INTRODUCTION:
Space Monkeys is the most recent in a long line of "Conquer-the-Universe" (CTU) style games. You know the drill: you start off isolated on your lonely planet in your corner of the galaxy, and through slow exploration of other star systems, you expand your empire. There is some fighting, of course, because there just don’t ever seem to be enough goodies to go around. Either that, or someone is plain greedy or power hungry.
Okay, so theme-wise, Space Monkeys is not covering any new ground. So why bother creating another game like this? you may ask. The reason is SIMPLE. Did you catch that? Simple. Most of the CTU games I’ve had the pleasure to play are just a little too complex for me to devote much time to them these days. Of course I realize that building a space empire is a little more involved than tic-tac-toe, however, simulations that require players to micro-manage every single aspect of the game are, more usually than not, a chore.
What I hope to create with Space Monkeys is a CTU experience inspired by the recent influx of German games to the hobby. The characteristics of these games are: difficult decisions, quick turns, and a 90-120 minute playing time. In the simplest terms, I hope to create a CTU game that I would enjoy playing, myself. Not too complex, interesting decisions, and employing one of my all-time favorite themes.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
For playtesting purposes, I’ve tried to keep all components restricted to items that would be in most serious gamers’ possessions. Or, if not currently in your possession, items that can easily be found in most game, hobby, or craft shops. You’ll need.
1. A 19x19 grid. In other words, a GO board. Preferably larger than smaller.
2. 20 black GO stones (you’ll probably find these with the GO set)
3. About 80 small chips (tiddly wink size) – 20 per each player color
(red, blue, green, yellow) to be used as COLONY MARKERS
4. About 100 chips (not player colors) to be used as technology points.
5. A deck of appx. fifty (50) cards to use as technology cards. You’ll
need to write on them so they should be blank.
4. LOTS OF DICE. Specifically:
PLANETS--
24 6-sided dice (four different colors – 4 black,4 white,8 purple,8
orange)
(The colors are arbitrary, but it’s best if they’re not player
colors.)
Each player is given one black die. The remaining 20 dice are placed in
a bag.
SHIPS
16 4-sided dice (4 of each player color - red, blue, green, yellow)
16 8-sided dice (4 of each player color - red, blue, green, yellow)
16 10-sided dice (4 of each player color - red, blue, green, yellow)
16 12-sided dice (4 of each player color - red, blue, green, yellow)
Each player is given 16 colored dice of one color. They are put off to the
side in
each player’s SHIP STOCKPILE.
THE STORY:
In the year 4095, Men became extinct and Monkeys took over the galaxy.
This is our story and we’re sticking with it. We’re not sure why
or how this happened, for now just suffice that it did.
Of course, 2100 years is a mere blink in evolutionary terms, so the Monkeys
were not much more evolved than the Monkeys of the late 20th century. Of
course, for experimentation purposes, they’d been in space countless
times, and when Man suddenly disappeared from the earth, Monkeys were finally
able to adopt space travel for their own. They’d obtained a pretty
decent education on rocket travel merely by observation. Some things stick
after 2100 years, even for Monkeys.
Well, before long the Monkeys were zipping back and forth in their own little
corners of the galaxy and generally having a swell time.
But they got greedy.
The Monkeys slowly came to the realization that they could not possibly
be alone in the galaxy. By the mid 44th century, Monkey philosophy had reached
two inescapable conclusions: (a) There was more to life than just bananas,
and (b) There were other worlds out there that needed to be conquered. There
was much heated debate over the first conclusion, but the latter was wholly
adopted by the Monkeys. It was time to expand. Why settle for mere happiness?
Amazingly enough, this exact same transformation was occurring in three
other sections of the galaxy. Monkeys from four separate systems were embarking
on a simultaneous mission to conquer the galaxy. Would there be room enough
to satisfy all? Well, of course not.
OBJECT OF THE GAME:
Through space exploration, colonization and battle, each player will attempt to guide his/her Monkeys to GALAXY DOMINATION by acquiring at least 31 victory points.
THE BOARD:
The GO board will serve as our galaxy. We will use the intersections of the board to place planets and ships, just like in regular GO. At the beginning of the game, we will consider the board to be set up in four quadrants. For the game set-up, we will only concern ourselves with these four 8x8 quadrants:
. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Note: the numerals aren’t part of the quadrant, they merely serve as labels.
SET-UP
Each quadrant will hold the home planet of one (1) player, and five other planets. To determine the location of each these six planets roll 2d8. The five non-home planets are placed before the home planet. Starting with Player 1 and going clockwise, each player places a planet (black stone) in their quadrant via a 2d8. Once this is done five times per quadrant, the players go around once more and place their home systems the same way. You can assign these coordinates as you choose. For instance:
Greg (Player 1) is in the top left quadrant. He rolls 2d8 for a (7,8). He can place the first planet in either a or b :
. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . b 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . a . 8 . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
We’ll say he chooses ‘a.’ Greg places a black stone in that intersection.
