Objective of the Game

Welcome, aspiring galactic conquerors! In Tiny Epic Galaxies, your burgeoning empire is bursting at the seams, and it's time to expand across the cosmos. You'll be growing your fleet, spreading your influence, and colonizing newly discovered planets in a thrilling race for intergalactic dominance.

The ultimate goal? To earn the most Victory Points! You'll rack up points by successfully colonizing planets and by increasing your empire's level. The player with the highest Victory Point total at the end of the game claims victory and controls the cosmos!

Preparation (Setup)

Let's get your galactic empire ready for launch! Here’s how to set up your game:

1. Each player chooses a color and takes a matching Galaxy Mat. (The "Rogue Galaxies" on the back are for solo play only, so keep them face up!)
2. Each player receives 4 Ships, 1 Culture Token, 1 Energy Token, and 1 Empire Token in their chosen color.
3. Place 2 of your Ships upright on the center of your Galaxy Mat. These are your starting ships. The other 2 Ships go onto the ship track on the number spaces outlined with a square on your Galaxy Mat.
4. Place your Culture Token and Energy Token on the resource track of your Galaxy Mat. You start the game with 1 Culture and 2 Energy.
5. Place your Empire Token on the first space of the empire track (marked with a star icon) on your Galaxy Mat. Your empire level determines how many dice and ships you can use, and it also earns you Victory Points.
6. Shuffle the deck of Planet Cards. Draw 2 more than the number of players and place them face up in a line in the center of the table. (For example, in a 3-player game, you'd place 5 planets. In a 5-player game, you only draw 6 Planet Cards.) These are the newly discovered planets, ripe for colonization!
7. Place the Control Mat and the 7 Action Dice in the center of the table, within reach of all players.
8. Shuffle the Secret Mission Cards and deal two to each player. Each player looks at both, chooses one to keep (sliding it under their Galaxy Mat, face down), and discards the other. These cards are kept secret until the end of the game. Return any remaining Secret Mission Cards to the box, face down.

The Game Turn

The youngest player gets the honor of going first! Turns continue clockwise. Here's how a typical turn unfolds:

1. Roll Your Dice

At the start of your turn, check your Empire Level on your Galaxy Mat. This tells you how many Action Dice you get to roll. For your very first turn, you'll roll 4 dice and have 2 ships available. Roll your dice – these will determine the actions you can take this turn!

2. Activate Dice

You can activate your rolled dice in any order you choose, and you don't even have to activate all of them! To use an action shown on a die:

• Move the die to the Activation Bay on the Control Mat.
• Perform the action.
• Once a die is activated, it stays in the Activation Bay and cannot be used again this turn.

Rerolling Dice

Not happy with your roll? You can reroll any number of your unactivated dice at any point during your turn. The first reroll of your turn is free! Any subsequent rerolls will cost you 1 Energy.

Following an Action

After the active player activates a die, other players get a quick chance to "follow" that action. To follow:

• Spend 1 Culture.
• Immediately copy that die's action.
• Each player can only follow a specific die's action once per turn.
• If there are timing disputes, resolve them in clockwise order, starting from the player to the left of the active player.

Dice Actions Explained:

• MOVE a SHIP:

  Move one of your Ships from its current planet or your Galaxy Mat to another planet. When a ship arrives at a planet, it can do one of two things:

  1. Land on the Planet's Surface: Place your ship upright on the planet card. You immediately perform the action listed on that planet.
  2. Orbit the Planet: Place your ship on its side on the starting position of the planet's Colony Track. The symbol at the end of the track (Diplomacy or Economy) shows which action will advance your ship along the track. The first player to reach the end colonizes the planet!

  General Movement Rules:

  • You must switch planets when you move. You can't move from a planet's surface to its colony track (or vice versa) in the same move.
  • You can have one ship on a planet's colony track AND one ship on its surface.
  • You can only have one ship on each colony track.
  • You can only have one ship on each planet surface.
  • Ships from different players can share colony track spaces or planet surfaces.
  • If your ship ever gets displaced, it returns to your Galaxy Mat.
  • You can move a ship from a planet back to your Galaxy Mat. Multiple ships can land in your galaxy.
  • You cannot land on another player’s Galaxy Mat or their already colonized planets.
• ACQUIRE RESOURCES (Energy or Culture):

  When you activate an Acquire Resource die, you gain 1 of that resource for each of your ships on, or orbiting, planets with the matching resource symbol. You also acquire 1 Energy for each ship currently on your Galaxy Mat.

