Planetoid
Planetoid Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview and Goal
Planetoid is a 1-4 player game of memory and set collection. Use your abilities to find the best resources, but be careful what you leave behind. Each time you drill you will expose the surrounding resources that will be left for other drill teams. You can use your scanner to learn about a specific area before you drill.
| Name | Value | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Rocks | 1 | 35 |
| Gold | 2 | 20 |
| Emerald | 3 | 12 |
| Ruby | 4 | 8 |
| Diamond | 5 | 5 |
Each resource tile has a point value and the rarest resources are worth the most points.
Shipping specific sets of resources first will earn you bonuses, and in the end, those who cleared the most out of the way will receive a modest reward. The player with the most points wins.
Components
- A: 1 Board (5 Pieces)
- B: 80 Resource Tiles
- C: 5 End of Game Bonuses
- D: 14 Shipping Bonuses
- E: 20 Energy Tokens
- F: 24 Damage Tokens
- G: 4 Player Tiles
- H: 10 End of Game Bonus Cards
- I: 4 Player Boards (Basic Side and Advanced Side)
- J: 32 System Tiles
- K: 48 Alien Tokens (Solo)
- L: 16 Solo Cards (Solo)
- M: 1 Score Pad
- N: 1 Tile Bag
Basic Setup
Assemble the board as shown in the diagram. Take out all the circular resource tiles, and place them face-down. Shuffle them, and place 1 tile in each space on the board until all spaces are filled. Take the remaining tiles and set them aside.
Select 8 random shipping bonuses and place them solo side down next to the board. Return any remaining shipping bonuses to the box. Place the end of game bonuses and energy tokens within reach. Each player takes a player board with the basic side up.
Shuffle the player tiles and place them face-down on the table. Each player selects one tile. The player with the number 1 is the first player. You may also use these to define the order players sit in.
Basic Turns
On a player's turn, they will select one of the three free actions on their player board. These are Scan & Charge, Drill, or Ship.
Scan & Charge
Scan by secretly looking at 1 tile and returning it to its original place face-down. Repeat this process with a second tile. Once completed, add 1 energy token to the batteries location on your player board.
Drill
Select 1 tile, face-up or face-down, from the board, and place it face-up in the storage area of your player board. Then reveal all 4 of the orthogonally adjacent tiles. If an adjacent tile is already revealed leave it face-up.
You may store a maximum of 4 resource tiles on your player board at a time. If you drill a new resource tile while you have 4 tiles stored, you may remove from the game either 1 stored tile from your player board or the newly drilled tile.
Ship
Move any or all resource tiles off your player board and save them face-down next to your player board for scoring at the end of the game. If the tiles that are transferred with this action match a Shipping Bonus take that bonus token and place it face-down next to your player board. You may take multiple Shipping Bonuses with a single Ship action; however, each transferred tile may only apply to one Shipping Bonus.
Energy (Basic)
You may store a maximum of 2 energy tokens in the batteries section of your player board. On your turn, you may spend 1 or more energy tokens to perform one of the two auxiliary actions.
- Auxiliary Scan: Scan 2 tiles. (This may be used again in the same turn by paying 1 additional energy.)
- Auxiliary Drill: After drilling, drill a tile adjacent to the space just drilled. (This may be used again in the same turn by paying 1 additional energy.)
You may take multiple actions in one turn as long as you have the energy to pay for the actions. You may use the same action twice. Spent energy tokens are returned to the supply.
End of Game
Players take their turns in clockwise order until either of the following two events occur:
- No face-down tiles remain on the board
- All of the Shipping Bonus tiles have been taken.
Immediately after one of these events has occurred, players take any remaining turns in the round so that all players have had an equal number of turns.
Scoring
All players remove any tiles on their player board and place them with those they saved for the end of game scoring, awarding no shipping bonuses. Award end of game bonuses to the player with the most of each resource type. If there is a tie, no one gets the bonus.
Each player adds up all the numbers on their Resource Tiles, Shipping Bonuses, and End of Game Bonus tiles. The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the fewest resource tiles wins. If there is still a tie, the player furthest in turn order from the first player wins.
Advanced Setup
The advanced setup shares the same setup as the basic mode of the game with a few changes.
