Welcome to House of Nerds!
Today we will be learning how to play Gaia Project
A space colonization board game
designed by Helge Ostertag and Jens Drögemüller
The goal of the game for every player is to try to
expand and colonize the universe
while earning more victory points than their opponents.
Now we are going to see how to set-up a 3 player game.
First of all, we grab all 10 map tiles from the box
making sure that tile #5, #6 and #7
are this side up
since the other one is only used for 2 player games
and then we create the game map.
The map can have any layout
random or not
and it can even have a different shape if the playera
are more experienced.
Next to the map, we place the Research Board.
We set apart the 9 different Standard Tech Tiles
which will be placed in the 9 respective positions at the bottom of the board.
We set aside every Federation Token and after we remove
this one which is used by a specific faction
and is momentarily out of the game
we choose one random Federation Token
to be placed at the top of the first research track
and then we choose randomly 6 Advanced Tech Tiles
which will be placed on the top positions
of the Research Board
After all this, the Research Board will look something like this.
Also, we place the Scoring Board,
we choose randomly
6 Round Scoring Tiles and 2 End-Game Scoring Tiles
and we place them on the Scoring Board.
We randomly choose
as many Round Boosters as the number of players +3
(in our example 6)
as well as the Turn Order card.
Now, we create a general supply
for the Q.I. Crystals,
the Gaia Planet tokens,
the action tokens and the power tokens.
Now, it is time
for each player to choose
one of the 14 available factions
After we determine a random turn order for the first round,
Each player, starting with the first,
can either choose, or be randomly assigned with, a faction.
Please note that each player board has two sides,
so each player may choose both the board and the side they want.
Each player takes, along with his player board, the respective buildings,
the satellites and the 4 resource trackers
Afterwards, they place the buildings on their player boards
as well as the resource trackers,
put their satellites and gaia formers aside
and seperates the 7 player markers to be placed on the Research Board.
We place 1 player marker on the first spot on each of the 6 research track (spot No 0)
and the last one on the 10-point spot on the victory point track
If any faction instructs
to increase any of our research,
we do so now, and receive the corresponding reward.
Also, if there is a Q.I.C icon, we take one now.
Some factions have a slightly different setup, but we will leave this for you to discover.
Otherwise, feel free to ask us in the comments. We will be glad to help.
Each player places one of their sattelites
in the correct position of the end-scoring tracks.
So, in our example, spot 0 for the number of buildings belonging to a federation
and spot 0 for the number of buildings a player has built.
Now, in player turn order, each player places a mine on a home planet (=planet of his own colour)
and when everyone is done
the process is repeated but this time in reverse turn order.
Finally, in reverse player order
they choose a Round Booster and the game can start!
Each game of Gaia Project is played in 6 rounds
with each one providing a different scoring bonus.
At the end of the 6th round, the end-game scoring is triggered and the winner is determined.
Each round is comprised of 4 Phases
Income Phase, Gaia Phase, Action Phase and Clean-up. Let's see them in detail...
But before that, we should explain how the Power Cycle works in Gaia Project
Each player board depicts the Power Cycle on the top side.
The cycle is comprised of the Gaia Area as well as the Areas 1, 2 and 3.
Each faction starts with a number of power tokens in Areas 1 & 2 (depending on the number printed ON them)
and in order for them to be used, they must be first transferred to Area 3.
This can be achieved with "Charging"
If, at any point in the game, a player is asked to Charge
they may move their power tokens from Area 1 to 2 and from Area 2 to 3 respectively.
In other words, if, for example, we are offered to charge 2 power tokens,
we first check if there are any power tokens in Area 1
If so, we move 2 of those tokens to Area 2
If Area 1 is empty and we have the option of charging, then we move tokens from Area 2 to Area 3
If all of our tokens are either in Gaia Area or in Area 3, then we cannot charge.
In order to do some of the game actions, we need to use ("Spend") this power
Anytime we need to spend power, we have to move that many power tokens from Area 3 to Area 1.