Now Cathy (player 2) places a planet in her quadrant (upper right). She rolls (4,4). This gives her only one option to place a planet. She places a black stone accordingly:
. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . x . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . x . 8 . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The other two players, Brent and Pitt, place planets in their quadrants as well. After the first placing round, the board looks like this:
. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . x . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . x . 8 . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . x . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . x . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This happens four more times for non-home planet placement.
IMPORTANT: At the end of the planet set-up, no two planets may be side by
side orthogonally or diagonally. This goes for home planets as well.
For instance, if Greg rolled a (6,8) for the 2nd planet placement, he would
have to place the black stone here:
. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . x . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . x 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . x . 8 . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . x . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . x . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
If you roll a combination that does not allow you a legal planet placement, you must re-roll until you are able to place.
If Greg had rolled a (7,7) he would have to re-roll until he got a pair of numbers where at least one combination had an acceptable placement.
After five rounds of planet placement, the board looks like this:
. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . x . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . x . . . . . . 4 . . . x . . . x . 5 . . . . . . . x 5 . x . . . . . . . 6 . x . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . x . . . . x . 8 . . . . . . x . 8 . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 . 1 . . . . . . . . 1 . x . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . x . . . 3 . x . x . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . x . . . . 5 . . . x . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . x . 6 . x . . . x . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . x . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Note that one result of the planet placement rule is that each planet’s
eight (8) surrounding points are empty.
It’s also important to note here that these planets do not belong to
the player who placed them. One of the purposes of the four quadrants is
to have planets spread equally throughout the galaxy, and also not to have
any planets on the edges.
Finally, each player places a HOME PLANET in his/her quadrant via the same method, taking into account the planet placement rule. The HOME PLANET is not a black stone, however, it is a black d6. The die should be placed so that the ‘6’ is face up. This HOME PLANET is worth 5 victory points to its owner. Once the HOME PLANET is placed, that player should place a d8 of his/her color on top of the d6. The die should be placed so that the ‘1’ is face up. The d8 is a rocket ship, specifically a BATTLESTAR. The ‘1’ is the distance it can travel on its next turn. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Here is the board at the final SET-UP stage. The numbers are removed for clarity. The quadrants are still important for one more aspect of the game, to be described later, but they should, in no way, be considered a boundary of any kind. The HOME PLANETS are shown in caps A,B,C,D.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x . . . . . . . . . B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x . . . . . . . . . . x . . . x . . . . . . . . . x . . x . . . . . . . . . x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x . . . . x . . . . . . . . x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x . . . . . x . x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x . . . . . . . . x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D . . . . x . . . x . . . x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
THE SHIPS:
As explained in previous sections, each players’ colored dice act
as ships. Each player starts off the game with one ship (d8, a BATTLESTAR).
There are four types of ships in the game:
d4 - CRUISER
d8 - BATTLESTAR
d10- DREADNOUGHT
d12 - MONITOR
The value of each ship (4,8,10,12) carries practically all of the information about that ship that you need to know.
d4 - CRUISERS
cost 4 turns to BUILD
roll a d4 in battle
can move a maximum of 4 spaces in a turn.
BATTLESTARS, DREADNOUGHTS, and MONITORS are the same. Just replace their die value with the values above.
Each player only has four of each type of ship. Once you’ve built all four of one type, you have to wait for one to be destroyed in battle before you can build another.
SHIP BUILDING
When a ship is completed (to be described later), it is placed on top of a vacant planet owned by the player who constructed it. No two ships can occupy the same space (except for two opposing ships in battle), therefore, the way must be clear before it can be placed. If there is a ship sitting on a planet, it must be moved before a new ship can be placed there. Also, if an opponent’s ship is currently attacking one of your planets (sitting on your colony marker) you may not place new ships there.
SPACE TRAVEL / MOVEMENT:
The lines on the board are the only means of travel. There is never any diagonal movement in Space Monkeys. Moving from one intersection to another costs 1 movement point. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the game, none of the Monkeys has successfully learned how to accelerate, so a ship can only move one space per turn.
Through TECHNICAL RESEARCH, however, the Monkeys can improve upon their mode of travel.
SO LET’S PLAY ALREADY
At the beginning of each player’s turn, he can choose one (1) of the following options to perform. Of course, not all of these options will always be available to a player:
(a) Move one (1) ship.
(b) Colonize one (1) planet.
(c) Improve one (1) planet’s defense
(d) Ship construction
(e) Earn one (1) technology chip
(f) Spend technology chips
(a) Move one (1) ship.
