Pocket Mars Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Important Terms
• Game Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Turn Actions
    • Play a Project card from your hand
    • Play a Project card from your prep module
    • Play a Project card from another player's prep module
    • Launch 1 colonist from Earth
    • Gain 1 energy by discarding a Project card from your hand or prep module
• The 4 Card Rule
• Golden Rule
• Empty Project Deck
• Finishing the Game
• Building Abilities
• Variant: Drafting Project Cards
• Solo Variant: Devious Automatics Challenge
  • Solo Setup
  • Playing the Solo Game
    • Architect Phase
    • System Failure Phase
    • Android Activation Phase
  • DA Alternative Building Abilities
  • Solo Game End
  • Solo Game Scoring
  • Difficulty Levels

Components

• 35 Project cards (5 types of 7 Projects)
• 5 Building cards
• 4 Spaceship cards
• 28 Colonist markers (7 in each player's color)
• 4 Energy markers
• 6 Reference cards (including 2 for solo play)
• 1 Starting Player card
• 1 Earth card

Important Terms

Colonists: The wooden astronaut-helmet-shaped bits. On the rules and cards they are shown with two interchangeable symbols that vary only for visual contrast against different backgrounds.

Spaceship: The card on which a player places their colonists when instructed to Launch from Earth. From there, colonists travel to Buildings on Mars. Each player also tracks the energy level of their Spaceship on its energy track.

Earth: The place where all players' remaining colonists reside at the start of the game. Over the course of the game, players pick colonists up from Earth and place them on their Spaceship in order to transport them to a Building.

Prep Module: The 2 Project cards placed face-down side by side in front of each player. These cards are secret from the other players, but a player may inspect their own prep module cards at any time.

Buildings: There are 5 Building cards in play. Four of them can hold colonists. On these four, a space marked with the higher-value symbol has a limit on how many colonists it can hold: 1 colonist in a 2-player game, or 2 colonists in a 3- or 4-player game. Each colonist on such a space earns 4 victory points at the end of the game. A space marked with the other symbol has no limit on colonists, and each colonist there earns 2 victory points at the end of the game. The fifth Building (the black one, Habitation) does not hold colonists. Each Building has a special ability that may be triggered when a player connects a Project card to it. Four of the Buildings also have a printed value, which is used when connecting Project cards.

Project cards: The core element of the game. Players use them to Launch colonists from Earth to their Spaceship, and to move colonists from their Spaceship to Mars. Each Project card has two actions: a top action, triggered when the card is played from a player's hand, and a bottom action, triggered when it is played from a prep module. Each card also has a value from 0 to 7, which is used only when the card is played from a player's own prep module.

Game Setup

1. Each player chooses a color and takes the Spaceship card and the 7 colonists in that color. Each player places their Spaceship card on the table in front of them.
2. Each player places 1 of their colonists on their Spaceship, then places their remaining 6 colonists in a common pool on the Earth card in the center of the play area (referred to as "Earth"), together with the other players' remaining colonists.
3. Each player places 1 energy marker on the starting space of the energy track on their Spaceship.
4. Place the 5 Building cards face-up in a row, in any order. Leave enough table space beneath them for Project cards to be placed later in the game.
5. Shuffle the 35 Project cards together to form a single deck, and deal 4 Project cards face-down to each player. Place the remaining deck face-down within easy reach of the players, leaving space beside it for a discard pile.
   • Variant: Experienced players may wish to use the Drafting Project Cards variant described at the end of these rules instead.
6. Each player secretly picks 2 of their 4 Project cards and places their chosen cards face-down, side by side, in front of them. This is the player's prep module. The remaining 2 Project cards stay in the player's hand. (A player may inspect the cards in their own prep module at any time during the game.)
7. Choose the starting player at random. The starting player takes the Starting Player card and begins the first round.

Playing the Game

The game consists of a series of rounds divided into players' turns. Within each round, each player takes one turn, beginning with the starting player and moving clockwise around the table. In a turn, the active player must perform exactly one of the five available actions below. As the last step of each turn, players complete the 4 Card Rule (see below).

Once a round has been completed, players check whether the endgame condition is met. If it is, the game finishes and the winner is determined. Otherwise, play proceeds to the next round, which again begins with the starting player.

