Moonrakers
Moonrakers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
Moonrakers is a deck building game in which players choose Contracts to attempt alone or with Allies in order to gain Prestige and Credits. After negotiating terms with potential Allies, players use their Action Decks to play Thrusters, Shields, Weapons, Reactors, and Crew to fulfill the requirements on each Contract. Each type of card has other effects to keep turns going, such as extra Actions, additional cards, and protection from Hazards encountered while attempting Contracts.
Players build powerful Action Decks and special abilities by upgrading their ships and hiring Crew with the Credits they receive from completing Contracts. This helps them accomplish more difficult and rewarding Contracts alone, which lets them keep more Prestige for themselves.
Who will receive the Prestige, Credits, and risk of Hazard from Contracts is all negotiable between Allies, but if players don't make their offers enticing enough, other players may be tempted to betray them! The first player to reach 10 Prestige wins, but be careful... running into Hazards on Contracts reduces Prestige!
Components (313 items)
- Armory Board x1
- Dispatch Board x1
- Command Terminal x5
- Ship Tokens x5
- 3 Credit x15
- 1 Credit x25
- Ship Parts x37
- Crew Cards x20
- Player Reference Cards x5
- Hazard Dice x4
- Objective Cards x23
- Contract Cards x40
- Rulebook x1
- Graphic Novel x1
Player Cards:
- Reactor x30
- Thruster x25
- Shield x25
- Damage 1 x20
- Damage 2 x10
- Damage 3 x5
- Miss x15
Game Setup
Set Up
Start by giving each player a Command Terminal board. Each has 4 slots for Ship Parts and guidelines for each of their Draw, Discard, and Objective card piles.
Action Deck
Each ship has the same starting actions, represented by 10 Action Cards that make up the starting Action Deck. Over time, players will add Ship Parts or Crew to their ship; they'll also add more cards to their Action Deck.
To start, each player shuffles an Action Deck of:
- 2 Damage 1 cards
- 3 Reactor cards
- 2 Shield cards
- 2 Thruster cards
- 1 Miss cards
This deck should be placed on the left side of the player's Command Terminal. Action Cards not in use in players' starting decks should be put within reach for later. Each player draws 5 cards from their Action Deck.
The Command Terminal has 4 Ship Part slots, a Draw Pile on the left, a Discard Pile on the right, and a space for Objectives along the bottom.
Armory & Credits
The Armory board stores the Crew and Ship Parts available for purchase, as well as the Vault of Credit tokens.
1) Place the Armory Board where it is easily accessible to all players.
2) Shuffle all Ship Part cards and place them face down on the Armory Board slot. Draw 6 cards from the deck and place them in 2 rows of 3 as shown.
3) Shuffle all Crew cards and place them face down in their Armory Board slot. Draw 3 cards from this deck and place them in 1 row of 3 as shown.
4) Each player starts the game with 2 Credits, placing them somewhere on their Command Terminal. Place the remaining Credits in their designated "1" and "3" piles on the Armory Board as shown.
Dispatch & Prestige Tracker
The Dispatch Board stores the Contracts and Objectives, as well as the Prestige tracker.
1) Place the Dispatch Board across from the Armory Board as shown in the setup image on page 7.
2) Shuffle all of the Contract cards and place them face down on the Dispatch Board. Draw 8 cards from the deck and place them in 2 rows of 4 to the left of the board as shown.
NOTE: During setup, remove Contracts with 3 or 4 Hazard Dice and shuffle them back into the Contract deck.
3) Shuffle the Objective cards and deal 3 to each player. Players each secretly choose 2 and discard the 3rd to the bottom of the Objective deck.
NOTE: Objective cards are worth 1 Prestige point each and must be kept secret until immediately after a player fulfills them.
4) Place the Hazard Dice somewhere on or near the Dispatch Board.
5) Place each player's corresponding color Ship Token on the 0 space of the Prestige Tracker.
Ready to Play
At this point, all players should have:
- A Command Terminal and their matching Ship Token on the Prestige Tracker.
- A shuffled Action Deck of 10 cards (five face down in a draw pile, five drawn into their Active Hand).
- 2 Credits and 2 Objective cards.
The Armory and Dispatch Boards should be easily accessible to all players, especially the faceup Contract cards.
Gameplay
Mission Leader
The Mission Leader
Players take turns as the Mission Leader. To determine who goes first, all players roll all 4 Hazard Dice. The player that rolls the least Hazard goes first. In the event of a tie, roll again. The Mission Leader's turn consists of 3 phases: Planning, Execution, and Buying.
