Soar Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Objective
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Bid Token Distribution
• Resolving a Quest
  • Ties
• Special Bid Tokens
  • Quest Reward Modifiers
  • Bid Token Modifiers
  • End Game Victory Points
  • Special Token Limits
• End of Game

Overview

Players: 2-5. Playtime: 30 min. Age: 14+.

Components

• 1 Rulebook
• 10 Quest Cards
• 5 Guide Cards
• 15 Player Ships
• 1 Skyborne Marker
• 1 Main Token Bag
• 5 Player Trays
• 32 Bid Tokens
• 16 Special Bid Tokens
• 35 Point Markers

Objective

Score the most victory points by winning bids on quests. However, the player with the lowest score at the end of the game will instead take the Skyborne's final score, meaning even those who fall behind may still claim victory!

Setup

1. Place all regular bid tokens in the bag.
2. Place all special bid tokens in a facedown pile.
3. Place the point markers off to the side.
   • Point markers have positive (light) and negative (dark) sides.
4. Shuffle the quest deck and remove cards based on player count, returning removed quests face down to the box.
   • 5 players: Use all quests.
   • 4 players: Remove 1 quest.
   • 3 players: Remove 2 quests.
   • 2 players: Remove 3 quests.
5. Reveal quests based on player count:
   • 2–3 players: Reveal 2 quests.
   • 4 players: Reveal 3 quests.
   • 5 players: Reveal 4 quests.
6. Each player takes 3 ships and 1 guide card in a matching color.
7. Place the Skyborne marker off to the side.
8. Each player draws 3 regular bid tokens from the bag into their private hand.
9. The player who most recently saw a shooting star goes first.

At 3 and 4 players the last player in turn order will take one fewer turn than the other players. To compensate, that player will draw a special bid token now.

Gameplay

Players take turns clockwise.

On your turn:

1. Place 2 bid tokens from your hand.

   • Tokens may be placed on the same quest or split between quests.
   • Tokens must be placed in order on the first available empty slot on a quest.
   • Tokens placed on open eye slots must be placed face up.
   • Tokens placed on blank slots must be placed face down.

2. Assign ownership of placed tokens.

   • Mark 1 with your ship — this is your bid.
   • The other becomes the Skyborne's bid.
   • You may look at any of your face down bid tokens at any time.
   • You may not look at face down Skyborne bids after they have been placed.

   If you do not have any ships available to place, both of your placed bids belong to the Skyborne.

3. Resolve full quests and assign rewards to players or the Skyborne marker.

4. Draw back up.

   • Draw from the bag until you have 3 regular bid tokens in hand.
   • Special tokens do not count toward hand size.

If any quests were completed, draw new quests to replace them after resolving. If the draw pile is empty, you do not draw.

Turn summary: Play 2 bid tokens every turn. Claim ownership. Draw up to 3 regular bid tokens. Play face up on eye slots. Follow placement order. Special bid tokens do not count towards hand size.

Bid Token Distribution

Value	0	1	2	3	4	5	7	6	8	9	10
Count	1	2	3	3	4	6	4	3	3	2	1

(Order of values as printed in the rulebook's distribution strip.)

Resolving a Quest

After a player has placed both of their bid tokens, if any quest(s) are full, resolve the quest(s).

1. Flip any facedown tokens on the completed quest face up.
2. Apply any special bid token modifiers (to rewards or bid tokens).
3. Add the bid values for each player. The Skyborne is considered a player.
4. Give rewards to players according to ranking:
   • Highest total: 1st place reward.
   • 2nd highest: 2nd place reward.
   • Lowest total: last place reward.
   • If more than 3 players are on a quest, some may not be given rewards.
   • If 2 players are on a quest, the 2nd highest receives both 2nd and last place rewards.
   • If only the Skyborne is present on a quest, they receive both 1st and last place rewards.
   • If any reward includes the special icon, they also draw a special bid token.
5. The quest is discarded and regular bid tokens are returned to the bag. Special bid tokens are returned to the facedown pile and shuffled. Players also collect their ships from the discarded quest.

Example: Total 11 takes the 1st place reward (-3); total 10 takes the 2nd place reward (6); total 5 takes the last place reward (3).

Ties

If tied, players (including the Skyborne) split the rewards, rounded toward 0.

• For example: If the reward is -3, two tied players each receive -1 point.
• If there are two tied players for 1st, they receive both the 1st and 2nd place rewards, divided by 2 (rounded toward 0). If all players tie, add all rewards and divide by the number of players (rounded toward 0).
• If the reward includes a special bid token, all tied players draw this token.

Special Bid Tokens

Special bid tokens are awarded on quests, and may be played on your turn in place of a regular bid token. Many special bid tokens also have a special modifier that applies to the quest rewards or modifies other bid tokens on the quest.

Special bid tokens may be used as your bid or the Skyborne's bid.

Quest Reward Modifiers

• ×2: Doubles all point rewards on the quest.
• +2 to All / −2 to All: Modifies all point rewards on the quest.

If a completed quest has both a +2 / -2 modifier and a ×2 modifier, resolve in the order in which tokens were placed.

Bid Token Modifiers

• +4 Previous / −4 Previous: Modifies the bid value of the previous placed token on that quest. If this token is the first token placed on a quest, the modifier does not apply.
• +4 Next / −4 Next: Modifies the bid value of the next placed token on that quest. If this token is the last token placed on a quest, the modifier does not apply.

End Game Victory Points

Some special bid tokens show end game victory points. If these tokens remain unplayed and in your hand at the end of the game, add those points to your final score.

Special Token Limits

• Special bid tokens do not count toward your 3-token hand limit.
• A player may have up to 3 special bid tokens in hand. If you would gain a 4th, discard 1 of your choice.
• The Skyborne may also receive special bid tokens as rewards on quests. These are kept face down next to their marker. If the Skyborne ends the game with more than 3, it scores only its top 3 valued tokens (most stars).

End of Game

The game ends when all quests are resolved. Follow these final steps:

1. Add points for any unplayed special tokens based on the number of stars on each token. The Skyborne will only score their top 3 special bid tokens.

2. The player with the lowest point total scores the Skyborne's point total instead.

   If two players are tied for the lowest point total, they both score the Skyborne's point total instead.

3. The player with the highest point total wins the game. In the case of a tie, they share the victory.