Mission to Planet Hexx

Mission to Planet Hexx Rulebook

Table of Contents

120 game cards, 4 rule reminder cards, 1 six-sided die, 4 mini spaceships, 50 data counter cubes, 12 assorted wink counters and the rule booklet.

Players: 2-4. Age: 10+. Time: 30-90 minutes.

Mission to Planet Hexx! is a new tabletop game that pits you against the other players in an epic quest through space to visit exotic worlds, meet strange aliens and be the first to complete your mission!

You and the other players build the game board as you go, sending your ships to various planets and collecting data. When you have accumulated enough data in your data store, you may expend it to upload hex cards to your Mission File to complete your adventure story. But watch out! The other players will be trying to stop you at every turn.

The Game

In this game, you race against the other players to complete your mission. The first Player to add six Hexes to their Mission File wins!

Set Up

I. Locate the orange Mission File Hexes and randomly distribute one to each Player. Put any extra Mission Files aside - they play no further part in the game.

Your Mission File tells you what your adventure goal is for the game. You keep your Mission File on the table in front of you. The Mission File Hexes are two-sided, but each Player chooses and uses only one side.

You must add six Hexes to your Mission File to complete your mission. The types of Hexes required are included in parentheses in the text of the Mission File, and as symbols along the edges (e.g. a Mission File may denote ALIEN-DILEMMA-DILEMMA-OBJECT-PLANET-SPACE).

II. Each Player rolls the six-sided die twice. The Player with the highest total is the first Player.

III. The first Player takes the two starting Map Hex cards, "The Space Base" and "Delta Colony", and places them adjacent to each other (flat edges touching along their full length) on the table, arranged however that Player chooses. These are the first two Hexes in the map of Planets and Spaces known as "the Board". Mission Files are not part of the Board.

IV. The first Player then places five of the clear cubes on "Delta Colony". These represent the starting Data of the Planet, which is the number in the box to the right of the Planet's name.

V. Each Player then chooses a plastic Ship and places it on "The Space Base" and places the matching colored plastic wink counters on their Mission File, to remind all Players of the color Ship that Player chose. These winks come in handy for counting the Actions in a turn and as "Snooger counters", for use with the Event Hex, "Big Boss Snooger".

VI. The first Player shuffles the Deck, deals six Hex cards to each Player, and then places the Deck face down near the Board.

The Turn

The first Player takes the first turn, with Players taking their turns in a clockwise order.

I. Actions (do 3 Actions each turn)

Map Action - Play a Map Hex
Move Action - Roll, Move & Collect Data from a Planet
Upload Action - Expend 3 Data & Upload a Hex to your Mission File while on a Space Hex
Refresh Action - Discard a Hex to Draw a Hex
Event Action - Play an Event Hex

II. End of Turn (Draw/Discard to a Hand of 6 Hexes)

I. Actions

You may take a total of up to three Actions on each of your turns (as many as three; as few as zero).

Those Actions may be any combination of the five available Actions (Map Action, Move Action, Upload Action, Refresh Action, Event Action). So, you may decide to take three of the same Action, two of one and one of another, or three different Actions on each of your turns.

1. Map Action

Map Hexes are labeled "MAP" at the top point of the Hex. There are two types of Map Hexes - Planets and Spaces. On a Map Action, you Play one Map Hex from your Hand to the Board, adjacent to another Map Hex of the appropriate type that is already on the Board. Orient the Hex however you like, barring any restrictions written on the Hex itself.

A. Planet Hexes

A Planet cannot be Played adjacent to another Planet, only to a Space Hex.

As mentioned in the Setup, each Planet Hex has its starting Data printed as a number in a small box after its name. When you Play a Planet, place Data cubes on it equal to its starting Data. Additionally, if any Hex asks you to check printed starting Data, an X counts as zero.

The Data cube values are: clear = 1 Data, orange = 5 Data.

B. Space Hexes

A Space Hex may be Played adjacent to any other type of Map Hex.

(Your Board may actually become galaxy-sized.)

C. Map Hex Icons

COMES INTO PLAY ICON - Some Map Hexes have a special icon that means that they have an automatic, free effect that occurs one time, when the Map Hex is Played to the Board. Most Map Hexes with this icon have no additional effects once they are already in play.

Some Map Hexes have a special relationship with other Map Hexes. When this is true, you will see the image of one Map Hex in the text box of another, as a visual cue to the Player (e.g. "Dexatrani Minor" and "Dexatrani Major" each show the image of the other, "A Wormhole" shows another "A Wormhole", "Alpha Colony" shows "Beta Colony" and "Gamma Colony", etc...).

