ArcsRulebook

Developer Note: Images are not available yet. They're planned for a future update.

Introduction

In Arcs, you lead a spacefaring society through an epic saga, as you try to survive in the harsh and dangerous Reach at the galaxy's edge. A game of Arcs lasts until someone has enough Power— essentially points. In games with 4 players, someone needs to have at least 27 Power. With 3 players, 30 Power. With 2 players, 33 Power. When the game ends, the player with the most Power wins.

You gain Power by completing ambitions, which are objectives that you declare in play. These are scored at the end of the chapter, when everyone runs out of action cards. The game lasts a varying number of chapters, usually three to five.

Your first game of Arcs will take about 45 minutes per player. After you play a few times, a game should take about 30 minutes per player.

What's in the Box

Map

The map of the Reach is where the action happens. You can move your ships around it, battle Rivals for control over its systems, and tax resources from the cities you build on its planets.

Player Pieces

Each player has the following pieces. The box contains pieces for 4 players.

Player Board

This board holds resources, your unbuilt cities, and Rival pieces you take as Trophies and Captives.

Starports (5)

Starports are built on planets and are used to build ships.

Cities (5)

Cities are built on planets and can be taxed to gain resource tokens onto your player board.

Ships (15)

Ships can move around the map and engage in battles.

Agents (10)

Agents are placed on cards in the Court, a card row next to the map. Once you have the most agents on a card in the Court, you can take it.

Power Markers (2)

This marker tracks your current Power on the bottom map edge. The second marker is used in expansions to track negative Power and very high Power.

Cards

Action (28)

These cards are played to take actions and declare ambitions. With 2 or 3 players, you don't use the "1" and "7" action cards.

Setup (12)

(4 each for 2-4 players)

One of these cards is used in setup to place players' starting pieces and cover parts of the map.

Leader (8)

These cards give special powers and show a player's starting pieces and resources. They are used in Leaders & Lore mode (page 21).

Guild (25)

These cards represent the support of guildmasters and task forces. They are gained from the Court, often give new actions, and can be stolen.

Vox (6)

These cards represent incidents in the Reach that you can turn to your own ends. They are gained from the Court and resolve immediately.

Lore (14)

These cards represent long-lost technologies and the intangible qualities of leadership, charm, and rank. They are used in Leaders & Lore mode (page 21).

Other Pieces

Resource Tokens (25)

(5 each of Material, Fuel, Weapons, Relics, Psionic)

Resources represent both assets and the people skilled in using them. They add to ambitions and can be spent for special actions.

Battle Dice (18)

(6 each of Assault, Skirmish, Raid)

These dice are used to resolve battle.

Chapter Marker

This marker tracks the current chapter of the game on the map.

Ambition Markers (5)

These markers show which ambitions are currently declared. They start on their blue side with lower numbers.

Zero Marker

These markers show which ambitions are currently declared. They start on their blue side with lower numbers.

Initiative Marker

This marker shows which player will take the first turn of a round.

Path Markers (4)

(2 each of long and short)

These are added to the map during setup. They cover gates, making them out of play and connecting the gates of neighboring clusters.

Out-of-Play Markers (6)

These are added to the map during setup. They cover planets, making them out of play for the game.

Aid Sheets (4)

These sheets summarize how to play and what actions you can take.

Setup

1. Set Up Table

  • Place the map and collect the 18 battle dice and 25 resource tokens.

  • Give the initiative marker to a random player.

  • Shuffle the 20 action cards marked "2" through "6" to start the action deck.

  • 4 Players Only: Shuffle the 8 action cards marked "1" and "7" into the action deck. (Otherwise, return them to the box.)

  • Place the 3 ambition markers on their blue, lower-numbered sides in the Available Markers section of the map.

  • Place the chapter marker on the "1" space of the Chapter track on the map.

  • Place the zero marker in the Ambition Declared slot on the map.

  • Shuffle all 6 Vox and 25 Guild cards to make the Court deck. Draw 3 cards (2 players) or 4 cards (3-4 players) from this deck to make a face-up Court row.

