Beyond the Sun

Turn order: Action, Production, Achievement. Move the pawn to an unoccupied action space; spaces on Technologies normally require your own research. Another open space on the same Technology remains eligible. The last Basic Spacefaring action space may be repeated without moving away. Pay costs first, and do not deliberately take an action that leaves the game state entirely unchanged.

Population and Ore: choose one production option. Population growth takes one Supply cube from each lettered column whose symbol is exposed, turning it into Population; empty columns produce none. Ore production gains the amount shown by exposed Ore symbols. Resource trade allows repeated combinations: three Ore converts a Supply cube to Population, one Ore decommissions one of your ships anywhere into Population, or returning one Population to Supply gains one Ore.

Research: use an effect permitting the target level, meet its blue-line prerequisites and place one Population beside the slot. Different factions may research the same Technology. Discovering a new level-II or III slot first resolves its Event, then reveals two cards matching a prerequisite-derived type and chooses one. Every researcher gains the immediate bonus. Levels III and IV require subsequently unlocked research actions or Guilds, beyond the starting research actions.

Economic development: automation moves the leftmost disc from the relevant production track to the Automation track, permanently exposing production and accumulating endgame points. Controlling a system also removes a corresponding production disc to form an outpost, but losing control returns it to the rightmost empty production slot. An outpost is different from permanent automation.

Fleets: an effect converts Population or Supply cubes into level-one-to-four ships, normally built at Sol or a Shipyard you control. Each Jump point moves one ship along one connecting line; points may be split among ships, and unused points expire. Resolve control and bonuses after completing all movement.

Control: military power is the sum of your ship levels at a location; outposts add no power. Taking control normally requires strictly greater power than the current controller. Place the leftmost matching production disc as an outpost and receive any gain-control bonus. If all your ships leave and no others remain, you retain control; if your departure leaves other factions tied for highest power, nobody controls the system.

Colonization: obtain a Colonize effect, control a System card and meet its printed military threshold there. Return enough local ships to Supply to meet or exceed that threshold, without change for excess power; move all remaining ships, including yours, to Deep Space. Take the card and outpost, refill the slot, add a second matching production disc and gain the colonization bonus. Sol, Deep Space and Shipyards cannot be colonized.

Achievements and ending: in your final phase, claim one available Achievement if eligible. Each faction claims each Achievement once, at most one per turn. Four total Achievement discs in a four-player game, or three in a two- or three-player game, trigger the ending. Finish the current round, then play one complete final round; further achievements remain possible.

Scoring: level-I/II/III Technologies are worth one/two/three points each; level IV scores as printed. Also score private Technologies, Automation, colonized System cards, one point per uncolonized outpost, one point for the strongest faction at each of Sol and Deep Space including ties, Events and Achievements. Most points wins; ties favor fewer production discs left on the faction mat, then more available Population, then more Ore, with joint victory if still tied.