Turn Actions

On your turn, you must perform one of the following five actions:

• Play a Project card from your hand.
• Play a Project card from your prep module.
• Play a Project card from another player's prep module.
• Launch 1 colonist from Earth.
• Gain 1 energy by discarding a Project card from your hand or prep module.

Play a Project card from your hand

Play a Project card of your choice from your hand and trigger its top action. Discard that Project card.

Example: Filip plays a Project card with a value of 6, whose top action reads "Draw 2 cards." He draws 2 Project cards from the Project deck and now has 3 cards in his hand and 2 in his prep module. As the last step of his turn, Filip must ensure he has exactly 2 cards in his hand and 2 in his prep module, so he chooses 1 card from his hand and discards it face-up onto the Project discard pile.

Play a Project card from your prep module

Play a Project card from your prep module, connecting it to a Building of the same color by placing the card face-up beneath that Building. If there is already a Project card there, place your card on top of it, leaving only the value of the previously played card visible. Then perform the following steps in order:

1. Compare your card's value with the value of the card directly underneath it (or, if your card is the first one connected to that Building, compare its value to the Building's own value instead). If your card's value is higher, you may move 1 of your colonists from your Spaceship onto the Building, placing it on the limited space. The Habitation Building has no colonist spaces, so skip this step when connecting a card to it.
2. You may trigger the Project card's bottom action. If you cannot fulfil the requirements of the action (for example, you don't have enough energy to pay for it), you cannot trigger it.
3. You may trigger the Building's special ability.

These three steps are independent of each other and are resolved separately, but whichever of them you do resolve must be resolved in this order: move colonist, execute card effect, execute Building effect. If your Project card's value is not higher than the value of the card underneath it, you may still use the two remaining options.

Example: Matt plays a Greenhouse card from his prep module and places it below the Greenhouse Building, on top of a previously connected card whose value of 7 remains visible. Since Matt's card has a value of only 1, he cannot beat the value of the card underneath it, so he cannot move a colonist from his Spaceship to the Building. However, his card's bottom action lets him launch 2 colonists from Earth if there are no colonists of his in the Building, which is true (the only colonist there belongs to Filip), so he triggers it. Finally, Matt uses the Greenhouse's special ability to gain 1 energy. He then draws 1 card from the Project deck (per the 4 Card Rule) and places a card from his hand into his prep module.

Play a Project card from another player's prep module

Play a Project card of your choice from another player's prep module. Turn the chosen card face-up and connect it to a Building of the same color, in the same manner as if it were from your own prep module. Then perform the following steps in order:

1. The player who owns the Project card may trigger its bottom action, as if they had played it from their own prep module. That player must meet the conditions required to trigger the action and/or pay any energy cost the card requires.
2. You may use the Building's special ability.

Example: Filip wants to move his colonist in a Building from the unlimited space to the limited space, since it is worth more points at the end of the game. He notices that Matt has an Aqualab card in his prep module, visible from the symbol on its back, so Filip plays it: he turns it face-up and connects it to the Aqualab Building, which has no cards connected to it yet. The card's value of 5 beats the Building's value of 3, though that doesn't matter here. The card's bottom action lets Matt move 1 colonist from Earth to his Spaceship if he has an Aqualab card in his hand; he does, so he takes a colonist from Earth. Filip then uses the Aqualab's special ability to move his own colonist from the unlimited space to the limited space, just as he planned. Matt, now short a card in his prep module, draws a card from the Project deck, then chooses which of his 3 hand cards to place in his prep module, following the 4 Card Rule, before the next player's turn begins.

Launch 1 colonist from Earth

Launch 1 colonist from Earth and place it on your Spaceship. This action cannot be performed if you have no colonists left on Earth.

Gain 1 energy by discarding a Project card from your hand or prep module

Choose and discard 1 of your 4 Project cards. Then increase your energy level by 1, moving your energy marker up 1 space on your Spaceship's energy track. This action can be performed even if your energy marker is already at the top of the energy track, but in that case you simply discard a Project card without gaining energy.

The 4 Card Rule

As the last step in each player's turn, starting with that player and moving clockwise around the table, each player ensures that they have exactly 4 Project cards, consisting of 2 in their hand and 2 in their prep module. To do so, a player follows these steps in order:

• If a player has more than 4 cards in total, they must choose and discard cards from their hand until they have 4.
• If a player has fewer than 4 cards in total, they draw cards from the Project deck until they have 4. (If the Project deck is ever empty, first create a new deck following the procedure below.)
• If a player has fewer than 2 cards in their prep module, they must choose cards from their hand and place them in their prep module until they have 2 cards in their prep module once more.