  • Shuffle the setup cards that list your number of players. Draw 1 setup card.

  • In the 2 clusters (2-3 players) or 1 cluster (4 players) on the map marked Out of Play on the setup card, place a path marker over its numbered gate and place 3 out-of-play markers over the planets touching that gate.

  • 2 Players Only: Place the 6 resource tokens matching the 6 planets covered by out-of-play markers onto the ambition boxes:

    • Material and Fuel go on Tycoon.
    • Weapons go on Warlord.
    • Relics go on Keeper.
    • Psionics go on Empath.

2. Set Up Players

  • Each player chooses a color, collects the matching player board, 5 cities, 5 starports, 15 ships, and 10 agents, and places the cities in the triangle slots along the top of their player board.

  • Each player puts their Power marker on the "0" Power track space on the map.

  • Players simultaneously place their starting pieces onto the map as follows. The player with the initiative marker does this:

    • Place 3 ships and 1 city in the system marked 1A on the setup card. Place the leftmost city from your player board.
    • Place 3 ships and 1 starport in the system marked 1B.
    • Place 2 ships in the system (3-4 players) or 2 systems (2 players) marked 1C.

    Going clockwise from the player with initiative, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th players set up in the same way in the systems marked 2A-C, 3A-C, and 4A-C on the setup card, respectively.

  • Each player gains the 2 resource tokens matching the planet icons in their A and B systems, putting them in the leftmost and next leftmost circle slots on their player board, respectively.

  • Each player draws 6 action cards into their hand. 2 Players Only: The player without initiative may discard all 6 action cards in their hand and draw 6 new ones.

  • Discard all action cards not in players' hands into a facedown action discard pile on the map.

Core Concepts

The Arc of Play

In a game of Arcs, you play through a number of chapters, usually three to five. Each chapter is made up of several rounds.

Broadly, in a round, each player will take one turn by playing an action card to do various actions, starting with the player who has initiative. After everyone takes a turn, players check who gets initiative for the next round. You'll learn more in Playing a Chapter!

Keep playing rounds until everyone runs out of action cards in their hand. At this point, the chapter ends, players gain Power from ambitions they fulfilled, and everyone draws a new hand of cards. You'll learn more in Ending a Chapter!

Power & Ambitions

Players gain Power by fulfilling ambitions. The player with the initiative marker may choose to declare the ambition shown on the action card they play on their turn, marking the matching ambition box on the right map edge.

At the end of the chapter, players gain Power from declared ambitions that they fulfilled best. It doesn't matter whether another player declared an ambition—anyone can fulfill it.

The Map

The map is made of 6 clusters. Each cluster has 4 systems: 3 planets and 1 gate, which lists the cluster number.

A system is adjacent to other systems sharing a thin border. Adjacency is most important when moving.

  • Each gate is adjacent to the 3 planets in its cluster and to the gates of its 2 neighboring clusters.

  • Each planet is adjacent to the gate in its cluster, and it is adjacent to one or both neighboring planets. Planets separated by a thick, irregular border are not adjacent.

The center of the map with the Arcs logo is not in play.

In setup, 1 or 2 clusters are covered with out-of-play markers on its planets and a path marker on its gate. These clusters are out of play in every way. The path marker joins together the gates of the two neighboring clusters, allowing for movement between them in a single move.

Each planet has a planet type, along with 1 or 2 building slots where you can build cities and starports.

Resources & Cities

There are 5 types of resources matching the 5 planet types. Usually, you gain them by taxing cities and raiding Rivals in battle.

Resources can be spent for various actions, and some of them add to the Tycoon, Keeper, and Empath ambitions.

You hold resource tokens in the resource slots on your player board. As you build cities, you open resource slots and uncover Power bonuses for winning ambitions.

Agents & The Court

Your agents are the bureaucrats and diplomats that administer your cities and influence powerful interests in the Reach.

Through play, you can place agents on cards in the Court, a row of cards along the edge of the map (Influence). If you have the most agents on a card in the Court, you can take it (Secure).

Damage & Control

Pieces start off fresh—ships are fresh when standing upright, and buildings are fresh on their fully colored side.

