Solar Storm
Work together, or die alone in this cooperative survival game for 1-4 players that will make even the most hardened crews and solo players swelter.
Hand management, careful use of your actions, and teamwork are the key to weathering the Solar Storm.
Number of players: 2 - 4
Game duration: 27 mn
Complexity: 2 / 5
Play Solar Storm and 950 other games online.
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Play Solar Storm and 950 other games online.
No download necessary - play directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
OBJECTIVE
As a team, you will need to divert power from all the rooms on the ship to the Energy Core and then jumpstart the ship from within the Energy Core room itself. The Energy Core is the room in the centre of the ship; it cannot be damaged, but also cannot be activated until all other rooms have diverted their power to it.
HOW TO PLAY
Solar Storm is a cooperative game. You will win or lose as a team. You win the game by diverting power to the Energy Core from all eight of the other rooms and then activating the Energy Core room.
You will lose the game if you let the ship take too much damage, or if you run out of Resources in the Resource deck.
You each take turns in a clockwise order beginning with the first player. Each player’s turn consists of 3 phases. Once a player has completed all 3 phases, the player to their left takes their turn.
PHASE ONE: ACTIONS
On your turn, you may take up to 3 actions from those listed below. These actions can be taken in any order and may be repeated as many times as you wish, as long as you have actions left to use. If you cannot, or do not wish to take any more actions, proceed to Phase Two: Resource Collection.
Move
- You may move orthogonally to an adjacent room, each movement takes 1 action. You cannot move diagonally.
Scavenge
- You may scavenge the ship for resources. To do so, roll the die. This takes 1 action.
- - If you roll a 3, 4, or 5 you can take 1 Resource from the face-up Resources or the top card from the Resource deck.
- - If you roll a 6 then you may take 2 cards from the face-up Resources, or 2 cards from the top of the Resource deck, or 1 from each.
- - If you roll a 1 or 2, then you gain nothing!
- NOTE: If you take a Resource from the face-up Resource cards, replace it immediately from the top of the Resource deck.
- You may share your Resource cards with each other if you are in the same room. This takes one action per card given or taken. Therefore, swapping 1 card with another player takes two actions.
Repair a Room
- You may repair the room that you are in. To do this you must discard a Resource card that matches an exposed space on the repair tracker of that room. You can only repair a space that matches the Resource card that you are discarding.
- Each repair space takes 1 action to repair. If you want to repair 2 spaces, then this will take 2 actions.
- To show that a space has been repaired, place a Repair cube on that space from the supply.
- NOTE: There is no order in which repair spaces need to be repaired.
Activate a room
- You may use the action of the room you are in. Each room has a unique ability that can be performed by taking 1 action*.
- However, these unique abilities can only be performed if the room is fully repaired i.e. all three Repair cubes are on the repair tracker.
- The room’s unique ability can be used as often as you like. However, it will take 1 action* each time it is used.
- * Most room abilities take 1 action to use. However, some room abilities may not take an action or may cost more than 1 action to use. These exceptions are detailed on the rooms themselves.
Divert Power
- You may divert power from the room you are in to the Energy Core. Diverting power from all 8 rooms is required to win the game. The left-hand side of each room card shows the Resources that are needed to divert power from that room.
- To divert power from the room you are in, to the Energy Core, you must discard all the Resource cards shown at the same time. This takes 1 action.
- You must have ALL the required Resource cards.
- IMPORTANT: You can only divert power to the Energy Core if the room you are in is fully repaired.
- To show that the room has had its power diverted, a purple "Divert Power" token will be placed on the bottom left of the room card.
- Once a room has had its power diverted, it can still take damage. However, diverting power from a room makes it easier to repair.
- In a room where power has been diverted, 1 card matching any one (1) of the Resources shown on the repair tracker may be discarded to repair ALL spaces. This only takes 1 action.
- If there are no Repair cubes remaining then you may discard any 1 of the 3 Resources shown. This action is resolved as if all 3 Resources have been discarded so the repair tracker on this room is fully repaired by placing one Repair cube on each of the room’s 3 repair spaces.
Take an Action Token
- If you cannot, or do not wish to take any more actions this turn, take an Action token from the supply for each of your 3 actions you did not take. An Action token can be discarded on any of your future turns to give you an additional action.
PHASE TWO: RESOURCE COLLECTION
You MUST either:
- Take 1 face-up Resource card and add it to your other cards. Then replace the card you took with the top card from the Resource deck.
- OR
- Draw 2 Resource cards from the top of the Resource deck and add them to your other cards.
You MUST take one of the two options above. If drawing these Resource cards causes the Resource deck to be emptied, you lose the game!
If you now have 7 or more Resource cards, discard Resource cards of your choice until you only have 6 remaining.
PHASE THREE: DAMAGE CARDS
Draw the top Damage card from the Damage deck and damage the room(s) that are shown on it by removing the top-most Repair cube from the repair tracker in each room. If a room is damaged that has no Repair cubes on its repair tracker you lose the game!
Hull Breach
- The Hull Breach card is the last card in the Damage deck. When this becomes visible and there are no other Damage cards left to play, then PHASE THREE changes and the following happens instead:
- You must now roll the die at the end of your turn and discard the following number of Resource cards from the top of the Resource deck:
- - On a roll of 1 or 2, Discard 1 Resource card
- - On a roll of 3 or 4: Discard 2 Resource cards
- - On a roll of 5 or 6: discard 3 Resource cards
GAME END CONDITIONS
How to Win
- There is only 1 way to win: Divert power from all 8 Rooms and activate the Energy Core.
How to Lose
- There are 2 ways to lose the game. If either of these conditions are met, the game ends immediately and you lose!
- 1. If the Resource deck is empty. This does not include the face-up Resources or the cards in your hand, just the Resource deck.
- 2. If a room is fully damaged (i.e. has no Repair cubes on its repair tracker) and is required to take more damage.
ROOM ACTIONS
Crew Quarters
- You may move any meeple from any room to another room that already has a meeple in it. This action may be used to move the meeple that has activated this room.
Cargo Hold
- You draw the top 5 Resource cards from the deck. Arrange them in any order you like, then put all 5 cards back on top of the Resource deck face down.
Mess Hall
- You may either: Take 1 card from another player, OR give 1 card to another player, OR swap 1 card with another player.
- This means you can swap 1 card of yours for 1 card of another player’s. If you want to give, take, or swap more than 1 card, this will take additional actions. You must be involved in any exchanging of cards. The player you are exchanging cards with does not need to be in this room.
Engine Room
- You may swap 1 card that you have for any 1 card in the Resource card discard pile. If you want to swap more cards you will need to take additional actions.
Repair Centre
- You may use this action to repair any other room by 1 space by discarding a matching Resource card as if you were in that room. Only 1 Repair cube is placed, unless the room being repaired has a Diverted Power token on it. If it does discarding 1 card will repair all damaged spaces on the repair tracker.
Medical Bay
- If you are in this room at the start of your turn and the room is fully repaired before you take any actions, then you gain 2 Action tokens.
- This is the only room that does not cost you an action to activate.
Bridge
- You may take the top 3 Damage cards from the Damage deck, look at them, arrange them in any order, and then return them face down on the top of the Damage deck.
Armoury
- You may place 2 Protection tokens in rooms. You may place both tokens in the same room, or place 1 in one room and 1 in another.
- These tokens will be removed instead of a Repair cube if the room takes damage from a Damage card.
- At the START of your next turn, remove any unused Protection tokens you placed and return them to the supply.
Energy Core
- This room can only be activated once all other rooms have diverted power to it. When this room is activated then all players win the game!