How does one round look like?
Here are some quick video tutorials if you'd like. Or you can continue reading on the website
How to set up your game table?
How to setup your table?
This is roughly how the table will look like. Scroll down to know more about each section.
The players will sit around the Play Area with the Main Deck and Discard Pile kept on either side of the Play Area. The illustration shows how the setup for a four player game would look like. The arrows suggest the direction each player will face.
The illustration does not show the cards each player will have in their hands. To know how each player will setup click here.
Main Pile
Players will take turns drawing cards from this pile. The pile consists of all possible cards in the game. Every time the Main Pile is exhausted, the Discard Pile is shuffled and added back into to the main pile.
Play Area
Except the Launch Area, Main Pile and Discard Pile, rest of the table can be treated as the Play Area. You can only play your Power-Up cards here.
IMPORTANT: Power-Up cards must be moved from the Play Area to the Discard Pile after they are used.
Discard Pile
The cards that get discarded from the players Hand, the Launch Area, or the Play Area are kept in the Discard Pile face down.
Please Note:
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Power Up cards are to be kept in your hand at all times except for when you play them in the Play Area. You should not keep a Power Up card in your Launch Area.
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Event cards can't be taken up in your hand. It directly goes to your Launch Area where everyone can see it.
How does a player setup?
Each player has a Launch Area where he puts together Payload cards to launch to Mars. A player can also have upto 4 cards that he keeps in his hand (can be Payload or Power Up cards) from which he can play into his Launch Area or play a Power Up card in the Play Area.
How to play your Turn?
There are two ways to play in your Turn in every round.
Draw a card
Draw one card from the top of the Main Pile into in your hand. You can't draw a card and keep it directly in the Launch Area or Play Area.
Play a card in the Launch Area
You can only play upto one card from your hand into your Launch Area.
Discard a card
You can discard upto one card card from your hand or the Play Area into the Discard Pile.
Either take any one or two of these Actions
Or
Play a Power-Up card
You can play up to one Power-up card in the Play Area and perform the action that the Power-up card enables you immideately.
How to set up your Main Deck?
To set up the Main Deck and deal cards before starting the game, take the deck of 52 cards and follow these few simple steps below in the given order.
FAQs
Yes. Typically, the Launch area can only have upto 4 cards during the game. Only in case of event card in the Launch area, the capacity increases to 6 cards.
You can rearrange you cards in your Launch Area in the beginning of your turn. It doesn’t count as an action.
No, that is not allowed during a game.
No, Power-up cards can’t be played in the Launch Area.
In case you already have an event card in the Launch Area, you can skip drawing the Event card and if you don’t have any other Actions to perform, you may skip the Turn.
No, discarding an Event card is not considered as an Action. On contrary, drawing an Event card or playing any card to discard the Event card will be considered as Actions.
No, unless you have an Event card in your Launch Area, skipping Turns are not allowed.
Yes, you can swap any card from your opponent’s Launch Area to yours. Although, you must reveal the face down card when swapped.
Yes, you can swap your Event cards with any card from your oppenent’s Launch Area as well.
No, you can only swap a card from your Launch Area to an opponent’s Launch Area using theSwap card.
No, you can only steal one card at a time from opponent’s Launch Area using a Steal card.
No, with the Destroy card you can only destroy a card from your opponent’s Launch Area. Apart from an Event card you can simply discard any card from your Launch Area or hand.
Launch Area
This is where all the 4 launch cards - Chimp, Booster, Shuttle, and Landing Ticket need to be placed to WIN the game. When playing, players can choose to have any one card face-down, hidden from opponents, in the launch area (to induce some strategic moves).
Hand
A player can have up to 4 cards in the hand. The cards in your hand are a secret and can’t be accessed by anyone under any circumstance during the game.
5
Now shuffle the entire deck well
4
Put the Event cards back into the deck
3
Deal 4 cards face down to all players
2
Shuffle the remaining cards well
1
Separate the Event cards from the deck