Skyward Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Setting Up the Game
• Stacking Cards
  • Allegiance & Discord Expansion Pack
• Cards Explained
  • Launch Cards
  • Effect Types
  • Faction Cards
• Factions
• Playing the Game
  • The Split
  • The Launch
• Ending the Game
  • Scoring
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Card Clarifications
• The Allegiances Expansion
  • Allegiance Cards
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
  • Scoring
  • Variant Play
• The Discord Expansion
  • Discord Cards
  • Setup
  • Gameplay
  • Scoring
  • Variant Play
  • Discord Card Clarifications
• Credits

Contents

• 1 Game Board
• 48 Building Cards
• 32 Cogs
• 1 Warden Token
• 28 Faction Cards
• 4 Vehicle Cards
• 5 Critter Cards
• 1 Allegiance & Discord Expansion Pack (24 Cards)

Version 1 — 21 April 2017

Setting Up the Game

1. Place the Game Board in the middle of the play area. Shuffle all the cards together. Place the cards on the board, face-down to form the Launch Deck.
2. Make a pile of Cog tokens that is within reach of all players.
3. Reserve an area where split cards will be placed.
4. Reserve an area in front of each player. This area is called the Airspace.
5. Choose a starting player. We recommend the person who has the most experience with the game. Give the starting player the Warden token.

Stacking Cards

Skyward is a game about card drafting. A significant portion of the game space will be taken up by the split area. Cards in Skyward are designed to be stacked in a way that won't obscure all the critical information on a card. If the space available for the game is tight, we suggest stacking the cards as illustrated in the rulebook.

The play area is laid out as follows:

1. Launch Deck / Discard Pile — the shared central deck and discard pile.
2. Cogs — the shared pile of Cog tokens, within reach of all players.
3. Split Area — where the Warden's split piles are placed.
4. Airspace — the area in front of each player where launched buildings, Vehicles, and Critters are placed.
5. Warden Token — held by whoever is the current Warden.

Allegiance & Discord Expansion Pack

The included expansion offers players familiar with the game an added layer of depth and strategy. We recommend players be familiar with the base game before trying out the expansion pack.

Cards Explained

Launch Cards

Each Launch card shows:

• Launch Cost — the Faction symbols (and any Cog substitutions) that must be discarded to launch the card.
• Card Type — whether the card is a Building, Vehicle, or Critter.
• Victory Points — the VP the card is worth toward final scoring.
• Card Name.
• Effect Type — the icon showing when the card's effect triggers (see Effect Types below).
• Effect — the text describing what the card does.

Effect Types

Effect types describe the timing of when the effect is activated and resolved.

• Launch (up-arrow icon) — Launch effects are triggered on launch.
• Ongoing (circular-arrows icon) — Ongoing effects provide a continuous effect.
• Score (flag icon) — Score effects provide additional Victory Points (VP) at the end of the game.
• Instant (lightning-bolt icon) — Instant cards do not go into your hand and must be played immediately from the split.

Unlike any other effects, Instant effect cards always go directly to your Airspace from the split.

Faction Cards

Each Faction card shows:

• Card Name — each faction has an additional "Elite" type that grants two faction support.
• Card Count — the number of copies of this card in the game.
• Faction Resource — the number of Faction Resource provided by the card.

Factions

There are 4 factions in Skyward, each offering their support to help build the new city.

• Seers (spiral icon) — The Seers form the most technologically advanced faction of the four. They are authoritative and controlling.
• Makers (house icon) — The Makers believe in perfect constructions. They are an engineering focused faction that thrives on automation.
• Preservers (knot icon) — Forgoing lavish lifestyles in order to promote their philanthropic agenda, Preservers focus on developing community and culturally significant buildings.
• Collective (globe icon) — The Collective favours digital data streams. They are the smallest and weakest of the four factions, but their unrivalled access to information helps them achieve their goals.

The Wild Icon (a multicolored diamond) is not an actual faction, but rather a symbol representing any faction.

Playing the Game

Skyward is played over several rounds. Each round starts with The Split, followed by individual player turns (The Launch).

