Ganymede: Moon
Ganymede: Moon Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 8 boards: 4 Moon boards and 4 Council of Ganymede boards
- 16 Adviser tiles
- 10 tokens: Moon-Earth space road (x4), Earth-Mars space road, Trader, Upgrade, Virus, 1st player Monolith
- 6 wooden meeples
- Adviser (x4), President, VIP
Setup
To play Ganymede with the Moon expansion, add these steps during setup:
- Each player takes their Moon and Council of Ganymede boards and places them respectively on the left and on the right of their main player board. Then, each player takes a Moon-Earth Space Road token and places it under the arrow symbol between the Moon and the Earth. After 1st player is determined, this player takes the 1st player token and places it on their main player board.
- Each player takes an Adviser meeple and places it on the Moon, located on their Moon board. Adviser meeples in excess remain in the box. Place the remaining wooden bits and other tokens next to the play area: they will be used if specific Advisers are recruited during the game.
- Shuffle the Adviser tiles and reveal 5 of them face up next to the play area. The remaining Adviser tiles are stacked face down next to the revealed ones.
Moon Expansion Main Concepts
The Moon expansion brings two main modifications to Ganymede, represented by the new player boards: the Moon and the Advisers. To gain powerful abilities and gain VP in a new way, you will need to move your Adviser from the Moon to Ganymede. The Moon will help you to recruit Settlers of any color more easily and, if you want to, focus your strategy on Settler tiles.
1. The Moon
Adviser's starting location: The Moon is your Adviser's starting location and where you will return it from Ganymede at the end of your turn, after picking an Adviser tile.
Settlers limit and additional Settler tile slot: You may now recruit Settlers on the Moon thanks to a 4th Settlers tile slot, located on your Moon board. The Moon is limited to 4 Settlers.
When performing Action 1 "Choose a Settler tile" you may place it on your Moon board slot. You may multiply its effect like in the base game. If all your 4 Settler tile slots are occupied, you may place the selected tile on the Moon board if you wish to: simply discard the Settler tile previously placed on the Moon slot.
Settlers recruited that way are placed on the Moon and not on Earth.
In addition, the Moon slot has a special ability: when recruiting on the Moon, you may adapt the recruited Settlers: this means the color of the Settlers on the Settler tile you placed on the Moon board is not important, only its symbol. See Example 1.
Example 1: Hope places this Settler tile on the special slot of his Moon board. As it is his first tile of this type, Hope performs the ability of the tile only once and recruits a blue Settler. He then adapts this Settler into a red one.
"Moon – Earth" space road: a free move action for Settlers: At the beginning of your turn, if there is at least one Settler on the Moon, you may move one of them for free on Earth, if you have space for this Settler, as Earth is limited to 6 Settlers. You cannot move your Adviser and the President meeple this way (see Advisers abilities below).
Example 2: At the beginning of his turn, Hope chooses to move his red Settler to Earth. This may allow him to perform the "Use a Shuttle" action in the same turn in the case this Shuttle needs a red Settler to depart.
2. Advisers
Special rules regarding your Adviser:
- Your Adviser cannot be part of the condition to use an Earth or Mars Shuttle as they are not Settlers. Advisers have their own way of moving from the Moon to Ganymede.
- Advisers do not count when verifying the limit of each location. Moon is limited to 4 Settlers, Earth is limited to 6 and Mars is limited to 5.
- When Advisers reach Ganymede, they return to the Moon at the end of the active player's turn. This symbolizes another Adviser willing to make the long journey to Ganymede.
How to move your Adviser?
Your Adviser can only move with a "Move" effect or a "Basic" effect for which the "Move" effect is chosen:
- Action 1 "Choose a Settler tile": if the Settler tile has a "Move" symbol on it.
- Action 2 "Use a Shuttle": if the Shuttle card has a "Move" or "Basic" symbol on it (in which case the "Move" action needs to be chosen).
- Action 3 "Discard tiles to gain basic actions": if you choose to perform a "Move" effect by discarding a Settler tile.
- Reputation track: if you choose a "Move" effect when your Reputation marker stops on a gear icon of the track.
- Settlers Ships: if you complete the Ship with the "2 moves" bonus.
Advisers' special abilities: Advisers give players a special ability depending on where they are located, except for the Moon as it is their starting location. These abilities are listed at the bottom of your Moon board.
- Earth: during your turn, you may swap a Settlers Ship from your hand with a Settlers Ship from your player board or swap both Settlers Ships from your player board. If there are Settlers on the Ship cards, they stay where they are and will be placed back on the new Ship. Thus, they are not lost if the Ship card goes to your hand.
Example: Hope's Adviser is on Earth: he decides to swap the Settlers Ship at the top of his player board with a Ship from his hand to readapt his strategy. The 2 yellow Settlers on the Ship stay on the Ship spot and do not leave play.
- Mars: when using a Mars Shuttle, you may perform its effect 1 additional time, as if you had an additional Shuttle of the corresponding symbol in your column below your board.
Example: Hope's Adviser is on Mars: he decides to use a Mars Shuttle that requires 2 yellow Settlers and to discard a Settler tile. As it is his first Mars Shuttle, he may resolve its effect an additional time, for a maximum total of two times.
- Ganymede: to move your Adviser from Mars to Ganymede (place the Adviser meeple on Ganymede, not on a Settlers Ship), you must discard a Settler Ship card from your hand as an additional cost and place it secretly at the bottom of the Settlers Ships draw pile.
At the end of your turn, pick an Adviser tile among the 5 available and place it on the lowest numbered spot of your Council of Ganymede board. Then, gain the bonus indicated on that spot: 1, 2 or 3 different Basic actions, or an immediate takeoff. You now benefit from this Adviser's special ability: Advisers' abilities are explained on the player's aid. Then draw an Adviser tile and place it face up in the Adviser tiles row.
