Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon FAQ
334 questions players ask · Updated Nov 11, 2026 · Full rulebook
Components and setup
- Which way does the Sky Watch comet tile's arrow point when the tile is flipped?
- Can one player see the Sky Watch impact location before the others?
- In Selenium Research, can a scientist count as any colour in your structures?
- How are the Selenium Research corporation tokens set up?
- In Selenium Research, can a goal be moved to a better goal later?
- In Selenium Research, what happens if you run out of samples on a blue round action?
- Can you take the Selenium Research round 2 tile's free solar panel and dome if energy is too high to build a panel?
- What are the 50, 100, 150 and 200 tokens for?
- Are the shuttle tiles drawn at random each round?
- Should agency leaders be placed on side A or side B at the start of a game?
- In a 2-player game, which solar panels go to the neutral dome sectors?
- Do the Mars ship spaces need covering during 2-player setup?
- Can a To Mars structure go in a later section before the earlier sections are full?
- Where does a laboratory go in a To Mars shipment when the sections are partly filled?
- Does a higher To Mars sector score for control when a lower sector is not complete?
- Do the solar panels placed during player setup produce energy or reputation?
- If the second Sky Watch defence program is not finished when an asteroid hits, how much is destroyed?
- Does Research Fund's ongoing effect make civilians in your headquarters give reputation during income?
- In a 2-player game, what does the setup instruction to return one factory tile of each type mean?
- Does the Space Robotics Level 3 factory's 2 VP per funded project count only Space Robotics projects?
- Space Robotics Level 2 factory: can you get its immediate reward if you attach a robot later?
Actions, building and energy
- Can you replace an astronaut already on your base with a newly earned one?
- When can you rearrange astronauts on your player board?
- When you retrieve astronauts from the crater and have too few free slots, who goes to the Lunar Gateway?
- Can you send astronauts to the Lunar Gateway voluntarily during maintenance to keep room for next round?
- When you build a structure, can you move astronauts from your base into it?
- Must a solar panel be built before a structure in an unpowered sector, and is the panel's energy paid before the structure?
- Can you produce energy before building a solar panel in the same action?
- Are the two solar panel build icons with different arrow directions meant to be different actions?
- Can you buy emergency energy in Very Low Energy spaces outside a Command action, such as from the Lunar Gateway?
- Can you buy emergency energy when the energy level is already 3 or higher?
- Can you repeat the low-energy emergency step to raise energy more than once?
- Can you buy very low energy more than once in a turn?
- If energy is too high to build a solar panel, do you still take a free solar panel reward?
- Can you pay credits to raise energy during a Build a Structure action when energy is Very Low?
- When raising energy by several steps, do you get the reward of each intermediate step or only the arrival step?
- Can you build a Solar Panel during a bonus build or fund action?
- When you buy a card with both an immediate and an ongoing effect, do you get both?
- What immediate bonuses come from building the third, fourth and last domes, and does placing an astronaut in a dome give one?
- Can I build a lab or headquarters in an unpowered sector, spending its energy, and build the solar panel afterwards?
- Do tourists placed in your base have any effect before they are sent out?
- Can you take back a tourist that was sent to the Lunar Gateway?
- Do tourists left on your player board score points when they return at round end?
- Can you build a Headquarters or any structure on a sector that already holds another player's building?
- Is there a limit on how many astronauts of one colour can be in the Lunar Gateway?
- Can you take back the same astronaut you just sent to the Lunar Gateway during the same action?
- If you visit the Lunar Gateway with an astronaut from your shuttle, can you then take a same-coloured astronaut from the gateway?
- If you cannot afford a worker's action, can you still place it in the Lunar Gateway?
- Can you use a card's build-triggered effect, such as a tourist discount, before the build to get its benefit?
- Do you get the workshop bonus only when the astronaut matches the workshop's colour?
- When you advance on the Skywatch track, how many extra steps do you get?
- When activating hexes in a row, does the central hex stop the row?
- If the contested players tie in total structure size for an astronaut in the crater, who gets it?
- Does a headquarters count as 6 toward total structure size for row majority?
- Can a row score twice for one player when there are astronauts at both ends?
- When you buy a card with a permanent ability, does that ability work on your current turn?
- How do you power a sector when you build there?