Scoring Prestige
Completing Contracts
Each Contract has a Prestige reward value in the upper right corner. Players are awarded that number of Prestige upon successful completion of the Contract.
If multiple players attempt a Contract together, they negotiate ahead of time who is awarded some or all of the Prestige upon successful completion of the Contract.
Prestige is tallied on the Dispatch Board by moving a player's Ship Token up or down the Prestige Tracker.
Example: "Ancient Ruins" provides 2 Prestige upon successfully completing the Contract.
Fulfilling Objective Cards
An Objective card is a private contract that a player can claim any time, during any player's turn, when its conditions are met. To claim an Objective, a player reveals it, shows its conditions have been met, and gains 1 Prestige. If a player forgets to claim an Objective, they have to meet its conditions again to claim it.
Objectives should be scored at the end of a turn. Hazards do not affect Objective cards. For example, if a player drops to 0 Prestige from Hazard on their turn but shows the conditions of an Objective have been met, the player will still gain 1 Prestige from the Objective even if it would have been canceled out by extra Hazard.
NOTE: Players must reveal and score Objectives on the same turn that they meet the criteria or they will have to complete them again. For example, if a player accomplished a Ship Part Objective for 3 Ventus Ship parts but forgot to turn in the Objective, he or she would have to buy another Ventus Ship Part in order to complete the Objective.
Example: "Ace" — Complete a contract with 3 or more Hazard Dice targeting you. "Ace" provides 1 Prestige upon successfully completing the Objective.
Planning Phase
At the start of the Planning Phase, the Mission Leader has two options: Choose a Contract or Stay at Base.
Option 1: Choose a Contract
The Mission Leader may choose any of the faceup Contract cards next to the Dispatch Board and place it on the table for potential Allies to see.
To complete a Contract, the Mission Leader and any Allies must meet the requirements by playing an equal or greater number of Action Cards that match the icons on the bottom of the Contract card.
When choosing a contract, the Mission Leader should:
- Analyze the requirements on the bottom left of the Contract card and compare them to the cards in their current hand of Action Cards.
- Decide which rewards benefit them the most. There are 3 possible rewards found in the upper right corner of the card for successfully completing a Contract: Prestige, Credits, and a Bonus Card. (See pg. 22)
- Weigh the risk of the Hazard Dice. Each Contract requires a player to roll 0-4 dice. (See pg. 18)
NOTE: During the Planning Phase, the Mission Leader may choose to pay 1 Credit to return an available Contract to the bottom of the Contract draw pile and replace it with a new one from the top. This may only be done once per turn.
Anatomy of a Contract card: Name, Type, Prestige, Credits, Bonus card, Hazard Dice, and Contract requirements.
Example: "Escort Duty" (Delivery Contract) — 1 Prestige, 2 Credits, 1 Bonus card, 3 Hazard Dice. In this example, Players need to play 3 Thrusters and 1 Crew to complete the Contract.
Forming Alliances
After selecting a Contract, the Mission Leader may attempt the Contract alone or invite others to join as an Ally. Multiple players may join a Contract as Allies.
If another player chooses to join the Contract as an Ally, they play their active hand as they would on their own turn, contributing any Action Cards and Ship Part specials (except those that say as Mission Leader) to the Contract requirements. Benefits from playing action cards like Shields, Reactors, and Thrusters only affect the player that plays them; these benefits do not help Allies unless a special ability specifically states it.
NOTE: Allies are not required to be honest about what they will do on a Contract, so be careful. Players cannot reveal any cards from their hand before the Hazard Dice are rolled.
Players can negotiate over anything that appears on a Contract, including Prestige, Credits, Bonus Cards, and who rolls the Hazard Dice. Players cannot negotiate over any prestige, cards, or credits already owned.
If players can't agree, the Mission Leader can pick a new contract, but they can only negotiate for help on up to two Contracts per turn. They must solo a Contract for their third selection or choose to Stay at Base.
Option 2: Stay At Base
The Mission Leader may also decide to not attempt a Contract and instead to Stay at Base. Mission Leaders who choose this option perform the following:
- Draw two new Objective cards. Keep one, and discard the other to the bottom of the Objective deck.
- Collect 1 Credit for protecting the base.
- Skip the Execution Phase and proceed directly to the Buying Phase.
- If desired, replace an available Contract with one from the top of the Contract Deck.
- Discard the active hand of Action Cards and draw 5 more.