If you completed a Settlers Ship during the same turn, choose if you want to gain an Adviser tile before or after resolving this Ship's takeoff steps.
Then, move your Adviser meeple back to the Moon.
Example: 1) Hope wants to move his Adviser from Mars to Ganymede. To do so, he must discard a Settlers Ship from his hand as an additional cost. 2) At the end of his turn, he recruits Chahrazad, one of the 5 Advisers available. As it is his first Adviser, he places the Adviser tile on the #1 spot of his Council of Ganymede board and gains one "Basic action" as a bonus. Then he benefits from Chahrazad's ability. 3) Finally, his Adviser meeple returns to the Moon at the end of his turn.
Important: you cannot control more than 4 Adviser tiles, but you may still move your Adviser meeple to Earth or even Mars.
Adviser Abilities
Each Adviser tile's ability is printed on the tile. Advisers' abilities listed below are transcribed from the tiles. Advisers' flavour text is omitted.
A. Weber Ph.D
Immediate effect: Play another turn after his one.
Ahu-Lani
Place the "Upgrade" token on the column with the [column symbol] at the bottom of your player board.
Permanent effect: When using a Shuttle of the type that matches where the Upgrade token is, you may perform its effect 1 additional time, as if you had an additional Shuttle of the corresponding symbol in your column. If you adapt at least one Settler during your turn, move your Upgrade token to the next column on the right, once per turn only. If you reach the space with the [takeoff symbol], one of your Ships takes off immediately. Then, put the Upgrade token back in the box.
Editor's note: the two symbols shown as [column symbol] and [takeoff symbol] are icons in the printed rulebook (page 9) that the PDF text layer does not reproduce, so they are left as placeholders here. Check the printed page before relying on this text.
Ashwatthama
Immediate effect: Place the "Virus" token on an opposing Settlers Ship.
Permanent effect: This Ship needs an additional Settler of any color to complete and cannot take off via a takeoff bonus (Row bonus, Reputation maximum, 4th Adviser, etc.). This Ship cannot be swapped via the Earth ability of the Advisers. When this Ship is completed, put the Virus back in the box.
Ayati
Take the "VIP" Settler and place it on Earth.
Permanent effect: The VIP Settler replaces a Settler of any color when using Shuttles or when you complete a Settlers Ship. The VIP may use James King "space road" and can be lost in space. When using a Shuttle with the VIP, you may perform its effect 1 additional time, as if you had an additional Shuttle of the corresponding symbol in your column. When you complete a Settlers Ship with the VIP in it, put it back in the box.
You cannot recruit Ayati if you already have 6 Settlers on Earth.
Chahrazad
Immediate effect: Gain 2 Reputation points OR recruit a Settler of any color on Mars. If you discarded a Settler Ship card with an animal on its illustration, you may do both. In this case, show the card to your opponents before placing it at the bottom of the Settlers Ships draw pile.
Ender
Place the "Monolith" token on this Adviser. At any time during your turn, when you have a Settler of each color on Mars and your Adviser meeple on Mars, place the Monolith on Phobos, the small moon below Mars.
Permanent effect: When using a Mars Shuttle, you may place this Shuttle in the column of your choice: it becomes a Shuttle of that column's color for all purposes (multiplying its effect, Ship scoring, Row bonus, etc.).
Hipt Liber
Place the "Trader" token between 2 Mars Shuttles of the play area.
Permanent effect: When using a Mars Shuttle adjacent to the Trader token, you may change its effect into "Basic". Only the controller of Hipt Liber may use his ability and the Trader token cannot move after it has been placed.
James King
Place the "Earth-Mars space road" token between the Earth and Mars.
Permanent effect: At the beginning of your turn, you may move a Settler from Earth to Mars for free, unless there are already 5 Settlers on Mars. You may move the same Settler by using both your space roads.
Marty Simon
Immediate effect: Select an Earth Shuttle of your choice: place it in the corresponding column of your player board. Do not trigger the ability of the Shuttle and do not move the Settlers to Mars.
Michelle de la Rose
Place the "President" Settler meeple on the Moon. The President moves like your Adviser but counts as a Settler for planet limits and cannot use any space road. When the President reaches Ganymede, place it on Michelle de la Rose tile: you will score 5VP at the end of the game.
If there are 4 Settlers on the Moon you cannot recruit Michelle de la Rose. If there are 6 Settlers on Earth or 5 on Mars, you cannot move the President to this planet as the President cannot be lost in space.
Mr. Wu
Permanent effect: Once per turn, when using a Shuttle, you may move 2 Settlers of the same color instead of a Settler of another color indicated in that Shuttle condition.
Ms. Chau
Permanent effect: Whenever a Settler is lost in space by any player, you may recruit this Settler on the Moon. When using a Shuttle that requires you to discard a Settler tile, do not discard the tile. You may even use this kind of Shuttle if you control no Settler tile.
Ms. Lee
Permanent effect: When using an Earth Shuttle, you may move one of the transported Settlers directly to one of the two Settlers Ships on Ganymede.
Nakkia
Immediate effect: Draw 4 Settlers Ships or swap a Settlers Ship from your hand with one you already completed. If you discarded a Settlers Ship with a takeoff bonus (indicated on the bottom right of the card) to recruit this Adviser, you may perform both actions. In this case, show the card to your opponents before placing it at the bottom of the Settlers Ships draw pile.
Noor
Permanent effect: When performing Action 3 "Discard Settler tiles to gain Basic actions", gain an additional Basic action.
Tarak Freeman
Immediate effect: Recruit up to 3 Settlers of any color on the Moon.