By battling, fresh pieces can become damaged, shown by flipping or tipping it over. If a damaged piece is damaged again, it is destroyed, removing it from the map.

You control a system and its contents if you have more fresh ships there than each Rival (other player). On a tie, no one controls the system.

Controlling a system lets you tax Rival cities there and capture their agents, restricts how their ships move, and damages pieces they build.

Trophies & Captives

If you destroy a Rival's pieces, put them in the Trophies box on your player board. Trophies add to the Warlord ambition. Actions such as Battle let you destroy Rival pieces.

If you capture a Rival's agents, put them in the Captives box on your player board. Captives add to the Tyrant ambition. Actions such as Tax and Secure let you capture Rival agents.

Playing a Chapter

A game of Arcs lasts up to 5 chapters. In each chapter, you play some number of rounds. In a round, each player takes one turn, starting with the player with the initiative marker.

Broadly, on your turn, you must play 1 action card, which lets you take one or more actions.

At the end of the round, the initiative marker might go to a new player based on which cards were played.

Keep playing rounds until everyone runs out of action cards. At this point, the chapter ends.

Step 1: Player with Initiative Takes Turn

As the player with initiative, you must play one action card face up as the lead card. You may take one action for each action pip on the lead card based on its suit:

  • Administration pips can tax, repair, or influence.

  • Aggression pips can battle, move, or secure.

  • Construction pips can build or repair.

  • Mobilization pips can move or influence.

Place the card in the "Lead" card slot on the left map edge, so players can reference it during the round.

Passing Initiative

If you have the initiative, but you have no cards in your hand or just choose to skip your turn, you must pass the initiative.

When you pass the initiative, give the initiative marker to the next clockwise player who has any cards in their hand, then immediately end the round. The player who now has initiative will play the lead card of the new round.

If everyone with cards in their hand passes consecutively, discard all action cards and end the chapter.

Declaring an Ambition

If you have the initiative, you may declare the ambition shown on your lead card before taking any actions:

  • The "1" cards have no ambition. (Four players only.)

  • The "2" through "6" cards let you declare the matching ambition.

  • The "7" cards let you declare any ambition. (Four players only.)

You can even declare an ambition that was declared in an earlier round! Just place another ambition marker in its box.

Take the highest-number ambition marker from the Available Markers section on the right map edge, and place it in the ambition box of the declared ambition.

Place the zero marker onto the lead card to cover the card number in its top-left corner—its card number is now 0.

You cannot declare an ambition if all ambition markers are already placed.

You cannot declare an ambition multiple times using the same card.

Declaring does not change your card's number of action pips.

Step 2: Other Players Take Turns

After the player with initiative takes their turn, each other player in clockwise order takes a turn. Players with no cards in their hand skip their turn.

On your turn, you must play an action card in one of three ways:

  • Surpass: Play an action card face up of the lead card's suit. Its card number must be higher than the lead card. You may take actions up to the number of action pips on your card.

    Surpassing only needs a card higher than the lead card, not all played cards!

  • Copy: Play any action card face down. You may take only one action of the lead card.

  • Pivot: Play an action card face up that is not of the lead card's suit. It can have any card number. You may take only one action on your card.

    Pivoting does not change the lead suit.

Place the card in the "Surpass, Copy, or Pivot" card slot on the left map edge, so players can reference it during the round.

Seizing the Initiative

When you play a card, before taking any actions, you can seize the initiative marker from the player who holds it. There are two ways to do this:

  • You may choose to play an extra action card. Place it face down beside the card you played as a reminder. You do not get actions for it.

  • You Surpass with a "7" action card. You still get to take its actions. (Only four-player games have "7" cards.)

To Surpass, you must match the lead suit!

If the initiative is seized, you can still Surpass with a "7" card—you just won't seize the initiative.

Take the initiative marker and lay it down to show it is seized. For the rest of this round, players cannot seize the initiative.

The player with initiative cannot seize the initiative.

Step 3: Check Initiative

After everyone has taken a turn, check whether the initiative marker goes to a new player.