- Can you use a solar panel from the central hex to power an unpowered sector where you are not building?
- When you place a free structure from a non-build effect, can you power a new sector with a solar panel from the central hex?
- Can there be more than one solar panel on the central hex?
- Must domes be built from left to right, while labs and workshops can be built in any order?
- Where do astronauts in the command action area go during maintenance cleanup?
- Must an astronaut match a building's colour to occupy its base space?
- If you spend one rare earth, do both Promethium and Lanthanum mine bonuses trigger?
- In a two-player game, where does the neutral player's astronaut go when it wins a row?
- If two players own the Lunar Gateway income tile and there are too few astronauts for both, who gets the income?
- Does an astronaut placed in a building during maintenance still count for income that round?
- For a row claim or astronaut retrieval, does the player with the most structure size win without an absolute majority?
- Can you park an astronaut or tourist in the top-left waiting space at any time?
- Does an astronaut in the top-left waiting space give a discount or income?
Projects, corporations and reputationExpansion
- Do you gain reputation for every reputation icon the energy marker moves over?
- Do you lose reputation when the energy marker moves back down, or gain it when you spend energy?
- Can you pay credits to raise the energy track at any time, not only when funding a project?
- Do energy-producing project bonuses still trigger when the energy track is full?
- Can a Solar Cells bonus produce the energy needed for a second project funded in the same action?
- Does energy produced by Advanced Radar's ongoing ability count toward a defense program's requirement?
- Can you produce less energy than a project card's ability states?
- Must you produce energy with Robot Power-Up when you do not need it?
- Can an energy effect triggered by funding a project help meet that same project's energy requirement?
- Does a Technician discount reduce the energy requirement or the energy you spend when funding a project?
- Do you have to pay credits to leave Very Low Energy when other effects can reach the project's energy requirement?
- When you raise energy from the lowest position with a Very Low Energy payment, do you gain reputation for every step?
- Do solar panels placed on the To Mars ship produce energy or touch the energy track, and do they need a Rare Earth?
- Can you build a solar panel after funding a project whose immediate bonus builds a structure, but before that structure is placed?
- Can you build a solar panel outside a Command action, such as a Lunar Gateway action or a bonus build?
- Can you build a solar panel before placing the astronaut, so a factory's credits pay for that placement?
- Can a credit discount or a Rare Earth substitute pay for a Solar Panel?
- When a structure moves to the Mars ship and its sector empties, does its solar panel stay in the sector?
- Does building a solar panel for the Mars ship trigger the Space Robotics panel factory, and how many panels fit on the Mars ship?
- Do dome income and multi-slot structure bonuses need every slot filled, or do immediate bonuses trigger on build?
- Does a free or bonus build let you activate or place a corporation token?
- Do you place a corporation token when you build with a technician or scientist?
- What happens to corporation tokens when you build with an engineer in a sector with no matching token?
- Can a sector or hex end up with two tokens of the same corporation?
- Can you place a second Selenium Research token in a sector that already has one, if it has different rewards?
- Can a project, a reputation-track action or a laboratory action place a new corporation token?
- Can the reputation-track corporation action activate any corporation token on the main board?
- What does the blue circle with a question mark on a bonus, such as Japan B's, mean, and which token can you activate?
- When can Japan B's ability be used after funding a project from a corporation, and can it be used again for linked fundings?
- Can the same corporation token be activated twice in one turn?
- Does Europe A's basic ability make you pay credits when your astronaut is not in the sector?
- Does the upgraded Europe A ability replace the basic Europe A ability?
- Do you collect the Improved Europe A credits before placing your astronaut?
- Do you pay for every sector in the row before collecting the crater's rewards, and can credits gained in that exploit pay for it?
- Do you still pay the owner when an exploited sector has buildings but no corporation token?
- Do you pay to exploit a crater sector where you have no building but another player does?
- Can an exploit of the crater activate the central hex when it has no structures?
- When you exploit the crater with a scientist, do you pay the bank for the middle hex?
- In a two-player game, do the neutral domes count when you exploit the crater?
- Can you activate a corporation token in a sector with no buildings when exploiting the crater?
- When two players have equal buildings in a sector, who receives the payment when you exploit the crater?
- When retrieving astronauts from the crater, is the majority decided by total structure size or by number of structures?