Choose any one of your ships in play and move it exactly the number of spaces
as shown on its die at the start of the turn. At the beginning of the game,
this number is always ‘1’. If your Monkeys have acquired ACCELERATOR
TECHNOLOGY, this number may be changed at the end of the ship’s movement.
If your Monkey’s have acquired STEERING or SWERVING TECHNOLOGY, they
may be able to change direction once or twice during a movement.
Your ship can move in any direction N, S, E, or W (but not diagonal), Until you acquire STEERING or SWERVING technology, you must move in a straight line the full number of spaces face up on the die. Without special technology, a ship can only change direction at the beginning of its next turn.
Your ship may always pass through other ships or planets, but it may never end up on the same intersection as a friendly ship. It may end up on the same intersection of an opposing ship only if it wishes to do battle with that ship (see Battle)
It may end up on an opposing planet that is unprotected (Colony Marker, but no ship) and attack it on a subsequent turn. NOTE: A planet that is under attack is still owned by the defending player, for scoring purposes.
If a ship is not able to move legally (the exact number of spaces) it may not move.
(b) Colonize one (1) planet
If one of your ships landed on an unoccupied planet (black stone) on a previous
turn and is still there, that planet may be colonized. To do so:
1) Without looking, reach in the bag of 6-sided dice and pick one at
random. It will
be a white, purple or orange die *.
2) Replace the black stone with the die, with the ‘1’ face up.
‘1’ is the current
defense value of the planet.
3) The value of the planet is determined by the color. A colonized white
planet is
worth 1 victory point to its owner. A colonized purple planet is worth 2
victory
points to its owner. A colonized orange planet is worth 3 victory points
to its
owner. (As stated earlier, your HOME PLANET is worth 5 victory points)
4) A player will not know what the value of the planet is until he commits
to
colonization. A tiddly-wink chip of that player’s color is placed on
the
PLANET die (between the planet die and the ship.) This COLONY MARKER remains
on the planet even if the ship leaves. It is only removed if another player
invades successfully, and is then replaced by the attacker’s COLONY
MARKER. Once colonized, always colonized, even though the owner may change.
The total
value of a player’s colonized planets (plus HOME planet) is that player’s
total VPs.
* In each quadrant, there will only be a HOME PLANET, two (2) white planets, two (2) purple planets, and one (1) orange planet. If a player picks a planet from the bag that would violate this rule, s/he must redraw until the rule is satisfied.
(c) Improve one (1) planet’s defense.
Simple enough, a player can add +1 to any planet he currently owns (has colonized). Just turn the die to the next highest number. A planet cannot have a higher defense than ‘6’
(d) Ship Building
BEGIN or CONTINUE or COMPLETE ship construction.
BEGIN: If you currently have no ships in construction, select any ship
from your
STOCKPILE and place it in front of you, off the board, with the ‘1’
face up.
CONTINUE: Turn the die to the next highest number.
COMPLETE: If, at the start of your turn, the die is at its highest value,
you may
place it on top of any of your vacant COLONIZED or HOME PLANETS. Turn
it (the ship) back to a value of ‘1’ (speed).
NOTES: Ship building need not be done in consecutive turns. But you must
spend
at least as many turns to build the ship as the value of the die. Also,
only one ship
may be in construction at a time.
(e) Earn 1 technology point.
Simply, take one TECHNOLOGY CHIP from the "bank".
(f) Spend technology points (buy one technology)
Buy a Technology Card. Once a technology card is purchased, all members
of your fleet may immediately take advantage of the new technology.
At the end of any players turn, he should do a check of how many victory
points (VPs) he has from planet acquisition. If it is 31 or more, he has
won the game.
BATTLE:
A player may choose to do ship-to-ship battle with an opponent’s ship by moving his ship into the same intersection. Battles are resolved simply.
Each player rolls the die of their ship. Effects from any TECHNOLOGY POINTS are considered. Highest wins. Defenders win any ties. The losing ship is removed from the board. The winning ship is placed back at Speed ‘1’.
ATTACKING A PLANET
Winning the game requires that a majority of the planets be occupied by you. This means that you’re going to have to evict some alien Monkeys from their turf if you ever hope to Conquer the Galaxy.
Of course, some planets have only their colonies to defend them. Others may have a ship as well. If there is a ship there, you must first get rid of it before you consider attacking the planet.
IF A SHIP IS ON THE PLANET YOU CHOOSE TO ATTACK:
Move as usual and do battle in the normal manner, disregarding, for the
moment, that a planet is there. If you lose, your ship is removed. If your
opponent loses, his ship is removed and your ship is placed on his colony
chip.
On a subsequent move, you can attack the planet.
