Martian Dice Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components
Getting Started
On Your Turn
Scoring
Game End
A Sample Turn
Credits

Components

13 Martian Dice. Each die features 1 Tank, 2 Death Rays, 1 Human, 1 Cow, and 1 Chicken.

The pinnacle of Martian technology. Portable probability generators, calibrated to render statistical outcomes with precision and style.

The six faces of each die are: Tank, Death Ray (x2), Human, Cow, and Chicken.

Getting Started

Engage your data recorders. Heed abduction etiquette by allowing the ship before you to clear orbit before you begin your run.

Keep a piece of paper and a pencil handy, to record scores and turn order.
Pick a starting player and give him or her all 13 dice.
Play begins with the starting player and proceeds clockwise.
A round consists of each player taking their turn. A player's turn consists of one or more dice rolls.

On Your Turn

Swoop & scoop. Remember, your ship's prison pods can only hold one batch of each species... but there's no such thing as too many Death Rays.

Roll all of the available dice. (On the first roll of your turn this will be all 13 dice; on later rolls it depends on how many dice you set aside earlier.) If there are no available dice, proceed to Scoring.
Set aside all Tanks, adding them to any Tanks set aside earlier this turn. All Tanks are set aside every turn.
From the remaining dice, choose one type (Chickens, Cows, Humans, or Death Rays) and set aside all dice of that type. Chickens, Cows, or Humans may not be chosen if you have already set that type aside this turn. Death Rays may always be chosen, and are added to any Death Rays set aside earlier this turn. If you cannot set aside any dice based on these restrictions, your turn is over; proceed to Scoring. Each type of Earthling can be chosen only once per turn. Death Rays can be chosen multiple times per turn.
You may choose to end your turn and proceed to Scoring, or return to step 1 to continue rolling.

Scoring

Make sure you've dealt with the Earthling military, or you'll come home empty-tentacled. Any captured Earthling is a good captured Earthling, but variety is key.

First, compare the number of Tanks set aside to the number of Death Rays set aside. If there are more Tanks than Death Rays, you must flee without any abductees; you score zero points for the round, regardless of how many other dice you set aside. More Tanks than Death Rays? No score for you.

If you set aside at least as many Death Rays as Tanks, then you have successfully fended off the Earthling military and will score points for your abductees as follows:

1 Point for each Human, each Cow, and each Chicken that you set aside.
3 bonus points if you set aside at least one of all three Earthling types.

Record your score and pass the dice to the next player.

Game End

Before you know it, all ships will be called home for evaluation. The winner earns Martian bragging rights. Draws are settled by Death Ray duel.

The game end is triggered when one player reaches a total score of 25 points or more. Once this happens, the round is completed so that all players have had the same number of turns. At the end of that round, the player with the most points wins the game! In the case of a tie, each tied player rolls 6 of the Martian Dice, and the player who rolls more Death Rays wins!

A Sample Turn

Loading data file 626.B.7.i... Transcript of abduction run alpha, Commander Zax Kwyjibo presiding officer.

Zax rolls all 13 dice and sets aside the 2 Tanks. He decides to nab the big batch of 4 Humans, hoping to roll some Death Rays later.

Zax rolls the 7 remaining dice and sets aside the 1 Tank. Although the 3 Cows are tempting, he is worried about the buildup of Tanks and chooses the 2 Death Rays.

Zax rolls the 4 remaining dice. No Tanks this time, but no Death Rays either. He picked Humans earlier, so he can't pick them now. He picks the 1 Chicken.

Zax rolls the 3 remaining dice. No Tanks again. He could pick the Cow, but would risk scoring nothing if his next rolls were to go badly. He plays it safe and picks the Death Ray.

With only 2 dice left, Zax decides he's pushed his luck far enough, and calls it quits. Since Tanks don't exceed Death Rays, he gets to score. He earns 4 points for the 4 Humans, and 1 point for the single Chicken. His total score for the turn is 5.

Credits

Game Design: Scott Almes
Graphics & Rules Editing: Josh Cappel
Game Development: Seth Jaffee

The designer would like to thank his wife Beth, his family and friends for their support. He would also like to thank Seth Jaffee, Michael Mindes and Josh Cappel for their expertise and efforts bringing Martian Dice to life.