Once the basic setup is complete:
- Flip the player boards to the advanced side.
- Sort the system tiles according to their categories (Drill, Scan, Ship, and Utility). Randomly select 1 system upgrade from each category and add a copy for each other player to create a pool of additional systems for this game. Place these tiles in a central area adjacent to the board.
- Deal 2 secret bonus cards to each player.
- Place all energy and damage tokens in a central area.
Energy (Advanced)
Players take actions on their turn by paying energy for each action. This energy comes from either solar or batteries. Solar Energy is recharged automatically to a total of 3 energy at the beginning of each player's turn.
Energy stored in the batteries remain from turn to turn until used.
Advanced System Descriptions
Drill
Place 1 energy token on this system.
Select a face-up or face-down resource tile anywhere on the board and place it face-up on your player board. Reveal adjacent tiles by flipping any face-down tiles that may be above, below, left or right of the space you just took the tile from.
Precision Drill
Place 2 energy token on this system.
Select a face-up or face-down resource tile anywhere on the board and place it face-up on your player board. Don't reveal any adjacent tiles.
Mega Drill
Place 3 energy tokens and 1 damage token on this system.
Drill up to 3 adjacent spaces in a straight horizontal or vertical line. Reveal all adjacent tiles. You may drill through empty spaces.
Sweep
Place 1 energy token on this system.
Select any 2 tiles and flip them so that they are face-up.
Scan
Place 2 energy tokens on this system.
Secretly look at 2 tiles and place them back in their original spaces face-down.
Large Scan
Place 3 energy tokens and 1 damage token on this system.
Look at 4 tiles on the board without revealing them to the other players. Then look at both of the bonus cards of 1 of your opponents.
Quick Ship
Place 1 energy token on this system.
Move 1 stored resource from your player board next to this board to save for the end of game scoring.
Ship All
Place 2 energy tokens on this system.
Move all stored resources next to this board to save for the end of game scoring.
Return & Refit
Place 3 energy tokens and 1 damage token on this system.
Chose which of your stored resources you would like to move next to this board to save for the end of game scoring. You may also install one of the additional systems you do not have by placing it below your player board in its matching category.
Repair
Place 1 energy token on this system.
Select a system that currently has a damage token on it and discard that token.
Charge
Place 1 energy tokens on this system.
Add 1 energy token to the batteries area of your player board. You may not have more than 2 energy stored.
Mega Charge
Place 2 energy tokens and 1 damage token on this system.
Add 2 energy tokens to the batteries area of your player board. You may not have more than 2 energy stored.
Additional System Descriptions
These systems are the pool of upgrades installed with the Return & Refit or Upgrade Drone actions (see Advanced Setup and Installing Upgrades).
Drill Arm
Place 2 energy tokens on this system.
Take any 1 tile from the board and place it in the storage area of your player board. Reveal any face-down resource tiles that are adjacent (above, below, left and right) to space you just drilled. Then repeat this action a second time.
Booster Drill
Place 2 energy tokens and 1 damage token on this system.
Take any 2 face-up tiles from the board and place it in the storage area of your player board. Reveal any face-down resource tiles that are adjacent (above, below, left and right) to space you just drilled.
Reroute
Place 1 energy token on this system.
When you use reuse select any one undamaged system on your board and Reroute acts the same as if you had used that system. The system you choose can be a system you already used this turn or from a category where you have used another system this turn.
Quick Scan
Place 1 damage token on this system.
Look at 1 tile without showing other players and place it back in its original space face down.
Upgrade Drone
Place 1 energy token on this system.
Install one of the additional systems you do not have by placing it below your player board in its matching category.
Expanded Storage
While you have this upgrade you may store one addition resource tile on your player board even though there is no official space for it.
Repair Bot
Place 2 energy tokens on this system.
Select any 2 systems that currently have damage tokens on them and discard both tokens.
Auxiliary Drill
Place 1 energy token and 1 damage token on this system.
Take any 1 tile from the board and place it in the storage area of your player board. Reveal any face-down resource tiles that are adjacent (above, below, left and right) to space you just drilled.
