Machines To The Sky Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• How To Win
• The Player Mat
• Round Overview
• Phase 1: Income
• Phase 2: Events
• Phase 3: Market
  • Market Step 1: Bidding
  • Market Step 2: Resolve Bids
  • Market Step 3: Restock
  • Bidding Example
• Project Cards
• Phase 4: Management
  • Play a Project card
  • Advance and Demote
• Phase 5: Level Up
  • Step 1: Check Level Up requirements
  • Step 2: Resolve Level Up
  • Bonus and Score Boost tokens
• Contacts
• End of the Game
• Determine The Winner
• Solo Mode
• Optional Rule: Ignore Event Effects
• Tips
• Glossary
• Icon Reference
• Elements
• Actors

Components

The component list printed on the rulebook's second page.

• 5 Project cards
• 16 Contact cards
• 12 Event cards
• 30 Automa cards
• 8 Actor cards
• 1 Market Mat
• 1 Ark Track
• 4 coloured Player Mats (identical side and unique side)
• 4 coloured Ark tokens
• 28 Element / Boost tokens
• 1 Bag
• 4 sets of 10 coloured cubes (Experts)
• 1 Priority token
• 32 Power tokens

Setup

Step 1: Place the Market Mat and Ark Track in the center of the play area.

Step 2: Place a player mat in front of each player, ensuring each has at least 4 inches of space above it. Player Mats have an identical side and a unique side. Each player should choose which they will use, then place the 10 Experts (cubes) of their player mat color next to their mat to form a Supply. They then place the Ark token of their colour beneath the Ark Track.

Step 3: Shuffle the 28 Element Tokens and randomly place 4 Elements face up along each Level of the Ark Track.

Step 4: Shuffle the Project and Contact cards separately into their own decks and place them face down near the Market Mat.

Step 5: Combine the 6 'Calm' Events with a random hidden selection of 3 'Unique Events' and shuffle these 9 cards. Place these face down on top of the 'Deadline' Event to form the Event deck.

Step 6: Instruct each player to draw 3 Project cards and 1 Contact card into their hand from the top of the relevant decks.

Step 7: Place the Power tokens near the Market Mat to form the Power Supply.

Step 8: Populate the Market by drawing cards from the top of the Project deck and placing them face-up in the slots on the Market Mat, placing as many Projects as the amount of players +3.

Step 9: The most experienced player gets the Priority token. All other players take 2 Experts from the Supply and place them into their Stock, which should be kept near their Player Mat and represents how many resources they currently have.

Step 10: (Optional) Decide as a group whether you would like to play with Actors, which grant each player a unique ability throughout the game. If playing with Actors deal 2 to each player, have them place their chosen Actor face up near their Player Mat and return the other Actor to the game box.

The rules for solo play and using the Automata player are at the back of the book.

How To Win

At the end of round 10 the player with the most Victory Points (VP) is declared the winner. In the case of a tie, consider it a joint victory.

Each player earns VP from the Projects in their lanes 1, 2 and 3, with the VP earned from lanes 2 and 3 subject to the scoring limit displayed at the player's Ark Level, as seen in the image to the left.

Players do not gain VP from cards in their lane 4 (with the exception of the unique side of the blue Player Mat).

Note that players also gain VP from Score Boost tokens (page 9).

The Player Mat

Each Player Mat consists of 4 lanes into which the player places their Project cards. The lane number impacts whether a Project can be placed into it or not.

Player Interaction: In all situations, a player only ever interacts with their own Player Mat. Effects and rules are intended to resolve individually for each player using their Player Mat and ignoring all others.

Round Overview

• Phase 1: Income - Players gain Power and Experts.
• Phase 2: Events - The next Event card is revealed and the previous Event resolves (if applicable).
• Phase 3: Market - Players bid Experts to win Project cards.
• Phase 4: Manage Projects - Players play Project cards to their Player Mat and Advance/Demote them.
• Phase 5: Level Up - Each player that meets the Element requirements for their next Ark Level can Level Up.

