Space Lab
Space Lab Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 Stations, each made up of 3 Capsule tiles: Left Capsule, Center Capsule, Right Capsule
- 12 Objective tiles
- 12 Validation tiles
- 24 Project cards
- 1 score pad
- 60 Lab cards (15 of each agency)
Setup
- Shuffle the 60 Lab cards and form a face-down draw pile in the center of the table.
- Next to this draw pile, set aside a space called the Recruitment Center, which will hold Lab cards during the game.
- Each player places one of the Stations in front of them, leaving a card-sized gap between each of the 3 Capsules.
- The 10 empty spaces, around and between the Capsules, are called Lab Spaces.
- Each player draws 3 Objective tiles and places one face up in each of their 3 Capsules, as they choose.
- Shuffle the 23 Project cards and form a face-down draw pile.
- Place the Validation tiles in 3 stacks: one stack for Left Capsules, one for Center Capsules, and one for Right Capsules. Sort each stack face up, in descending order, with the highest value on top.
- Randomly choose a starting player. The game can begin!
Playing the Game
The game is played as a succession of turns (clockwise), until a player places their 10th Lab card or validates their 3rd Objective.
On your turn, you must carry out one of the following 3 actions:
- Reveal 3 Lab cards and take, among these cards, all the cards of the same Agency.
- Take all the cards of the same Agency from the Recruitment Center.
- Play, from your hand, Lab cards onto your Lab Spaces.
Warning: if you have 5 cards or more in your hand at the start of your turn, you are required to choose the third action (playing Lab cards).
Lab Cards
Each Lab card has the following 4 characteristics:
- a — Cost: this is the number of cards (from 0 to 3) that must be discarded from your hand to play the card.
- b — Agency: each Lab card belongs to one of the 4 Agencies (Golden Planet, Red Rocket, Blue Future, and Green Explorer). Agencies are also distinguished by the background color of the card.
- c — Specialty: each Lab card belongs to one of the 4 Specialties (Pilot, Researcher, Doctor, or Technician).
- d — Scoring/Effect: this is how the card earns you points at the end of the game (see the Card and Tile Effects section). Instead of an end-of-game score, some cards let you draw a Project card.
Action 1 — Reveal 3 Lab cards and take the cards of a single Agency
Reveal to all players the top 3 cards of the Lab draw pile. Among these 3 cards only: add to your hand all the cards belonging to a single Agency (as soon as the Lab draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile). The cards in your hand are now visible only to you.
The cards from the other Agencies are added to the Recruitment Center (group them by Agency for better legibility).
Note: this is the only action the first player may take at the very start of the game.
Example: Johannes draws 3 Lab cards, 2 Golden Planet and 1 Blue Future. He keeps the 2 Golden Planet cards and places the third card in the Recruitment Center.
Action 2 — Take all the cards of one Agency from the Recruitment Center
Add to your hand all the Lab cards of a single Agency from the Recruitment Center.
Example: the Recruitment Center holds 7 Lab cards: 3 Red Rocket, 2 Green Explorer, 1 Golden Planet, and 1 Blue Future. Corentin could take the 3 Red Rocket cards, but instead chooses the 2 Green Explorer cards, which combine better with his other cards.
Action 3 — Play Lab cards onto your Lab Spaces
Warning: if you have 5 cards or more in your hand at the start of your turn, you are required to choose this action.
Play one or more Lab cards onto empty Lab Spaces of your Station. You must pay the cost of each card by placing into a shared discard pile as many cards from your hand as the number shown.
Note: a played Lab card can never be removed or moved afterward. Each Lab Space can hold only one Lab card.
Example: Fred discards 3 cards from his hand and plays a card of cost 3 and a card of cost 0.
When you play a Lab card, and before playing another one, check:
- whether the card grants an immediate bonus,
- whether the Lab Space grants a bonus,
- whether you validate an Objective.
Immediate bonus on a card
Some Lab cards, when played, let you immediately draw a Project card. Other Lab cards earn points at the end of the game (see the Card and Tile Effects section).
Lab Space bonuses
The 3 upper Lab Spaces and the 3 lower Lab Spaces can grant you bonuses.
- When you play a Lab card on one of the 3 upper Lab Spaces: immediately draw as many Project cards as the cost of the Lab card played. Keep one of these Project cards and put the others back under the Project draw pile.
- When you play a Lab card on one of the 3 lower Lab Spaces: if the Specialty of the Lab card played matches the one shown on the Objective tile, you benefit from the indicated effect.
Example: Johannes plays a Lab card of cost 3 above a Capsule. He draws 3 Project cards and keeps one.
Example: Johannes plays a Doctor Lab card under his right Capsule. This matches the symbol on the Objective tile, so he can apply its effect and draw a Lab card (see the Card and Tile Effects section).
Validating an Objective
As soon as a player gathers, around a Capsule, 3 Lab cards matching the 3 Agency symbols shown on that Capsule's Objective, they immediately take the top Validation tile from the stack associated with that Capsule (left, center, or right) and place it so that it covers the validated Agency symbols of that Capsule.
All Validation tiles earn points at the end of the game, and the first ones also grant bonuses (described in the Card and Tile Effects section).
Example: Corentin plays a Golden Planet Lab card. His Capsule is validated (it is surrounded by 2 Golden Planet cards and 1 Green Explorer card, as shown on the Objective tile). Corentin is the first to validate his right Capsule, so he places Validation tile 5 there, which lets him draw a Project card.
