Objective of the Game

Welcome, space explorers, to Mission: Red Planet (Third Edition)! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to become the ultimate Martian colonizer. You'll be sending your brave astronauts to Mars, claiming valuable resources, and completing secret missions to prove your company's dominance. The player who has accumulated the most points by the end of 10 rounds, through a clever mix of resource control and fulfilled objectives, will be crowned the undisputed ruler of the Red Planet!

Setup

Before you launch your first rocket, let's get the Martian landscape ready:

1. Assemble Mars: Piece together the 4 Mars board pieces in the center of your play area. Keep Phobos and the Lost in Space Memorial nearby.
2. Build the Launchpad: Use a number of dock pieces equal to the number of players to assemble the launchpad. Attach the end cap docks to the ends.
3. Token Time: Place the destination tokens within easy reach. Sort the point tokens by type into neat piles.
4. Global Mission: Place the Ice Monopoly global mission card faceup near the tokens.
5. Ship Ahoy!: Shuffle the ship cards and place the deck near the launchpad. Draw a number of cards equal to the number of players and place one ship, faceup, at each dock of the launchpad.
   • If a drawn ship has an unknown destination (marked with a '?'), replace it with a new card and shuffle the unknown destination ship back into the ship deck.
   • If a Phobos-bound ship isn't drawn, place a Phobos destination token on the ship at the rightmost dock.
6. Choose Your Color: Each player picks a color, takes all 9 character cards of that color (this is your starting hand!), and all the plastic astronauts of that color.
7. First Astronauts & First Player: Take 1 astronaut from each player and randomly place one on each ship at the launchpad. The player whose astronaut is on the leftmost dock is the first player and takes the round tracker, setting it to 1.
8. Resource Discovery: Randomly place 1 resource token facedown in each zone of Mars, and on Phobos. Place the remaining resource token facedown near the token supply.
9. Secret Missions: Shuffle the mission cards and deal 2 to each player. Each player chooses 1 card to keep facedown in their play area and places the unchosen card facedown on top of the undealt mission cards. Your chosen mission cards remain hidden until the end of the game!
10. The Event Deck: Shuffle the discovery cards, the action cards, and all remaining mission cards together to create the event deck. Place it facedown near the token supply.

The Game Turn

A game of Mission: Red Planet unfolds over 10 rounds, each following a clear sequence:

1. Choose Character:

   Everyone simultaneously chooses 1 character card from their hand and places it facedown in front of them. No peeking until everyone's ready!

2. Resolve Character Effects:

   This is where the action happens! The first player starts a countdown from 9. As each number is called, any player who chose that numbered character card flips it faceup and resolves its effect. If multiple players chose the same character, they resolve their effects clockwise, starting with the first player.

   • Character effects are mandatory and resolved from top to bottom on the card.
   • Once used, a character card stays faceup in front of you and cannot be used again until you play the Recruiter card to bring all your played cards back to your hand.
   • A docked ship launches when the number of astronauts on it equals its capacity. Slide the ship card away from the launchpad to show it's launched. Ships only launch if they become full or due to a game effect (like the Secret Agent).
   • Character Clarifications:
     • 9 Recruiter: Take all your played character cards back into your hand, including the Recruiter itself.
     • 8 Explorer: Move one of your astronauts from its current zone to an adjacent zone. You can move the same astronaut multiple times. Moving an astronaut to a zone with a facedown resource token flips that token faceup.
     • 7 Scientist: After looking at a facedown discovery card, return it facedown to its assigned zone. If all outer zones already have a discovery card and you draw a new one, discard it faceup and then look at a facedown discovery card already in play.
     • 6 Secret Agent: You can force a ship with 0 astronauts on board to launch!
     • 5 Saboteur: All astronauts on a destroyed ship are killed and sent to the Lost in Space Memorial. The destroyed ship is then discarded.
     • 4 Femme Fatale: You can replace an astronaut in a docked ship, a launched ship, or any Mars zone (including Phobos) where you already have at least one of your own astronauts. The replaced astronaut is killed and sent to the Lost in Space Memorial.
     • 3 Travel Agent: If there isn't a docked ship with room for at least 3 more astronauts, you ignore this effect and skip your turn. This is the only character effect that can be ignored.
     • 2 Soldier: You can kill astronauts in any zone except Syrtis Major and Valles Marineris. You can even kill your own! You must move at least 1 astronaut.
     • 1 Pilot: You can place a destination token on either a docked or launched ship, even on top of another destination token, changing its destination again.
3. Land Launched Ships:

