Objective of the Game

Welcome, future galactic emperor! In Roll for the Galaxy, your goal is to build the most prosperous and powerful space empire. You'll be rolling dice, developing new technologies, settling planets, producing valuable goods, and shipping them across the galaxy to earn victory points. Outmaneuver your rivals, manage your dice workers efficiently, and prove that your empire is destined for greatness!

Preparation (Setup)

Setting up your galactic empire is easier than colonizing a new world! Here’s how to get started:

1. Each player receives a faction tile. The player with the lowest numbered faction tile will be the starting player for any strict timing resolutions.
2. Each player gets their starting dice cup and a set of starting dice.
3. Place the main game board in the center of the table.
4. Shuffle the development tiles and world tiles into their respective stacks on the game board.
5. Make sure the Citizenry area is set up correctly, with the brown die (as per errata) and other starting dice ready for recruitment.
6. Place the phase strip in a central location where all players can easily see and interact with it.

The Turn of Play

A round in Roll for the Galaxy is a dynamic dance of dice and decisions. Here’s how it unfolds:

Assigning Dice to a Phase

This is where your strategy begins! Each round, you'll:

1. Roll dice. Take all the dice from your dice cup and roll them!
2. Place dice under corresponding phases. Based on the face of each die, place it under the matching phase on your player mat.
3. Move one die of your choice to an action square. This is crucial! Pick one die and place it on an action square on the phase strip. This action forces that phase to be active for the round. Remember, this die still counts as a worker for that phase!
4. Dictate Power (Optional). You may use your Dictate power to move one die to another phase. If you do, you must set aside an additional die as inactive for this turn (it goes directly into your dice cup).
5. Reassign Powers (Optional). You may use any available Reassign powers if you wish to further manipulate your dice placements.

Once assigned, all dice now count as an action die of the phase they are placed in, regardless of what face is showing. Do NOT rotate the die to match the phase!

Executing Phases

Once all players have assigned their dice, the active phases are revealed, and everyone performs actions simultaneously (or in clockwise order for strict timing, starting with the player with the lowest numbered faction tile).

• You do not need workers assigned to a particular phase to trigger powers that occur during that phase, but the phase would have to be selected during the round by a player.
• You must use all your workers (dice) if at all possible during each active phase.
• All workers perform their tasks sequentially, one-at-a-time. Players do not have to declare in advance what tasks their workers will do.

Explore Phase

This is where you discover new worlds and technologies!

• During the Explore phase, if either the development or world tile stacks become empty, any developer or settler dice on the empty stack remain there. They are only removed from an empty stack at the end of the Develop or Settle phases.
• Tiles abandoned go under the Explore phase tile until the end of the phase.

Develop and Settle Phases

Build up your empire by developing new technologies or settling new planets!

• At the end of these phases, if there are any developer or settler dice in the construction zone on an empty stack, they are returned to your dice cup.
• You can use a development’s power in the phase it was built.

Produce Phase

Generate valuable goods from your worlds!

• When producing, the producer die becomes the good and is placed on an open world tile.

Ship Phase

Sell your goods for victory points or money!

• A consumption (purple) die matches (is treated as) any color. When used as either a good or shipper it earns the +1 VP as if it was the world’s color.
• The good’s trade value is determined by its world’s color (instead of the good’s color).
• Consumption (purple) dice only count as other die colors when matching colors for earning VP’s during the Consume part of the Ship phase.

Manage Empire Phase

Recruit new workers and prepare for the next round!

• During the Manage Empire phase, you must recruit as many dice from the Citizenry to the dice cup as you can afford.
• During the Manage Empire phase, you can Recall any developers or settlers dice from their construction zone stacks and goods from worlds and put them back in your dice cup (at no cost).

Game End and Scoring

The game ends when one of two conditions is met:

• A player has built 12 or more development and/or world tiles.
• The supply of victory point tokens runs out.

Once the game end is triggered, finish the current round. Then, it's time to tally up those points!

At game end, you will want to Recall all your workers on the construction zone stacks and goods on worlds (move them into your dice cup) because money and dice in your dice cup are tie-breakers. Add up the victory points from your built tiles, any bonus points from developments, and any remaining money or dice in your cup (for tie-breaking purposes).

The player with the most victory points wins and is crowned the ultimate galactic architect!

Tips for Winning

1. Master Dice Assignment: Your initial die assignment is critical. Forcing a phase to be active with your chosen die can dictate the entire round's flow. Don't just place dice where they land; think strategically about which phase you absolutely need to activate, and which die you're willing to commit to it.
2. Recall for Flexibility: Don't forget the power of the Manage Empire phase! Recalling dice from construction zones or goods from worlds is a free action that can significantly boost your available dice for the next round, giving you more options and flexibility. Use it to recover dice that might otherwise be stuck.
3. Leverage Development Powers: Many development tiles offer powerful abilities. Remember, you can use a development's power in the phase it was built. Pay attention to these synergies and try to build developments that enhance the phases you plan to activate frequently.