How to Play Race for the Galaxy: Xeno Invasion

Objective of the Game

In Race for the Galaxy: Xeno Invasion, players must build the most prosperous and powerful space empire while defending it from the Xenos, a violent, xenophobic race. The game challenges you to balance your empire's growth with the necessity of repulsing these invaders. You win by accumulating the most Victory Points (VPs), which are earned through your empire's development, war contributions, and successful defenses against the Xeno attacks.

Preparation (Setup)

To set up the Invasion Game, follow these steps in addition to the standard game setup:

1. Give each player a Produce: Repair card, an admiral disk, a summary card, and a bunker. Place the bunker directly above your start world.
2. Invasion Deck Setup: Separate the 40 invasion cards into Wave 1, Wave 2, and Wave 3 groups. Use all Wave 3 cards, and two cards each of Wave 1 and Wave 2 per player. Stack them from bottom to top: Wave 3, then Wave 2, then Wave 1. Place the Round 1 card face up on top.
3. Repulse Track: Use the appropriate repulse tile for your player count. Place the repulse value arrow on the repulse track matching the tile's value. Place the Military vs. Xenos arrow, empire defeat tile (0 side up), and admiral disks nearby.
4. Set the Greatest Admiral and Greatest Contributor bonus tiles and defense award chips within reach.

Fluxo do Jogo

The game proceeds in rounds consisting of phases. In the first round, a Settle phase occurs automatically. In rounds 3 and beyond, an Invasion Step occurs after all phases are completed:

1. Update Admiral Disks: Place/shift disks on the repulse track based on each player's current Military vs. Xenos value.
2. Check Xeno Repulse: If the collective Military vs. Xenos of all players meets or exceeds the current repulse value, the game ends immediately.
3. Assign Invasion Cards: Flip one invasion card per player. Assign them based on invasion strength (high to low) to players in the order of their admiral disks.
4. Resolve Invasions: Players compare their invasion strength to their total Military vs. Xenos (plus any Defense vs. Xenos or temporary military). If the invasion strength is higher or equal, the player's world is damaged. If lower, the player earns defense awards.

If all players fail to defend in a single round, the empire defeat tile is flipped. If all players fail to defend twice, the game ends.

Ações e Como Jogar

Beyond standard Race for the Galaxy actions, the Invasion Game introduces specific mechanics:

• Military vs. Xenos: This value is used to defend against Xeno invasions. Some powers provide Military vs. Xenos, while others provide Defense vs. Xenos.
• Produce: Contributing to the War Effort: At the start of a Produce phase, you may discard goods to reduce the repulse value by 1 and gain 1 VP chip.
• Produce: Repairing Worlds: You may repair a damaged world by discarding two cards, discarding a good, using a repair power, or using half of the Produce: Repair bonus. A damaged world is flipped face down, cannot hold goods, and scores 0 VPs.
• Bunker Power: During an invasion, you may discard 1 card from your hand for +2 temporary Defense vs. Xenos.
• Pay-for-Military: Allows you to place a military world as a non-military world by paying its defense cost. Note: Xeno military worlds cannot be settled using this power.

Fim de Jogo e Pontuação

The game ends if the Xenos are repulsed, if the empire defeat condition is met (all players fail to defend twice), or via standard game-end triggers. If the game ends by empire defeat, players lose. Otherwise:

• Players with the highest Military vs. Xenos and the most war contribution VP chips receive 5 VP bonuses (Greatest Admiral and Greatest Contributor tiles).
• Total your VPs from all sources, including award chips and tiles. War contribution VP chips count toward Galactic Renaissance, but defense awards and bonuses do not.
• Damaged worlds score 0 VPs and do not count toward other card VPs.

Dicas para Vencer

• Manage your Military: Since the player with the lowest Military vs. Xenos gains more defense awards when successfully defending, try to balance your military strength to maximize your rewards without risking empire defeat.
• Contribute Wisely: Contributing goods during the Produce phase is a dual-purpose strategy: it helps lower the repulse value to end the game on your terms and earns you VP chips that count toward the Greatest Contributor bonus.
• Use your Bunker: Don't hesitate to discard cards to use your bunker for temporary Defense vs. Xenos if it prevents a world from being damaged, as damaged worlds lose all their utility and scoring potential.