The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine

Setup uses forty cards: four color suits numbered 1–9 and four rockets. Deal as evenly as possible. The player with rocket 4 is commander; unless the mission says otherwise, players choose tasks one at a time clockwise from the commander until all are assigned. Communication waits until task selection is complete.

Play one card each clockwise, following the led suit if possible. A player holding the led color cannot instead play a rocket; a rocket lead must be followed with a rocket when possible. Without the led suit, play any card. The highest rocket wins, or otherwise the highest card of the led color. The commander leads first; each trick winner leads next.

A task succeeds when its owner wins a trick containing its matching playing card. One trick can complete several tasks if their ordering requirements allow it. Meeting all mission conditions wins; another player taking an assigned card, or breaking a special condition, loses the attempt. Shuffle, redeal and assign new tasks when retrying.

Normally each player communicates once per attempt, before a trick begins. Reveal one color card and mark it as the highest, only or lowest card of that suit in your hand; never communicate a rocket. It remains a playable hand card. Do not reposition the marker when the rest of your hand changes.

After dealing and assigning tasks, before anyone communicates, the team can activate the distress signal. Everyone passes one non-rocket card in the same agreed direction. The signal remains active until that mission is completed and adds one to its recorded number of attempts.

Numbered tokens specify a task’s position among completed tasks, not a trick number; consecutive numbered tasks can be completed in one trick. Arrow tokens impose relative order. Dead zones, disrupted communication and special commander assignments override normal procedures as specified by the mission and symbol rules.

With three players one person receives an extra card; the final leftover card is not played. With five players, applicable gold-bordered missions from mission 25 onward allow one task to be handed from one player to another after distribution and before the first trick; this is also permitted in missions 27 and 37. It adds no attempt penalty and does not let the team discard a task.