End of Turn and End of Game
After carrying out an action, it becomes the next player's turn, clockwise, to do the same.
However, the game ends as soon as a player:
- plays their 10th Lab card,
- AND/OR validates their 3rd and final Objective.
All other players may take one final turn of action 3 (playing Lab cards).
Scoring
Then score the game:
Players record on a scoresheet the points from their Lab cards, Validation tiles, and Project cards.
The player with the most points wins the game. In the event of a tie, whoever holds the most Project cards wins. If still tied, the players involved share the victory.
Example: Corentin records his points on his scoresheet. Points are shown on most elements, but the following 3 cards earn points differently: card 1 — 2 points per Red Rocket symbol = 8 points; card 2 — 1 point per Pilot symbol = 4 points; card 3 — 3 points per Technician symbol on this row = 9 points. The Project cards earn the following points: card 4 — 2 cards = 10 points; card 5 — 2 cards = 2 points per Pilot symbol = 6 points; card 6 — 1 card = 1 point; card 7 — 1 point per Golden Planet symbol = 2 points. That is a total of 21 points for the Project cards.
Advanced Variant
Warning: it is recommended that you have played at least one game of Space Lab with the base rules before using this variant.
Setup
During setup, deal 3 Objective tiles to each player. Simultaneously, each player looks at their 3 tiles, chooses 2 to keep in front of them, and passes the 3rd to the player on their left.
Each player then places their tiles face up in their 3 Capsules, as they choose.
Card and Tile Effects
Effects shown in white on a black background apply at the end of the game (earning points), while effects shown on a grey background apply immediately.
Lab Card Effects
- Score the indicated number of points.
- Score the indicated number of points for each Lab card in your Station bearing the indicated Specialty symbol.
- Score the indicated number of points for each Lab card in your Station bearing the indicated Agency symbol.
- Score 1 point for each Project card you own.
- Score the indicated number of points for each Lab card in your Station bearing the indicated Specialty symbol AND on the same row as this card.
- Immediate effect, applied when you play the card: draw a Project card without showing it to other players.
Objective Tile Effects
- If you play a Researcher under this Capsule, draw 2 Project cards without showing them to other players. Keep one and put the other back under the pile.
- If you play a Technician under this Capsule, gain 3 points at the end of the game.
- If you play a Doctor under this Capsule, draw the top Lab card of the pile without showing it to other players.
Validation Tile Effects
- Draw a Project card without showing it to other players.
- Draw the top Lab card of the pile.
Project Card Effects
Each type of Project indicates the number of points it earns at the end of the game, based on the number of cards you own. Beyond a certain number of cards, some Projects earn no additional points.
Each player keeps their Project cards secret and reveals them to other players only at the end of the game.
Example: With 5 Mars Settlement cards, Corentin scores 16 points (he would have scored the same with only 4 cards).
Study of Black Holes: 1 card = 2 points; 2 cards = 3 points; 3+ cards = 13 points.
Exoplanet Search: at the end of the game, score 1, 2, or 3 points for each of your Lab cards bearing the Pilot symbol. 1 card = 1 point; 2 cards = 2 points; 3 cards = 3 points.
Mars Settlement: 1 card = 1 point; 2 cards = 4 points; 3 cards = 9 points; 4+ cards = 16 points.
Photographing Supernovae: 1 card = 1 point; 2+ cards = 10 points.
Moon Telescope Construction: score 1 point for each Lab card in your Station bearing the indicated Agency symbol (Blue Future).
Solo Mode — The Last Explorer
Set out on a solitary journey of space research with these adapted rules. This mode lets you discover the game in a different way by trying to achieve the best possible score.
Setup
Setup is the same as for a multiplayer game, except for the placement of the Capsules and their Objectives.
Place 3 Capsules along with their Objectives in front of you, then 3 more below them (once the first 3 are placed), so as to form 17 Lab Spaces, as shown in the accompanying diagram.
Playing the Game
As in standard mode, a solo game is played as a succession of turns in which you must carry out one of the three actions of the game:
- Reveal 3 Lab cards and take, among these cards, all the cards of the same Agency.
- Take all the cards of the same Agency from the Recruitment Center.
- Play Lab cards onto your Lab Spaces.
Warning: there are, however, two major differences in how a solo game unfolds!
- At the end of every turn, whichever action was taken, you must discard the top card of the draw pile, as well as all cards of the same Agency found in the Recruitment Center.
- As soon as the Lab draw pile is empty, the game ends immediately.
Example: Corentin finishes his turn. He reveals the top card of the draw pile. It is a Golden Planet Agency card. He discards it, along with all Golden Planet Agency cards present in the Recruitment Center. He can then begin a new turn.
End of Game
The game ends immediately as soon as one of the following conditions is met:
- you validate your 6th and final Objective,
- you play your 17th and final Lab card,
- you must draw or discard a Lab card from the draw pile, but cannot do so.
Scoring
Count your points using the normal rules, and refer to the scale below to evaluate your performance:
- Below 80: space exploration remains a mystery to you; you'll need to persevere…
- 80–100: your research is promising, keep going!
- 101–120: your progress is fueling discussions in the scientific community.
- 121–150: you are a legend of space exploration.
- Above 150: your peers have had a statue of you erected in your own lifetime. You have revolutionized how humanity understands space.