Contract Types
There are 4 different types of contracts, Rescue, Delivery, Kill, and Exploration, which is denoted at the top of the contract card. There are Objective cards that give Prestige Points for completing specific Contract types, so keep this in mind.
Examples: "Escape Pods" (Rescue Contract), "Emergency Meds" (Delivery Contract), "Claim Bounty" (Kill Contract), "Ancient Ruins" (Explore Contract).
Execution Phase
NOTE: If the Mission Leader chose to stay at base, skip the Execution Phase.
Once a Contract has been chosen, the Mission Leader and Allies enter the Execution Phase.
Roll Hazard Dice
Begin the phase by collecting the amount of Hazard Dice found in the bottom right of the Contract card. Players each take the number of dice they negotiated for. If there are no Allies, the Mission Leader rolls all the dice listed on the Contract.
Each player will suffer from Hazard equaling the number of Hazard icons that appear on their dice.
Each Hazard a player rolls will cost that player 1 Prestige unless they play a Shield by the end of the Execution Phase. Each Shield blocks 1 Hazard icon. Players may not block Hazards for their Allies.
All negotiations are locked and no additional Allies may join a Contract after the Hazard Dice have been rolled.
Example: "Escape Pods" requires 2 Hazard Dice be rolled. If not blocked by any Shields, the dice below amount to -3 Prestige at the end of the turn.
Attempt the Contract
At the bottom of each Contract card are the required Action Cards that must be played in order to complete it.
The Mission Leader and any Allies contribute to the Contract requirements by playing their Action Cards and by using any relevant Ship Part special abilities. The Mission Leader decides the order of play between any Allies. The Mission Leader may also decide if players play cards at the same time or pause to let other players play.
NOTE: There is no rule requiring allies to help a Contract succeed. They may choose to withhold cards, lie, etc.
Playing Action Cards
All players begin the Execution Phase with 1 Action, which allows the player to play 1 Action Card. Reactor cards give players an additional 2 Actions, allowing the player to play additional Action Cards. Some Ship Parts and Crew cards also add additional Actions that can be used.
A player may continue playing Action Cards until they run out of Actions, or run out of Action Cards to play from their hand.
Players may not:
- Play additional Action Cards after they've run out of Actions, even if a card in their hand would provide additional Actions.
- Draw additional cards if they run out of Action Cards, even if they have unused Actions.
NOTE: If a player needs to draw a card but his or her Draw Pile is empty, the player will shuffle their Discard Pile, put it facedown as their new Draw Pile, and continue to draw as normal.
Types of Cards
Each type of Action Card fulfills 1 corresponding requirement on Contracts when played, and requires 1 Action to be played.
- Reactor (+2 Actions) — Reactor cards give a player 2 additional Actions.
- Thruster (+2 Cards) — Thruster cards give a player 2 additional cards from their Draw Pile.
- Shield (Block 1 Hazard) — Shield cards protect a player from a single Hazard.
- Damage (+1 Damage, +2 Damage, +3 Damage) — Damage cards have no effect other than fulfilling Contract requirements when played. There are different types of Damage cards: Damage 1 (I), Damage 2 (II), and Damage 3 (III). Each type fulfills Damage requirements equal to its level.
- Miss (System Error) — Miss cards represent Ship Parts malfunctioning and are discarded with the other cards at the end of the turn. They have no other use, save for being used by special abilities on Ship Parts or Crew.
- Crew — Crew can be hired from the Armory and have special abilities that can be used when they are played. (Example: "Nella van Daval", Engine Mechanic, PILOT — +3 Cards. Requirement for Thruster is 1 less.)
Gameplay Example
Example of Playing a Contract:
[1] The Mission Leader is soloing the contract "Claim Bounty". It requires 2 Damage and 2 Reactors, with 1 Hazard Dice.
[2] They roll a single Hazard icon, which means they'll be losing a Prestige point at the end of the Contract if they are unable to play a Shield.
[3] In their hand, they have a Thruster, a Reactor, a Miss, a Damage I, and a Shield.
[4] The Mission Leader begins by playing their Reactor card. This uses their starting Action, but adds 2 additional Actions. This also fulfills half of the Reactor requirement of the Contract.
[5] The Mission Leader then plays their Thruster card, allowing them to draw two cards. This uses an Action - they now have 1 left. They draw the top 2 cards of their draw pile: a Reactor and a Damage III.
[6] The Mission Leader then uses their remaining Action to play a Reactor card, giving them 2 additional Actions. This fufills the second Reactor requirement on the Contract.
[7] Next, they play their Damage III, fulfilling the Contract's 2 Damage requirement, succesfully completing the Contract.