Solo Rules
The depths of space hold more than rare and valuable resources. Initially, a handful of reports documented sightings of strange creatures during deep drill team missions. However, reports became more commonplace over time. Though not vicious, these prolific aliens pose a real threat, not only to our profits but also to our ability to survive in the outer reaches of space. All we can do now is collect what resources we can before these creatures take every last one for themselves.
Solo Setup
Follow the rules for the advanced setup. Ignore the setup for the secret bonuses - you will not use those. Take 1 player board to use and place damage tokens on all 4 of the bottom most systems.
Place all of the alien tiles within reach. Take the alien origin card and place it pink side up in the center of one of the 4 outside edges. This will set the origin point for the aliens for this game. Remove the center outside tile as if it were just drilled and place it face-up on the side of the board starting a pile for alien consumed resources. Reveal the 3 surrounding tiles. Place one alien token on the empty space blue side up.
Next, choose a difficulty level: easy, medium or hard and slide the difficulty card under the alien origin card so that your selected difficulty is visible.
| Easy | Medium | Hard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alien Growth | 18 | 14 | 10 |
| Solo Bonuses | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Spawn Cards | green | green, yellow | green, yellow, red |
Take the Spawn Deck and remove any cards that do not have the alien symbols of your chosen difficulty. Shuffle this deck and place it face-down near the alien origin.
Take more actions
A major difference in the solo mode is that you are no longer limited to one system use per category. For example, you can drill and precision drill on the same turn. However, you are still limited to use each system only once per turn.
Solo System Cards
To combat the unique threat of the aliens you have been given an extra set of abilities. Choose one of the 2 solo system cards. Each side has 2 abilities: one that costs energy and one that costs a diamond to use. Choose which you of these two cards you want to use and which side you wish to start with. Place it next to your player board.
These systems can be damaged and may be used on your turn just like any other system. This card can also store up to 2 diamonds. When drilling you can place a diamond you just drilled onto one of these two spaces. In addition, you can also move diamonds with any ship action from your runner to the solo system. Diamonds stored on this system cannot be reclaimed. When you use the ability, it consumes a diamond. Consumed diamonds are removed from the game. You may use the bottom system to flip the card. If you have any stored diamonds these transfer to the other side of the card.
Shipping Bonuses
Shipping bonuses act differently in solo mode. Randomly take a number of shipping bonuses equal to your difficulty and place them solo side up next to your player board. When shipping resources in solo mode, you will devote them to specific jobs on the side of your player board rather than collecting them with the ship action. Once assigned to one of the jobs, that resource cannot be moved. Solo shipping bonuses do not give points; instead, they have 2 different types of requirements. If a solo shipping bonus has resource symbols, this requires that you have those specific resources devoted to that bonus. If a solo shipping bonus has a number, it requires resources valuing a total equal to or greater than that number. The value of required resource types is added to the total for a required value.
Playing the Solo Mode
The player may now take their first turn following the rules for advanced play. After each player turn, the aliens take a turn following the order stated on the alien origin card.
The alien turn is broken into 4 parts:
- Consume
- Move
- Draw Spawn Card(s)
- Flip
1) Consume
All aliens of the defined color consume the resource they are sitting on top of. Flip all adjacent tiles (above, below, left and right) so that they are face-up. Remove the consumed resource tile from the board and place it face-up next to the origin card. Once the total value of the resources collected by the aliens is equal to or greater than the Alien Growth Rate for the chosen difficulty, place the collected resources totaling the growth rate in a stack next to the origin card. Tiles should be reorganized where possible so that stacks are equal to the growth rate. This will simplify determining how many cards to draw during the Draw Spawn Card(s) portion of the alien turn.
2) Move
All aliens of the defined color move to new resources. When moving, aliens prioritize resources based on their value and their proximity to the alien origin card. Starting at the origin card, the closest tile is the one with the fewest spaces, not counting diagonally, from the origin.
If 2 spaces are equal distances, the space in the row closest to the origin has priority. If 2 spaces are equal distances and in the same row, the one to the right of the origin has priority.
Starting with the highest value, face-up resource, locate the resource of that type closest to the origin and move the closest alien of the defined color on top of that resource tile. Closest aliens are defined by following the same priority as earlier with the proximity to the origin.