For example, if we want to do one of the free actions deicted on the bottom right of our board,
let's say, spend 1 power to gain 1 credit
then we simply move one power token from Area 3 to Area 1 and increase our credit track
Also, if an action forces us to "Discard" power
then we choose that many power tokens from any of the Areas 1,2 or 3 and return them to the general supply.
Power tokens in the Gaia Area CANNOT be discarded.
Also, as a free action,
a player may choose to discard a power token from Area 2 to move another power token from Area 2 to Area 3.
The discarded power tokens return to the general supply.
If we are required to ADD power tokens
we take them from the general supply and place them in Area 1
Let's explain the 4 phases of a game round.
On the first Phase, the Income Phase, each player
(either simultaneously or one by one)
gains income according to the open spots on their player board,
their spot on the research tracks and their Round Booster. (the open hand symbol indicates your income)
In our example, the Geoden player
will gain as income 3 ore,
1 knowledge from their player board
and 2 credit and a Q.I.C. from their Round Booster
It is worth mentioning that Ore and Knowledge can go up to 15 while credit reaches up to 30.
If any player has progressed in the economy or knowledge track
they would gain the respective income, as the red player would now.
In the Gaia Phase, we do exactly 2 things.
Firstly, any player with power tokens in the Gaia Area, moves them to Area 1.
Secondly, if a player has placed their Gaia Former on a purple planet,
they place a Gaia Planet token on it and leave the Gaia Former in place.
Placing Gaia Formers is explained later on
In the first round we can skip the Gaia Phase.
Now we move on to the Action Phase, where each player, in turn, does one of eight possible actions
The 1st available action is "Build a Mine"
where they take the left-most available mine and place it on a planet.
For this to happen, there are 3 requirements for the planet.
1) It has to be empty (no buildings on it)
2) It has to be accessible
meaning that its distance is not too great from an existing building of the player
3) It has to be habitable
meaning that the player has the resources to "Terraform" the planet
The accessibility is determined by the distance the player is allowed to build
That distance is dictated by the Navigation Track (2nd track on the board)
which shows the maximum distance we can build
In our example, the Geoden Player can build at a maximum distance of 1
while if they had progressed to spot No 2, they would be able to build at a distance of 2 hexes away.
For example, with a distance of 2, they are now able to build on the brown planet since it is 2 hexes away from their existing mine.
As we said previously, to do this, they have to make it habitable first.
Which means that they have to pay some resources to terraform the planet.
Looking at the right side of the player board, we can see, depending on the planet type we want to build on,
how many Terraforming Steps we have to pay for.
For the brown planet, we need 2 Terraforming Steps
Each Terraforming Step costs as much ore as stated in the Terraforming Track (1st research track)
In our example, the Geoden player is at spot No1
so he needs to pay 3 ore for each Terraforming Step
If they occupied the next spot on the track, they would need 2 ore for each Step.
After Terraforming, we also pay the cost of the Mine (2 credit and 1 ore) and place it
To sum up, for the player to place his mine on the brown planet
he will have to pay 4 ore (2 for each Step)
and then 1 ore and 2 credit
to complete the action.
If the player wants to build a mine on a planet too far away,
they may spend a Q.I.C. to increase his build distance by 2
as stated on the right side of the player board
Also, if they want to build on a green (Gaia) planet
then they must pay a Q.I.C. to terraform the planet along with the mine cost
Mines may not be build on purple planets until they are gaiaformed first (turned into Gaia planets)
which will be explained right away.
The 2nd available action is Start a Gaia Project
To do so, a player must be at least on spot 1 on the Gaiaforming Track (Research Track #4)
When this happens, they acquire their first Gaia Former
The Gaia Former may be placed, as an action, on a purple planet
and on the next turn's Gaia Phase, the planet will be turned into a Gaia planet, as explained before.