[8] Finally, they play a Shield with their last Action, blocking the Hazard rolled in Step 2 that would have reduced their Prestige by 1.
Completing a Contract
Contract Success
A Contract is successfully completed when the requirements on the Contract card have been fulfilled.
Players may continue to play Action Cards after a Contract has been completed, as long as they have available Actions to do so. It can be helpful to play additional Shields to cover any unblocked Hazard.
Once all players have finished playing their Action Cards, players collect the rewards listed at the top right of the Contract per the previously negotiated terms. Players must honor the negotiated terms.
- Prestige is immediately added to the Prestige Tracker.
- Credits are immediately taken from the Vault and placed on the players' Command Terminals.
- Bonus Cards are drawn from the top of the Crew or Ship Part decks. These may be discarded if unwanted.
Contract Failure
A Contract is failed when all players attempting the Contract have played all the Action Cards they can/desire to and have not fulfilled the requirements on the Contract.
When a Contract has been failed, players receive none of the rewards from the Contract. There are no other negative consequences for failing a Contract, but Hazard dice still reduce a players Prestige if unblocked by Shields or special abilities.
Regardless of Success or Failure:
All players subtract their Hazard that was not blocked by a Shield from their total Prestige. Note: Players cannot drop below zero Prestige.
All players who attempted the Contract discard their cards. This includes all played Action Cards in the play area and any Action Cards still remaining in their active hands.
All Allies draw 5 cards from their draw pile.
The Contract Card is discarded to a pile near the Dispatch Board and a new Contract is drawn and added to the row of available Contracts.
The Mission Leader now proceeds to the Buying Phase.
Buying Phase
During the Buying Phase, the Mission Leader may use their available Credits [1] to purchase any of the available Crew cards [2] or Ship Parts [3] that are face up next to the Armory Board. The Mission Leader may buy multiple cards if they have the Credits for it.
The price of Ship Parts and Crew cards are listed at the bottom right of the cards. [4]
Ship Parts and Crew cards are replaced immediately after they are purchased. There should always be 3 Crew and 6 Ship Parts available for purchase.
The Mission Leader may also spend 1 Credit to discard any of the cards in the Armory and replace it with the top card of the respective draw pile once per turn.
NOTE: Allies do not receive a Buying Phase.
Buying Ship Parts
When a Ship Part is purchased, the Mission Leader attaches it to their ship in any slot on their Command Terminal.
Most Ship Parts also add Action Cards to a player's Action Deck. The top right of the Ship Part card shows the type and number of cards to be added.
NOTE: For example, the Predator mk1 [1] adds 1 Miss card, and 1 Damage II card [2] to the purchasing player's Action Deck.
Any added Action Cards provided by Ship Parts are placed faceup in the player's discard pile to the right of the Command Terminal.
Ship Part Abilities
All Ship Parts have special abilities. These abilities do not require an action to use.
Ship Part Brands
All Ship Parts have a brand associated with them. These are important for completing Objectives and guide players on what a Ship Part is likely to help with.
Removing Ship Parts
Players cannot have more than 4 Ship Parts installed on their Command Terminal. When a player buys a 5th Ship Part, they must remove one of their installed Ship Parts to make room. The uninstalled Ship Part is removed from the game. The Action Cards provided by the removed Ship Part remain in the player's Action Deck, but the player no longer benefits from the special abilities of the removed Ship Part.
A Ship Part card shows its Name, Action Cards, Special Ability, Brand, and Cost.
Ending a Turn
Hiring Crew
After paying the required amount of Credits, any Crew members hired in the Buying Phase are added to the player's discard pile.
Crew cards are treated like any other Action Cards. Each require 1 Action to play. When played, Crew cards contribute 1 to any Crew requirements on Contracts.
Crew cards each have a special ability. The ability is used when the card is played during a Contract.
When a turn is over, Crew cards are moved to the players discard pile along with any other Action cards.
Once the Mission Leader has completed the Buying Phase, they draw 5 cards from their Draw Pile, forming a new hand for their next turn or alliance.
The player to their left becomes the Mission Leader and repeats the process, beginning with the Planning Phase.
Add any crew members recruited in the Buying Phase to the players discard pile. Remember that ship parts can have specials that can be helpful to use on contracts as well. Each Special is different, but how to use it is explained on the card. Once all of these steps have been completed, hand the mission leader token to the player to the left and restart at the planning phase.
