Ad Astra Rulebook

WELCOME TO THE HOW TO WIN FUTURE! The players' successes in developing their civilization are turned into victory points by THE NEXUS In the far future, Homo Sapiens has slowly means of scoring actions, one of the different DESIGNER adapted to life beyond our planet. The solar actions players may perform. SERIES system has been colonized for centuries now, and over time humans have adapted and changed, The game ends when one player scores 50 effectively evolving into fi ve different races, suited points, or when all planets have been explored. The Nexus Designer for life in different planetary environments. At the end of a round in which either condition Series is a new has been fulfi lled, the game ends and the player collection of original But our star, Sol, is unexpectedly dwindling, with the most victory points is the winner. games created by and it’s now time for humanity to make the renowned designers from fi nal jump, to the stars beyond… all over the world. The COMPONENTS series places a spotlight on In Ad•Astra (“To the Stars”), you will guide the designers themselves. one of the fi ve factions of future humanity in its Inside your box of Ad•Astra you will fi nd the following components: We believe that game exploration of the galaxy. designers deserve more You will travel to stars where you will fi nd — 1 planning board credit than they usually — 150 resource cards, 25 of each resource receive and that more the mysterious artifacts of a long-lost alien information about them civilization. Your starships will land on — 55 action cards, 11 per player should be provided to uninhabited worlds and mine their precious — 25 starship pawns, 5* per player the people enjoying their ores. You will establish colonies for your people, — 25 colony pawns, 5* per player creations. develop factories, and build huge starships. With — 25 factory pawns, 5* per player — 25 terraformer pawns, 5* per player For this reason, in each game the powerful technology you wield, you will able to terraform worlds – changing the environmental — 11 alien artifacts cards (including 2 of the Nexus Designer Series optional cards) we will introduce the game’s conditions on newly discovered planets so as to designer (or designers) in make them habitable for your people. — 2 punchboards of cardboard counters an article written by another and tokens, containing: author, and we will provide Which faction will be able to create the — 43 planets: additional information on other greatest star-spanning civilization? — 6 excellent games created by — 6 the designer(s). — 8 GAME OVERVIEW — 6 We hope that if you enjoy this game, you will be interested Each player controls a faction that wants to — 6 in taking a look at its authors’ develop its presence in the galaxy by exploring — 6 other creations. new planets and establishing colonies on them. — 5 alien planets — 9 stars As a publisher, our goal By controlling planets you will be able to gather — 5 scoring tokens, 1 per player when choosing a game to the resources that you will use later to explore — 1 fi rst player token appear in our Designer other planets, build colonies and factories, and, — 5 player reference sheets Series is not only to choose sometimes, terraform distant worlds. a good game, but also — this rulebook to choose a designer, All these actions are accomplished using * Note: 1 pawn of each type per color is or a team of designers, action cards. Players will take turns in placing who have created other included in the game as a replacement for games that we can their cards on the planning board during the lost or broken pieces. However each player recommend! planning phase (see page 5), at the beginning is only allowed 4 pawns of each type during of each game round. the game. Actions are then executed in sequence, during Before playing your fi rst game of Ad•Astra, the action phase (see page 5), and each separate all cards into their individual decks and player may act when a new card is revealed. carefully punch out the cardboard pieces so they When each of the action cards on the planning do not tear. Separate the plastic components by board has been executed in sequence, the color. Be sure to keep all components out of the game round is over and a new one begins, reach of small children and animals. with a new planning phase. OVERVIEW OF THE COMPONENTS There are nine different stars in the game, recognizable by their shape and color. Each star also has an iconic representation used in the action cards, as shown below. The Sun Small Star Small Star Large Star Large Star Twin Star Twin Star Nebula Nebula (Starting System) Red Yellow Red Yellow Red Yellow Red Yellow There are 43 planets in the game. Each planet produces a different type of resource, as shown by the planet's color and the icon appearing on the planet itself. Planets Water Food (Vegetables) Energy (Fuel) Ore (Xanthium) Ore (Yoyodium) Ore (Zozodium) Alien (Back) Planet Planet Planet Planet Planet Planet Planet The resource cards are used to keep track of the resources accumulated by each player. Resource Cards Water Food (Vegetables) Energy (Fuel) Ore (Xanthium) Ore (Yoyodium) Ore (Zozodium) (Back) The alien artifact cards represent special items that players may fi nd on an alien planet. Each artifact card provides the player with a special power, which is explained in detail on the player reference sheet. Scientists of the far future name these discoveries using Latin, as they currently do with new animals and stars. Therefore, the cards show the Latin name of these wonderful items. Note: the “Omnibus Rebus Responsum” (Answer to Everything) and “Magnum et Antiquum Arcanum” (Great Old Secret) cards are optional. You may decide not to include them in the game if you fi nd that their effect makes Alien Artifact Cards the outcome of the game too unpredictable. Omnibus Rebus Magnum et Antiquum (Back) Responsum Arcanum 4 | 5 Each player has a set of 11 action cards. Each set of cards has a different image on their back, which shows the image of a different faction. Introduction by Bruno Cathala THE LUDOGRAPHY OF BRUNO FAIDUTTI AND SERGE LAGET When I was asked to write some words about Bruno Faidutti and Serge Laget to include in Ad•Astra as an Action Cards introduction to their ludography, I (Back) accepted with enthusiasm. I was excited in part because the French gaming scene owes a lot to their efforts. Players place their chosen action cards on Their fi rst games, published in the 80s the planning board at the beginning of each (Knightmare Chess and Valley of the game round. The fi rst 12 spaces are used in a Mammoths by Bruno, and Le Gang three or four-player game - all 15 spaces are des Tractions-Avant by Serge) were used in a fi ve-player game. instrumental in many French players discovering that there was life beyond The planning board is also used to keep track Monopoly, Clue, and Risk. of each player's score. I also owe them a lot on a personal level: They patiently guided my fi rst steps as game designer and, through our Planning Board cooperative efforts, they opened the doors of the publishing world to me. Each player’s scoring tokens are distinguished by their color and image, which match the color Bruno and Serge have much in common: and image of their faction. their passion for board games, of course, but also teaching (a profession they both The fi rst player token is used to keep track of which player must be the fi rst to place an action share), good whiskey, teamwork with on the planning board. other game designers, and playing Magic the Gathering. There are differences, too. Bruno is a prolifi c creator who has published more than 30 games, including Citadels, his greatest Bruno Faidutti international success. Scoring Tokens First Player Token He loves game mechanics based on bluffi ng, double-guessing (I think that Each player has 16 playing pawns in his color, representing what he can build during the game. you think that I think…), and intimidation, as well as creating game situations where it’s pointless or impossible to calculate precise odds and where the most cunning, rather than the most analytical, player will gain the upper hand. Colony Factory Terraformer Starship An example of setup STARTING THE GAME Each player chooses one color and takes all the gaming components in that color: — 11 action cards — 4 starship pawns — 4 colony pawns — 4 factory pawns — 4 terraformer pawns — 1 scoring token — 1 reference card — Place the nine stars, face up, on the table. Eight of the stars are either yellow or red, and have a distinct shape (large, small, twin, or nebula). One of the stars is white, instead. This is Sol, our sun, where the players start the game. — Place as many face down planets — Players randomly select one player to Note: You may place the action cards around the white star as there are be the fi rst player, who takes the fi rst anywhere on the planning board, as long players. This is the starting system player token. as you place them on an empty space. It (each individual star with planets is not necessary to fi ll the lower-numbered surrounding it is called a system). — All players place their scoring token on the victory points track of the planning spaces before the higher-numbered ones.

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