Phase 1: Income

Step 1: Each player discards ALL Power from their Stock. They must then discard however many cards from their hand that exceed their hand's 5 card limit.

Step 2: Each player takes Power and Expert Income from the Supply, checking the following places for contributions to their Income:

• Base Income at the bottom left of their Player Mat: +2 Power per turn and +3 Experts per turn.
• Empty Lanes on their Player Mat may grant Income: an empty Lane 3 grants +1 Expert, and an empty Lane 2 grants +1 Power.
• Some of their Projects may grant Income.
• Each player may now also discard any amount of their Boost Tokens, choosing to gain 3 Power or 3 Experts for each discarded. See Phase 5: Level Up (page 8) for how to gain Boost tokens.

If not enough tokens remain in a Supply: No more are gained. Distribute the remaining Power tokens in the Supply evenly among players, leaving any excess in the Supply.

Phase 2: Events

Reveal the top card of the Event deck and apply its effect.

Each Unique Event resolves when the next Unique Event is revealed (or the Deadline Event on round 10), giving players an unknown amount of rounds to prepare for their resolution. Unique Events are identified by a scroll icon.

Phase 3: Market

In this phase players bid their Experts on Projects in the Market in an attempt to claim those Projects.

Overview of Market Phase:

1. Bidding.
2. Resolve Bids.
3. Restock.

Market Step 1: Bidding

Starting with the Priority player and proceeding clockwise, each player takes a turn in which they either Bid or Pass.

Bid: Take an amount of Experts from your Stock and place them on a card of your choice (or the Priority token space) in the Market. You may only Bid if you will be the player with the most Experts on the card after you Bid on it.

Hint: You can Bid 1 Expert on a Project to ensure it remains in the Market for the next round.

Pass: Make no Bid and pass the turn. You must Pass all of your remaining Bidding turns until this phase ends.

Once all players have used 'Pass' proceed to Step 2.

Market Step 2: Resolve Bids

Check each card in the Market. If a player has at least as many Experts on the card as its Rating (shown on the bottom right of the card), AND the most Experts on that card among all players, they add the card to their hand. All of their Experts on that card are returned to the Supply, and all other Experts on that card return to their owner's Stock.

This process is then repeated for the Priority Token space (treat its Rating as 1). The highest Bidder gets the Priority token, placing it near their Player Mat.

Market Step 3: Restock

Each card in the Market with no Experts on it is discarded. Then draw cards from the Project deck and place them face up in empty Market slots until the Market contains as many Projects as the number of players +3.

Note: Unclaimed Projects with Experts on them are left on the Market Mat.

Bidding Example

• (Left) The bottom right of the Cryosleep Project displays its Rating of 3, meaning only Bids of 3 or more can claim it. As such the red player places 3 of their Experts on it.
• (Right) The yellow player beats the red player's Bid by placing 4 Experts.
• (Left) The red player really wants Cryosleep, so they place 2 more of their Experts on it to increase their Bid to 5.
• (Right) The yellow player could beat the red Bid with a Bid of 6 but chooses not to and Passes. Once all players have Passed the red player has the highest Bid for Cryosleep, taking the card into their hand and discarding all of their Experts that were on it. Since the yellow player didn't claim the card their 4 Experts on it are returned to them.

Bidding Strategies: Players might Bid higher than a Project's Rating if they really want that card for themselves, or if they know another player really wants that card, making them pay more Experts for it.

Project Cards

Gained in Phase 3: Market, players play these onto their Player Mat and move them in an attempt to meet the requirements of their effects, which often grant that player with benefits.

Effects on Project cards only benefit the player that played them, and only when at the top of a Lane on that player's Player Mat. These are considered their 'Active Projects'. An effect only applies if all parts of it can be applied.

Permanent Effects have a green background and apply to a player when they are anywhere in a lane on that player's Player Mat. These effects are considered 'active' even if the Project itself is not 'active'.