A Crew card shows its Role, Name, Type, Special Ability, and Cost. Example: "Meg Gallak" (Mine Engineer, AGENT) costs 3 Credits to hire. When played using an Action, she contributes 1 Crew to the current Contract requirements. The player must trash an Action card from their hand, permanently removing it from the game. The player then subtracts 2 from any 1 requirement on the current Contract and gains an Action.
NOTE: Optional: To make the game move faster, players may begin their Planning Phase while the previous Mission Leader is in their Buying Phase.
Action Deck Management
Draw cards from the Draw Pile into the Active Hand.
At the end of a turn, place all cards in the Play Area face up in the Discard Pile.
At the end of a turn, place all remaining cards in the Active Hand face up in the Discard Pile.
When the Draw Pile is empty, shuffle the Discard Pile and move the shuffled cards to the Draw Pile.
Action Tree Example
Using an Action Tree can be helpful to keep track of used and remaining Actions while attempting a Contract.
In this example, the player began by using their starting Action to play a Reactor, gaining two more Actions. The player tracked those actions by playing the cards on the lower corners of the first Reactor.
This "tree" continues each time a player places another Reactor or other cards that gain the player Actions.
Keep in mind that some Allies or Ship Parts can also give players additional Actions. They can be tracked by starting a second tree or placing additional cards at the top of the tree with the first Reactor.
Ending the Game
The first player to have 10 Prestige at the end of any player's turn wins the game. The winning player is the new leader of the Moonrakers.
Tiebreaker
If two players reach 10 Prestige on the same turn, the tie is broken by the player with the highest net worth, calculated by adding up the value of Ship Parts, Crew members, and the player's store of Credits.
Strategy Notes
Ally Early and Often
In the early game, ask for help on Contracts as often as possible. Failing a Contract alone is much worse than sharing a bit of the reward. When you aren't the Mission Leader, offer your help on Contracts. As the game progresses, it's often not a good idea to ally with the player who has the most Prestige.
Build a Balanced Deck
Over the course of the game, prepare to be able to do Contracts alone. In the beginning of the game, you can rely on Allies, but toward the end of the game, you'll be able to get ahead by soloing Contracts. This requires a well-balanced ship. If you buy too many Ship Parts with Damage and Shields, you may not have enough Reactors to give you the Actions to play them.
Bad Hand?
If you have a bad hand, try to find someone to ally with, allowing you to get a new set of cards for your next turn.
Soloing Contracts
Before attempting a Contract alone, be sure to double check that you have enough cards in your Action Deck to complete the Contract. In your Command Terminal, you can see all of the cards you currently have in your deck:
- Check "Default Loadout" to see the cards you started the game with.
- Check your installed Ship Parts to see the cards they've added to your Action Deck.
- Remember any Crew you've hired and their abilities.
Check the requirements of the Contract again and make sure you've got what it takes. If you don't, find an Ally or try an easier Contract.
Plan for Hazard Dice
When planning to attempt a Contract with a high number of Hazard Dice, make sure you save a few extra Actions to play Shields. If you don't plan well, you may end up completing the Contract but lose Prestige.
House Rules
Ambiguity Rule
Some playtesters prefered playing the game without explicitly stating what cards were in their hands. In this variant, players may not use specific numbers when talking about the cards in their hands. A player might say, "I can do some Damage," instead of "I can do 2 Damage."
Timed Negotiations
Some groups' playtimes were much longer than others due to players taking too long to negotiate alliances. In order to speed this up, a timer of 1-2 minutes can be added to time the negotiation phase. Note, players can still negotiate over a total of two Contracts before deciding to solo a contract or stay at base — so if they time out of their first Contract, they can select a second and try again before having to decide to solo a Contract or stay at base.
Single Player Rules
Setup
Set the game up according to the rules at the beginning of the manual.
In addition to the player's Ship Token, a separate Ship Token of a different color should be placed on the 1 slot of the Prestige Tracker. This will be used to track the current round.
The solo mode also needs an additional deck of cards, called the Mercenary Deck.
Create this deck from:
- 2 Damage I cards
- 1 Damage II cards
- 3 Reactors cards
- 3 Shields cards
- 3 Thrusters cards
- 3 random Crew cards
Shuffle these together and place them in reach of the player.
Mercenary Deck
At the start of the game, deal 5 random cards from the Mercenary Deck in a row next to it.
The player can use these cards to reduce Contract requirements by bartering rewards on the Contract — exactly as if they were an ally. Each Crew costs 1 Prestige to use, and each Action Deck card requires 1 Credit to use and an additional Credit for each card you've used that round. For example, the second card would cost 2 Credits, the third would cost 3, and so on. These payments come from the rewards listed in the Contract the player is attempting.
