4 level III cards.
When you are playing with More Foresight variant, add these cards on the bottom.
Remorseless Fate
For example, Sabotage will affect everyone except the player with the most crew members. (In case of ties, only the player farther behind escapes Sabotage.)
When rolling for cannon fire in the Combat Zone, each roll applies to all affected ships. When rolling coordinates for Sabotage, roll 3 times. The rolls apply to all affected ships, but if a player is hit by one of the rolls, he or she is not affected by the remaining rolls.
Piercing Projectiles
This card applies to meteors and cannon fire of any size. Usually, the next component in line will be in an adjacent square, but sometimes the projectile will fly through empty squares before it strikes another component in the indicated row or column. Usually, the second component will be destroyed as well, unless the projectile strikes properly oriented indestructible plating. A small meteor will only destroy the second component if it hits an exposed connector, but connectors exposed by the destruction of the first component now count as exposed.
Union Ship
The crew's labor union will not accept battery tokens instead of goods.
Explosive Goods, Explosive Batteries
These cards only apply to components which are destroyed (by cannon fire, meteors, sabotage, or explosions) and not to those which fall off or are given up. Note, however, that explosive goods or batteries might destroy neighboring components with explosive goods or batteries, which would cause another explosion that could destroy other explosive components, and so on.
Infected Goods
For example, if you have 2 aliens, you can gain up to 2 blocks safely. If you gain 4 blocks, you lose 2 human crew members, regardless of how many of those blocks actually end up on your ship.
You can't gain just some of the goods. It is all or nothing.
If gaining infected goods causes you to lose your last human astronaut, you still gain all the goods, but then you have to give up on the flight.
Somersault
Engine exhaust pipe cannot point to the side of the spaceship. The square in front of forward pointing engine exhaust pipe must be empty.
Defective Connectors
A negative engine strength counts as 0. For example in a Combat Zone, if more than one player has negative engine strength, it does not matter who has the lowest – all these players have 0, and the one farthest in front is the slowest.
And yes, you still have to give up if you do not have an engine strength of at least 1 in Open Space or Wide Open Space.
Made to Order
The rest of the components in the warehouse are still available to all players and you still have the option to set aside up to 2 of these during building.
You have to pay 1 credit for each component left in your personal Made-to-Order pile. These do not count as lost components in your discard pile. Insurance does not apply to them, nor does the Lawyer cyan alien.
Dead Zone
Nothing except indestructible plating works in that column: batteries have no energy, cargo holds cannot be loaded with goods, alien life support does not support connected cabins, etc. However, even in the Dead Zone the components have to follow ship building rules.
Evil Machinations
The 5 symbol on certain cards is there to remind you of the special rules that apply to these cards in a five-player game. Evil Machination cards without this symbol aren't affected by the special five-player rules.
System Test
This card affects all components that can be hypothetically powered by batteries (including boosters not connected to the corresponding tiles). If you have an odd number of battery-powered components, the odd component must also be paid for or discarded.
Traffic Jam
This is the only card that also affects ships in hyperspace; some consider this fact to be the final proof that there is just no way to avoid traffic jams.
Ambush
The purple alien counts as +2, as usual.
In a five-player game, the player with the second lowest cannon strength is also shot at, but only by the light cannon fire. (Ignore the roll for heavy cannon fire.)
Bonus Cards
Bureaucracy
"Hey, wait, you're missing a form!" Now guess which one. Yes, it's just the slowest player's feeble attempt to get ahead, but what can you do about it? Rules are rules.
The player farthest behind sets up a die so that no one else can see the number on it. Starting with the leader, the other players each get one guess. (They are allowed to repeat another player's guess.) The die is revealed and everyone who did not guess that number must go back that many flight days. Anyone who guessed correctly gets 3 credits from the bank.
Regardless of the guesses, the last player does not go back any flight days and does not gain or lose any credits.