If no one seized the initiative this round, give the initiative to the player who Surpassed with the highest card number. If no one Surpassed, the initiative stays with its holder.

If someone seized the initiative this round, that player keeps the initiative.

Step 4: Discard Cards & Check for New Round

Discard all played action cards, and any action card used to seize the initiative, into the action discard pile on the map face down.

If any players have any action cards left in their hand, start the next round. Otherwise, end the chapter.

Standard Actions

Tax

(Administration)

Choose a Loyal city or choose a Rival city you control.

Loyal pieces are your color.

Rival pieces are other players' colors.

Control means you have the most fresh ships in the system.

Gain 1 resource of the city's planet type from the supply.

Resources you gain go in empty resource slots on your player board.

If you tax a Rival city, you also capture 1 agent of that Rival from their supply, even if you didn't gain the resource.

Tax Limit: You cannot tax a city more than once per turn.

Captives: Place captured agents in the Captives box on your player board. They add to your Tyrant ambition.

Build

(Construction)

You may build a building or a ship.

  • Building: Place 1 starport or city in an empty building slot in a system with a Loyal piece. When building a city, use the leftmost city on your player board.

  • Ship: Place 1 ship at a Loyal starport. Each starport can only build one ship per turn.

When you build anything in a system that is controlled by anyone other than you, place the piece damaged.

Damaged ships are tipped over, and damaged buildings are flipped to their darker side.

Move

(Mobilization & Aggression)

Move any number of Loyal ships from one system to an adjacent system.

A system can be a gate or a planet.

Systems sharing a single thin border are adjacent.

If you move from a system with a Loyal starport, you may take Catapult moves—keep moving the ships as much as you want, dropping them off as you want, until they move to a gate controlled by anyone else or they move to any planet.

When you take a Catapult move, check for control before moving in, not after.

You can't Catapult from Rival starports you control.

Out-of-Play Clusters: You cannot move into any systems in out-of-play clusters. The path marker placed on out-of-play gates makes its two neighboring gates adjacent.

Repair

(Construction & Administration)

Stand up 1 damaged Loyal ship, or flip over 1 damaged Loyal building. (This can be anywhere on the map!)

Influence

(Mobilization & Administration)

Place 1 agent on any card in the Court. (The Court is the card row along the map edge.)

Secure

(Aggression)

Take 1 card from the Court if you have more Loyal agents on it than each Rival. Return all Loyal agents on it to your supply, and capture all Rival agents from the secured card.

Resolve its When Secured action, if any. If it says to discard it, place it in a face-up Court discard pile near the Court deck.

Finally, draw a card from the Court deck and place it face up in the Court in the same spot as the secured card.

Captives: Put agents you capture in the Captives box on your player board. They add to your Tyrant ambition.

You can't immediately use Prelude actions on the secured card.

Battle

(Aggression)

  1. Choose Battle System: Choose 1 system that has any Loyal ships. This is the battle system. These are your attacking ships.

  2. Choose Defender: Choose 1 Rival whose pieces are in the battle system. These are their defending pieces.

  3. Collect Dice: For each attacking ship, you may collect 1 assault, skirmish, or raid die.

    • Assault dice damage the defender quickly at some cost to you.

    • Skirmish dice damage the defender slowly but keep you safe.

    • Raid dice steal stuff from the defender and might damage them but are risky.

    Raid Dice Limit: You can only collect raid dice if there are defending buildings or if the defender has no Loyal buildings in any systems on the map.

You may collect fewer dice than the maximum, and you may mix types, but you cannot collect more than 6 dice of a type.

  1. Roll and Resolve Dice: Roll the collected dice. You must resolve all rolled faces in this order:

    1. Hit any of your attacking ships once per [Hit Your Ships] result.

    2. If you rolled any [Intercept] results, the defender intercepts you—hit any of your attacking ships once per fresh defending ship. (This can only happen once per battle!)

    3. Hit any of their defending ships once per [Hit Ships] result. Once no defending ships remain, hit any of their defending buildings instead.