- When retrieving astronauts from the crater, does a tie-break look past the row facing the astronaut?
- Do you collect all astronauts from the crater before placing them, and do the excess ones go to the Lunar Gateway?
- Can you pay maintenance with reputation instead of credits while you still have credits?
- If you cannot cover maintenance even with credits, reputation and VP, what happens?
- During maintenance, can you move astronauts to laboratories before paying the maintenance costs?
- Can you store an astronaut of a different colour in a laboratory?
- Are project and dome bonus actions mandatory when you can afford them?
- Do you still need the energy requirement to take a project's bonus action?
- When you build a dome with a lightning-bolt fund-a-project icon, do you pay for the project?
- What does the fourth dome's fund-a-project bonus allow, and does it need enough energy and credits?
- In what order do project, dome and corporation bonuses resolve within one command action?
- In what order are a Fund a Project bonus and a project's immediate construction effect resolved?
- Can astronauts gained from the Lunar Gateway go straight to the Mars ship, and does Astronaut Exchange apply to them?
- Can a Mars ship astronaut be sent from your base during the rearrange step?
- If Orbital Assembly builds straight onto the To Mars ship, where does an astronaut bought with Canada B go?
- When you retrieve an astronaut from the crater, can you swap it for one from the Lunar Gateway to place on the To Mars ship?
- If Orbital Assembly builds a structure straight onto the To Mars board, do you still get the build action bonus?
- Where does a multi-size building sent to the To Mars ship go when the first zone lacks room?
- Which resource does a laboratory give when you build the last one?
- What do the icons on the Exploit the Crater reference card mean?
- Is the first 'Ongoing' on the Energy Savings corporation sheet a misprint?
- How often can an ability marked 1x be used in one action, and can unmarked abilities be repeated?
- Which constructions does the USA leader's ability apply to?
- Can the USA leader buy more than one resource for a single build, and how often can the ability be used?
- If maintenance drops your reputation below a step you already scored, do you lose points?
- Can you decline part of a reward, such as taking one reputation instead of two?
- Does the Selenium Research free-project contract let you ignore the energy requirement too?
- Does Climate Control's three-plant gain happen immediately or as an ongoing effect?
- Does a project's ongoing ability apply to its own immediate effect?
- Can a project's own 'when you fund a project' ability be used on the turn you fund it?
- Can a project's ability help fund that same project, or trigger when you fund it?
- Can credits from 'when you fund a project' abilities pay for the project being funded?
- Can triangles from Research Grants be spent in place of credits when funding a project?
- Do a corporation's project-funding bonuses trigger again for each project, including free ones?
- Can Mass Driver ship to a slot that already holds a crate?
- How often can a project's once-per-round corporation action, such as Mass Driver's, be used?
- Do free buildings trigger 'when placing a building' effects, such as a Space Robotics level 1 factory?
- Does taking the instant effect of a project card use up an astronaut?
- Can you spend resources gained from one corporation action on the next corporation action in the same turn?
- Can one Moon Mining or Selenium Research corporation action make several deliveries or experiments?
- Can once-per-turn project abilities be used during the shuttle phase?
- When do End of Round project cards resolve relative to Maintenance?
- Does a free Defense Program contribution from a Sky Watch card cost credits, resources or energy, or need the energy requirement?
- When a Sky Watch card gives a free Defense Program contribution on purchase, do you still get the VP and reputation bonuses?
- Do the top slots of the Defense Programs cost 1 energy to complete?
- Does the Technician Workshop credit discount apply to Sky Watch contributions?
- Which Sky Watch reward do you gain: the one beside the slot you contributed to, or the one beside your marker?
- How does the Sky Watch Defense Network bonus movement count opponents?
- Can Radio Observatory contributions go to programs ahead of your marker, and does that raise your score?
- Can you send a tourist from a project card to the Lunar Gateway?
- Can a tourist fill any base slot, go to the Mars ship, or use the Canada leader ability?
- Does Radar Monitoring trigger for an astronaut gained from the Lunar Gateway in any way, or only when you take the gateway action?
- Do Radar Monitoring and Tranquility Base still trigger when your base has no room, or no astronaut or tourist is available?
- Can Rover Tours move a gained tourist onto a project card when your base has no free slot?