Robosmokeys
Players choose how much to offer in secret. Whoever offers the most, must pay up. The others keep their credits. The highest bidder can choose any coordinates, even coordinates completely outside the ship, except that neither the column nor the row can be number 7. (This does not protect the starting component of Class IA, however, because 6 and 8 are legal choices.)
Anyone with a component at the chosen coordinates (include the player who chose them) must give up that component and anything that it might contain.
Note: To prevent players from taking too long to decide which coordinates will cause the most damage, you can use the timer to set a reasonable time limit.
Space Billiards
The lead player chooses a row and an opponent. The opponent defends against those meteors according to the rules for a Meteoric Swarm, except that the player who chose the row rolls the dice. Then the second player chooses one of the remaining rows, and so on, until every player has chosen one row. Use your markers to indicate which rows have already been chosen.
There is no restriction on which opponent you can target. One player may have to defend against multiple rows of meteors.
In a five-player game, it is allowed to choose one of the rows twice. The second time the row is chosen, ignore the first large meteor.
Tip: You can use this card against a competitor to level the playing field, but sometimes it is more fun to send the meteors at the ship that is most likely to bust apart.
Junkyard
Interstellar junkyards are fascinating places, full of interesting (but potentially hazardous) junk and interesting (but potentially hazardous) junk dealers. You can bargain for just about anything here, and if the junk dealers don't have it, you can probably find it yourself if you are willing to navigate through floating wrecks and stray blasts of cannon fire. (The latter tend to stray your way when a junk dealer thinks you are getting too close to something that he wants.)
The Junkyard card is divided into 4 spaces representing 4 areas of the Junkyard. In each space, the left side depicts the price you must pay and the right side depicts the reward you will gain.
Starting with the leader, players decide whether to stop in the Junkyard. This is very similar to Planets. If you choose to stop, place your marker in the space you want to use. You pay the cost immediately: give up crew or battery tokens, or face meteors (representing flying junk) or cannon fire. Then collect your reward:
- New astronauts (not aliens) can go in any cabin with space for them. You can also put them in a stasis chamber, but not a luxury cabin. You can re-arrange your crew at this time.
- New battery tokens can go in any battery component with space for them. You can re-arrange your battery tokens at this time.
- If you gain flight days, move forward immediately.
Once the price has been paid and the reward collected, the next player may choose any of the remaining spaces in the Junkyard.
In a five-player game, one of the spaces may be used twice, just as with Planets. The second player to stop in that space pays the full price, but the reward is 1 less (according to the standard rules for reduced rewards). If the reward has two parts, each part is reduced by 1. For example, the second player to land in the first space of the level III Junkyard would have to roll for all the cannon fire. (The rolls would only apply to his or her ship because the first player to land there would have already rolled when he or she landed.) The second player's reward, however, would be reduced by 1 astronaut and 1 credit.
Star Depot
You can use the Star Depot to add a new component to your ship or to replace one component. If replacing a component, set the old component aside. Don't put it in your discard pile. Don't set it out among the other Star Depot components.
Your new component must be added according to the standard rules for building.
You only get new battery tokens or crew members on the new component that you got from the depot. In a new cabin, you can put either 2 humans or 1 alien (if the cabin is joined to the appropriate life support module and if you do not currently have an alien of that color) but adding a new life support module does not allow you to change crew members in adjacent cabins.
Everyone who takes a component from the depot moves back 1 flight day.
Tip: Don't want to turn all those unused components face down just so you can choose 6 at random? Have one player close his or her eyes and blindly choose 6 after another player has mixed the components up.
Cyan Aliens
Lawyer
Ships of Class I, II, or III are insurable. The uninsurable ships are classes IA, IIA, and IIIA.
With a Lawyer on board, you can happily wave goodbye to your lost components as they go drifting away through space. Of course, once a stray blast of cannon fire blows away the Lawyer or his life support module, you can wave goodbye to your wallet. The Lawyer's effect only applies if he is on board when you finish the flight (or give up).
Manager
The Manager helps the other aliens work better. A purple alien with a Manager gives a +3 bonus to cannon strength and a brown alien with a Manager gives a +3 bonus to engine strength (instead of +2).