To attack a planet, you must have first arrived there on a previous move (by winning a BATTLE with a defending ship, or simply moving there)
Roll the die. A roll of 7 or higher is a successful attack (obviously, CRUISERS don’t want to mess with PLANETS). A successful attack will reduce the planet’s defenses by two (2). Simply change the value of the planet die, and the attacking ship remains on the planet. If the PLANET die goes below ‘1’, the planet is overtaken by the attacker. Replace the colony chip with that of the victor. An unsuccessful attack will yield the following results, based on the die roll:
1-2 Attacking ship is destroyed
3-5 Attacking ship is repelled – moved off planet to one of the four
surrounding intersections (if none of these intersections is empty, ship
is destroyed)
6 - Nothing happens
TECHNOLOGY CARDS
During the course of the game, our Monkeys must do research and improve their technology if they ever hope to conquer the galaxy. During the game, a player can spend turns to accumulate technology points. When s/he is able to afford a technology, s/he must put the cost of that technology in chips back in the bank, or use Virtual Values (explained later) or a combination of both. Once a technology is purchased through VPs, it is theirs forever. Technology is knowledge, it cannot be stolen or transplanted. Also, there are enough technologies for everyone. A technology cannot be "bought out".
There are two values on each card. One is the cost in Technology Points,
the other is the Virtual Value. This value can be used as Technology Points
for future purchases. Unlike Technology Chips, these values are non-perishable.
They can be used over and over again and are cumulative.
(Steve’s Note: Since I have not playtested this at all, I have no idea
what to charge for these technologies. There are reasonable guesses. As
I playtest, I’ll have a better idea of how to assign these values)
TECHNOLOGY (Cost/Virtual Value)
FIRST STRIKE (5/1)
If you are the attacker in a BATTLE which results in a tie, you win.
ACCELERATOR (10/1)
This affects SHIP MOVEMENT. At the end of any ship’s movement, the owner may turn the die +1 or -1. The ship must move that new value on its next movement. REMEMBER, the ship must move straight unless it has STEERING or SWERVING technology.
SUPER ACCELERATOR (10 + ACCELERATOR / 2)
This affects SHIP MOVEMENT. At the end of any ship’s movement, the owner may turn the die +2 or -2. The ship must move that new value on its next movement. REMEMBER, the ship must move straight unless is has STEERING or SWERVING technology.
STEERING (10/1)
This affects SHIP MOVEMENT. Instead of traveling in a straight line, a ship can make one turn anywhere in its journey.
SWERVING (10 + STEERING /2)
This affects SHIP MOVEMENT. A ship can now make two turns in its journey.
BAD ASS (10/1)
This affects BATTLE. Your ships adds +1 to battle rolls, not planet attacking rolls.
BIG BAD ASS (10 + BAD ASS / 2)
This affects BATTLE. Your ships adds +2 to battle rolls, not planet attacking rolls.
SUPER BAD ASS (10 + BIG BAD ASS / 3)
This affects BATTLE. Your ships DOUBLE battle rolls, not planet attacking rolls.
PEACE NEGOTIATION (10/1)
You may not move onto an opponent’s ship to do BATTLE and they may not move onto yours. You may still attack other planets, however, and your planets may still be attacked.
WARP (10/1)
Your ships may move off the map and re-appear on the opposite side of the map
IMPROVED RESEARCH (20/2)
You now earn two (2) technology points per research turn.
GO-GETTER (20/2)
You may do two (2) options per turn. This can be two separate options, or two of the same option (moving a ship twice, moving two separate ships, moving one ship and taking a technology point, etc.)
FAST WORKERS (15/1)
You build ships at double speed. You can BEGIN construction at ‘2’
on the die, and add 2 to the die for every CONTINUE. If you complete construction
with 1 pt left over, you can use that point to immediately place the ship
on a HOME or COLONIZED planet.
Example: Construction on a CRUISER (d4) started at 1. Later, player acquired
FAST WORKER technology. A subsequent build advanced this to 3. The next
build would put it over 4, so that player may place the CRUISER immediately
to make up for the lost point. Note, if there is not an empty HOME or COLONIZED
planet for placement, the extra point is lost.
PLANET BUSTING (20/2)
Add +3 to your planet attack rolls. This gives even CRUISERS a chance to do some damage. However, the +3 is only considered in a successful attack. If the attack is still unsuccessful, the die roll itself still determines the fate of the attacking ship. In other words, a 1-2 rolled will still send your attacker home in a box.
WINNING THE GAME
If, at the end of a player’s turn, s/he realizes that s/he has 31 Victory Points though planet acquisition, s/he is the winner. If s/he does not realize this, and another player begins a new turn, the player must wait for his/her next turn to declare victory (if still possible.)