The Split

1. Warden makes a split and adds the Warden marker to one of the piles.
2. Player to the right of the Warden makes the first choice.
3. Player who took the pile with the Warden marker becomes the new Warden.

Whoever has the Warden token is in control of The Split. To start, the Warden deals a number of cards from the Central deck, face-up:

Players	Cards to Split
2	8
3	12
4	16

If there are not enough cards remaining in the Launch deck, use however many cards remain instead.

The Warden then divides these cards into separate piles for each player and places the Warden token onto one of these piles.

Once all cards in The Split have been distributed into the piles, the player to the Warden's left has first pick on taking one of the piles. If a player takes a pile containing Instant cards, those cards must be placed face-up in their Airspace—instead of in their hand.

There does not need to be an equal number of cards in each pile.

This continues in clockwise order until finally returning to the Warden, who must take the remaining pile.

Whoever takes the pile with the Warden token becomes the new Warden and takes 1 Cog from the central pile.

Once every player has chosen a pile, player turns begin.

After The Split, play starts with the Warden and continues clockwise until all players have completed their turn.

The Launch

1. In clockwise order, players take their turns, starting from the new Warden.
2. On your turn, you may launch 1 building to your airspace.
3. At end of turn, you may discard cards for cogs. Your maximum hand size is 6.

During your turn you may Launch 1 building from your hand. Launched buildings earn you Victory Points (VP) at the end of the game.

To Launch a building, pay the required cost by discarding a set of Faction cards required by the building as indicated on the card's cost to launch, then place it face-up in your Airspace.

Cogs can be used to substitute for a faction cost. Once used, they are discarded to the central pile.

At the end of your turn you may discard any 3 cards from your hand. If you do, take 1 Cog from the central pile. You may do this as many times as you are able.

Finally, discard from your hand until you have no more than 6 cards.

The round is over once all players have had a turn. If the endgame has not been triggered, the Warden starts a new round with another Split.

Launch Example: Jump Gate's launch cost is paid using a Seer, a Maker and a Cog. Maker is used to pay for the Wild cost while the Cog is used to pay for the second Seer faction requirement.

Ending the Game

The endgame is triggered when the Launch deck is emptied or any player has 6 or more Buildings in their Airspace at the end of their turn. Complete the current round as you would normally, then move to Scoring.

While having 6 Buildings in your Airspace triggers the endgame, it is still possible for players to end up with more than 6 after their final turn.

Scoring

Add up the VP values of buildings in your Airspace, along with any additional Victory Points (VP) earned from Score effects.

The winner is the player with the most VP. In the case of a tie, the player with the most launched buildings is the winner. In the case of a further tie, the player with the most Cogs wins.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does a "Faction building" (or equivalent) mean exactly? A: Buildings with Seer, Maker, Collective, or Preserver symbols in their launch cost are considered to be a building of each faction listed. A building with a Wild symbol in its launch cost, however, isn't automatically a building of every faction.

Q: If I overpay a launch cost with a Faction Elite do I get to keep the remaining faction symbol somehow? A: No. There is never any "change" given and you lose the extra symbol that the Faction Elite provides.

Q: I have a building with Ongoing or Score effect type. If someone took the building from me, do I still benefit from the build effect? A: No. Once a building leaves your Airspace, you no longer control the building and thus do not benefit from any effect provided by the building.

Q: Can I exchange more than 1 Cog at the end of my turn by discarding 3 more sets of cards? A: Yes. You can do this as many times as you like provided you have the cards to discard.

Q: Can I go over my hand limit? A: Yes. However, you must discard down to 6 cards at the end of your turn.

Q: Is there a Cog limit? A: No, you can have as many Cogs as you are able to generate.

Q: What if we have run out of Cog tokens? A: Cogs are considered to be an unlimited resource. In the rare occasion that you have run out of Cog tokens, please find suitable proxies for them.

Q: Can I have more than 6 buildings in my Airspace? A: Yes. Even though the end game conditions would be triggered by the first player that reaches 6 buildings, there are ways for a player to be able to launch additional buildings in a turn.

Q: When splitting, can I make the piles uneven? A: Yes.