NOTE: Mercenary cards do not cost an Action to use.
The player does not get the benefit of Mercenary Action Deck cards; they only apply to the Contract requirement. For example, if the player pays to use a Thruster from the Mercenary deck it only reduces the Contract requirement, the player does not draw two cards from their Draw pile or the Mercenary Deck.
The player does get to use the special ability of any Crew hired for the Contract as if they had played it themselves, in addition to it counting toward a Crew Requirement.
These cards do not enter a player's deck, but instead, are marked as played by placing the number of Credits needed to use them on top of the card. Use "3" Credits to represent a Prestige being used on the Crew members.
After each turn, discard the 5 cards and deal out 5 new cards. Shuffle the Mercenary deck discard pile once all of the cards have been used, and use it as the new draw pile.
Instead of discarding a Crew member card from the Mercenary deck, return it to the bottom of the Crew deck on the Armory Board. Then place the top Crew card of the Crew deck in the discard pile of the Mercenary deck.
Gameplay
The player is trying to score as many points as possible in 10 rounds.
The player is the Mission Leader for every round and follows the base game rules for selecting and attempting Contracts, with the addition of the Mercenary Deck rules above.
After each Buying Phase, move the second Ship Token up 1 space. After the 10th round ends, the game is immediately over.
Misc. Rules
Players may choose to remove 4 Hazard Dice Contracts from the deck.
Any Objective card that references Allies is instead referencing the Mercenary Deck. So if any Objective says to complete a Contract alone, players may not use the Mercenary Deck on that Contract if you want to accomplish the Objective.
Any Ship Part or Crew referencing Allies can be discarded for free.
Players may not use Credits from their supply or Prestige they have already won to hire Mercenary Cards, but can only use rewards on the Contract the player is attempting.
Scoring
At the end of the 10 rounds, the player counts up their points to see how they stack up against the competition!
Each Prestige point is worth 10 points at the end of the game. Players can obtain more than 10 Prestige by tracking additional Prestige with a second Ship Token or by beginning again at 0.
Each Credit is worth 1 point. At the end of the game, add the total value of Ship Parts and Crew with any remaining unspent Credits and add that number to the total score.
| Score | Rank |
|---|---|
| <100 | Beginner |
| 100-150 | Novice |
| 150-200 | Advanced |
| 200-250 | Mastery |
| >250 | Chosen one |
Two Player Rules
Rules
The 2 player variant operates very similarly to the base game. It's still a race to 10 prestige and players can still work together.
Setup
Create a Mercenary Deck following the rules in the solo mode. The players will use the Mercenary Deck ruleset from the solo mode with a couple of additions:
1) Only the Mission Leader can use the Mercenary Deck. Payment for using the Mercenary Deck comes out of what the Mission Leader negotiated for. The Ally cannot use the Mercenary Deck or contribute to the payment for using it.
2) The same Mercenary Deck cards stay out until both players have had their turn. Even if one player uses the cards, they can still be used by the second player on their turn. After the second player has had their turn, discard the 5 next to the pile and deal 5 more.
Glossary I: General Terms
Action Cards: All Action Cards have a yellow back labeled "Action Deck". They include: Reactors, Thrusters, Shields, Miss, Damage I, Damage II, Damage III, and Crew. Each Action Card requires 1 Action to play.
Action Deck: The Action Deck is the collection of all of a player's Action Cards. This is the starting 10 Action Cards, plus any additional cards from Ship Parts or hired Crew.
Actions: Actions allow players to play Action Cards. Every player begins a Contract with 1 Action and may gain more by playing Reactors, some Crew or by using some Ship Part special abilities.
Active Hand: The Active Hand is all of the Action Cards that a player is holding in their hand. It includes the 5 cards drawn at the end of a player's turn, as well as any cards drawn during their turn.
Allies: Allies are players attempting the current Contract, excluding the Mission Leader. On Ship Parts, this can also refer to anyone on a Contract who is not the Ship Part's owner — e.g., some Ship Parts state "All allies gain +1 Action."
Armory: The Armory Board houses the Vault where the Credit coins are stored as well as the Crew and Ship Part draw piles.
Bonus Cards: One of the 3 types of Contract rewards. The player who negotiated for it draws the top card of the Crew or Ship Part decks. They may discard it if unwanted.
Buying Phase: The Buying Phase allows players to purchase Ship Parts and hire Crew for their ships.