To place the Gaia Former, a player must move a number of power tokens from Area 1,2 or 3 into the Gaia Area
The number of power tokens that need to be moved is indicated by the Gaiaforming Track
In this example, we need 6
But if we occupied spot No 3, then only 4 power tokens would be needed to move
To start a Gaia Project, the purple planet has to be within building distance
The 3rd available action is Upgrading one of our buildings.
This can mean replacing a Mine with a Trading Station,
a Trading station with the Planetary Institute
A Trading Station with a Research Lab
or a Research Lab with an Academy
To do this, we simply pay the cost as shown next to the building we wish to upgrade to
and we place it on the planet with the building we wish to be upgraded
For example, we could pay 6 credit and 2 ore to upgrade a Mine to a Trading Station
Trading Stations are a bit special
since if there is an opponent's building in our "neighborhood"
then we pay 3 credit instead of 6
By " neighborhood" we mean at a maximum distance of 2 hexes from the building being upgraded
Also, when we upgrade a Trading Station to a Research Lab
or a Research Lab to an Academy
then we are free to pick a Standard Tech Tile from the bottom area of the Research Board
or and Advanced Tech Tile from the top area of the Research Board
Let's see how this works.
Any time we are given the option to pick a Tech Tile, we can pick either a Standard or an Advanced one
If we pick one of the 6 Standard Tech Tiles on the top row
then we move up a spot in the Research Track which is above the Tile we picked.
If we pick one of the 3 tiles on the bottom row
then we move up a spot in any one research track we wish.
If the Tile we pick has the open hand symbol, then we have an extra source of income during the Income Phase
On the other hand, if the Tile has a little white asterisk
then it is a one-time bonus and we collect it immediately.
For example, if I wish to pick the Tech Tile with the 7VP reward
I place it by my player board, I move up a spot in a Track of my choice,
I gain that spot's reward
and I also gain the tile's 7 victory points.
In case we wish to choose an Advanced Tech Tile, we have to fulfill 3 conditions
1) We need to be in spot No 4 or No 5 of the corresponding Research Track
2) We need to already have a Standard Tech Tile uncovered
3) We need to have a Federation Token with the green side face up
This will be explained later.
So when we want to choose an Advanced Tech Tile, we pick one
and we use it to cover one of our Standard Tech Tiles whose bonus, from now on, ceases to apply.
We also turn the Federation Token to its gray side up.
This Federation Token can no longer turn back green.
When we gain an Advanced Tech Tile we do NOT move up a spot on the research track.
The 4th possible action is to form a Federation
To do this we need to have placed buildings on the map with a total power value of 7
The power value of each building can be seen on our player board, below the building's picture
For example, Trading Stations have a power value of 2
Planetary Institutes and Academies have a power value of 3 and so on
In our example, my buildings on the map have a total value of 7
3 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 7
so I can form a Federation
To form a Federation, I have to connect said buildings with my satellites
It is imperative to use the fewest satellites possible.
In this example, I need to place 3 satellites so as all the planets are connected
When two pf my buildings are adjacent to each other then they are automatically connected and are part of the same Federation
Also, for every satellite I place, I have to discard 1 power token
So now I have to discard 3
It is worth mentioning that when there is a Federation in place
We CANNOT expand it in future turns by adding satellites
Also, if we place a building next to a Federation, it automatically becomes part of it
so it cannot be part of another.
Every time we form a Federation, we also gain a Federation Token
gaining the reward while doing so
We can gain any Federation Token we wish, even if we already have one of the same type.
Please note that the Federation Token with the 12VP reward has two gray sides
so it cannot be used when we want to gain an Advanced Tech Tile
Our 5th available action is to pay 4 knowledge to move up a spot in a Research Track
When we move from spot No 2 to spot No 3
we may also charge 3 of our power
Also, when we move from spot No 4 to spot No 5
we have to flip a Federation Token with the green side up to its gray side
Note: Only one player may occupy spot No 5 of a Research Track
so when someone gets there, the other players no longer can.
Available Action No6 are Power and Q.I.C. actions
Let's see them in detail
We may pay 2 Q.I.C.s to gain 3VP and 1VP per different planet type we have colonized.