2. Move Action

On your Move Action, Roll the six-sided die and Move your Ship a number of Hexes less than or equal to the number you Rolled. So, for example, if you Roll a 5, and you only need to Move 2, you may. You do not then get to Move 3 more Hexes later on. After you Move and Stop, your Move is ended.

Also, always Roll to Move, even if you would be able to reach your destination Map Hex by Rolling a 1 or even somehow without Rolling, because your Opponents may Play Hexes that affect your Roll.

A. Movement Restrictions

I. You may Move freely through a Space Hex, but you may not Move through a Planet. When your Ship Moves from another Map Hex onto a Planet, you Stop and "Land" there, and you must end your Move.

II. You may not Land on the same Planet twice in a row. You must leave the first Planet and Land on a second Planet before returning to the first Planet.

III. Texted restrictions are written on a Map Hex. Edge restrictions appear as special black and white lined borders that hinder movement. If a Map Hex has edges like these, you may not Move your Ship through them.

IV. Moving a Ship "off of the Board" has no meaning. Always Move to or relocate a Ship to an available Hex on the Board.

V. If your Ship is on a Map Hex that changes location, the Ship goes with that Hex to its new location. If your Ship is on a Map Hex that gets replaced or covered, it now resides on the replacement/covering Hex. If your Ship is somehow on a Map Hex that is removed from the Board, the Hex which caused this to happen will inform you of where your Ship will end up.

B. Collecting Data

I. When your Ship Lands on a Planet, you may take one Data cube from the Planet and put it on top of your Mission File. This is called "Collecting Data". Collecting Data does not require an additional Action; it is part of your Move. Your collection of Data is called your Data Store.

II. The default amount of Data that can be Collected from a Planet is always 1, although the effects of some Hexes may alter that.

III. Collecting Data is optional and may only be done when your Ship Lands on a Planet. You Collect Data only once per Landing, and you may not stay on a Planet and Collect Data again on the following Action or turn.

IV. A Planet's current Data may be more or less than its starting Data, based on Players' activities. For example, if a Planet has a starting Data of 4 and you Collected 1 when you Landed, its current Data is 3.

V. You may try to Collect more Data than a Planet has, but you can never Collect more than that Planet's current Data. When a Planet's Data is reduced to zero, you may still Land there, but you cannot trigger any of that Planet's effects that rely on you Collecting Data.

VI. If you somehow Land on an Opponent's turn, you may Collect Data.

VII. You may not Collect Data when your Ship is "relocated" or "put" onto a Planet by the ability of a Hex that does not explicitly say "Move".

C. Adding/Expending Data

You must Land on Planets to Collect Data, but you may acquire Data in other ways, such as Adding Data. Sometimes you also have to Expend Data from your Data Store to pay a cost or penalty. When a Hex tells you to "Add " or "Expend ", that Data comes from/goes to the general pool of Data cubes outside the game (e.g. "The Cute Furry Things" and "Miss Galaxy").

D. Map Hex Movement Icons

Some Map Hexes have special icons at the bottom point of the Hex that alert the Player to an alternative Data Collecting option, or grant the Player an automatic, free effect when that Player's Ship stops on them, starts an Action on them or Moves through them.

COLLECT ICON - Normally, when you Land, you Collect 1 Data cube. If a Planet has a blue Collect icon, that means that an alternative exists, written in blue text. This is usually the possibility of Collecting more than 1 Data, but sometimes, you will have the option to do some other special effect that is not related to Collecting Data.

If the blue text says you may, that means you may either Collect 1 Data as normal or choose the alternative effect.

If there is no may option in the text, then you must follow the instructions in the blue text when you Land, and may not choose to collect 1 Data.

THROUGH ICON - Play this effect for free once each time your Ship Moves both onto a Map Hex through one edge and then off of that Map Hex through a different edge on the same Action. The effect is written in orange text and happens as your Ship exits the Hex, before you Move on to the next Hex. You do not get the effect if you only Stop or Start on this Hex, or if you enter and exit the Hex through the same edge.

The orange text is essentially preceded by the implied text, "If you Move onto this Hex through one edge and exit through a different edge on the same Action, ...".

STOP ICON - When you Move onto a Map Hex from another Map Hex and end your Move there, you Stop there. If that Hex has a Stop icon at the bottom, you may immediately Play the effect written in red text on the Hex for free. The red text is essentially preceded by the implied text, "If you Stop here, ...".

START ICON - When you begin an Action on a Map Hex, you Start there. When you Start on a Hex with a Start icon at the bottom, you may Play the effect written in green text on the Hex. The green text is essentially preceded by the implied text, "If you Start here, ...".

With the above three symbols, if the effect is beneficial to you, it is optional, but if it is a penalty or restriction, then you must obey the text on the Hex.

