Cosmic Run

• Place the game board in the playing area.
• Shuffle the alien card deck. Place it face-down above the board. Flip 3 alien cards and place in a row.
• Prepare the meteor deck as follows:
  • Find the 6 starting meteor cards. Place any 4 of these aside, face-down, without looking at them. Add the other 2 to the 12 regular meteor cards, creating the meteor deck.
  • Find the 12 miss cards. Add 3/6/12 miss cards to the meteor deck for 2/3/4 players. Put unused miss cards back in the box.
  • Shuffle the meteor deck and place the 4 starting meteor cards, previously set aside, on top of the deck. Place the completed meteor deck face-down near the game board.

  

  

  

• Place the meteor tokens, red die, crytals and honor markers in a "supply."
• Turn the Infodere tokens face-down, mix them, and put in the supply.
• Place 1 Infodere token (face-down) on each of the 10 designated spots on the game board. Leave remainders in the supply.
• Players choose a color and take the tech card, ships, and score token of their color.
• Players stack the score tokens, in any order, on space 10 of the scoring track.
• Determine a starting player. This player places one of her ships on the first space of Planet 6's track. Going clockwise, each player places a ship in the next space, so the final player's ship is furthest along this track.
• All players place the rest of their ships on the space stations at the base of the other 5 Planet Tracks.
• The second, third, and fourth players take 1 free movement on a specified track. The second player moves 1 space toward Planet 1. The third player moves 1 space toward Planet 2. The fourth player moves 1 space toward Planet 3.
• Each player takes crystals based on starting position. The first player takes 1 crystal, the second takes 2, and so on.
• The first player takes the 5 white and 1 yellow dice.

The starting player goes first, then play goes clockwise.

Taking a Turn

The player taking a turn is the "active player." Each turn has 3 steps:

• Step 1: Meteor Strike
• Step 2: Roll and Assign Dice
• Step 3: Perform Actions

STEP 1: METEOR STRIKE

The active player flips the top card of the meteor deck. A meteor hits the planet matching the top number shown, unless the card is a "miss" card (with no numbers). For miss cards, proceed directly to Step 2. The first time a meteor hits a planet, place a meteor token, with the side showing 1 meteor, on the planet. If a planet is hit a second time, flip the token to show 2 meteors.

• After a third hit, the planet is destroyed, then pause the game for scoring (See "Planet Scoring" p. 9).
• If the top number of a meteor card matches a scored planet, a meteor strikes the planet indicated by the second number on the meteor card.
• If the second number also matches a scored planet, a meteor strikes the planet matching the third number.
• If all 3 numbers match scored planets, no meteor strike occurs.

• After resolving the meteor card, discard it from the game. Players may not look at discarded meteor cards. [cite: 67]

STEP 2: ROLL AND ASSIGN DICE

The active player rolls 6 dice (5 white and 1 yellow). After each roll, the player must "assign" at least 1 die by placing the die (or dice) at one or more locations. Unassigned dice are then rolled again. There are 3 location types to assign dice:

• Planets (to move ships)
• Alien Cards (to recruit aliens)
• Tech Card (to gain crystals)

General Rules for Assigning Dice

• Place assigned dice directly on the planet, alien card, and/or tech card. Once assigned, a die cannot be moved for the rest of the turn.
• After at least 1 die is assigned, the active player rerolls all unassigned dice, i.e., if a die is not assigned to a location, it must be rerolled.
• After each roll, the player must again assign 1 or more dice.
• The player continues to roll and assign dice until all dice have been assigned.

Assigning Dice to Planets

The active player assigns dice to planets to move ships. Each planet has its own dice requirements.

