Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm
Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
This expansion adds new start worlds and game cards, action cards and VP chips for a fifth player, and goals to Race for the Galaxy. A separate solitaire game, drafting variant, and some blank game cards – so players can design their own worlds and developments – are also provided.
Contents
Some cards have been presorted for your first game (see Adding Cards). Unpack the card deck carefully.
- 1 replacement Gambling World
- 4 start world cards (numbered 5-8)
- 7 action cards (for a fifth player)
- 18 game cards
- 2 2-player action cards (with [2-player icon])
- 17 blank game cards (see page 10)
- 1 contest entry card (see page 10)
- 9 victory point (VP) chips: 7 @ 1, 1 @ 5, and 1 @ 10
- 4 "most" goals (large tiles)
- 6 "first" goals (small tiles)
- 8 @ 3 VP goal chips
- 1 play mat (for solitaire game)
- 14 counters (for solitaire game)
- 2 custom dice (for solitaire game)
Carefully remove the VP chips, goal tiles, solitaire mat, and counters from their frames before your first game.
Adding Cards
Add the new game cards to the base set, replacing its Gambling World with the Gambling World in this expansion (with an updated table that lists the number of developments and worlds for each cost or defense).
- Use the fifth preset hand (start world number 5 and the four game cards with 5 in their corners) when playing with five new players.
- A third Contact Specialist has been added for expansion play balance.
Most new card powers are variations on powers in the base set. Those that aren't have short text descriptions and are described in detail on page 11.
- The start world Ancient Race has a setup power, requiring its owner to discard down to three, not four, cards before selecting a first round action. This power applies only when it is a start world.
- Note that Improved Logistics can alter game tempo considerably.
Cards in this expansion have a mark below their card frames in the lower left corner.
Goals
Setup: shuffle the goal tiles face down. Select two of the "most" goals (the large tiles) and four of the "first" goals (the small tiles). Remove the remaining goals from the game. Place the selected goals face up in the center of the table to be claimed during play, next to the 3 VP goal chips. Then, continue setup normally.
Play: each goal's upper left corner lists the phase(s) at the end of which it can be claimed (or the end of a round in the case of Budget Surplus).
"First" goals: each of these tiles is worth 3 VPs and can be claimed once per game by all players who first meet its condition. They can never be lost. If only one player first satisfies a goal's condition at the end of a phase, then he claims its tile, placing it in front of him to mark 3 VPs earned. If more than one player first satisfies a goal in the same phase (even if by differing amounts), then any one of these players takes the tile, while the rest each take a 3 VP goal chip.
The "first" goals are:
- Galactic Standard of Living: First to have 5 (or more) VPs in chips. Do not count any goal VP chips.
- Galactic Status: First to place a 6-cost development.
- Innovation Leader: First to have at least one power in each phase, plus Trade, among his tableau cards.
- System Diversity: First to have at least one production or windfall world of each kind: Novelty, Rare, Genes, and Alien in tableau.
- Budget Surplus: First to discard at least one card at round end.
- Overlord Discoveries: First to have at least three ALIEN cards in tableau.
"Most" goals: each of these tiles is worth 5 VPs and is held by the player who satisfies its condition by the greatest amount. They can be lost. The first player to satisfy (or exceed by the greatest amount) a goal's listed condition at the end of a phase claims its tile (returning it to the center if he ever fails to satisfy its condition). If another player later exceeds the amount by which a player holding a goal currently satisfies it, then he takes the tile.
Example: Alan plays a card that brings his Military in tableau to 6, which satisfies the Greatest Military goal's condition, so he claims its tile. (If Alan later placed a -1 Military card, reducing his Military below 6, he would return it.) Betty later obtains 6 Military, but since this doesn't exceed Alan's total of 6, Alan retains this goal. Carol then reaches 7 Military and takes this goal tile from Alan.
If more than one player satisfies or exceeds a goal (possibly held by another player) by the same greatest amount, then that goal remains unclaimed (or is returned to the center).
Example: Alan and Betty both reach 6 Military during the same phase. Neither can claim the Greatest Military goal. Carol then reaches 7 Military and claims it. Alan and Betty later both achieve 8 Military on the same phase, so Carol then returns this goal to the center.
At game end, for each "most" goal, award a 3 VP goal chip to each player (satisfying the goal's condition) who is tied for most and who does not currently hold its tile, due to it either having been earlier claimed by another player or being currently unclaimed (after several players satisfied or exceeded its condition by the same greatest amount on the same phase).
The "most" goals are:
- Production Leader: At least four and the most production worlds, of any kind, in tableau.
- Greatest Military: At least six and the most total military in tableau. Count negative but not temporary or specialized military (as for New Galactic Order).
- Greatest Infrastructure: At least four and the most developments in tableau.
