Teach the Game

A five-minute teaching order for building systems, using the rondel, completing objectives and scoring Entropy.

How you win

Create the highest-scoring simulation. Build Solar Systems with Stars, Planets and Asteroids, populate Planets with Life, and use the Main Objectives and Lifeform Objectives to score. After the game ends, the player with the most VP wins; ties are shared.

What the boards show

The Main board is a rondel of inner-ring actions and outer spaces on six Action tiles. Your Scientist moves clockwise around it. Each Console tracks your Creation tokens, Focus cards, Generator and personal objectives. Your Solar System tiles hold your Stars, Planets, Asteroids, Biomes and Life.

What happens in a round

Players take one turn each in clockwise order, starting with the First Player. On your turn:

1. Move your Scientist 1–3 spaces clockwise and stop on an inner action or an outer Action-tile space.
2. Resolve the Traffic Bonus, then the action at your destination. Place a matching Creation token if you land on an inner action.
3. During Mission, resolve an eligible Mission card, advance Main Objective tracks you meet, and claim an eligible Lifeform Objective. Stand any Creation tokens that were lying down.

Passing your own Creation tokens retrieves them. Each one can give you 1 Entropy or activate one Star. That is the main way to reuse actions.

How the game ends

The end is triggered when two Objectives are completed in total: a Main Objective marker reaches its last space or someone claims a big Lifeform Objective tile. Finish the current round, then play one more round and score.

The actions

Action	What it does
Evolve a Star	Pay Energy to swap a Star for the next one on its path, or add a new tier-I Star
Aggregate a Planet	Pay Mass for a Planet, resolve it and add it to a Solar System
Create Life	Play a Life card on a Planet that meets its Life Conditions and gain its Lifeforms
Activate Stars	Pay Entropy to trigger any number of your Stars once each
Set a Biome	Put a Biome beside a Planet; fulfil it later for an ongoing reward
Upgrade Console	Pay 3 Energy to raise a Focus card one tier
Take Life cards	Take two Life cards from the offer
Catch an Asteroid	Add an Asteroid to a Planet: more Life Conditions, and the Planet triggers
Primordial Soup	Advance your Generator, gain 1 Energy and 1 Mass

Ways to score

Source	How and when
Immediate VP	During play: Star effects, Life cards, Missions, Generator milestones, objective rewards
Lifeform Objectives	End of game: each small and big tile you claimed
Main Objectives	End of game: each completed Main Objective, by its printed condition and value (Objectives)
Leftovers	End of game: 1 VP per four Life cards, Entropy, Mass and Energy combined
End-game VP on cards	End of game: some Life cards and Stars score from the state of your systems

What each resource is for

Resource	Why you need it	How you use it
Energy	Evolving Stars and upgrading your Console	Pay costs; 2 Entropy buys 1 during your Action step
Mass	Buying Planets and some Asteroids	Pay costs; 2 Entropy buys 1 during your Action step
Entropy	Activating Stars	Pay Star costs, or trade 2 for 1 Energy or Mass
Lifeforms	Life card, Biome and Objective requirements	Live on Planets, at most five of each type per Planet
Life cards	Create Life and their effects	No hand limit; discard one to stand in for a missing Life Condition
Stars	Repeatable effects	Trigger with Activate Stars or by passing your Creation tokens
Asteroids	Extra Life Conditions	Catch one: it also triggers its Planet
Biomes	A requirement that pays an ongoing reward	Fulfilled Biomes flip and keep giving
Creation tokens	Using inner-ring actions	Placed when you use an action; retrieved when you pass them, each giving 1 Entropy or one Star activation

Teaching tips

Teach the role of the Scientist and Creation tokens before listing the eight actions: movement determines both where you act and when your tokens return. Then walk through a Life card from Planet conditions to gained Lifeforms and its effect. Explain that rewards are optional, but a Life card’s printed Lifeforms are required; use the FAQ for the publisher designer’s nuanced clarification. Finish with the two-objective end trigger and the final-round scoring.