Project Element Type is at the bottom left of a Project card. The Elements of a player's Active Projects at the top of each of their Lanes are considered their current 'Elements' and contribute to whether they can Level Up or not. Other effects may also be affected by a player's Elements.

Rating is found at the bottom right of a Project card. This indicates the highest Lane number that card can be played into, and also indicates the lowest Bid of Experts that can claim that card during Bidding in Phase 3: Market.

Phase number indicates which Phase of the Round the card's effect applies to. This is only a reference so players know when to check the card's effect. It is not a part of any rules.

Some effects, such as Aquarium's effect, also grant Elements, which can contribute to both Level Up requirements and to the resolution of various card effects, such as 'Farming'. If a player had both Aquarium and Farming as active cards, they'd get +2 Power, because they'd have 1 Ecological Element from each card's type, and 1 Ecological Element from Aquarium's effect.

Phase 4: Management

In this Phase players act simultaneously (or in turns if it helps a new player), each player taking any of the following two Actions as many times as they wish, in any sequence.

• Play a Project card to their Player Mat.
• Advance/Demote cards between the Lanes on their Player Mat by paying Power.

Play a Project card

Place a Project card from your hand as the new top card of one of the four Lanes on your Player Mat that has a Lane number equal to or higher than that Project's 'Rating' (bottom right of the card).

Example: A Rating 2 Project can be placed into all Lanes except Lane 1.

Note: When placing Projects, avoid covering the Element, Rating and Permanent Effects of the cards beneath them, as you may require this information later in the game.

Advance and Demote

A player can move the top card of any of their Lanes using either the Advance or Demote action during Phase 4: Management.

To Advance a card, pay the amount of Power indicated on your Player Mat and move the card so that it becomes the top card in the Lane to the right of its current Lane.

To Demote a card, pay the amount of Power indicated on your Player Mat and move the card so that it becomes the top card in the Lane to the left of its current Lane.

Phase 5: Level Up

Step 1: Check Level Up requirements

Each player checks the Element types of their active Projects, plus any Elements granted by their active effects. If they have the required Elements indicated at the Ark Level above their current Level (the order of the Elements doesn't matter), they Level Up in the next step of this Phase.

Note (editor's clarification, not a separate printed rule): the Elements indicated at each Ark Level are the four Element tokens shown on that Level of the Ark Track, placed there in Setup Step 3.

Step 2: Resolve Level Up

In an order decided by the Priority player, each player that earned a Level Up in the previous step will draw a Contact and may take an Element token of their choice from the Ark Level above their current one, keeping it as a Score Boost or Bonus token. Then they move their Ark token up to that Level.

Only at the point of taking a token from the Ark Track during a Level Up can a player decide which side of the token they will use.

Once all Level Ups have been resolved begin the next round of the game, or if this is the tenth round proceed to the End of the Game.

Hint: Not taking an Element token when you Level Up is especially effective when other players are struggling to obtain that Element for their own Level Up.

Bonus and Score Boost tokens

Bonus: Bonus tokens are stored in the player's Stock and during Phase 1: Income can be Discarded to grant that player 3 Power or 3 Experts.

Score Boost: Score Boost tokens must be placed onto the score modifier panel at the bottom of the player's central Lanes (2 and 3) or Lane 1, increasing the Victory Points earned from each Project with an Element type matching that Score Boost by 1 at the end of the game.

Note: When using the variant Player Mat backs, the blue mat's Lane 2, 3 and 4 all benefit from the same Score Boost tokens.

Contacts

The player with the Priority token may play Contacts from their hand at the time indicated by that Contact's effect, found at the bottom of the card. Contacts must be resolved one at a time, after which they are discarded by placing them face up in a pile near the Contacts deck. Should the Contact deck ever run out, shuffle the discarded Contacts and place them face down to form a new deck, then continue playing.

End of the Game

The game ends after 10 full Rounds have been resolved.

Determine The Winner

Each player now checks their Player Mat to calculate their victory points (VP).

Projects in Lane 4 never contribute to VP in any way (except on the blue unique mat where it follows the process for lane 3).