At the end of this step, each player must have 2 cards in hand and 2 in their prep module. Cards move from hand to prep module, never the other way — once a card is placed in a player's prep module, it cannot be swapped for another card from that player's hand. Choose wisely.

Golden Rule

If the text of a card contradicts the text of these rules in any way, the text of the card takes precedence.

Empty Project Deck

If the Project deck is empty at any time during the game, immediately create a new Project deck: from the Building sites, take all Project cards that currently lie underneath another Project card and place them in the discard pile, then shuffle the discard pile to form a new Project deck.

Finishing the Game

At the end of a round, if at least 1 player has all 7 of their colonists placed in Buildings on Mars, the game ends immediately.

Each player then earns victory points as follows:

• 1 victory point for each colonist on their Spaceship.
• 2 victory points for each colonist on an unlimited Building space.
• 4 victory points for each colonist on a limited Building space.
• 2 victory points for having at least 1 colonist on each of the 4 Buildings that can hold colonists.
• 3 victory points for having at least 4 colonists in 1 Building.

The player with the highest energy level earns 1 victory point. In case of a tie, all tied players earn 1 victory point.

Colonists remaining on Earth earn no victory points. The winner is the player with the most victory points. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most colonists on Buildings wins the game. If still tied, the tied players share the win.

Building Abilities

Greenhouse — You may move any colonist belonging to any player, in a Building of your choosing, from an unlimited space to a limited space, or the other way around.

Energy Bank — You may increase your energy level by 1, moving your energy marker up 1 space on the energy track on your Spaceship.

Comms Center — You may launch 1 of your colonists from Earth and place it on your Spaceship.

Aqualab — You may choose 1 of your Project cards from your hand or your prep module and place it face-down at the bottom of the Project deck.

Habitation — You may move 1 of your colonists from your Spaceship to a Building of your choice, placing it on the limited space within that Building.

Variant: Drafting Project Cards

During setup, each player is dealt 5 cards face-down. Each player chooses 1 of those cards to keep and passes the remaining cards to the player on their left. Repeat this process (choosing 1 and passing the remainder) until all players have chosen 4 cards to keep. The remaining cards are shuffled back into the Project deck. Each player then secretly chooses and places 2 of their 4 kept cards face-down in their prep module; the other 2 cards form their hand.

Solo Variant: Devious Automatics Challenge

A rival colonization outfit, Devious Automatics (DA), believes it can settle Mars more efficiently using android labor. As DA's rival Project efficiency expert, your job is to prove them wrong and outscore their automated colony.

The solo game is an advanced variant — learn the multi-player rules first, and it's recommended to play the multi-player game a few times before tackling the solo game.

Solo Setup

First, follow all the setup steps for the multi-player game. Then set up Devious Automatics (DA):

1. Choose 1 of the 3 unchosen Spaceships as the DA Spaceship and place it in your play area, to one side and separate from your own Spaceship.
2. Take the 7 colonists of the same color as the DA Spaceship — these are DA colonists. Place 5 of them on the DA Spaceship and the remaining 2 on Earth, joining your previously placed colonists there.
3. Place 1 energy marker on the starting space of the energy track on the DA Spaceship.
4. Take 2 Project cards from the Project deck and, without looking at them, place them face-down in front of the DA Spaceship. This is the DA prep module.
5. You are now ready to begin.

Throughout the solo game, whenever you would draw a card, you must instead take a card of your choice from the DA prep module (which is not immediately replenished). Only once the DA prep module is empty do you draw from the Project deck as normal. This applies even when applying the 4 Card Rule.

Playing the Solo Game

The solo game consists of a series of rounds. Each round is divided into 3 phases, performed in this order:

• Architect Phase
• System Failure Phase
• Android Activation Phase

At the end of each round, after all three phases, check the endgame conditions (below). If any is met, the game ends; otherwise proceed to the next round.

Architect Phase

During the Architect Phase, you must perform one of the following five actions:

Play a Project card from your hand — Identical to the multi-player action.

