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Rules for Playing the Ascending Empires Game
Hello there! So you’ve decided to embark on an intergalactic journey and play the Ascending Empires game. Well, strap in because I’m about to lay out the rules for you. Let’s dive right in!
Setting Up the Game
First things first, let’s get the game set up. Begin by placing the game board on a flat surface. Take a moment to marvel at the beautifully illustrated planets scattered across the board. It’s quite a sight! Next, each player chooses a color and places their starbase on a planet of their choice. This is your home planet, so make sure to choose wisely!
Now it’s time to distribute the ship tokens, victory points, and control markers to each player. Everyone starts with the same number of ship tokens and victory points, but you’ll have to earn those control markers as the game progresses.
Playing the Game
Okay, now that we’re all set up, it’s time to get the game going. Ascending Empires is played in turns, with each player taking their actions one at a time. Pay close attention because this part is important!
On your turn, you have two options: move one of your ships or build a structure. Moving ships is crucial for expanding your empire and exploring the vastness of space. You can move a ship up to the number of spaces equal to its speed value. Just be careful not to collide with other ships or fly off the board!
Building structures, on the other hand, allows you to establish control over planets and gain valuable resources. Each structure has its own unique benefits, so choose wisely. Oh, and don’t forget to keep an eye on those victory points. The player with the most points ultimately wins the game!
Winning the Game
Victory is within your grasp! To win Ascending Empires, you must accumulate victory points and be the first to reach the predetermined number of points. So, make strategic moves, build structures, and control as many planets as you can. Remember, every decision counts!
Now that you know the rules, it’s time to embark on your space adventure. May your empire rise and flourish among the stars. Good luck, fellow space explorer!
- 9-piece puzzle board
- 4 player placards
- 32 wooden starship discs
- 4 wooden battleship discs
- 28 wooden planet discs
- 10 wooden asteroid discs
- 2 sticker sheets
- 56 plastic troops
- 64 wooden pieces (research facilities cities and colonies)
- 50 VP tokens
- 4 range ruler tiles
- Tech track tokens
- Instructions
Object of the Game
Let’s talk about the stuff you’ll find in the game. We’ve got a 9-piece puzzle board… 4 player placards… 32 wooden starship discs… 4 wooden battleship discs… 28 wooden planet discs… 10 wooden asteroid discs… 2 sticker sheets… 56 plastic troops… 64 wooden pieces (research facilities, cities, and colonies)… 50 VP tokens… 4 range ruler tiles… Tech track tokens… and, of course, instructions to help you get started.
You’re probably wondering what this game is all about. Well, I’ll tell you. In this game, players get to travel across the universe, just like the astronauts you see on TV. Only, instead of exploring real space, we’re exploring a universe that’s just in our heads.
We’ll be setting up colonies on uninhabited planets. These are planets that used to belong to ancient alien species. How cool is that? But here’s the thing, it’s not all fun and games. There are other groups of human explorers out there, and some of them aren’t too friendly. So, we have to defend ourselves from them. It’s a bit like playing a game of tag in space.
You might just stumble upon some extraordinary ancient alien artifacts as you explore, which can grant you powerful technologies to aid in your quest for dominance among the stars. The player with the most points at the end of the game will be declared the winner.
Getting Started
- Let’s start by putting together the nine different parts of the game board. Take your time and make sure each piece is in its proper place.
- Now it’s time to choose your Homeworld. Each player gets one in their favorite color. Once you’ve chosen, carefully place your Homeworld and any asteroids on the gameboard according to the instructions on page 3.
- The gameboard is divided into four quadrants, and each quadrant has a specific number and type of planets and asteroids based on the number of players. Take a look at the chart on page 3 to see how to set up the planets. Place the groups of planets face down, mix them up, and then distribute them evenly across the open holes in each quadrant.
- Next, grab a placard in your color. This will represent you throughout the game. Place six of your troops in the Supply area and put two of your Starships in Orbit around your Homeworld. The Starships should touch the shaded area surrounding your planet.
How to Play the Game
When you’re playing this game, you have different things you can do to make progress:
- Recruit Troops
- Move
- Mine
- Build a Structure
- Develop Technology
Important: The place where you start the game, called your Homeworld, is special. You can’t mine resources, build things, attack, or block other players here. But you can always recruit troops and launch ships from your Homeworld.
Step 1: Building My Army
Hey there! When it comes to expanding my forces, I have an important action to consider – recruiting troops. This is a crucial step in strengthening my position in the galaxy, and I want to make sure I do it right.
So, how does it work? Well, I have a pool of troops that I can distribute among my Homeworld and any planets that I control. I can take up to 2 troops from my supply and place them strategically across these locations. It’s like building my own little army!
Now, here’s the catch – each planet has a limit on how many troops it can hold. I need to keep that in mind while assigning my troops. No point overcrowding a planet, right? So, the maximum number of troops that can be stationed on any planet is 3.
But wait, there’s more! If I feel like I’ve made a tactical error and want to make changes, I can also remove troops from any occupied planets, even if they’re blockaded. These troops will go back into my supply, ready to be used again.
So, remember, recruiting troops is an essential step in my galactic conquest. With each troop I strategically place, I’m making my presence stronger and fortifying my position. Let’s build our army, one troop at a time!