Projects in Lane 2 and 3 should be checked for VP generated by their effects. Each Project is also worth 1 extra VP for each Score Boost token in the panel below that Project's lane that has the same Element type as the Project.

If the combined amount of VP a player earns from their lanes 2 and 3 is higher than the max VP indicated on their Ark Level, the combined VP they earn from those Lanes is reduced to that maximum amount.

Ark Level maximums, as printed on the Ark Track (page 8): Level I - MAX 3; Level II - MAX 5; Level III - MAX 8; Level IV - MAX 12; Level V - MAX 17; Level VI - MAX 25; Level VII - MAX 35.

Example of Score Boost VP: see the example on page 9 of the rulebook.

Solo Mode

An Automa player can be added to the game to provide a Solo mode, or to provide an additional challenge during multiplayer. To play against the Automa, during Setup shuffle the green and red Automa cards separately and use them to create a deck of 8 face down cards.

The more red cards used to create this deck, the more difficult it will be. 2 Red cards should be considered tough, 4 very tough and 6 nearly impossible.

At the start of each Market Phase (Phase 3) reveal two random cards from the Automa deck. Check the top half of each card against each Project card on the Market. For each condition {A} that is true, the result {B} is applied to that Project card.

Example (illustration, page 10): the condition A is an Ecological Element (green leaf) and the result B is +2 Automa's Experts.

During Market Step 2: Resolve Bids, check the condition at the bottom of each of the revealed Automa cards. If they are met, an easy Automa card will add a random Hard Automa card to the Automa deck, and Hard Automa cards will reduce each player's Power Income by 1 during the next Phase 1: Income.

Optional Rule: Ignore Event Effects

If players agree to it they can make the game easier by ignoring the effect of all Events during the game. The Event cards can still be used as a timer to track the 10 rounds of the game.

Tips

Forecast Ark Levels: The more players that Level Up, the easier the previous Levels become. You can exploit this for some easy Level Ups whilst you focus on scoring from Lane 1.

Retain Experts: Claiming lots of Projects is good, but some Projects will benefit you far more than others. You may want to save a few Experts so that you can win the Bidding for these when they appear.

Retain Projects: Getting lots of Projects on your Player Mat looks good, but cards are much easier to Manage when they're in your hand, allowing you to make cheap adjustments to your Elements in order to Level Up!

Glossary

Stock: A player's currently available Power and Experts.

Supply: Resources not currently available for the player's use.

Active: A Project is considered 'active' if it is the top card in a Lane on a Player Mat. An effect is considered 'active' if it belongs to an active Project, or is a permanent effect belonging to a card anywhere on a Player Mat.

Icon Reference

Advance: If at the start of an effect, this indicates that the effect is triggered by its card being Advanced. If in the body of an effect text, the indicated card is Advanced, moving it to the top of the Lane to its right.

Level Up: This refers to a Level Up, achieved during Phase 5: Level Up.

Victory Points: Indicates an amount of victory points the Project generates at the End of the Game.

Power: Used to Advance and Demote cards on the Player Mat. Some effects may only apply if the player has the indicated amount of Power. Power is tracked with tokens.

Experts: Used primarily to bid for cards in the Market. Some effects may only apply if the player has the indicated number of Experts. Experts are player specific and are tracked with cubes.

Elements

Cards of this Element mostly assist in the management of Projects, representing the talented crew that will reside upon the Ark.

Ecological: The most common Element, often found on Projects with a lower Rating, making it easier to position them. They don't score many points or synergize much with other cards, but can fuel Power and Expert income.

Personnel: Cards of this Element mostly assist in the management of Projects, representing the talented crew for the Ark.

Installations: Cards of this Element are the rarest and have the highest potential to earn Victory Points, with several cards that increase the VP value of Installations, and Level Ups being slightly more dependant on Installation Elements.

Actors

Note (editor's gap note): the printed rulebook mentions Actors only in Setup Step 10 and the Contents list (8 Actor cards). It does not print the text of any Actor's ability, so none is transcribed here.