  Move your Culture or Energy Token up the resource track. You can only hold a maximum of 7 of either resource. If you spend all of a resource, remove its token from your Galaxy Mat until you acquire more.

• ADVANCE COLONIZATION (Diplomacy or Economy):

  This is how you colonize planets! While orbiting a planet, your ships are working towards colonization. Activate a Diplomacy or Economy die to advance one of your ships forward one space on one Colony Track that matches the die's symbol (indicated at the end of the track).

  Colonizing a Planet: When your ship reaches the end of a Colony Track, you've colonized that planet! All ships (from all players) on that planet card return to their owners' Galaxy Mats. Take the Planet Card and slide it under the action section of your Galaxy Mat so its text and point value are visible. Announce your new Victory Point total. Then, draw a new Planet Card to replace the one you just colonized, filling the gap.

• UTILIZE a COLONY:

  Activate this die to perform either the action on your Galaxy Mat OR the action on one of the planets you have already colonized.

  Galaxy Mat Action: Upgrade your Empire!

  To upgrade your empire, spend resources equal to the cost of the next level on your empire track. This cost must be paid entirely in Energy or entirely in Culture – no mixing! Upgrading your empire increases its Victory Point value, as shown on the track. It also increases the number of dice and ships you can use. If you gain a ship, immediately place it on the center of your Galaxy Mat; it can be used this same turn! If you gain another die, it will be available at the start of your next turn. Announce your new Victory Point total.

• CONVERTING Dice:

  The Converter on the Control Mat is a powerful tool! To use it, place any two inactive dice into its two slots. Then, you can change the face of a third inactive die to any face of your choice. This can only be done once per turn. The two dice placed in the Converter are considered spent and cannot be activated or followed.

Finishing Your Turn

Once you've activated as many dice as you wish, your turn is over. Other players get one last chance to follow the last die you activated. Remove all dice from the Control Mat, and play passes to the next player in clockwise order.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when a player reaches 21 Victory Points or more. However, Secret Mission Cards do not count towards this threshold. Once the 21+ VP condition is met, play continues until all players have had an equal number of turns (meaning the game finishes with the player to the right of the starting player).

Reveal Secret Missions and Score!

After the final player finishes their turn, all players reveal their Secret Mission Cards. If you've completed the objective on your card, you're awarded the bonus points detailed on it!

Add up your total Victory Points from:

• Colonized planets
• Your empire level
• Completed Secret Mission Cards

The player with the most Victory Points wins!

Tie-breaking rules:

1. Player with the most colonized planets wins.
2. If still tied, the player with the highest galaxy level wins.
3. If still tied, the player with the highest combined total of resources (Energy + Culture) wins.
4. If still tied, congratulations on your shared victory!

Tips for Winning

To truly master the galaxy, keep these strategies in mind:

1. Prioritize Empire Upgrades: Your Empire Level is crucial! Upgrading your empire not only gives you more Victory Points but also grants you more dice and ships. More dice mean more actions, and more ships mean more presence on planets and more resource generation. Don't underestimate the power of a larger fleet and more options!
2. Resource Management is Key: Pay close attention to your Energy and Culture. Energy is vital for rerolling dice, giving you flexibility when your rolls aren't ideal. Culture allows you to "follow" other players' actions, effectively letting you take extra turns and capitalize on their good rolls. Knowing when to spend and when to save these resources can make a huge difference.
3. Strategic Planet Colonization: Don't just colonize any planet! Look at the actions planets provide when landed on, and consider which Colony Tracks (Diplomacy or Economy) you can efficiently advance. Colonizing planets not only gives you Victory Points but also unlocks powerful actions you can use with the Utilize a Colony die. Choose planets that complement your strategy and deny your opponents crucial actions.