Goal
Race across the galaxy collecting evidence cards. The game ends when every planet is full and a valid 6-step Migration Chain exists. Own the most tokens along that chain to win.
Turn — Choose One Action
Search — Move then examine a planet. Each hidden card: Reveal (public, yours) or Conceal (to hand). If you hold 3 matching cards you may instead Plant Evidence — discard 3 to place a public token on your hex or an adjacent one.
Paradigm Shift — Swap two civs on the Hypothesis Track. Swap Only: 1 affinity card each. Swap & Lock: 3 affinity cards each, both civs locked permanently. Position 1 civ (no affinity) costs any card type.
Buy Technology — Discard cards to buy a permanent tech from the market (3 available, max 5 per player).
Special Ability — Each Scientist has a unique ability shown on their action button.
The Migration Chain
Six steps — one per civ — in Hypothesis Track order (oldest→newest). Each step cites a planet with that civ's public evidence. Two consecutive civs may share the same planet. When steps are on different planets, the gap must be within the jump limit: Pos 1–4 = 1 hex · Pos 5 = 2 hexes · Pos 6 = 3 hexes. Hover the Hide Chain / Show Chain button for a full breakdown.
Evidence & Hand
75 artifact cards — 15 each of Starport, Monolith, Archive, Spire and Tomb. Cards are civ-neutral until assigned during Reveal or Plant. Default hand size: 7. Discard to limit at end of turn. Entering a void for the first time draws 3 cards. Deck reshuffles from discard when exhausted.
Scientists
Archivist (Mv 3) — Relocate a token from your planet to an adjacent one.
Inquisitor (Mv 3) — Discard 5 of one civ to lock its Lineage position permanently.
Saboteur (Mv 4) — Discard 3 cards to bury a token on your current planet.
Broker (Mv 3) — Discard 2 matching cards to claim a public token within move range.
Game End & Victory Conditions
The game ends automatically at the start of a turn when two conditions are both true:
① Every planet's evidence slots are filled.
② A complete 6-step Migration Chain exists across all civilisations.
The player with the most owned tokens along the chain wins. Tiebreaker: tokens at earlier chain positions are worth more. Both revealed and planted evidence count as owned.