If your Manager is still on board at the end of the flight, you get a reward for each remaining alien species still aboard: 1 credit if the Manager is the only remaining alien, 3 credits if you have the Manager and 1 other alien, and 6 credits if you have all three aliens. If you give up, you cannot collect this reward.
Merchant
The Merchant knows how to bargain. You get one extra credit for each red or yellow block you sell. If you gave up, these extra credits are not divided by two.
Example
The player gives up on the flight. He quits with the Merchant on board and goods worth 19 credits: 2 red, 3 yellow, and 1 green. He gets 10 credits for the goods (half of 19 rounded up) plus 5 extra credits for the 5 red and yellow blocks, for a total of 15.
Techie
The Techie knows how to get the most from your power system. For each adventure card, your first battery use is for free. For example, if you want to power 3 double cannons, the Techie allows you to do so for only 2 battery tokens.
The Techie can't get you power from nothing, however: you must have at least one battery token to get the free battery.
Example
The player has 1 battery token and wants to power his double engine. The Techie allows him to power the double engine and keep the token. If he had no battery tokens, the Techie could not help him power the double engine.
The Techie doesn't help when an adventure takes battery tokens from you (for example, when you have to give up goods and you don't have any).
Diplomat
The Diplomat can convince foes to leave your ship alone. This works differently from jumping into hyperspace. You play through the whole card with the other players. The Diplomat can't help you win or run away. He only saves you from the effects of losing. You wait to use the Diplomat until it becomes clear that you have lost: such as when you have declared a cannon strength less than the enemy's, or when it is determined that you are the player who has to suffer the effects of the current row of the Combat Zone card.
If you use the Diplomat to save you from an enemy, you still lose. The enemy is undefeated and continues on to attack the next player in line. If you use the Diplomat to avoid a row of a Combat Zone card, you are still the lowest player in that category. That row will not affect you, but it won't affect anyone else either.
Once you use the Diplomat's ability, remove the turquoise alien from your ship.
Overview of New Components
Luxury Cabin
This can hold only one astronaut (not an alien). An astronaut lost from a luxury cabin during flight cannot be replaced. If you still have the astronaut at the end of the flight, you collect 1, 2, or 3 credits, depending on the round.
Stasis Chamber
This holds 4 astronauts (not aliens). These do not count as crew. If crew members are lost, astronauts in the stasis chamber can be used to replace them.
Bi-Directional Cannon
One battery token activates both barrels. Strength is computed by adding up both barrels as though each were a single cannon.
Shield Booster
When activating a shield connected to the shield booster, it is possible to pay an additional battery token to make the shield protect against large meteors and heavy cannon fire.
Cannon Booster
When counting cannon strength, you may pay 1 battery token to boost an activated, connected cannon. The cannon gets a strength bonus of +3 (if forward-pointing) or +1.5 (otherwise). This destroys the boosted cannon.
Engine Booster
When an adventure card is revealed or when you determine a parameter of your ship, you can pay 1 battery token to boost an engine connected to the engine booster. (If boosting a double engine, you must also pay 1 battery token to power up the engine.) This destroys the engine and sends your ship into hyperspace: you leave the race for the duration of the current adventure card and the next one.
Reactor Furnace
When loading goods you can give 1 block to the bank (even a block you don't have room for) in exchange for enough battery tokens to fill a battery component connected to the reactor furnace.
Indestructible Plating
From the sides that are plated, this component cannot be destroyed by meteors or cannon fire of any size.
Cyan Life Support Modules
When connected to a normal cabin (not a starting component, not a luxury cabin) the cyan life support module allows you to put 1 cyan alien in the cabin. (Each player is only allowed 1 cyan alien.)
Combined Components
Combined components count as both types, with the attributes and restrictions of each.
FAQ
This set introduces many new elements to the game and there may be some unusual situations created by the new cards and new components that are not explicitly covered in the rules. If you run across something like this, check the FAQ at www.czechgames.com.