Play a Project card from your prep module — Identical to the multi-player action.

Play a Project card from the DA prep module — Flip the chosen card from the DA prep module face-up and connect it to a Building of the same color. Then perform the following steps in order:

• Compare the card's value with the value of the card directly underneath it (or, if it is the first card connected to that Building, with the Building's value). If the played card's value is higher, you may move 1 of your colonists from your Spaceship onto the Building, placing it on the limited space.
• You may trigger the Building's ability. (Do not resolve any card effect for the DA player.)

Launch 1 colonist from Earth (placing it on your Spaceship) and discard 1 Project card from the DA prep module. You must do both. This action cannot be performed if you have no colonists on Earth.

Gain 2 energy by discarding a Project card from your hand or prep module — Identical to the multi-player action, except you gain 2 energy instead of 1.

Reminder: apply the 4 Card Rule after your action, and remember that whenever you draw cards, take them from the DA prep module first, and only from the Project deck once the DA prep module is empty.

System Failure Phase

Take the top 2 cards from the Project deck (not from the DA prep module) and place them face-up in the discard pile. This is not considered a draw. If only 1 card remains in the Project deck, place just that card in the discard pile, then move on to the Android Activation Phase.

Android Activation Phase

If there are 2 Project cards in the DA prep module, skip this phase.

If there is 1 Project card in the DA prep module, perform the following steps in order:

1. Move a DA colonist from the DA Spaceship to the Building matching the color of the DA Project card (skip this move if the matching Building is Habitation). If there was no DA colonist on the DA Spaceship, move 1 DA colonist from Earth (if any remain) to the DA Spaceship instead.
2. Trigger the DA Alternative Building ability (below) for the Building matching the color of the DA Project card. The card in the DA prep module is not revealed and is not discarded.

Finally, if there are 0 or 1 Project cards left in the DA prep module, take enough cards from the top of the Project deck to refill it to 2 cards and, without looking at them, place them face-down in the DA prep module.

DA Alternative Building Abilities

Greenhouse — Double Upgrade: DA gets 2 Upgrades. For each Upgrade: if possible, move a DA colonist from an unlimited space to a limited space in any Building where that's possible; otherwise, if possible, move one of your colonists from an unlimited space to a limited space in any Building where that's possible. Any Upgrade that can't be used is wasted. (In the solo game, Building colonist limits are the same as in a 2-player game.)

Aqualab — Spark: Take the top 2 cards from the Project deck (not from the DA prep module — this isn't a draw) and place them in the discard pile.

Energy Bank — Overwhelming Power: Increase the DA Spaceship's energy level by 2. If the DA Spaceship can't increase its energy level, trigger Spark instead (see Aqualab above).

Comms Center — Recruitment Drive: Move 1 DA colonist from Earth (if any remain) to the DA Spaceship.

Habitation — Calculations: Move a DA colonist from the DA Spaceship to a Building of your choice. If there was no DA colonist on the DA Spaceship, move 1 DA colonist from Earth (if any remain) to the DA Spaceship instead. Place DA colonists so as to maximize DA's final score as best you can — play this move as if you were playing for DA.

Solo Game End

There are 3 endgame conditions in the solo game:

• You have all 7 of your colonists on Buildings on Mars.
• DA has all 7 of its colonists on Buildings on Mars.
• The DA prep module has fewer than 2 cards and cannot be refilled from the Project deck.

Note: if the Project deck is empty, do not create a new one. The Project deck running out of cards is itself part of how the solo game's end condition can be triggered.

Solo Game Scoring

You earn victory points using the same rules as the multi-player game. DA earns victory points using the same rules, with the following changes:

• DA earns 4 victory points (instead of 2) for having at least 1 colonist on each of the 4 Buildings that can hold colonists.
• DA earns 5 victory points (instead of 3) for having at least 4 colonists in 1 Building.
• DA earns 2 victory points (instead of 1) if it has the highest energy level. In case of a tie, DA earns 2 victory points while you still earn your usual 1 victory point.

You win the game if you score more points than Devious Automatics.

Difficulty Levels

To increase the challenge of the solo game:

Super-droid Level — During setup, place 6 DA colonists on the DA Spaceship and 1 on Earth.

Cyborg Level — During setup, place 7 DA colonists on the DA Spaceship and none on Earth.