Move Me: Action 2
Hey there! It’s time to get moving! In this game, you’ve got up to 2 movement points to spend. There are three options you can choose from: Launch, Navigate, and Land. Each of these options costs one movement point.
Launch: With this option, you can take one of your Troops from an Occupied Planet and return them to your supply. Then, you can place one of your Starships from your supply into Orbit around that same Planet.
Navigate: This option lets you flick or strike (but not push!) one of your Starships that’s already in play. You can even ricochet off other Planets if you want! But watch out, if your Starship hits an enemy Starship, it’s called a Ram, and both Starships are destroyed and sent back to their owners’ supplies.
Remember, only the first two Starships that collide are destroyed. And hey, no extra points are earned for destroying a Starship through a ram attack. So choose your moves wisely!
Hey there! Let’s talk about navigating your ship in this game. If your ship ends up standing on its edge and starts rolling, here’s what you should do:
First, wait for the ship to stop moving. If it’s still on the game board, the player to your left gently taps it with their finger so that it falls with the sticker side up. But if it rolls off the board, uh-oh! That’s a navigational error! Your ship goes back to your supply.
Landing: This move allows you to return one starship from the orbit of a planet back to your supply, and then place one troop from your supply onto that planet. But be careful! You can’t land on a planet that another player is already occupying.
- If the planet is face down, you have to flip it over to see its color before placing your troop on it.
- Each troop adds one point to the defense value of the planet it’s on.
After you’ve used up your movement points, it’s time to check if you need to make an attack.
Resolving Attacks
So here’s the deal: attacks happen after you’ve moved your starships. And guess what? If you’re the one doing the attacking, you gotta make sure you have starships in position to attack. But here’s the thing – each starship only gets one shot at attacking. After that, they’re done.
Alright, let’s talk about attacking starships. If you, the active player, have two starships that are close enough to an enemy starship, that enemy starship is toast. Yep, it gets destroyed and sent back to their supply. And to figure out if they’re close enough, you can use the range ruler. Easy peasy. Oh, and here’s a bonus: for each enemy starship you destroy, you earn 1 victory point. Not too shabby, right?
Now, let’s say you’ve got a battleship. How awesome would that be? Well, if you’ve got the right technology, you might just be lucky enough to have one. And here’s the cool thing about battleships – they count as 2 starships when attacking. So, instead of just one shot, you get two with a battleship. But it’s not all fun and games – it takes 3 starships within short range to take down a battleship. But hey, if you manage to destroy a battleship, you’re gonna earn yourself 2 victory points. Nice!
Attacks on Planets: When I have more Starships in orbit than the Defense Value of a planet, everything on that planet gets destroyed. The Defense Value of a planet depends on the number of items that are based on it (I’ll explain that in a bit).
I get 1 VP for each item that gets destroyed from that planet. But there’s a catch – I can’t attack a planet if there are any Starships from other players in orbit of it.
Action 3: Mine
I can take away 2 Troops from one planet and earn 1 VP. Or, I can take away 3 Troops from one planet and earn 2 VPs.
Action 4: Build a Structure
I have the option to build a Research Facility, a Colony, or a City. A planet can have multiple types of each structure, but I can’t go over the limit of 3 structures per planet.
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Research Facility: When I want to establish a Research Facility, I remove 2 Troops from the planet and place the facility there. But remember, I can only have a maximum of 2 Research Facilities on one planet.
Action 5: Develop Technology
I can increase the level of a Technology by one. Here’s how it works:
- To develop new technologies, we need to start from the lowest level and work our way up.
- If I want to be an active player developing a technology at a certain level, I have to have a number of Research Facilities equal to that level. These Facilities have to be on planets that match the color of the new technology.
- It’s important to know that once I have developed a technology, I won’t lose it even if one of my Research Facilities is destroyed later in the game.
- There’s a bonus for being the first to develop a specific technology. I receive Victory Points (VPs) equal to the level of the technology. Additionally, when I develop an entire row of Technology, I’ll gain a bonus shown on the right side of the Technology Track.
Scanning Planets and Ending Turns
Once I finish my turn, I have the option to secretly examine any face-down planet that I currently have in orbit. This allows me to gather information about the planet before making any decisions. However, I must remember to return the planet(s) to their original face-down position after I’m done.
Now, it’s your turn! The player to my left takes their turn, which means they get to make their own strategic moves and decisions.
Blockaded and Defended Planets
If there is an enemy starship in orbit around a planet that I occupy, then that planet is considered blockaded. In this situation, I am restricted from performing certain actions on the planet, such as building, landing, launching, recruiting, developing technology, or mining.
In addition, I cannot attack a planet if there are any opponent starships in orbit around it. This means that a planet can be both defended and blockaded simultaneously.
End of the Game
When a player takes the last victory point from the pile, they will complete their turn and then everyone else will have one final turn.
If you earn any additional victory points during the last round, you can take them from the box.
You gain extra victory points based on planets and quadrant bonuses:
- You get 1 victory point for each occupied planet, asteroid, and established colony.
- You earn 2 victory points for each established city.
- You receive 3 victory points for having cities in 3 different quadrants or 6 victory points for having cities in 4 different quadrants.
The player with the most victory points wins the game.
If there is a tie, the player who took the most victory points during the game is the winner. If this is also tied, then the player who developed the most technologies will win.