• For Planet 1, the active player's ship will move 1 space toward the planet for each die assigned that shows exactly 1 pip.
• For Planet 2, the ship will move 1 space for every pair of matching dice (i.e., "2 of a kind") assigned.
• Similarly, for Planets 3-5, the ship will move 1 space for every three-of-a-kind, four-of-a-kind, and five-of-a-kind, respectively, that are assigned to the planets.
• For Planets 2-5, the required dice need not be placed as a group simultaneously. For example, if the first roll shows three-of-a-kind, these may be placed at Planet 5 with the hope of getting two matching dice later to make five-of-a-kind. However, if the player fails to do so on that turn, the previously assigned dice are wasted, since assigned dice cannot be moved.
• Planet 6 is a special case. In this case, a ship will move 1 space for each different white die assigned.Also, if the yellow die is assigned to Planet 6, the ship will move the number shown on the yellow die.

Special Rule for the Yellow Die

If the the yellow die is assigned to Planet 6, Step 2 ends immediately. Thus, all other dice should be assigned prior to assigning the yellow die to Planet 6. If the yellow die is assigned to another location, the turn continues normally.

Assigning Dice to Alien Cards

Dice are assigned to an alien card to "recruit" the alien. Aliens provide special powers and may be "retired" to score Victory Points.

• Each alien card shows 1 or 2 dice icons with a specified number of pips.
• A player may assign dice to an alien card if the dice match the card.
• For alien cards requiring 2 dice, both dice need not be placed simultaneously.
• However, if the second die is not placed, the first die is wasted.
• The yellow die may be used to recruit aliens.

Assigning Dice to the Tech Card

Dice are assigned to one's tech card to earn crystals, which provide special powers. For each die assigned, regardless of the number of pips showing, the player earns 1 crystal.

STEP 3: TAKE ACTIONS

The active player now performs actions based on the assigned dice:

Move Ships

• For each die with exactly 1 pip on Planet 1, the player moves her ship 1 space.
• For each set of appropriate dice at Planets 2-5, the player moves the ship 1 space.
• For dice at Planet 6, the player adds the number showing on the yellow die (if assigned there) with the number of different white dice assigned there, then moves the ship that many spaces.

Additional Rules

• Planet Discovery and Scoring: When a ship moves onto a planet, the planet is "discovered" and the game is paused for scoring (see Planet Scoring).
• Stacking Ships: Ships occupying the same space may be stacked in any order except on the Planet 6 track. If a ships lands on a space occupied by another ship on this track, the ship arriving later goes on top. When scoring Planet 6, ships lower in the stack are considered ahead.
• Earning Infodere Tokens: A player earns the Infodere token at a space if the player's ship stops movement on that space. A ship must move the complete amount as dictated by the assigned dice, even if it means passing by a token (in which case, it is not earned).
• Infodere Tokens Kept Hidden: Infodere tokens are worth Victory Points as shown on the token, the values of which may be kept hidden from other players. The tokens score at game end.

Recruiting Aliens

• A player "recruits" an alien if the assigned dice match the card.
• Place recruited aliens face-up in front of oneself for future use.
• After recruiting an alien, a new alien card is put in its place.
• If the alien deck is exhausted, remaining aliens may be recruited, but are not replenished.
• A player may recruit up to 3 aliens per turn.
• A player may possess up to 5 alien cards.
• A player may "retire" aliens to make space to take more.

Gaining Crystals

• For every die assigned to one's tech card, the player takes 1 crystal from the supply.
• The number of pips or dice color does not matter.
• A player may assign multiple dice to the tech card.
• A player may possess a maximum of 5 crystals.

Players take turns in clockwise order until all planets are scored. If the game ends because the final planet is destroyed, the active player's turn ends and the planet is scored, as normal. If the game ends because the final planet is discovered, the active player's turn ends normally, then the planet is scored. In either case, each player, starting with the active player, is allowed to retire exactly 1 set of aliens.

FINAL SCORING

• Players with Infodere tokens reveal and score them.
• Players score 1 VP for each alien card (no more set scoring).
• Players score 1 VP for each crystal.

The player with the most VPs wins. In the event of ties, the player who finished in a better position on Planet 6 wins the tie.