In the Shackleton Crater, at the South Pole of the Moon, a permanent base is being built. You lead one of the space agencies working to expand its presence at the base, while three major corporations sponsor the mission, each pursuing different goals. You will build your structures at the base while also funding various projects of the corporations, which provide special abilities and opportunities to earn points.
At the beginning of the game, three corporations are randomly selected from the seven available in the box. Each corporation represents new projects, actions, and opportunities for earning points, as well as its own special mechanics.
The game proceeds in three rounds, each of which is divided into three phases: the shuttle phase, the action phase, and the maintenance phase.
During the shuttle phase, each player draws a shuttle tile, determining what type of astronauts and resources they will be able to use in this round, as well as the turn order for the next phase.
The action phase is the main part of the game, where players take turns sending their astronauts to the Moon to collect resources, build structures, or fund projects.
Depending on which corporations were chosen for the game, different types of resources will need to be gathered, which will then be used in various ways for projects or for building structures.
Each project provides permanent abilities and opportunities to earn points. Each corporation offers different ways to earn victory points (VP), which can occur during the action phase, the maintenance phase, or at the end of the game.
During the maintenance phase, the astronauts deployed during the action phase are assigned to work on the structures (providing a bonus to the player who controls them), then players collect income and pay maintenance costs. If there are corporations in the game with end-of-round effects, these effects will begin to take effect at this point.
At the end of the game, a final score tally takes place, and the player with the most VP becomes the winner.
Contents:
- Game board
- 75 astronaut tokens
- 18 solar panel tokens
- 4 agency leader tokens
- Energy marker
- 15 shuttle tokens
- Action area overlay
- 26 titanium tokens
- 16 rare earth metal tokens
- 52 credit tokens
- 11 boxes
- 4 player boards
- 48 structures
- 12 goal markers
- 4 VP markers
- 4 reputation markers
- 4 turn order markers
- 7 solo mode action cards
- 7 corporation cards
- Astrobot board (on the reverse side of the player board)
- Astrobot marker
- Corporation components
- 7 corporation sheets
- Game rules
Game duration: 60-120 minutes
Number of players: 1-4