Q: Can I make a 0 card split pile? A: Yes. However, as the Warden, it means you'll likely end up with the 0 card pile.

Q: Is it possible to play the game with 5 players? A: It is possible to play with 5 players without changing the fundamental rules of the game. The formula for the number of cards to split is equal to 4 times the number of players in the game. So for 5 players, you will need a split of 20 cards.

Note that the more players there are, the more cards are required to split. This will increase downtime between players as well as increase the amount of thinking time for the Warden during The Split. We only recommend trying with 5 players if every participating player is familiar with the game.

Card Clarifications

Jump Gate – When playing Jump Gate, you choose the opponent that must swap one of their buildings with Jump Gate. Exchanged buildings go into the player's Airspace, not their hand.

Biosphere – Biosphere only copies the Launch effect of a building and does not copy any other attributes. When copying Jump Gate, your opponent will swap their building with Biosphere, not the Jump Gate.

Sky Command – Normally you can only Launch 1 Building during your turn. Sky Command is one of the few ways you can launch an additional Building during your turn.

Rookery – Sending a Pigeon is optional. In some situations it might be more advantageous to keep your Pigeon.

Temple – You must have more Preserver buildings in your Airspace than each opponent individually, not collectively.

Dojo – Dojo only copies the Score effect of a building. It does not copy any other attributes such as Faction, Launch cost, or Victory Points (VP). As with all effects, Dojo's effect comes into play only during endgame scoring.

Clock Tower – Discarding a Maker building from your Airspace is not optional. Since Clock Tower is a Maker building, you may discard Clock Tower—after paying the launch cost—to complete this requirement.

Memorial – Faction cards revealed can belong to any faction. Elite Faction cards count as a single card only. Assembly Line acts as a Faction card while it is in your hand, thus counts towards launching Memorial. You do not discard revealed Faction cards.

Lightbridge – Lightbridge does not have any faction cost to launch. This means the only way to launch Lightbridge is to fulfill the requirement.

Rocket Cat – If you have a Pigeon, you must give it to another player. If you do not have a Pigeon, ignore the card effect.

The Allegiances Expansion

Allegiance Cards

Each Allegiance card shows:

• Victory Points — the VP the Allegiance is worth at game end.
• Launched Faction Requirement — the Faction symbols you must have across your Launched Buildings (or Cogs, for some Allegiances) to claim the card.
• Allegiance Name.
• Effect — the bonus claimed immediately on play.
• Expansion Name — marked "Allegiance".

Skyward is the point where all four empires come together. The Airborne city is a hub for commerce, construction—and culture. For the first time, Seers and Makers can debate and share their latest theories about the nature of space and time. The Preservers have a beautification project that no human nation has ever attempted and they have access to resources that no human nation has ever dreamed of. The Collective are there, too.

In Allegiances, you'll be able to earn prestige by building new societies, not just new cities. Allegiance cards will give you a huge prestige bonus, but you'll need to carefully craft your city to support the ideals of your chosen society.

Setup

To play with the Allegiance expansion, gather all 12 Allegiance cards and shuffle them. Deal 6 Allegiance cards into a face-down pile. Shuffle this pile into the Central deck. Remove the remaining 6 cards from play; they will not be used this game.

Gameplay

During your turn, in addition to being able to Launch 1 Building, you may optionally play 1 Allegiance.

Allegiance cards can only be played once you meet the stated requirement—instead of paying to Launch with Faction resources in your hand like Buildings. The requirement is met using only what is currently in your airspace. For example, Archivists requires you have at least 3 Preserver and 2 Collective Faction symbols across all of your Launched Buildings in your Airspace. In the case of Plutocrats, you must be in possession of at least 4 Cogs. Note that you cannot substitute a requirement of Cogs for other Factions.

To play an Allegiance card, place it face-up in your Airspace and immediately claim any bonus on the card. Note that Allegiances do not count towards triggering the endgame. Allegiance cards can be discarded like any other card in a player's hand in exchange for Cogs.

Just because you met the requirement of an Allegiance during a turn does not mean you are guaranteed the Victory Points (VP). For an Allegiance to be worth VP, you must still meet the requirement at the end of the game.

