Overview

Have the most prestige points (PP) after 5 rounds

Setup

In reverse turn order, choose a starting bonus

Rounds

Each round is split into two phases

Ambassador's Phase (Played 4 times per round)

Executive Phase (Played once after all Ambassador phases)

Ambassador's Phase

On your turn, Place one of your four tokens on a still-vacant space from among the 18 spaces in the senate, either Voting side or Funding side up

Voting-side-up tokens have numbers from 1-3; these represent the votes you have cast in:

-- The left or right side of the senate

-- The floor (top, middle, or bottom) of the senate

Funding-side-up tokens immediately gain you any crystal shown, as well as making available to you the special mission on your player board that corresponds to the space you covered in the senate.

Alteration Tokens: If you have an Alteration Token (usually gained from the blue '6moon' planet), you can combine it with a token before you place it to increase or change the power or bonus of the token. Voting Alternation Tokens must go with Voting-side-up tokens, and Funding Alteration Tokens must go with Funding-side-up tokens.

Assistant Die: If you use your voting side, you can add your assistant die (if non-zero) to the token when placing it, to increase your votes.

Medals of Honour: If your action was on any of the five coloured planets, you will earn a medal of honour if you are the first person to reach level 3 influence on that planet. If somebody else has reached level 3, you must reach level 4 influence to gain a medal of honour, and so on. These medals go on the bottom of your scoring area and you will earn VPs at the end equal to the number shown to the right of your most recent medal. You can only gain one in each colour.

Special Mission: Optionally, after resolving your token placement, if you have any fighters available, you can place them on any available special mission on your player board, resolving it. In addition to having activated the mission by placing a funding-side-up token on the corresponding space, your Accreditation Marker (left hand side of player board) must be at the same level as the special mission.

Voting versus Funding: essentially, you are choosing between casting voting power to gain end-of-round PPs for majorities the side of the senate and each of the three floors (see below), or using the funding side to earn crystals, unlock special missions, and fund the projects at the top of each column in the senate: if these are successfully funded, they will pay out VPs to the players with most influence in that area at the end of the game.

Executive Phase

In turn order, each player:

-- Receives income from each of their green production structures

-- Pays the crystal cost shown next to their current level of accreditation, or pay for a lower level and drop to that level

Then, each Major Projects (the top of each column in the senate) moves onwards for each Funding token on it

The player with majority votes on each senate floor receives PPs equal to their current accreditation level

The votes on each side of the senate are tallied, and the law underneath the winning side is passed (2 PPs per influence level on that planet for each player)

End of Round

Collect all tokens and discard used Alteration Tokens

Replace both Law tiles

End of Game

Score points for:

-- The lowest uncovered Medal of Honour value on your player board

-- Remaining resources: (1PP per 2 Crystals, 1PP per Diamond, 1PP per Spaceship in your hanger, 1PP per Alteration Token)

-- Player ranking for each funded Major Project (4 Players: 16/8/4/0, 3 Players: 14/6/0, 2 Players: 10/(4 or 0))

Additional Notes

• You can hold a maximum of 10 crystals and 5 gold
• You can gain/use a maximum of 8 fighters
• Reaching the top of the Accreditation track allows you to pick from the Deep Space Tiles for a special immediate bonus
• If you don't like any of your options, you can instead take a blue crystal (bottom-right of board, not limited)
• On the green planet (E81216), the income structures are worth one influence, but the PP-scoring Megastructures are worth 2 PPs each
• The final two medals are gained from your player board: at the top of Accreditation level 4 and on a Special Mission
• If a Major Project is fully funded, any left-over support will go to the central Joint Major Project; contributions to this earn crystals as shown