E. Data Movement Icons

Three key symbols that appear on all five types of Hexes describe the movement of Data to/from Planets/Data Files.

PLANET DATA - Refers to the amount of Data on a Planet.

MISSION FILE DATA - Refers to Data in your Data Store. You Add Data to or Expend Data from your Data Store.

If a Hex tells you that you must Expend more Data than you have, then Expend all of it.

If a Hex requires you to Expend a certain amount in order to pay a cost and you do not have enough, you cannot pay that cost and may not Play that Action/effect.

COLLECTING DATA - Refers to the amount of Data you can Collect on a Planet. It is the combination of the two other symbols, since Collected Data moves from a Planet to a Mission File.

3. Upload Action

If your Ship is Stopped on a Space Hex, you may Expend 3 Data to place a Hex from your Hand adjacent to your Mission File. This is called Uploading a Hex.

You may only Upload while your Ship is Stopped on a Space Hex, not on a Planet. It may help to imagine that the best way to transmit data collected from an alien world is in space, where there is no atmospheric interference!

A. Upload Action Rules

I. The type of Hex that you Upload must match the type of one of the six story points on the edge of that Mission File (e.g. Upload an Alien to a Mission File edge marked with the Alien icon, Upload a Planet to an edge marked with the Planet icon, and so on...).

II. Note that the text on a Hex has no effect when it is Uploaded to your Mission File, unless the Hex text says otherwise.

III. You may not Upload a redundant Hex to your Mission File (so, for example, you could not Upload a second Object to MISSION FILE: "A ROUTINE MISSION!" - because it only requires one).

(Match the Hex type with the icon on the Mission File when you Upload a Hex.)

B. Immediate Uploads

Some Hexes allow you to Upload immediately, no matter where your Ship is. This legally breaks the rule of Uploading only from a Space Hex because the Upload is the result of an Event or Move Action, not an Upload Action (e.g. Event Hex, "A Mysterious Egg" or Map Hex, "The Ancient Ruins of Malair").

4. Refresh Action

Discard a Hex of your choice from your Hand, then Draw another Hex from the Deck. It's that simple!

5. Event Action

Event Hexes are labeled "EVENT" at the top point of the Hex. There are three types of Event Hexes - Aliens, Dilemmas and Objects. On your Event Action, you may Play one Event Hex from your Hand. Events have a one-time effect, and then go directly to the Discard Pile, which is face up next to the Deck. The effect of any Event Hex only applies to the turn on which it was Played.

A. Normal Events

I. Some Events give you a choice to use one of two effects listed on that Event, separated by the word "OR" in bold text. You must choose only one of the effects listed; you may not do both.

II. Some Events require you to Expend Data or use Actions as an additional cost to Play a Hex (written as " to Play this."), or to make a sacrifice once the effect is Played (such as Discard a Hex).

If you do not have enough Data/Actions left to pay the cost or other resources to make the sacrifice, you cannot Play that Hex (e.g. the Alien Hex, "Miss Galaxy", requires you to "Expend 1" as an additional cost; Reckless Space Revelers requires the sacrifice of Discarding an Object).

III. Some Events have an alternative Upload cost, that make the Event cheaper to Upload or Upload it in a different way than normal (e.g. "A Bag of Space Rocks"). Using this ability is not considered "Playing" the Event.

(Events make each game more interesting by warping the rules of the game.)

B. Surprise Events

Some Events are classified as a Surprise.

A Surprise can be played on your Opponent's turn, usually in response to an Opponent declaring an Action. A Surprise's effect happens immediately, before the Opponent's Action does.

You may Play one Surprise during each other Player's turn, and you do not need an Action to Play it on that turn.

However, if you choose, you may Play some Surprises as normal Events on your own turn (check each individual Surprise card for details). In that case, you would use an Event Action to Play the card, like any other Event.

C. Playing Additional Events on an Opponent's Turn

Apart from a single Surprise on each of your Opponents' turns, Events are generally Played during your turn. The exception would be if you can somehow acquire an Event Action on an Opponent's turn (e.g. on an Opponent's turn, you decide to copy their "A Risky Fuel Burn" with your "The Robotic Union", which would then grant you an additional Event Action during that Opponent's turn).

If you get additional Actions on an Opponent's turn, they will be the result of a Surprise or a similar Hex effect. You must Play all of those Actions at the same time as the effect of the Hex that gave you the additional Actions before the Opponent can continue on with their turn.

D. Responding to a Surprise with a Surprise on Your Own Turn

On your turn, you may use a remaining Action to respond to an Opponent's Surprise with your own Surprise, even in the middle of another Action (e.g. your second Action is an Upload Action, your Opponent Plays the Surprise, "A Critical Circuit", and you use your third Action to Play "The Cloud People of Missu", canceling the Circuit's effect).