- Largest Industry: At least three and the most Novelty and/or Rare production or windfall worlds in tableau.
Scoring: each player adds any goal tile VPs (3 or 5) and 3 VP goal chips earned to their VP total. Goal VPs do not count towards Galactic Renaissance.
Solitaire Game
Use the experienced 2-player rules, without goals. You play against an "adaptable robot" opponent, whose actions are abstracted, and whose choices are determined by rolling custom dice. The robot's start world determines how the two robot faces [robot face icons] (on one of the dice) are read during play and which special mat counters modify or replace the robot's standard actions and responses, which are printed on the solitaire play mat.
The robot's tableau is a stack of cards, without any goods, where only the number of cards and their VPs matter. The robot's tableau can contain 6-cost development counters [6-cost development counter icon], representing additional developments placed during play. The robot's "hand" is a draw stack, from which cards are flipped over during play and either added to the robot's tableau or discarded. The robot's credit [credit icon], used to acquire tableau cards in certain cases, and economy size [economy size icon], used to gain VP chips during Consume phases, are tracked on the play mat.
Setup: Set out 24 VP chips. Pick a difficulty (see chart) and set the appropriate number of 6-cost development counters to use nearby. Shuffle and deal one start world each to you and the robot. Shuffle the other start worlds into the deck.
| Difficulty | 6-cost counters |
|---|---|
| easy | 1 @ 6 VPs |
| medium | 2 @ 6 VPs |
| hard | 3 @ 9 VPs |
Use the black-edged credit, economy size, and (two) player action markers. Find the special mat and "robot =" counters to use (possibly on the reverse side of other counters) based on the robot's start world, as shown on the back of the play mat. Remove the other counters from play. Flip the mat face up.
Place any special mat counters used on top of the corresponding mat areas, matching them by color. Place the grey "robot =" counter on its space (set the x2 "robot =" counter nearby if the robot's start world is Old Earth). Place the credit marker on 1 (0 if the robot's start world is Ancient Race; 2 if it is Alpha Centauri); the economy size marker on 0 (1 if its start world is Earth's Lost Colony or Epsilon Eridani), and deal four cards (three if its start world is Ancient Race) face down to form the robot's initial draw stack (see diagram below).
After setting up the robot mat, deal six cards to yourself. Choose four of them and discard the other two. Begin play.
Play: each round consists of the following steps:
- Select your two player actions normally, but mark them with the player action markers [player action marker icon] on the play mat (instead of using action cards).
- Roll and place the dice (the robot's action selections) on the play mat.
- Resolve actions for each selected phase, from left to right, player first.
Round end: discard down to 10 cards (the robot has no hand limit) and check for game end. If the game has not ended, repeat steps 1-3.
Place dice: put them on their matching spaces in the dice row of the play mat; placing any single Explore, Develop, or Settle die face rolled on the left-most of these respective pairs of spaces on the play mat. Note that the grey Settle and Produce die faces match the colored Settle and Produce mat spaces.
If a [robot face icon] face is rolled, read it as the face shown on the "robot =" counter.
Each [match icon] "match" face rolled indicates a robot action that will match a player action this round. If [match icon] "match" faces are rolled on both dice, put the dice on the spaces below the two player action markers. If only one [match icon] face is rolled, put that die in the space below the right-most player action marker (unless this space already has a die in it, in which case this die goes below the other player marker). If both player action markers occupy a pair of Explore, Develop, or Settle spaces, then shift the [match icon] die left so that it is below the first of this pair of spaces (unless the other die is already in that space).
Example: After you choose Consume x2 and Produce, the robot rolls Develop and [match icon]; put the first die on the left-most Develop space and the second die on Produce (the right-most unoccupied space below a player action). If, instead, you chose Explore twice and the robot rolled Produce and [match icon], put the first die on Produce and the second die on the left-most (first) Explore space.
Resolving Robot Actions / Responses: Resolve what the robot does for each selected phase according to the steps listed on the mat (and any special mat counters placed during setup) in two rows below the dice row. Use the top row if a die [action die icon] is present (a robot action). Use the bottom row if no die is present and the action [phase icon] was selected by you (a robot response).
[Explore icon] Explore action: draw 1 card and increase the robot's credit by 1 (draw 3 cards total and increase the robot's credit by 1 if the robot selected both Explore actions).
[Explore icon] Explore response: draw 1 card (even if the player chose both Explore actions).
Card Draws and Tracks: "draw for the robot" (in all phases) means shift the specified number of cards from the draw pile to the robot's draw stack, without looking at them. The robot's credit and economy size are marked by tracks; its maximum credit is 4 and its maximum economy size is 5 – increases beyond these numbers have no effect.
Separatist Colony ([Separatist Colony icon]) draws more cards on Explore as shown on its special mat counter (which overlays the mat).