   Each launched ship lands on Mars, unloading all astronauts into its indicated zone. If a destination token covers the ship's printed destination, it lands in the zone shown on the token instead. When an astronaut lands in a zone with a facedown resource token, flip that token faceup to reveal its resource. After landing, place the ship faceup next to the ship deck in the ship discard pile and return any destination token to the supply.

4. Draw New Docked Ships:

   For each open dock at the launchpad, the first player draws 1 ship card and places it faceup at an open dock. If the ship deck runs out, shuffle its discard pile to create a new one.

5. Assign New First Player:

   The player who resolved their character effect last during this round becomes the new first player and takes the round tracker.

6. Advance Round Tracker:

   The first player slides the gauge clockwise to the next notch. The icon in the window indicates the next round or phase.

Production Phase

There are 3 production phases on the round tracker. During a production phase:

• Each zone with a faceup resource token produces point tokens of its resource type, equal to the number of dots in the production phase icon.
• Players then receive point tokens based on majority in each zone.
  • If only one player has the most astronauts in a zone, they take all the point tokens from that zone.
  • If two or more players tie for the most astronauts, they evenly distribute the point tokens from that zone (any remaining tokens stay in the zone).
  • If no astronauts are in a zone, the point tokens stay there.
• At the end of each production phase, the first player advances the round tracker to the next notch.

Reveal Discovery Phase

The first player flips all discovery cards in play faceup. Each effect resolves during the phase indicated by the icon in the lower-right corner of the card (Reveal Discovery Phase, Third Production Phase, or Final Scoring Phase). At the end of this phase, the first player advances the round tracker.

End of Game and Scoring

The game concludes after 10 rounds, culminating in the Final Scoring Phase:

1. Mission Reveal: Players reveal their hidden mission cards and determine if they were completed.
2. Ice Monopoly: The player(s) with the most ice point tokens completes the Ice Monopoly global mission and gains 9 points. On a tie, tied players divide the 9 points (rounded down).
3. Final Score Calculation: Each player calculates their final score by adding:
   • Points from your completed missions.
   • The total value of all your collected point tokens (Ice: 1 VP, Sylvanite: 2 VP, Celerium: 3 VP).
   • Points added or subtracted from discoveries that affect you.
4. Declare a Winner: The player with the highest final score wins the game!
   • On a tie, the tied player with the largest quantity of point tokens (regardless of value) wins.
   • On a further tie, the tied players share the victory.

Event Cards

• Discoveries: These are scientific phenomena or geographical features. When drawn, assign them facedown to any outer zone of Mars (except Phobos, Syrtis Major, and Valles Marineris) by sliding a portion under the board. They provide positive or negative effects at the end of the game. Each zone can have at most 1 discovery card.
• Missions: Secret objectives that award points if completed. Keep them facedown in your play area until final scoring.
• Actions: Special effects that occur at specific times. Keep them facedown until their text tells you when to play them.

Tips for Winning

1. Master Your Characters: Each character card is powerful, but you can only use it once before needing the Recruiter. Plan your plays carefully! Sometimes holding onto a high-numbered character for a crucial moment is better than using it early.
2. Control the Flow: Being the first player is a huge advantage, as you dictate the countdown and can react to other players' choices. Pay attention to who resolves their character last to predict who will be the next first player.
3. Resource Management & Majority: Points come from controlling zones with resources. Don't just send astronauts blindly; aim for majority in zones with valuable revealed resources, especially before a production phase! Remember, even a tie for majority can get you points.