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How do the Kaygus steal a Planet?
During the move phase of your turn, instead of discovering an undiscovered Planet, move your Space Ship onto an opponent’s Planet, play the Kaygus Explorer card from your hand, and claim the Planet as your own (change the Planet disk to your own color). You score 6 points; there are no Environment or Life Form cards that can be played. Your opponent does not lose the points s/he previously scored for that Planet. You can discover no other Planets during this phase.
How does a destroyed Planet affect the Space Paths that led to it?
There is now a Black Hole where the Planet use to be. The destroyed Planet interrupts any Space Path leading into or out of it.
Why would anyone ever want to use an M+0 Space Shuttle? It has no value.
The “value” of the Shuttle is that it’s not much value at all! As an M+0, it’s movement is limited to only a Space Path. And, if you’re seeking to upgrade your Space Ship (or build a second one) but happen to draw a Shuttle from the Space Port deck, you’ll probably want to draw another card. Too, bad. (Of course, the Shuttle is always a good ship to do a “Kamikaze” Special Action! Heh, heh, heh!)
How do you draw cards during the Draw/Refuel phase?
Draw each card one at a time, look at it, and then decide whether you want to draw your next card from the Refuel Deck or the Space Port deck.
What does it mean that a Space Station must be placed on any "empty portion" of a Space tile you just played (Rule 4, B-4, on page 5)? Is that saying that there can not be any other markers on the tile, or that the Space Station must be on "deep space"?
“Empty portion” means that a Space Station can not be placed on top of a Planet, but it can be placed on any other empty part of the just-placed Space tile (e.g., a Galaxy, a Space Path, or Deep Space).
If a Galaxy is completed, is a Space Probe automatically scored and re-moved (and then re-usable)? Or does it not happen until the end of the game?
A Space Probe should be scored as soon as a Galaxy is completed so that you can put the Probe back into your inventory for possible future use.
Can a Space tile ever be played on top of one of the original game board Worm Holes? If so, what happens?
Yes, during the course of the game, it may be possible to place a Space tile on top of one or more of the four Worm Holes that are imprinted on the game board around the center 5-point Planet. Doing so effectively removes the Worm Hole from the game. You can no longer travel through it.
At the end of the game, do ALL players with a Space Probe in an unfinished Galaxy score only one point for each Space Tile, or does only the player with the MOST Probes score?
The player with the MOST Probes scores the points. If two or more players have the same number of Probes, each player scores one point per Space Tile.
Are Space Probes on completed Galaxies returned to the players’ supply?
Yes. They are scored and removed to the each player’s supply/inventory so that they can be used again on a later turn. (Note: Space Stations are a different matter. When a Station is completely surrounded by tiles, a player has the option to score the Station immediately and then remove it to inventory for later use, or leave it as a “docking” station for one of his own Space Ships to use.
Can several Space Pirates occupy the same continuous Space Path?
No. It is assumed that a Space Pirate is “controlling” the entire Space Path it is on. As per the rules on page 8, second paragraph right side, “while on the Space Path, the Space Pirate prevents any other opponent’s Space Ship or Flying Saucer from traveling (therefore, using or being on) that Space Path.” This means, no other player’s Space Pirate can be placed on the same Space Path as another player’s Pirate; nor can the Space Paths containing two different player’s Space Pirates ever be connected to each other.
How many people can play?
Amazing Space Venture™ is designed as a two – four player game (although one of the variants is for solitaire). Because of the symmetry of the Deep Space 169-square game board, and the number of tiles (88) and playing cards, it plays equally well as a two, three, or four player game. The only difference is that in a two-player game, each player draws 3 tiles per turn; whereas in a three or four-player game, each player draws only two tiles. As a result, three or four-player games take a few minutes longer to play.
If another player gets way ahead in the game, is it possible for me to still win?
Yes, absolutely! Unlike many other games, Amazing Space Venture™ is designed to keep every player “in the game” until the very end. A scoring track on the gigantic 25” x 33” game board shows who is ahead at any moment, but un-scored Space Probes, Space Pirates, Space Stations, Planets, and Special Quests are added to the score as soon as the last turn is over. So, nobody really knows who wins, until the game is finished. (Also, in the rules, we also give you Tips on Strategy so that you quickly can become an expert player).
What happens if someone places a tile incorrectly (e.g. it doesn't match)and it isn't noticed right away?
If it's still the turn of the player who played it, simply remove the tile and place it correctly on the game board. However, if another player has already placed his tiles on a new turn, leave the incorrectly placed tile where it is. Consider it a ripple or tear in the fabric of space, and continue with the game.
Solitaire Questions: When you play the Amazing Space Venture solitaire do you place 2 or 3 Space tiles? What is considered a good solitaire score?
We recommend you draw three tiles when playing the solitaire version of Amazing Space Venture. This gives you 24 turns to explore the universe you create. (That is equivalent to a two-player game of 12 turns each). If you want a faster game, you can draw four tiles but any more than that will not give you enough opportunity to draw a variety of cards.
As you play, you will notice that most of the red Special Action and negative Environment and negative Life Form cards, as well as certain Space Ship cards, will become good discards as you seek to refuel your hand with new Planets to discover or better Space Ships. You'll be amazed at the strategic challenges you will face: Do you go for one long high-scoring Space Path with only one Space Pirate? Should you score many smaller Galaxies or try to probe a huge one? Is it best to hold back on playing your Space Explorer in the hope that you’ll be able to discover his or her Home Planet? Lot’s of decisions. (“There’s so much to do, and so little time,” as quoted from Captain Rookie’s Memoirs).
The highest solitaire score reported to date is 450 points! Can you beat that? What are the most points possible under ideal circumstances? (Note: You will probably run out of Planet disks in your starting color, but you can use another color. After all, no one is really going to mind).
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