Develop action or response (for each selected Develop phase): First, check to see if the robot has an unplaced [6-cost development counter icon] chip and 2 or more credit (3 or more credit on response). If so, place this chip next to the robot's tableau stack (where this chip will count as a card for determining end of game); decrease the robot's credit by 2 (3 on response); and then skip the robot's regular Develop action or response.
Otherwise, perform the robot's regular Develop action or response:
- Develop action: draw 1 card and then flip to find a development [development icon]. If a 6-cost development [6-cost development icon] is found and the robot has positive credit, decrease its credit by 1 and place it; otherwise discard it and continue flipping cards.
- Develop response: if the robot has no credit, do nothing. Otherwise, flip to find a development [development icon]. If one is found, whether or not it is a 6-cost development, decrease the robot's credit by 1 and place it.
Flip to Find: means to flip over cards one at a time from the robot's draw stack, discarding all non-matching cards, until either the desired type of card is found or the robot's draw stack is exhausted. Place means to put the matching card in the robot's tableau stack.
Example: Suppose you select Develop as one of your actions and the robot, with 1 credit and 2 cards in its draw stack, rolls Develop (plus some other action). After resolving your Develop, transfer 1 card to the robot's draw stack and flip over cards from it, one at a time. On your second flip, you find a non-6 development and place it in the robot's tableau stack. The robot ends with 1 credit and 1 card in its draw stack.
Example: Later, you select Develop for both your actions and the robot matches your first Develop (and rolls some other action). The robot has 4 credit, 5 cards in its draw stack, and two unplaced 6-development counters. After resolving your first Develop, place one of its 6-development counters next to its tableau stack and decrease the robot's credit by 2. Since it placed a 6-cost development counter, skip the robot's normal Develop action and do not draw or flip any cards. After resolving your second Develop, resolve the robot's response. Since it now has only 2 credit, do not place its other 6-development counter (this costs 3 credit on response), but instead begin flipping over cards (since the robot has positive credit). After finding a 2 cost development on its third flip, place it in the robot's tableau stack and decrease its credit by 1. The robot ends with 1 credit and 2 cards in its draw stack.
Settle action (for each robot-selected Settle phase): draw 3 cards and flip to find a non-military world [non-military world icon], placing it if one is found.
Settle response (for each player-selected Settle phase): if the robot has no credit, do nothing. Otherwise, draw 2 cards and flip to find a non-military world [non-military world icon]. If one is found, decrease the robot's credit by 1 and place it.
Example: You select Settle and the robot, with 0 credit, rolls two other actions. It does nothing.
Example: Later, you select both Settle actions and the robot matches the first Settle action (and rolls some other action). The robot has credit 2 and a draw stack of 2 cards. After you perform your first Settle action, transfer 3 cards to robot's draw stack and begin to flip them over. On its fourth flip, the robot finds a non-military world. Place it in its tableau. After you resolve your second Settle, transfer 2 more cards to the robot's draw stack and, because the robot has positive credit on response, flip to find a non-military world. If it fails to find one after 3 cards, exhausting its draw stack, do nothing (the robot ends with 2 credit). If it does find a non-military world, place it and decrease its credit to 1 (since the robot is performing this Settle in response to your action choice).
Epsilon Eridani ([Epsilon Eridani icon]), New Sparta ([New Sparta icon]), and Separatist Colony ([Separatist Colony icon]), as indicated on their special mat counters, flip to find military worlds [military world icon] instead and do not need positive credit to Settle on response. New Sparta also receives extra Settle draws.
Doomed World's ([Doomed World icon]) first Settle action: flip from the draw pile (not its draw stack) until a 3 or more VP non-military world is found, place it, and increase its credit by 2 and its economy size by 1. Discard this mat counter and the Doomed World start world from its tableau.
Alpha Centauri ([Alpha Centauri icon]) receives extra draws on its Settle actions and does not need positive credit to Settle on response.
Consume: Trade action: increase the robot's credit by 2 and give it VP chips equal to its current economy size.
Consume: 2x VPs action: give the robot VP chips equal to twice its current economy size and then increase the robot's economy size by 1.
Both Consume actions selected by robot: give the robot VP chips equal to twice its current economy size and then increase its credit by 2 and its economy size by 1.
Consume response (if all Consumes chosen were selected only by the player): give the robot VP chips equal to its current economy size.
Example: You select Consume 2x VPs as one action and the robot rolls Consume:Trade as one of its actions. The robot has 3 credit and economy size 1. Increase the robot's credit to 4 (its maximum) and give it a VP chip. The robot does nothing in response to your Consume 2x action, since it rolled a Consume action.
Example: Later, you select both Consume actions and the robot rolls two other actions. The robot has economy size 3. Give it three VP chips. (Do so only once, despite the fact that you selected both Consume actions.)