    4. Hit any of their defending buildings once per [Hit Buildings] result.

    5. Raid their resources and cards by spending [Key] results if you have any attacking ships left.

If you hit a fresh piece, it becomes damaged—tip it over if it's a ship or flip it over if it's a building.

If you hit a damaged piece, it is destroyed—remove it. The attacker takes destroyed defending pieces as Trophies. The defender takes destroyed attacking pieces as Trophies.

Trophies: Place pieces taken as Trophies in the Trophies box on the respective player board. These add to the Warlord ambition.

To be clear, the attacker rolls and resolves all the dice. The defender doesn't usually make choices.

Destroying Cities

If you destroy a city—even outside battle!—do the following:

  1. Provoke Outrage. Discard all resources and Guild cards you have of that city's planet type, placing the discarded cards in a face-up Court discard pile near the Court deck. Place an agent to cover the Outrage icon of that city's planet type on your player board—that resource is now Outraged (see below).

  2. Ransack the Court. Secure any card that has any number of the defender's agents. Take all Rival agents on the card as Trophies, not Captives.

If you have no Loyal agents, use a placeholder piece until an agent becomes available.

If you already have Outrage of the city's type, perform both steps except placing the agent.

Outrage: You cannot spend Outraged resources for their normal Prelude action.

You can still tax Outraged resources and add them to your ambitions.

Raiding

If any attacking ships remain after taking hits, you may spend [Key] results you rolled to steal resources and Guild cards from the defender, one at a time, by spending the number of [Key] in its raid cost, shown above the resource slot on the player board or in the top-left corner of the Guild card.

Resources

In your turn's Prelude, you may spend any number and mix of your resource tokens to optionally use their actions:

  • [M] Material: Take a Build or Repair action.

  • [F] Fuel: Take a Move action.

  • [W] Weapon: This turn, you may spend any action pips from your card play to take Battle actions.

  • [R] Relic: Take a Secure action.

  • [P] Psionic: Take an action listed on the lead card.

Your Prelude begins when you play an action card and ends when you spend any action pips from the card.

You can't spend resources if you pass the initiative or have no cards.

For Weapons, act like you add "or Battle" to the relevant played card.

Weapons cannot turn actions from other resources into Battle actions.

Resources are held in resource slots. When you take or are given a resource, place it in an empty resource slot of yours. To do this, you may rearrange any resources in your resource slots, but you must discard resources you cannot hold.

You can open resource slots by building cities!

Each resource slot has a raid cost: the number of [Key] results that the attacker in battle must spend to steal the resource.

Some cards say they hold resources. These resources can be spent and add to ambitions, but they can be stolen only as the card describes. If a card holding resources is stolen, the resources on the card stay on it. If it is buried, discarded, or scrapped, the resources on it return to the supply.

Guild Cards

You can gain Guild cards by influencing them in the Court and then securing them.

Guild cards have 3 parts: their suit, rules, and raid cost.

Suit: This suit icon matches 1 of the 5 resources. It adds to ambitions just like resources—Material and Fuel cards add to the Tycoon ambition, Relic cards add to the Keeper ambition, and Psionic cards add to the Empath ambition. Weapon cards do not add to any ambitions.

Rules: Guild cards give new actions and modifiers.

Raid Cost: This shows how many [Key] results an attacker must spend in battle in order to steal the card.

Ending a Chapter

The chapter ends when everyone runs out of action cards or when everyone with cards passes the initiative.

When the chapter ends, resolve the following steps.

Step 1: Score Ambitions

Score each ambition that has any number of ambition markers in its ambition box on the map:

  • Tycoon. Have the most total Fuel and Material icons from resources and Guild cards.

  • Tyrant. Have the most Captives on your player board (gained from taxing and securing).

  • Warlord. Have the most Trophies on your player board (gained in battle).

  • Keeper. Have the most Relic icons from resources and Guild cards.

  • Empath. Have the most Psionic icons from resources and Guild cards.

The player who gets first place for the ambition gains the higher Power shown on all its ambition markers.

The player who gets second place for it gains the lower Power shown on all its ambition markers.

