Mission: Red Planet (First Edition)
Mission: Red Planet Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 1 game board "Mars" divided into 10 zones.
- 20 Destination tokens.
- 14 square Resource tokens.
- 70 round Score tokens.
- 24 Event cards.
- 34 spaceships.
- 5 sets of 22 colored wooden astronauts (which will be referred to as "astronauts" in the rules).
- 5 sets of 9 colored character cards.
- 1 Launch Pad to organize and manage the development of the game.
- Two tokens (a medal of first player and one turn indicator).
Set up
- Mars is placed at the center of the table.
- The launch pad is placed to the side, pointing toward Mars. The turn counter is placed on the first space of the turn track printed across the bottom of the launch pad.
- Shuffle the 14 Resource tokens and place them face down on the table.
- Place the 20 Destination tokens face up on the table.
- Each player picks a set of astronauts and character cards of the same color.
- Shuffle the spaceships and put them face down in a pile. A number of spaceships equal to the number of players are turned up and placed on the launch pad.
- One player then takes one astronaut from each player and puts them in her/his closed hand. Then she/he randomly takes these astronauts one by one and places them on the ships waiting in the launch pad. The player whose astronaut was picked first receives the First Player token.
- Event cards are shuffled and dealt. Each player receives three Event cards. Players look at their cards, choose one Bonus card that they keep, and discard the remaining cards. The Bonus card that was kept should be a secret from all other players. If a player receives only "Discovery" cards, he should show them to the other players, discard them, and receive three new cards. This is repeated until such a player receives one Bonus card.
- The remaining Event cards and the cards that were discarded by players are shuffled, and put into a pile, face down, by the Mars game board.
A Turn
Each turn is composed of five steps.
- Random Distribution of New Spaceships.
- Character Selection.
- Boarding and Take Off.
- Landing at Destination.
- End of Turn.
1) New spaceships are Randomly Distributed
Spaceships that launched for Mars in the previous turn are replaced by spaceships taken from the top of the spaceship pile. This never happens during the very first turn. If the pile of spaceships is depleted, previously discarded spaceships are reshuffled and stacked into a new pile.
2) Choosing New Characters
Each player chooses one of his remaining character cards and places it face down in front of him.
3) Boarding and Take Off.
The player in possession of the First Player token announces a character, starting with the Recruiter (1) and proceeding through the Pilot (9). Characters are always announced in the same order, from 1 (Recruiter) to 9 (Pilot).
When a character is announced, all players who have played this same character reveal the Character Card in front of them. Then they take the action or actions indicated on the Character Card. If two or more players have played the same character, they take turns clockwise, starting from the player who has the First Player token. If nobody chose the Character that was announced, the First Player announces the next character.
Important Note: The Traveler skips his turn if he cannot complete his entire action during his turn. The Soldier cannot place any astronauts unless he can place two, but he does not skip the rest of his turn. Other characters can place all or some of their allotted astronauts, or take all of some of their actions.
The turn continues until all players have attempted to complete their characters' actions.
Manually controlled spaceships do not have a predetermined destination. When a player puts the first astronaut on such a ship, he also places a Destination token of his choice on the ship.
A spaceship is full when there are as many astronauts on board as indicated on the card. As soon as a spaceship is full, it takes off. New astronauts can no longer be placed aboard a spaceship after take off. When a player finishes her/his turn, she/he sets her/his Character card aside, face down. She/He won't be able to play this "Character" card in following turns, until she/he plays the "Recruiter" card.
4) Landing at Destination.
All the ships that took off for Mars during the current turn arrive on Mars.
All the astronauts placed on a spaceship that took to the skies are placed in the landing zone. The landing zone will be determined either by the Destination token or by the spaceship if there is no Destination token placed on it.
When a spaceship lands on an uncharted zone, a Resource token is randomly taken from the pile and placed face up on the landing zone. The Resource token determines which natural resource is available in this zone.
After a ship lands, the Destination token placed on it becomes available again. Landed spaceships are discarded.
5) End of Turn.
The player who took the last action in the previous turn is given the "First Player" token. The turn counter is advanced one space on the turn track printed across the bottom of the launching pad.
At the end of the fifth turn, the player who has the most astronauts in each zone of Mars is given one score token of the same color as the resource found in the ground. In case of a tie, the score token is placed in the zone and will be added to the tokens to be distributed at the end of the eighth turn.