Choose a Contract: If a player does not Stay at Base, they must choose one of the 8 Contracts faceup next to the Dispatch Board to attempt alone or with Allies.
Command Terminal: The Command Terminal board houses Ship Parts and helps with Action Deck management.
Contract Cards: Contract cards represent the missions available for players to attempt. There are always 8 Contract cards available.
Credits: Credits are the currency in Moonrakers and come in denominations of "1" and "3."
Crew: Crew are Action Cards that provide special abilities when played. They are hired from the Armory and added to a player's Action Deck discard pile. There are always 3 Crew available for hire.
Damage Cards: Damage cards are Action Cards that fulfill Damage requirements on Contracts, but have no other effect. There are 3 types of Damage cards: I, II, and III.
Delivery Contract: This is one of the 4 Contract types. Its primary requirement is always a Thruster.
Dispatch Board: This board houses the Prestige Tracker, the Contract deck, and the Objective deck.
Execution Phase: The Execution Phase involves attempting a Contract by playing Action Cards alone or with Allies. If successful, players receive the rewards denoted on the Contract. This phase is skipped if the player Stays at Base.
Explore Contract: This is one of the 4 Contract types. Its primary requirement is always a Reactor.
Hazard: Hazard Dice represent the chance that things go wrong on a Contract. Each Contract has the number of Hazard Dice that must be rolled in the bottom right corner, and each player will negotiate to roll all, some, or none of them. If a player solos a Contract, they must roll them all. Each Dice can result in 0-2 Hazard icons. 1 Hazard can be blocked by 1 Shield. For each unblocked Hazard, the player who rolled the dice loses 1 Prestige at the end of the Execution Phase.
Hazard Dice: Hazard Dice are rolled to determine if a player has encountered Hazards during a Contract. Each dice could result in 0 Hazard, 1 Hazard, or 2 Hazard. Hazards may only be blocked by the player who rolled the Hazard Dice that resulted in the Hazard.
Kill Contract: This is one of the 4 Contract types. Its primary requirement is always a Damage.
Miss Cards: Miss cards represent your ship malfunctioning. They have no functional purpose besides being used by some special abilities on Ship Parts and Crew.
Mission Leader: The Mission Leader is the player who is currently taking their turn.
Objective Cards: Objective cards give players secret goals to complete in order to gain Prestige points. They are scored at the end of the turn, after the Buying Phase.
Planning Phase: This is the first phase of each player's turn. Players choose to either Stay at Base or Choose a Contract. If they attempt a Contract, they may attempt it alone or bring Allies. If Allies join, they must negotiate who gets what rewards and who rolls which Hazard Dice.
Prestige: Prestige are points awarded by Objectives and Contracts. The first player to reach 10 Prestige wins the game.
Reactor Cards: Reactor cards are Action Cards that give a player 2 additional Actions and fulfill 1 Reactor requirement when played.
Removing Ship Parts: If a player acquires a Ship Part but already has 4 Ship Parts installed on their ship, they must remove 1 from the game and replace it. Any cards that the replaced part added to your Action Deck remain.
Requirements: Requirements are the number of Action Cards of each type that must be played in order to complete a Contract.
Rescue Contract: This is one of the 4 Contract types. Its primary requirement is always a Shield.
Shield Cards: Shield cards are Action Cards that protect a player from a single Hazard and fulfill 1 Shield requirement when played.
Ship Parts: Ship Parts are the aftermarket parts that can be installed on the player's ship to upgrade it. There are always 6 Ship Parts available for purchase.
Ship Token: Ship Tokens are the colored player markers on the Prestige Tracker which can be found on the Dispatch Board.
Special Abilities: An Ability is an additional effect of playing a Crew card or an optional effect of a Ship Part.
Supply: These decks are the stored Action Cards that players draw from if they purchase a Ship Part that directs them to.
Thruster Cards: Thruster cards are Action Cards that give a player 2 additional cards and fulfill 1 Thruster requirement when played.
Glossary II: Crew & Ship Part Terms
+X Actions: A player recieves the amount of Actions denoted by the card.
+X Cards: A player draws the number of cards denoted from their draw pile.
Add A [Action Card]: Some special abilities will require the player to add a card from the Supply to their discard pile. This could be a positive (add a Reactor to your deck) or a negative (add a Miss to your deck).
Discard: To discard a card, it is placed faceup to the right of the Command Terminal in the discard pile. It does not count toward Contract Requirements or give the player any other benefit.