Show the Power you gained by advancing your Power marker on the Power track on the bottom edge of the map.

Ties: On a tie for first place, all tied players get second place. On a tie for second place, the tied players do not place and gain no Power.

Qualifying: You cannot gain Power from an ambition if you have none of the thing it is counting. (For example, if Warlord is declared and nobody has Trophies, nobody gains Power.)

Bonus City Power: Each time you get first place in an ambition (not tied), gain 2 extra Power if the "+2 to won ambitions" city slot on your player board is uncovered, or gain 5 extra if both the "+2 to won ambitions" and "+3 to won ambitions" city slots on your player board are uncovered.

You can only gain bonus Power once per ambition, regardless of how many ambition markers it has.

Two-Player Scoring

During setup with 2 players, 6 resources matching the planets with out-of-play markers are placed on the ambition boxes.

For scoring, count these resources as if a third player had them. Weapons on the Warlord box count as Trophies. Otherwise, these resources are out of play.

Step 2: Clean Up & Flip Ambition

If Warlord was scored, return all Trophies. If Tyrant was scored, return all Captives.

Return all ambition markers to the Available Markers spaces on the map.

Flip over the ambition marker with the lowest Power that hasn't been flipped yet to its side with more Power.

Starports and ships return to their players' supplies.

Cities return to the rightmost empty city slot on their original player boards.

Step 3: End Game or Advance Chapter

The game ends if any player has at least 27 Power (4 players), 30 Power (3 players), or 33 Power (2 players), or if the chapter marker is currently on Chapter 5.

If the game ends, the player with the most Power is the winner. On a tie, the tied player earliest in turn order is the winner.

If the game does not end, advance the chapter marker to the next space.

Step 4: Draw Cards

Shuffle all of the action cards. Each player draws a hand of 6 action cards.

Discard all action cards not in players' hands into the action discard pile on the map face down, and shuffle the action discard pile.

The player with initiative starts the next chapter!

Two-Player Mulligans

In games with 2 players, after drawing, the player without initiative may discard their hand of 6 action cards to draw a new hand of 6 action cards. They must accept this new hand.

Other Actions

Prelude Actions

Many cards and all resources give Prelude actions. On cards, these actions begin with "Prelude:"

Your Prelude begins once you play an action card and ends once you spend an action pip from your played card. You can take any number of Prelude actions, with two limits:

  • Resources spent in Prelude return to the supply at the end of your Prelude, so you cannot regain them until then.

  • You cannot use Prelude actions on cards that you secured from the Court in the same Prelude.

Some Prelude actions on cards make you discard the card. Place it in a face-up Court discard pile near the Court deck.

Before Prelude actions, you must choose whether or not to declare an ambition or seize the initiative.

New Actions

Cards can give you a new action followed by the name of a standard action in parentheses, such as Assassinate (Battle).

When you would take the standard action by spending an action pip or a non-Outraged resource, you may instead take the new action.

For example, if you spend an action pip to take the Battle action, you can Assassinate instead. You can even do this if you spent a Weapon in your Prelude to allow this.

Modifiers

Cards can give you modifiers to standard actions, which are shown in bold, such as "In battle, collect 1 extra die." Modifiers do not modify new actions, but they do modify standard actions that are within new actions.

Modifiers can also affect critical play steps, such as setup, scoring, declaring an ambition, and seizing the initiative.

For example, the Living Structures lore card says "Nurture (Build): Tax a Loyal city." In this case, build modifiers do not modify Nurture, but tax modifiers do modify the Tax action it contains.

Leaders and Lore

After playing a game or two, you're ready to play with Leaders and Lore! This mode gives players wild, unique abilities, but they can be hard to handle if you're starting out. Really, don't play your first game with Leaders and Lore.

  • Your leader card gives you unique powers, starting pieces, and starting resources.

  • Lore cards give persistent powers. They don't have a guild icon or raid cost, so they do not add to ambitions and cannot be stolen.

Setup

Replace steps N-O of setup with the following:

Lay out lore cards and leader cards in face-up rows, each with cards equal to the players plus one.