- How many points do you get for filling all three tourist spots of the Artemis Tourist Office?
- Does the Visitor Center give reputation per tourist or per project that receives tourists?
- Which Artemis Tours spot do you take a tourist from when you gain one?
- At end of round, how much do players score when tourists return to Artemis Tours, and in what order?
- When Habitat Module moves a dome to the To Mars ship, do you still get the dome's immediate bonus?
- Do you get the immediate bonus of a building you send to Mars from the main board?
- When a card builds on the Mars ship, do you get that building's bonus?
- Does Canada B's astronaut bonus trigger when a structure is built as a side effect, such as by Construction Bots?
- Does Nanobubble Culture need one plant per sector or one plant in total?
- Can you pay one plant per structure in place of its maintenance cost?
- Can the Craterland Park project bonus apply to its own immediate build, and where must the tourist come from?
- Do you get VP for reputation gained beyond the top space of the track?
- Can reputation go below zero, and can you spend reputation you do not have?
- Can you take the same reputation-track corporation action twice in one turn?
- Do Space Robotics factories work without a robot attached, and is the first-time bonus repeated when a new robot is connected?
- What does the small icon in the top left of a Level 2 factory mean?
- Does a Level 2 factory's instant bonus still trigger if you connect a robot after acquiring it?
- Can you move a connected robot to another factory, or disconnect it freely to reuse it?
- Are robots attached to factories still counted as in your supply?
- Do you gain income for each robot attached to a Space Robotics factory?
- Does an astronaut gained from a robot factory generate income in the same income phase?
- Does Robotic Conglomerate trigger for each robot gained from Robot Factory?
- If Visit the Lunar Gateway gives you a corporation action that activates Space Robotics, does the factory's Lunar Gateway bonus pay out in that same action?
- Do you need two robots connected to separate factories at the same time to claim a Space Robotics goal?
- If the Lunar Gateway runs out of astronauts during income, does a Level 2 Space Robotics factory still give its astronaut?
- Are the Evergreen Farms goal majorities in a row strict, or do ties count?
- Who receives the Evergreen Farms bonuses, and does the row need an astronaut for them to score?
- Can you build two farms in the same hex in Evergreen Farms?
- Do farms count as structures for effects that trigger when you build a structure?
- Does the Evergreen Farms objective need its farms in three different hexes in a row?
- Can Evergreen Farms win a majority when astronauts are sent to the crater in 3- and 4-player games?
- Where do cargo tokens go after the Moon Mining maintenance phase, and how often can each Moon Mining bonus be taken?
- After a lab completes a Moon Mining objective, can it later be moved to the To Mars panel?
- For the Moon Mining second objective, do you build workshops or laboratories?
- When can you claim a corporation goal, and must you claim it as soon as you qualify?
- Are corporation goal markers returned each turn?
- Do you score the green-section points when your marker reaches a space on the reputation track?
- Can you use a 25-point instant reward on the turn you receive it?
- Can Versatile Robots activate two tokens of the same corporation?
- Can a robot's corporate action fund a project when your energy is below the project's minimum?
- Do corporation structures such as Evergreen Farms count toward crater row majorities?
- If the Lunar Gateway already holds more than four astronauts of one type, must you reduce them to four?
End of the game
- Can you move your astronauts into point-scoring buildings at the end of the game?
- Do structures you built still count for scoring if they end up on the Mars ship or are destroyed by an asteroid?
- How is a tie for the To Mars endgame scoring broken?
- When can you claim corporation goals, and are they scored at game end?
- How does the Space Robotics level 3 endgame tile score the structures you built?
- How is the Selenium Research round 3 endgame tile scored?
- Are astronaut points in your laboratories scored before corporation endgame scoring?
- Is there any reason to collect Rare Earth or Titanium in the final income phase?
- What do the three rectangles on the final scoring step of the main board mean?
- Do endgame bonuses that count projects include projects from all corporations?
Solo play
- In solo setup, do you draw one Agency Leader tile or choose from two?
- Do the regular rules apply to AstroBot, such as rearranging astronauts in maintenance and using a center Solar Panel?
- Can the solo AstroBot be used as a third player in a two-player game?
- In solo play, where does AstroBot's first action card go, and how does the row of cards form?