We may pay 3 Q.I.C.s to gain the rewards of one of our Federation Tokens again
We may pay 4 Q.I.C.s to gain a Standard or Advanced Tech Tile.
Regarding Power Actions, we may spend 3 power to add 2 power tokens to Area 1 of our board
we may spend 3 power to build a mine without paying for 1 of the terraforming steps required
we may spend 4 power to gain either 2 knowledge, 7 credit or 2 ore
we may spend 5 power to build a mine without paying for 2 of the terraforming steps required
or we may spend 7 power to gain 3 knowledge
These actions maybe only once per game round
so after they are resolved, they get covered with an Action Token.
A 7th possible action is a Special Action which are symbolized by the orange background like this one
Special Actions can only be used once per game round, just like Power and Q.I.C. actions
so if, for example, we want to do this specific one, we cover it with an action token and we charge 4 power.
The last action, is Pass.
When a player passes, they return their Round Booster and pick another one
and they also move their marker on the first available position on the Turn Order Card
This means that the first player that passes in this round, will be the first player on the next one
Any player can do free actions on their turn
These free actions are shown on the right side of the player board and consist of
Paying a Q.I.C. for a 2-hex distance increase when building a mine
Paying a Q.I.C. to gain 1 ore
Spending 4 power to gain 1 Q.I.C.
3 power to gain 1 ore
4 power to gain 1 knowledge
1 knowledge to gain 1 credit
1 power to gain 1 credit
1 ore to gain 1 credit
1 ore to gain 1 power token
Player may do as many free actions as they want
A mechanism we have yet to explain is Passive Charging
When an opponent builds a mine or upgrades a building
within a distance of 2 hexes from one of our buildings
we may charge power
The amount of power we may charge depends on the type of building we have there.
In other words
we charge power according to the power value of our building
so if another player builds here
then we have a mine within a distance of 2
which allows us to charge 1 power for free
If they wanted to build a Mine right here, next to our Academy
then we would be able to charge 3 power
as long as we lose 2VP
1VP less than the power charged
Likewise, if they build here, near our Research Lab
then we could lose 1VP to charge 2 power
If they build on a planet with numerous of our building nearby
then we have to take into account only the higher power value building
It is worth noting that if they build near our building
and we don't have enough power tokens to charge, then we charge those we can with the respective cost
so in this case we would charge 1 power with no VP loss
After all players pass, we move on to the Clean -up Phase
There are 2 things to do here
First of all, we remove all action tokens that cover Power, Q.I.C. and Special Actions
Secondly, we flip the current Round Scoring TIle to mark the end of the round.
We haven't mentioned thus far that depending on the round we are
we can earn VP by doing the action dictated by the Round Scoring Tile
For example, during round 5, upgrading to a Trading Station would earn the player 3VP
After all 6 rounds are over and we flip the last Round Scoring Tile
we move on to the end-game scoring
End-game scoring consists of 4 stages
We score the first End Scoring Tile
in which the 1st, 2nd and 3rd player gains 18, 12 or 6VP  respectively
If there is a tie, the tied players share the VP
For example, for this tile, the blue player would gain 18VP, the orange 12VP and the red one 6VP
While on the second Tile, the blue and orange players that tie for the 1st place
will earn 18 + 12 = 30 divided by 2 = 15VP each
The red player will still earn 6VP
After this is over,
We add up all players' leftover resources
and for each 3 resources they earn 1VP
We also count how many spots on the Research Tracks players have moved ABOVE spot No 3
Each said spot would earn the players 4VP
For example, at the current state
The orange player would gain 44VP
The red player would gain 8VP
and the blue player would also gain 8VP
After scoring is finished, the player with the most VP is declared the winner
Those were the rules of play for Gaia Project
Of course, we strongly advise you also read the rulebook
Especially, page 19 has a more advanced setup for more experienced players
while on Page 20 and on, there appendices that explain the different faction abilities and game symbols
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See you on the next one!