E. Hex Language

This is a short glossary defining some of the terms and icons you will find on many Event Hexes (and some Map Hexes too!).

Any - Implies that you may make this choice even if it goes against the normal rules of the game.
Delete - To put a Hex from your Mission File into the Discard Pile.
Discard - To put a Hex from your Hand into the Discard Pile.
Disintegrate - To put a Map Hex from the Board into the Discard Pile.
Draw - To take Hexes from the top of the Deck and put them into your Hand. If no number is given, "Draw" means "take one Hex card".
Dump - To put a Hex from the top of the Deck into the Discard Pile.
Illegal/Legal - Against/following the standard rules of the game (e.g. Playing a planet adjacent to another Planet is illegal; moving freely through any Space Hex is legal).
Roll - To Roll one six-sided die. When Rolling on any table printed on a Hex, any modified Roll higher than 6 is considered to be 6 and any Roll lower than 1 is considered to be 1.
Show - Let every Player see it. Usually you Show Hexes from your Hand or from the top of the Deck, then put them back.

F. Copying Hexes

I. Whenever a Hex tells you to copy another Hex, you may do so only if you can pay all extra costs associated with the Hex, such as Expending Data or using an Action. If you cannot pay the cost, you cannot copy the Hex.

II. Events that perform an Upload can be copied (e.g. "A Mysterious Egg", "The Pansy People of Pix"), but alternative Upload costs cannot be copied (e.g. "The Dooplicant", "The Pack and Go Androids").

III. Hexes that restrict the turn or Action on which you may Play them cannot be copied if the restriction cannot be met. See the individual Hexes for more details.

G. Empty Deck

If the Deck is empty and you cannot Dump/Draw the required Hexes, Dump/Draw as many as possible. Then, shuffle the Discard Pile, place it face down, and it becomes the Deck. You may then continue the interrupted Dump/Draw Action.

II. End of Turn - Draw/Discard

At the end of your own turn, Draw up to or Discard down to a Hand of six Hexes, and pass to the next Player. Do not Draw/Discard at the end of an Opponent's turn. This means that there may be times where you Draw, Play, or Discard a Hex during an Opponent's turn and you have more or fewer than six Hexes in your Hand at the start of your turn.

The Discard Pile is face up. Players may look at the Hexes in it at any time.

III. Winning the Game

The first Player to complete their Mission File wins the game. When your Mission File is complete, you must read the adventure aloud to the rest of the Players, filling in the blanks with the names of the appropriate types of Hexes that you Uploaded to your Mission File.

Alternatively, you may complete the round, so that every Player has an equal amount of turns. If more than one Player has a completed Mission File, you may decide the winner by another means, such as who has the most leftover Data, or the group can vote the Player with the funniest Mission File as the winner. As always, let your enjoyment be your guide.

The Hexes - A Summary

Each Map or Event Hex may perform one of two functions in the game:

I. it may be Played (a Map Hex is Played to the Board, an Event Hex has an effect and goes to the Discard Pile).

II. it may be Uploaded to your Mission File (then that Hex is effectively out of the game).

NOTE: Text on some Hexes may preempt the standard rules laid out in this booklet. If so, follow the instructions in the Hex text.

Mission to Planet Hexx! is a customizable card game. When playing with fewer than four Players, you can take cards out of the standard Deck in order to change up your game. Additionally, you will be able to add cards from planned future expansions to your Deck to create your best game experience. Just remember to keep the same ratio of card types in your custom Deck as in the full Deck, to maintain balance and playability.

Complete Index of Icons

The booklet's icon index (icon glyphs are not reproduced here) lists these meanings.

Deck Manipulation: Dump; Discard; Random Discard; Draw.

Actions: Use up/skip/not allowed; A = Any Action; A = Use any Action; E = Event/Event Action; E = Use an Event Action; Move/Move Action; Move Action not allowed; Upload/Upload Action; Upload not allowed.

Hex Icons: Any type of Hex; Alien; Dilemma; Object; Planet; Space.

Map Icons: Stop; Start; Through; "?" = Alternative to normal Data Collection here; Comes into play effect.

Data Manipulation: X = A Planet with X Data; -X = Subtract X (from a Planet); +X = Add X (to a Planet); X = X Data in your Data Store; -X = Expend X (from your Data Store); +X = Add X (to your Data Store); X = Collect X Data here.

Miscellaneous: Roll the six sided die; When you Roll this number (example is 4); Delete (a Hex from your Mission File); All; Some cause and effect.