Draw: To draw cards, the player takes the specified number of cards from the top of their draw pile to the left of their Command Terminal. If there are not enough cards in the draw pile, the player will shuffle their discard pile (not including cards in the Play Area or Active Hand), place them face down as their new draw pile, and continue drawing cards.
First [Action Card]: This refers to the first of a type of Action Card played on your turn.
Hand Limit: Every player begins with a starting Active Hand limit of 5 cards. This is just the starting hand limit, and does not prevent players from drawing additional cards via Thrusters, Ship Parts, or Crew. The Ship Part "Flash" permanently increases the owner's starting Active Hand limit to 6 cards. That player always begins with 6 cards on every Contract as the Mission Leader or as an Ally.
Hazard Dice Targeting You: This is the number of Hazard Dice that the player rolled.
If You Have No [Action Card] In Your Hand: This term refers to the situation in which your starting hand at the beginning of a Contract does not include a type of Action Card.
In Your Hand: A card currently in your Active Hand.
Negate "X" Hazard: This blocks Hazard equal to the amount specified. This refers to a total Hazard, not the total Hazard Dice. A Hazard Dice can have up to 2 Hazard on it.
Play as Damage Equal to the Number of Your Hazard Dice: The player reduces the Damage requirement on the current Contract by a number equal to the amount of Hazard Dice that they rolled.
Retrieve a Card: This allows the player to search for a card from the draw pile, discard pile, or cards already played and add it to their hand.
Same Card: This refers to a card that matches another card exactly, such as two Reactor Cards. Two Crew cards do not qualify as they are not exactly the same. A Damage I, Damage II, and Damage III are not the same card.
Search Your Discard Pile: As a part of some special abilities, players may search the cards in their discard pile. This does not include cards in the Play Area or draw pile. If there are no cards remaining in the discard pile, this special ability is ignored.
Search Your Draw Pile: As a part of some special abilities, players may search the remaining cards in their draw pile. This does not include cards in the Play Area or discard pile. If there are no cards remaining in the draw pile to search, shuffle the discard pile and form a new draw pile for the special ability.
Start of a Contract: This is the point in time after a Contract has been selected and immediately after Hazard Dice have been rolled, but before other cards are played.
Subtract "X" from Any One Requirement: Reduce 1 of a Contract's requirements by the number stated on the card. The player who plays the card decides which requirement is reduced.
Trash: To trash a card, the player takes a card from their Active Hand (unless otherwise denoted) and returns it to the Supply, leaving the player's Action Deck.
Special Thanks
To Alex Griendling at Lunar Saloon, thanks for putting up with us and designing something so cohesive and beautiful. You are a legend.
To all of the early playtesters that put up with our terribly designed black and white sticker cards. Ben Chasnov, Alana Harrison, Sarah Dixon, Jared Usrey, Abhishek Jaddu, Stephanie Gasdia, and Ryan Gasdia.
To the team at Fractal Hardware for helping us with the Ship Tokens for our playtests.
To the team at Eleven Metal for our incredible playtest Coins.
To all of the primary playtesters since we got slightly nicer stuff: Larry Ellsworth, Miles Johnson, Contrabot, Ed Hughes, Ben Edwards, Aaron Cloutier, Ashley Miller, David N. Young, Derek Bruff, Christopher Bowen, Alson Denton, Patrick Barnum, Jason Jantzen, Geramy S. Hudson, Brendon Franz, Kara Franz, Angie Boyd, Evan Pomerantz, Matt Shoup, Vinnie Gatto, Mike Evans, Chad O, Nicholas Leeman, Dylan Brennan, Tom Burgess, Matthew Torres, Jackson Davison, Sarah Davison, Ashleigh Piper, and Tanay Chokshi.
To our editors: Alana Harrison, Ben Edwards, Aaron Cloutier, Zac Wendler, Bobby Essler, and Kelly Spiering.
To our Discord Mods: Kungfuquickness, DrFizzles, Emirence, RPD, Warren, Dev_Dannye, ObiBen, Jason Rivera, and greyerlynx.
To the loved ones who sacrificed time with us so we could pursue this dream: Izzi Dixon, Sarah Dixon, Breanne Gibson, Alana Harrison, Bauer Harrison, and Sarah Parsell.
To the IV Staff: Max Anderson, Nayt Cochran, Samuel Cowden, Michael Cribbs, Zac Dixon, Alex Escobar, Rebekah Hamilton, Austin Harrison, Rachel Loven, Stephen Van Wyk, and Taylor Yontz.
To Adam Milikin for all the coffee facts.
Have Any More Questions?
Have a question not answered by the rulebook? Find us in the Board Game Geek forums.