Scoring

Add the VP from your completed Allegiances to your final score. Regardless of when you played an Allegiance card, the stated requirement must be met at the end of the game to count towards your final score. For example, if you played Plutocrats, which requires 4 Cogs, you still need to have 4 Cogs at the end of the game to get the 10 VP reward.

Variant Play

For those that enjoy having goals to achieve in a game, we recommend the following alternate setup: Shuffle all 12 Allegiance cards and deal 3 to each player. Players keep 1 Allegiance card and discards the remaining 2. In this variant, players start with 1 card already in their hand before the first split of the game. The rest of the rules remain the same.

The Discord Expansion

Discord Cards

Each Discord card shows:

• Card Type — all Discord cards have an Instant effect.
• Discord Name.
• Effect — resolves as soon as the card is taken from The Split.
• Expansion Name — marked "Discord".

The Great Brouhaha is over, but the land-bound empires are still recovering from years of pointless bickering. Certainly, years of weapons development doesn't just go away overnight. If your best and brightest scientists had built a weapon that could rewrite the laws of physics, throwing all of them out would be an insult to their talents. And you know those other guys probably kept some of theirs too.

Discord gives you the opportunity to find peacetime applications for the kind of things nobody in the city will talk about. Certainly, nobody approves of owning treasure from the war, but if your ancestors did happen to stockpile some, you might as well spend it. And if you're spending it on public works, everybody wins and we can look the other way. But don't flaunt it—if you're too free with your forbidden technologies, people might talk.

Setup

To play with the Discord expansion, shuffle all 12 Discord cards into the Launch deck before starting.

Gameplay

Discord cards are Instant cards. Place them next to your Airspace as soon as they are acquired. Their effect comes into play immediately following The Split and is not optional.

If a player acquires multiple Discord cards, they may choose the order in which the Discord cards are resolved.

Discord cards are not considered to be in your Airspace even though they are placed alongside Pigeons and Airships when you acquire them.

Scoring

At the end of the game, the player with the most Discord cards loses 4 Victory Points (VP). If multiple players are tied for having the most Discord cards, they all lose 4 VP.

Variant Play

For those that enjoy a more consistent play style, we recommend the following alternate setup. This variant guarantees that every round, one Discord card will be added to the split.

Shuffle all 12 Discord cards and place it face-down to form the Discord deck. Place it next to the Launch deck. Each round, at the beginning of The Split, reveal a Discord card. The Warden adds the revealed Discord card into their split.

The rest of the rules remain the same.

Discord Card Clarifications

Chimaera Vats – You choose the opponent to give all your Pigeon and Discord cards (including Chimaera Vats) to. Cards discarded must be from your hand.

Crassus' Cache – There are 5 copies of Crassus' Cache. You receive 1 Cog for each Crassus' Cache, including the copy you just acquired.

Credits

Game Design: Brendan Evans

Art Direction: Steven Preston

Game Development: Allen Chang, Alistair Kearney

Art: Neil Martin, Steven Preston, Ellie Jang, Dmitriy Logunkov

Playtesting: Jason Kotzur, Barantas

Graphic Design: Allen Chang, Matthew Lee

Production: Alistair Kearney

Story: Peter C. Hayward

Translators:

• German: Daniel Ebling, Daniel Theuerkaufer, Steffen Knoll, Markus Kubczigk
• Spanish: Federico Juan Fontana, Ivan Villaverde, Lucas García Valle, D. P. López
• French: Seregmegilmor, MrEd, Thierry Soucie, Alexis Allard
• Polish: Anna J. Shelmerdine
• Spanish (Latin American): Federico Juan Fontana
• Russian: Yurii "Saodhar" Furtat
• Chinese (Traditional): Chao Chih-Chiech, Wang Po Chou
• Italian: Giampaolo Brunetti, Yuri Avello
• Portuguese (Brazilian): Pablo Trude, Marcel Sato
• Dutch: Flora van Glabbeek, Agnes Nutley
• Japanese: Ricky Sheward

Published by Rule & Make.