How to Play / Rules

• New player? We recommend watching our videos and play online in your browser for free against the bot before playing versus real players.
• You can print this document to have it handy during offline play.
• These rules apply to all forms of play (offline, online, casual, and tournament).

Goal of the Game

You are a commander of a space station at war. Your objective is to reduce the enemy Commander's Life Points to 0. Deploy spaceships, missiles, defenses, and events to destroy their space station and kill their commander.

Preparation

1. Layout: Each player has a Home Zone (nearest to them) and an Enemy Zone (the opponent's side). Place your draw pile on the left; the area below it is reserved for your discard pile. Use dice to track Life Points, damage and actions.
2. Station Setup: Place the three Station Rule Cards in a vertical row on the right.
3. Starting Player: Randomly decide which player gets to choose who starts the game.
4. The Hand: Shuffle and draw 6 cards. The player going second draws 1 additional card (7 total).
5. Initialize Station: Choose 3 cards from your hand to become initial station cards, place them face down — one in each of the three station rows.
6. Second Player Bonus: The player going second places 1 additional card face down in any station row (4 total). Both players should now have 3 cards left in hand.
7. Commanders: Choose your Commander secretly. Reveal them simultaneously, set their starting Life Points with a die, and begin!

Station Cards

Your station cards determine your resources each turn. There are three rows:

Note: A player may look at their own face-down station cards during their action phase.
More details about these phases appear in The Turn below.

The Cards

The number in the top-left corner is the Action Cost.
Actions are spent to play cards during the action phase.
Cards with a cost of 0 can be played at any time (including during an opponent’s turn).
If a card’s text contradicts the rules of the game, the card’s text takes precedence.

• Spaceship (blue)

  Can perform one attack and one move each turn. Cannot move the turn it enters play. A spaceship may always attack an enemy card in the same zone (even the turn it enters play). To attack the enemy station, it must have been in the Enemy Zone since the start of the turn.

• Missile (red)

  Missiles can move and attack similarly to spaceships. A missile is destroyed after it attacks. Unlike spaceships, a missile does not need to spend a full turn in the Enemy Zone before it can attack the enemy station. If a missile is not Slow, it may (after its first turn in play) attack any target, including the enemy station, from the Home Zone.

• Duration (violet)

  Duration cards remain in play until their owner discards them. At the start of a player’s action phase, that player must either pay each duration card’s action cost to keep it, or discard it from play.

• Event (orange)

  Events resolve once when played, then are placed into the discard pile.

• Defense (green)

  Defense cards (such as shields and cannons) remain in the Home Zone and cannot move. Shields must be destroyed before the station can be attacked. Cannons attack during the attack phase.

• Commander

  Commanders provide an ongoing ability or bonus. Commanders cannot be attacked directly; if there are no face-down station cards left to flip during a station attack, any remaining damage is dealt to the commander instead.

The Turn

Each turn follows the Station Rule Cards from top to bottom and ends with an attack phase:

1. Draw phase: Draw 1 card for each station card in the first row. Drawing is mandatory.
2. Action phase: Gain 2 actions for each station card in the second row.
   • Duration upkeep: For each duration card you control, pay its action cost to keep it or discard it from play.
   • Spend actions to play cards from hand.
   • Station management (optional): Once per turn, you may either add 1 card from hand to a station row (max 7 total) OR move a station card to a different row.
   • Unused actions are lost as the action phase ends.
3. Discard phase: If having more cards in hand than the hand size limit, discard down to that limit. The hand size limit is 3 × the number of station cards in their third row.
   Example: With 1 station card in the third row, the hand size limit is 3. With 2 cards, the limit is 6.
4. Attack phase: One at a time, the player may move and/or attack with each spaceship, missile, or cannon they control, in any order.

Attacks

Attacks are declared during the attack phase. An attacker may attack enemy cards in the same zone.

Spaceships, missiles, and cannons may always attack an enemy card in the Home Zone (even if the attacker entered play this turn).

When a card attacks, it deals damage equal to its attack value (red) to the target. If the total damage on a card is equal to or greater than its defense value (green), it is destroyed and placed into its owner’s discard pile. The attacker does not take damage from attacking. Damage remains on cards (use a die to track it).

When the enemy station is attacked, the attacking player chooses and flips that many of the defending player’s face-down station cards. If the defending player cannot flip enough station cards, the remaining damage is dealt to that player’s commander (reducing Life Points).

Flipped Station Cards

A flipped station card is face up and may be played as if it were in its owner’s hand (following normal timing rules): 0-cost cards may be played at any time, and non-0-cost cards are played in the action phase. When a flipped station card is played, it leaves the station row.

Flipped station cards are still station cards and still count for drawing, actions, and hand size limit.

Empty Draw Pile

If a player’s draw pile is empty at the start of their draw phase, that player’s station takes 3 damage (the opponent flips 3 of that player’s station cards). Any damage that cannot be applied to station cards is dealt to that player’s commander instead.

If a player needs to draw but cannot, that draw is ignored.

Repair

Some spaceships can repair. Repair works like attacking in terms of range: a ship can repair only a target in the same zone. Repair removes damage from the target, and if the target is paralyzed, repair also removes paralysis. A repair ship may repair itself unless it is paralyzed. Commanders cannot be repaired.

Reactions and Pace of Play

Players must allow reasonable time for an opponent to respond to plays. A player may not play multiple cards rapidly in a way that prevents reactions such as counters or other 0-cost cards.

Offline play: At any time, a player may say “pause” (or raise a hand or similar). The opponent must stop taking actions until told to continue.

Online play: A player can always react to actions that occurred within the last 10 seconds. If several cards have been played during that time, the game will rewind.

Definitions / Keywords

Ability – An action a spaceship card may perform instead of attacking.

Counter a card – To cancel a card as it is played. Ignore its text. It goes to the discard pile and any action cost spent to play it is lost.

Counters – Some cards gain counters. Use a die to track the number of counters on that card.

Delayed – Ignore this card’s text box until the start of its owner’s next turn.

Discard – To move cards from a player’s hand to their discard pile. The owner chooses which cards are discarded unless stated to be random.

Discard from play – To move your own card from the play area to the discard pile.

Discard pile – Cards are placed face up and the contents are public information for both players.

Fast – Can move the first turn.

From anywhere – A player may search their draw pile, discard pile, or station cards. If a player searches their draw pile, it must be shuffled afterward.

No effect – Ignore all text in the card's text box. The card is still paid for, and duration cards with no effect are still handled normally during duration upkeep.

Paralyze – Turn the card sideways and it cannot do anything until repaired. Cannot recieve counters.

Put into play – To place a card directly into a player’s Home Zone without paying its cost. Cards put into play do not come from the hand and cannot be countered.

Slow – Each turn can either move or attack but not both.

Constructed Play (Optional)

In Constructed, each player uses their own custom deck. Full Constructed rules are available here: Constructed Play.