Solo

Compete against the Lacerda bot using the official solo deck and challenge goals.

You play against one opponent, Lacerda’s company. To win, meet every requirement of one solo goal — beating Lacerda’s score is only one of them. Use the two-player rules except where this page says otherwise (Rulebook pp. 22–23).

Setup

Set up the main board and both Player boards as for two players, with two changes: Lacerda gets no Private Goal cards, and his Bot starts on the Mine icon of the Progress area instead of on his Shelter. Shuffle the solo deck face down.

Shuffle the First Colonist tiles and draw one at random: that is Lacerda’s starting Turn Order space, so he never starts on 1 or 5. Then choose your own space (or draw one) and take its benefit as usual. The Shuttle starts on the red space on Lacerda’s side.

Pick a goal before you start. Short or long Missions are your choice.

Lacerda’s turn

On his turn, reveal the top solo card. The number in the astronaut picture is his action (see the tables below) for the side of the board he is on; then discard the card. When the deck runs out, reshuffle it the next time he takes a turn.

From the second pass through the deck, the card also moves the Mission marker it shows down one space. His own actions contribute to Missions as usual from the first pass, and he takes the Crystals for each contribution. The X on a card only stops him travelling — the marker still moves.

Orbit actions

He never takes the Landing Pod. He uses Resupply only through a Turn Order space or a Laboratory benefit.

Colony actions

The Bot sequence is Mine → Generator → Water Extractor → Greenhouse → Oxygen Condenser → Mine. His Bot moves after every Building he constructs, including those from tiles.

Placement costs and his Rover

Lacerda places a Colonist on every action with a red Colonist and pays any extra cost in Crystals, never in Colonists. If he can’t pay, or the action is impossible (no Lab space, no Blueprint, Scientist slot taken…), he moves his Rover instead.

His Rover heads for the closest Research or Discovery tile he can use (ignore tiles that give Resources). He uses any available Tech and spends Crystals only when Tech isn’t enough. If he reaches a tile, resolve it at once. If he can’t reach one, he still moves toward it; with no tiles left, skip his turn.

Shuttle phase

Lacerda travels unless the latest card shows an X. When he travels, choose an available Turn Order space at random. Going to Orbit he skips both travel steps. Going to the Colony he places the leftmost Discovery tile 3 spaces from his Rover, as far from yours as possible, skips retrieving Colonists, and constructs a Building as in Colony action 1.

On a Turn Order space he takes whatever there is most of (leftmost if tied, Crystals first); Resources go back to the supply. A Tech benefit follows Learn New Technology, a Colonist benefit moves his Rover instead, a Bot benefit moves his Bot, and a Blueprint benefit follows Obtain a Blueprint.

Extra rules for Lacerda

• He has as many Colonists as he needs; at game end his Living Quarters count as full.
• He takes no Executive actions, so his Scientists only score.
• He never collects, stores or pays Resources. He gains Crystals as usual, up to his Depot space.
• When he builds an LSS building, he takes the reward that retrieves his Colonist from Hire a Scientist if he has one there; otherwise he takes a Crystal.
• He always uses available Tech. You get an Oxygen when he uses yours; when you use his, he always develops it.
• When the Colony levels up, at the end of that turn he builds a Shelter (a Complex if possible) and gains a Ship and a Bot. The Ship raises his Crystal storage; the Bot stays on his Player board and counts for LSS rewards and Missions. He never spends Ships.
• He loses no points for unbuilt Blueprints.

When he has more than one choice, take the one that helps him most. If none is clearly better, number the options and draw solo cards until one of those numbers shows.

Solo goals

The solo cards are pictured in Cards & Components. Alien Invasion’s Chapter 4, Monolith, is a separate solo scenario.