Continue moving aliens in this manner until all resources of the type are covered and then move to the next lower value resource. Repeat this until all aliens of the defined color have been moved onto resources. The order of resources is Diamond, Ruby, Emerald, Gold, Rock, and finally face-down resources.
3) Draw Spawn Card(s)
Each turn you will draw at a minimum of 1 spawn card. If this card has 1 alien icon, spawn 1 alien by placing it in the space closest to the alien origin with the side matching the color of the alien origin nest face-up. If this card has 2 alien icons, you do this twice. Stack aliens on the origin space if needed. If this card causes you to take damage, place a damage token on one of your undamaged systems. If the card has a shuffle icon, immediately take all of the Spawn Deck cards, shuffle them together and place them face-down next to the alien origin to create a new spawn deck. Then continue drawing and resolving spawn cards if you have more cards to draw.
In addition to the single spawn card that is always drawn, you also draw a spawn card for each completed stack of collected resources next to the alien origin card that is equal to the alien growth rate.
4) Flip
Flip the alien origin card over and start your next player turn.
Drilling a Resource Occupied by an Alien
You may drill a resource that currently has an alien on it. However, if you do, you must damage 1 of your systems on your player board. You may choose which system to damage. However, each system may only take one damage.
Taking Damage
In the solo mode, you may take damage from alien cards or from drilling a space occupied by an alien. When you take damage from one of these sources it can be applied to any of your systems. If all of your systems are damaged this triggers the end of the game.
End of Game (Solo)
The game ends if any of the following 3 conditions are met.
- All tiles on the board are flipped face-up.
- All shipping bonuses have been completed.
- All of the systems on your player board are damaged.
If you have collected all of the shipping bonuses, you win! Otherwise, you lose. You may also total your resource score to compare your wins or losses.
Variants
Danger Variant
This variant combines 2 of the game modes and brings aliens to the multiplayer. Basically, follow the player rules of the advanced and using the solo rules to add the aliens to the board. Ignoring the solo system card and use the shipping bonuses from the multiplayer game. The aliens take one turn after the last player's turn each round. Damage cards from the solo deck effect all players. If a player has had all of their systems damaged they may use their entire next turn to remove 2 damage tokens from their board. The game ends the same as the advanced.
Small Moon Variant (2 players)
In this variant, you will use just the center round board. It can also be played basic or advanced. Set aside 5 diamond, 8 emerald and 13 rock resource tiles these 26 tiles will be all the resource tiles you use for this game. Return all other resources to the box. Return the Gold and Ruby end of game bonuses to the box. Set the rest of the game up as normal in basic or advanced mode.
Solo Difficulty Variant
Each difficulty in the solo mode has 3 parts. These are the alien growth rate, spawn cards, and solo bonuses. You may create incremental difficulty adjustments by using one of the values from a higher level difficulty for 1 or 2 of these parts. In addition, you can increase the hard by requiring more bonuses or reducing the growth rate.
5-8 Player Variant
This requires 2 copies of the game. Set the 2 games up for the advanced play. You may mix all tiles or keep them separate. Use one set of end of game resource bonuses. Make sure you don't mix the end of game bonus cards so that no player gets 2 of the same card.
Players play off both boards and 16 shipping bonuses.
First player: Use the ship tiles to pick the first player drawing them as normal. Only include the amount equal to the player count and ensure to keep 2 ones in the mix. The two players with ones will pick again from a 1 and a 2 token.
Major and Minor Turns: The main difference in this mode is the way the turns progress. On your major turn, you take actions as you would in the normal advanced game. On a minor turn, you get 1 solar energy and can use any stored energy in the batteries. Rounds progress with the first player taking their major turn and then every player including them taking a minor turn.
End of game: The game ends like normal but, once the end of the game is triggered all remaining players just get 1 major turn. End of game bonus cards are then selected but, they will only apply to the owner of that card. So if a card says "The player with the most..." that will come into effect if the owner of that card has the most otherwise it gives no points.
This variant can also be played with 3-4 players.
Feel free to mix these variants together as well. For instance, in a 6 player game, you could use one large board and one center board with small moon rules.