- In solo play, which part of AstroBot's action card is used this turn?
- If AstroBot's goal marker cannot advance on its goal track, does it advance the development track instead?
- What does AstroBot do with a goal symbol once it has claimed all three goals?
- In solo Action Phase 2, what row does 'then perform the action depicted on that row' refer to?
- Is the solo example on page 13 showing the correct corporation board?
- How does AstroBot choose the row and sector when it builds a structure?
- What does 'if the round would end now' mean when AstroBot chooses where to build?
- When AstroBot builds, does it keep building in a row where it already holds the majority?
- Where does AstroBot build when no astronaut is in the crater to point toward?
- When AstroBot cannot build the size its track calls for, does it fall back to a smaller structure?
- How does AstroBot decide majority in a row when placing an Evergreen Farms building?
- When AstroBot exploits the crater and no spot would win an astronaut, which spot does it take?
- If AstroBot cannot win any row with the astronaut it places when exploiting the crater, where does that astronaut go?
- When AstroBot exploits the crater on a hex where it has the biggest building, where do you pay?
- Does AstroBot activate corporation tokens or use corporation discs?
- If AstroBot's bonus Corporation token cannot be placed because the spot is already taken, is the action skipped?
- If a bonus Corporation action cannot be performed, such as the project-funding bonus, does AstroBot gain 2 Reputation instead?
- What does AstroBot get when its Space Robotics action builds a factory?
- Which corporation does AstroBot use for an immediate Corporation action from a Dome?
- Which Moon Mining shuttle row does AstroBot use, and what do the arrows on its solo card mean?
- Which Moon Mining shuttle slot does AstroBot deliver its cargo to, and what if that slot is taken?
- Does AstroBot score VP and reputation when it claims Sky Watch programs?
- In solo play, does AstroBot score the bonus points and reputation when it contributes to a defense program?
- In solo Skywatch, which defense program section does AstroBot contribute to once its reached section is full?
- In solo play with Evergreen Farms on the hard side, do you score the farm VP for the farm placed or the one that could have been placed?
- How does AstroBot place a farm in solo, and what happens if no farm location is possible?
- In solo play, does AstroBot score VP when its tourists return to Artemis Tours from the solo card?
- When AstroBot funds a project, does it reduce the energy track even though it pays no credits?
- What does 'virtually buy energy' mean in AstroBot's Fund a Project step?
- What do the battery icons and the final VP and goal icons on the AstroBot board mean?
- Does AstroBot score the ongoing effects of its funded projects at game end?
- How does the solo bot score a project card whose points depend on credits, such as Moon Casino?
- Which corporations give AstroBot potential end-game VP?
- When AstroBot's development track passes 5, does it cycle back to the start?
- Does AstroBot rearrange its astronauts during maintenance?
Appendix
- Can a sector hold more than one Evergreen Farms tile?
- Are Evergreen Farms goals scored only during maintenance, or on your normal turn?
- When counting farms for an Evergreen goal, do you count all farms in the row or only those next to your buildings?
- Can you claim an Evergreen goal when your total size ties another player's on a row?
- Can two players claim the same Evergreen goal for the same row?
- Do you need buildings on several hexes to claim an Evergreen goal?
- Do you need an astronaut in the row to claim an Evergreen goal?
- Is a robot attached to a factory permanent, and can you still spend it or count it?
- Can you move robots freely between factories?
- Does a factory need a robot attached to use its ability, and when must the robot be attached?
- Do you need to meet the energy requirement to fund a free project from a Moon Mining shuttle slot?
- Can the Mars ship solar panels be built at max energy, and do they depend on the crater energy track?
- Do you need Mars ship solar panels to be powered before you can send meeples to the ship?
- Can an Evergreen Farms LED Lights panel be placed on the Mars ship?
- Can Solar Cells' ongoing energy apply to its own immediate bonus, and can you choose how much energy it produces?
- Does the x1 on Selenium Research's corporate action arrow limit that action to one use?
- Can you move a Mars ship dome under the To Mars card for free, and does its dome-removal effect apply as written?
- Does shipping a dome to the Mars ship with the Habitat Module cost a ticket, and does it cost titanium?
- Does Orbital Assembly require a ticket when you build a structure directly on the Mars ship?