In reverse turn order—start with the player to the right of the player with initiative, and go counterclockwise—each player may take 1 leader or lore card.

Continue this until each player has 1 leader card and 1 lore card. You cannot take a leader card if you already have one, and you cannot take a lore card if you already have one.

Each player places their starting pieces onto the map in the systems marked on the setup card as shown in the A, B, and C boxes shown on their leader card. Pips under a ship icon show how many ships to place.

Each player gains the 2 resource tokens shown on their leader card, placing them in their 2 leftmost resource slots in the order shown.

Finally, if any leaders have extra setup steps, players perform them in turn order.

If you want to increase chaos and uniqueness even more, you can let players choose a second lore card. Just add 1 extra lore card per player to the starting row, and keep choosing cards until each player has 1 leader card and 2 lore cards.

You can set up with as many lore cards as you want, but you run the risk of overwhelming everyone. Be careful!

Fine Print

Tiebreakers & Choice Order

If you have a tie and its tiebreaker is not specified, break the tie in turn order. Likewise, if players must make a decision in an unclear order, resolve it in turn order. (Start with the player with initiative and go clockwise.)

If multiple things happen at the same time but must be resolved in order, the player taking their turn chooses their order. If no one is taking a turn, the player with initiative chooses.

Elimination & Concession

Rarely, a player will have no starports or ships on the map. If this happens, they place 3 fresh ships in any gate at the end of their turn.

Sometimes, usually in games with 2 players, it may become clear that a player has won. Feel free to concede!

Pieces & Piece Limits

Pieces are limited by the contents of the box with one exception: if you need an agent to place on an Outrage slot but none are in your supply, use a placeholder piece until an agent enters your supply, then place the agent.

If a rule makes you place pieces, this refers to fresh Loyal pieces by default.

Pieces that you place and return come from and go to their original supply by default except for cities: cities come from and go to the rightmost empty city slot on their original player board. (Remember, pieces often go to Trophies and Captives instead of back to supplies.)

If you must place or return more pieces than possible, do the maximum possible.

If you replace a piece, return it and place another piece in its place. If the old piece was damaged, the new piece is placed damaged. (Replacing a piece does not destroy it.)

Rules Hierarchy

This rulebook supersedes the aid sheets and player boards.

Cards supersede this rulebook, but any rule that uses the term cannot is absolute—it cannot be superseded unless explicitly named using the term ignore. (For example, "You ignore Outrage when spending Material for its Prelude action.")

Sidebars as well as text written in italics and parentheses (like this) are clarifications and reminders, which are superseded by the core rules they reference.

Negotiations

Players may make deals and promises, but they are not binding. Players cannot give each other pieces unless a rule allows it.

Private Information

Players cannot show the action cards in their hand to anyone else.

Turn Etiquette

Though declaring an ambition and seizing the initiative happen before any other actions, we usually let people do them during their turn as long as new info hasn't been revealed—such as rolling dice or drawing a card—and any relevant modifiers are followed. Don't get bogged down in technicalities unless it changes the game. Arcs thrives when the game flows!

Split Discard Piles

Normally, all action cards are discarded face down, even ones played face up. This speeds up play but it favors players with good memory.

If you're running a tournament or want a more strategic but slower game, you can split the action discard into two piles—one for cards played face down, and one for cards played face up.

If you're prompted to draw from the action discard pile, draw from the facedown pile. In the rare circumstance that it doesn't have enough cards, shuffle the piles together first.

Glossary

Adjacent: Shares a thin border.

Building: Cities and starports.

Bury: Place on the bottom of the Court deck.

Capture: Place the prompted piece in the Captives box on your player board.

Chapter: The time in which players play rounds until they all run out of action cards.

Clear: Return all pieces from the prompted area.

Control: You control a system and its contents if you have more fresh ships there than each Rival. On a tie, no one controls the system.

Damaged: Not fresh—a tipped ship or a building on its darker side.

Destroy: Return a fresh or damaged piece from the map. (It often goes to a Trophies box.)

Empty: Has no pieces in or on it.