At the end of the eighth turn, two score tokens of the same color as the resource found in the ground are placed in each zone of Mars. The player with the most astronauts in each zone receives all the score tokens placed in that zone (two score tokens placed during the current turn and any tokens left in that zone after the fifth turn). In case of a tie, the players involved in the tie share the score tokens equally. The remaining score tokens are left in the zone and will be added to the tokens to be distributed at the end of the tenth and final turn.
End of the Game
The game ends after the tenth turn. Discovery cards placed face down on different zones of Mars are revealed and might alter the distribution of score tokens and the calculation of final scores. Three score tokens are added to each zone of Mars. Score tokens are colored according to the resource found in the ground. The player with the most astronauts in each zone receives all the score tokens in that zone (three tokens placed during the current turn and any score tokens left in that zone after the eighth turn). In case of a tie, the players involved in the tie share the score tokens equally. If a token remains, it is discarded. If you run out of score tokens, use Resource tokens. Resource tokens are worth 3 points. At the end of the game, when a single player has the most astronauts on one zone, she/he receives the resource token that was placed in this zone.
If players have Bonus cards, they may collect some points. Some bonus cards are worth points only if the player who has them has fulfilled certain conditions.
Players calculate their score:
- Total value of all collected score tokens.
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- 9 Bonus points go to the player with the most Ice tokens. In case of a tie, this bonus is shared equally (round down) among the players involved.
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- bonus points from "Bonus" and "Discovery" cards.
Resource tokens
When an astronaut sets foot on an uncharted zone of Mars, either by landing with a spaceship or using the Explorer ability, a Resource token is taken from the pile if that zone does not yet have a Resource token. The Resource token is placed face up in that zone for the remainder of the game.
Event cards
When a player plays her/his Scientist character and draws a Bonus card, he/she keeps the card secret until the end of the game.
When a player plays her/his Scientist character and draws a Discovery card, she/he keeps it and places it, face down, near the zone of her/his choice just on the edge of the Mars game board. It is thus impossible to place a Discovery card on the three central zones of the board, which have no contact with the outside.
There can only be one card per zone. Cards already placed in zones cannot be replaced. If there are "Discovery" cards on all seven outside zones of Mars, a player must discard her/his own "Discovery" card and can look at one of the cards already placed on Mars.
Important: Bonus cards designate different zones of Mars. To complete your mission, take into account zones colored in red, not tan.
Characters' Abilities
1. Recruiter
Place one astronaut on a spaceship AND pick up all your used Character cards (including the Recruiter card).
2. Explorer
Place one astronaut on a spaceship AND make up to three moves on Mars with your astronauts. In a move, an astronaut can be moved from one zone to an adjacent zone. The same astronaut can be moved multiple times. When a player moves one of his astronauts in an uncharted zone, a resource token must be randomly chosen and placed on this zone.
3. Scientist
Place a total of two astronauts on one or two spaceships AND either draw an Event card, or look at a Discovery card already in play.
4. Secret Agent
Place one astronaut each on two different spaceships AND force the launch of one incomplete spaceship (a spaceship not yet full).
5. Saboteur
Place one astronaut on one spaceship AND destroy one spaceship still on the ground, along with the astronauts on board. The spaceship to be destroyed can be partially filled or empty. The destroyed spaceship is discarded from the game, as are all the astronauts that were on board and placed in "the Lost in Space Memorial".
6. Femme Fatale
Place one astronaut on a spaceship AND replace another player's astronaut on a spaceship (in the air or on the ground) or a zone of Mars with another one of your astronauts. You must already have one astronaut on that ship or in that zone in order to do so. The astronaut that was replaced is discarded from the game and placed in "the Lost in Space Memorial".
7. Traveler
Place three astronauts on the same spaceship. If there is not a single spaceship with at least three open spots when your turn starts, you must skip your turn.
8. Soldier
Place two astronauts on the same spaceship (if this is not possible, then you cannot place any) AND destroy one astronaut on one of the outside zones of Mars. Astronauts on Mare Tyrrhenum, Tritonis Sinus and Valles Marineris cannot be targeted. The dead astronaut is removed from the game and placed in "the Lost in Space Memorial".
9. Pilot
Place two astronauts on one or two spaceships AND change the destination of one spaceship. This spaceship may be airborne or on the ground. Place a Destination token chosen from those that are available. If this spaceship already had a Destination token, exchange it.
Credits
Mission: RED PLANET is a game designed by Bruno Faidutti & Bruno Cathala, published by Asmodée Editions LLC and illustrated by Christophe Madura • Editing: Eric Franklin.
© 2006 ASMODEE editions LLC. Mission: Red Planet is a Trademark of ASMODEE Editions LLC.