Old Earth ([Old Earth icon]), after its first Trade action: replace its "robot =" counter [robot face icon] with [replacement face icon] and discard its mat counter.
Damaged Alien Factory ([Damaged Alien Factory icon]): after every Trade action, if its "robot =" counter is currently [robot face icon], flip it over to [replacement face icon].
Produce action: increase the robot's current economy size by 1.
Produce response: the robot does nothing.
Example: The robot rolls Produce as one of its actions. The robot has economy size 0. Increase its economy size to 1.
Example: Later, you select Produce as one of your actions and the robot rolls two other actions. The robot does nothing.
Example: Still later, you select Produce and the robot rolls Produce. The robot has economy size 2. Increase its economy size to 3.
Damaged Alien Factory ([Damaged Alien Factory icon]): after every Produce action, if its "robot =" counter is currently [robot face icon], flip it over to [replacement face icon].
Round end: discard down to 10 cards (the robot has no hand limit) and then check to see if the game has ended. If not, select actions for the next round.
Game end: the game ends normally, at the round end in which either the player's or robot's tableau is 12 or more cards (counting any placed 6-cost development counters as one card apiece towards the robot's tableau total), or the 24 VP chips are exhausted (use extra VP chips to finish out the round).
Add the robot's VP chips and tableau VPs, scoring each 6-cost development card or counter as 6 or 9 VPs, depending on the selected game difficulty. If a tie occurs, the robot's final credit plus its economy size is its tie-breaker value (the player's tie-breaker value remains cards in hand plus goods).
Drafting Variant (2-3 players)
After setting out the goals to be used, shuffle the odd and even start worlds separately and deal one of each, face down, to each player. Shuffle the unused start worlds into the game cards.
After looking at their start world choices, each player simultaneously draws five cards, selects one, and passes the rest to the left. From these cards, they each select one, and pass the rest left, until all cards drawn are taken. Repeat, drawing five cards, selecting one and passing the rest right. Continue, alternating directions, until players are unable to draw five cards apiece. Remove the remaining cards from play.
Each player shuffles his selected cards to form his own private deck and draws six, discards two of them and one of his start world choices, and then reveals his start world. Play normally, except that each player draws from his own deck of cards and discards to his own discard pile, reshuffling whenever his own draw deck is exhausted.
Blank Cards / Contest Entry
Blank game cards, of various types, are provided to allow players to add cards of their own design to the game. A black and a red marker (to mark costs, military, and powers) are needed to use them.
Use the contest entry card to send your best card idea to us for possible use in future expansions. See the entry card for further details.
Card Powers (by phase)
III: Settle
Discard for Temporary Military [discard 2 cards, +1 Military icon]: The player may discard up to 2 cards from his hand to gain +1 Military apiece until the end of this Settle phase.
As an optional power, this power need not be used fully. Space Mercenaries also has a standard +1 Military power.
Settle a Second World [second world icon]: The player may place a second world ([world icon]) in a Settle phase.
The second world is placed as part of executing Settle powers (after fully resolving settling the first world). No powers from the first world placed may be used to settle the second one.
If the player chose Settle, do not draw a Settle bonus for the second world.
$: Trade
Specific Good and Worlds [Trade icon, Genes good icon, world icon]: Draw +1 card when selling a Genes good [Genes good icon] for each [Genes world icon] world in the tableau.
The Clandestine Uplift Lab is itself a [Genes world icon] world.
IV: Consume
This World's Good [Consume icon, 2 VP icon]: Discard 1 Alien good ([Alien good icon]) from the world ([Alien world icon]) with this power to gain 2 VPs.
V: Produce
Discard to Produce Good [discard 1 card icon, Alien good icon]: May discard 1 card to produce an Alien good on this world.
A player can discard a card gained from Diversified Economy to produce this good, but can not then gain a card for doing so (as one power can not interrupt another power).
Draw for Worlds [Produce icon, 1 card icon, military world icon]: Draw 1 card for each military world ([military world icon]) in the player's tableau.
6-Cost Development Powers
For these developments, score end of game VPs for every card in its owner's tableau that satisfies one of the conditions listed on it, where a CARD TITLE refers to that card's presence in the tableau.
Galactic Genome Project:
- 2 VPs for each [Genes icon pair] Genes world
- 3 VPs for each GENETICS LAB card
Terraforming Guild:
- 2 VPs for each [windfall world icon] windfall world
- 2 VPs for each TERRAFORMING card (including this one)
Imperium Lords:
- 2 VPs for each IMPERIUM card (including this one)
- 1 VP for each [military world icon] other military world
Note: there are no IMPERIUM military worlds in this expansion (or the base set); this wording is for future expansions.