- When a Laboratory is built directly on the Mars ship with Orbital Assembly, which benefits do you get?
- Do tourists placed on Craterland Park come from your base, and do you get the benefit of the slot they occupy?
- How does Craterland Park's titanium discount work when tourists are on the card?
- Does Craterland Park's titanium discount apply to the bonus construction you get right after funding the card?
- Is the 'Corporation action' label on Craterland Park's corporation sheet correct, or should it read Ongoing?
- Can you use Craterland Park's immediate build without placing an engineer?
- Can you send tourists to Craterland Park with a Corporation action to get the immediate build's discount?
- Can a tourist move from one project card to another in the same round?
- Is Europe A's improved agency leader ability cumulative with its base ability?
- Are agency leader powers limited to once per round?
Shackleton Base: Below. Within. Above.Expansion
- Can a civilian exploit a sector, and can it use a Warehouse?
- Can a civilian fix a fracture when it exploits a sector?
- Is a civilian considered an astronaut for effects that say astronaut?
- Do civilians in your Headquarters give the Headquarters income?
- Does the grey astronaut icon mean any astronaut, including civilians and tourists?
- Can civilians or tourists be placed in halls?
- Can you move astronauts into halls during maintenance or rearranging?
- If you build a second hall, can you move an astronaut into an earlier unmanned hall?
- Does the Power Plant reduce a project's energy requirement, and does the funding player gain reputation?
- Do Evergreen Farms bonuses trigger when civilians are retrieved from the crater?
- Can an astronaut occupy a space uncovered by the Drill before the Underground Hall token is built?
- How many domes can sit on a Polyfunctional Center, and who owns them?
- When other players exploit a sector with a Polyfunctional Center, who receives the payment?
- Do overbuilt structures count toward the size total for the Selenium Research experiment?
- What does a Zenith Works overbuild cost?
- Does overbuilding a Zenith Works structure count as building for effects like Enhanced Buildings?
- Do Zenith Works project structures placed with letters C to F count for the Civic Centers global effect and end-game scoring?
- Under the Moon, does a red fracture block exploiting a sector from every side, or only the side where the astronaut is?
- Does building a laboratory in a fractured sector repair the fracture?
- Must you repair a fracture when you exploit the crater with a matching astronaut?
- Does the 25 VP 'double the activation rewards when exploiting the crater' tile double each resource, or let you perform the action twice?
- Do fractures block the resource from a sector, and how are they repaired?
- Does the Civic Center count its own structure for end-game victory points?
- When is an Underground Hall space unlocked as the digger moves?
- Do Underground Halls count as structures for Lunar City cards?
- Does Maintenance Crew reduce maintenance by one credit per structure holding a civilian?
- Do civilians in the HQ give reputation during income?
- Can Emergency Drill trigger a room that was flipped to end-game scoring and give its 6 points during the game?
- Does a Zenith Works '?' corporation token bonus let you choose any corporation's token?
- Does the Undermoon drill marker move during setup?
- Can overbuilt structures be shipped to the Mars ship as modules?
- Can the upgraded India 2 agency leader ability reduce both the credit and the energy cost, and must you use both reductions?
- Can a Mining Facility be overbuilt on a level that already holds an overbuilt structure?
- Who owns a stack of overbuilt structures, and does it still score for you at round end?
- Can you swap an astronaut in the extra waiting spot for a newly gained one?
- What happens to surplus astronauts or civilians retrieved from the crater when the base has no room?
- Can you trigger Zenith Works' 'total size of 7' objective with only two projects?
- Do the extra floors of a Zenith Works building score points?
- Which Zenith Works structures must be built on top of an existing building?
- Can Zenith Works structures other than the Polyfunctional Center be built on top of other buildings?
- When a Zenith Works effect says to collect credits from a building, do you keep them or discard them?
- Can you exploit the crater in a sector with a Zenith Works building F?
- Do underground hall income bonuses trigger immediately when you use the Emergency Drill corporation action?
- Can you place two fractures in the same spot?
- Where do the 3 credits come from when you place a red fracture?
- What corporation-token bonus does a dome built on a Polyfunctional Center give?
- Can credits gained from exploiting the crater pay for a Warehouse in that same row?
- Can a building be placed in a different spot within a larger building space than the fixed locations shown?