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How to Play Solarquest

Solarquest is a board game that is similar to Monopoly, with three important differences. First, it is played in outer space. Second, rather than just moving in circles around the board whenever you roll the dice, planets may be orbited or left. And finally, every time you take off from a planet, you use fuel. The combination of these three things makes Solarquest a much more involved game than Monopoly.

Things You'll Need

Solarquest board game

Instructions

- 1
  Shuffle the Red Shift deck and place a fuel station on each "FULL" space on the fuel card. Give each player three of each denomination of money and three fuel stations. Have each player pick a spaceship and place it on Earth.
- 2
  Pick a start player by having each player roll the dice. Whoever rolls the highest goes first.
- 3
  Take your turn by rolling the dice and moving your spaceship the shown number of spaces forward. You can never land on a black dot, so if you would, you must avoid it by either continuing to orbit the planet (if there is a fork in the path) or by stopping on the planet just before the black dot (in the case of un-orbitable planets like Mercury).
- 4
  Expend fuel whenever your spaceship takes off from a planet or moon. Since Earth is a planet, all players will use fuel on their first turn. To expend fuel, find the column on the fuel card that matches the color of your spaceship, and reduce it by the value of your roll.
- 5
  Examine the deed for the space on which you land to see if it is owned. If so, you must pay the owner according to the chart on the card. If not, you may purchase the deed for the listed cost. If you purchase a property or land on a property you already own, you may place one of your fuel stations there.
- 6
  Acquire more fuel from the space on which you landed. If you own the space and it is a space dock or a property with a fuel station, you may refuel free of charge. If an opponent owns the space and it is a space dock or property with a fuel station, you may refuel by paying the opponent the listed cost per unit of fuel.
- 7
  Pay attention to your fuel remaining. If you roll a number that would require you to use more fuel than you possess, you do not move. Instead, you remain on your current space. However, if you have fewer than two units of fuel remaining when this occurs, you must refuel immediately or lose the game.
- 8
  Gain $500 whenever you pass Earth. If you ever run out of money, you lose the game.
- 9
  Ignore the normal movement rules whenever you roll doubles. In this case, draw a Red Shift card and follow the instructions. If a Red Shift card requires you to use more fuel than you possess, you lose the game.

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