Fresh: Not damaged—an upright ship or a building on its lighter side.

Gain: Add the specified piece to your play area from its supply. (You can't gain it if its supply is empty.)

Give: Add the specified piece to a Rival play area.

Hit: Tip over a fresh piece on the map, or remove a damaged piece from the map.

Loyal: Of your player color.

Out of Play: Cannot be interacted with.

Piece: Any component in the game.

Place: See Pieces & Piece Limits.

Play Area: On and around your player board. (Most pieces go in specific parts of your play area.)

Prelude: See Prelude Actions.

Replace, Return: See Pieces & Piece Limits.

Rival: Of another player's color. When used alone, refers to another player.

Round: The time in which each player takes a turn.

Scrap: Make out of play permanently.

Seize the Initiative: Take the initiative marker. You cannot do this if you have the initiative marker or if someone has already seized the initiative this round.

Spend: When referring to a resource, return the spent resource to its supply.

Steal: Add the specified piece to your play area from a Rival's play area. (This is distinct from take because some rules prevent stealing.)

Supply: The general supply holds resources and other shared pieces, and players' supplies hold their Loyal ships and agents.

Swap: Give the prompted piece and take the prompted piece at the same time.

Take: Add the specified piece to your play area.

Turn: The time in which a player plays an action card and may take actions.

Turn Order: Starting with the player with initiative and going clockwise.

Credits

Game Design: Cole Wehrle

Illustration: Kyle Ferrin

Editing: Joshua Yearsley

Graphic Design: Pati Hyun (lead) with Kyle Ferrin, Cole Wehrle, and Joshua Yearsley

Development: Cole Wehrle and Joshua Yearsley (co-leads) with Nick Brachmann

Staff at Printing: Patrick Leder, Kyle Ferrin, Caryl Tan, Cole Wehrle, Nick Brachmann, Clay Capra, Pati Hyun, Brooke Nelson, Joshua Yearsley, Ted Caya, Claire Donaghue, Andrea Francisco, and Anne Kinner

Contractors & Summer Interns: Cory DeVore (3d modeler), Jeff Fraser (usability read moderator), George Georgeadis (Kickstarter video producer), Emily Mattingley (graphic design assistant), Alita Robertson (production assistant), Amanda Valentine (copy-editor); Q. Bryant and Dylan Kistler (production interns); Sam Buan, Michael Cauthorn, and Finn Powers-Tiffin (playtesting interns)

Playtesting & Usability Reading: Nathan Adams, Jo Attwood, Celena Baker, Dominik Batók, Todd Berman, Q. Bryant, Sam Buan, Cat Bult, Christina Berkley, Luke Bridwell, Ran C, Brenda Carrasco, Michael Cauthorn, Lili Chin, Jacob Church, Joshua Clark Orkin, Benjamin Cochrane, Justin Dowd and the Brass Cat crew, Erin, Zane Fisher, Andrew Grimes, Tonke Groot, Lily Gould, Daniel Hallinan, Haze, Sophia Hercher, April Higgins, Kevin Hulse, John Keller, Dylan Kistler, Ben Lang, Patrick Lefebvre, JC Lumsargis, Jai Manacsa, jermcurry, Jules Marciano, Vixen Martin, Arthur McCool, Kirby Morris, Caitlin Moran, Joe Moran, Paul Mussoni, Elias Nichols, Hung Nguyen, Nathaniel Olin, Mark Overstreet, Finn Powers-Tiffin, Daniel Preston, Kristopher Reynolds, Alita Robertson, Arden Rogow-Bales, Malachi Ray Rempen, Evan Rowland, Guerric Samples, Marius Schneider, Jaden Servant, S.P. Shaman, Sarah Shirley (Sarai), Mar Hepto, Matilda Simonsson, Charles Simon, Nicole Smith, Matt Snow, Kiaran Smalldon, Frack the Snail, Francis Snyder, Rho Sternjäger, turmoilbyrd, uropb, Samuel Vriezen, Steve Owen, Jackson Wray, Drew Wehrle, Chris Weidner, and many more!

Index

Back to Top