Fractal reference sheet

Overview

• 2–4 players; sci-fi empire-building across a modular galaxy map
• Goal: score the most VPs after two Ages (4 cycles total) [p.7 — Structure of the game]
• Core loop: earn income → take 2 actions per turn → resolve conflicts → end cycle
• Asymmetric factions, each with unique abilities, government, and mastery cards [p.3 — Sections]
• VPs scored at transitions (end of each Age) via objective cards [p.11 — Transition]

Setup

1. Choose map (extended or compact); lay fixed components, then random variable sectors [p.5 — Map]
2. Place face-down obstacles, anomalies, living galaxies, singularity on matching symbols [p.5 — Map]
3. Each player takes all color components; place 12 colony tokens on tracks, influence on 1, credits on 0, VP dice on 0 [p.5 — Player components]
4. Reveal factions equal to players +2; each player drafts one clockwise [p.5 — Factions]
5. Each player picks 1 government card (discard the other), takes mastery card (normal side up) [p.5 — Factions]
6. Place starting units and colony per faction mat [p.5 — Factions]
7. Set up civil & military tech boards with slots by player count: 2p=3 slots, 3p=4 slots, 4p=5 slots [p.5 — Shared components]
8. Reveal Age 1 objective face-up, Age 2 face-down; cycle marker on 3; shuffle action & artifact decks; reveal 4 action cards to pool [p.5 — Shared components]

Turn structure

Each cycle has 4 phases:

1. Income phase — Gain credits (productive track) + exploitation area resources; unexhaust components [p.7 — Income phase]
2. Action phase — Starting with first player, clockwise; each turn choose 2 different actions; pass after hitting action card limit [p.7 — Action phase]
3. Conflict phase — Watcher gets free unit/move; place battle medals; resolve battles then sieges; claim medals [p.9 — Conflict phase]
4. End of cycle phase — Prestige check → Unspire reward → Cleanup → Depletion upkeep → Determine first player → Advance cycle marker [p.10 — End of cycle phase]

Actions

• Depleting an action: slide marker up, flip to depletion side — action unavailable until influence is spent at end of cycle [p.7 — Depletion]
• Playing face-down action card: gain influence and perform 1 insight (draw 3 from any deck, or peek at face-down tech slot, or peek at 1 face-down component) [p.9 — Insight]

Combat

Battle resolution (contested sectors):

1. Watcher chooses order of battles; each player gathers valid tactic cards [p.9 — Battle preparation]
2. All players simultaneously reveal a tactic; resolve lowest initiative first (ties = simultaneous) [p.9 — Choose and resolve tactic cards]
3. Must choose the composition with the highest number of units; apply damage in order: Massive → Direct → Indirect → Retreat [p.9 — Damage types]
4. Repeat until one player's units remain or no player has valid tactics (missing in action = remove all units) [p.10 — Example 3]
5. Winner = last player with units; if no units but colony present, colony owner wins; no units + no colony = draw [p.10 — Example 3]

Sieges (after battles): 2 units vs. enemy colony → Raze (remove colony, gain 1 military VP) or Invade (replace with own colony + 1 military VP, requires Invade keyword) [p.10 — Sieges]

• Resist X: absorbs X damage before removal; topple miniature to track first hit [p.9 — Unit abilities]
• Vanguard: redirect damage to self once per damage instance [p.9 — Unit abilities]
• Retreat: move unit to nearest valid adjacent sector; if none, unit is removed [p.9 — Retreat]

Scoring

• VPs scored only at transitions (end of Age 1 and Age 2) via objective cards [p.11 — Transition]
• Age 1 transition: each fulfilled objective condition = 1 VP [p.11 — Scoring]
• Age 2 transition: each fulfilled objective condition = 2 VP (both Age 1 + Age 2 cards combined) [p.11 — Scoring]
• Objective specialization: fulfill same condition twice = +1 extra VP [p.11 — Objective specialization]
• Military VP also gained mid-game: 1 VP per successful Raze or Invade [p.10 — Sieges]
• VP dice cap at 7 per category; overflow VPs taken as victory tokens instead [p.11 — Victory points]

End of game

• Game ends after the second transition (end of cycle 4) [p.11 — Game end]
• Player with most total VPs wins [p.11 — Game end]
• Tiebreakers in order: most battle medals → most influence → most credits → most units + colonies on board [p.11 — Game end]
• If still tied, all tied players win [p.11 — Game end]

Glossary

• Deplete: perform a basic action without paying 1 credit; flip marker to depletion side; costs influence to refresh at end of cycle [p.7 — Depletion]
• Control: have more pieces (units + colonies) than any other player in a sector with no unresolved obstacle/anomaly [p.6 — Controlling a sector]
• Contested sector: sector containing two or more players' units/colonies [p.6 — Contested sector]
• Blockade: colonized sector with 4+ enemy units; cannot be used for recruiting [p.6 — Blockading a sector]
• Pin-down: in contested sectors, space units block equal number of opposing space units from moving [p.8 — Pin-down]
• Vanguard: unit keyword; redirects damage dealt to other friendly units to itself (once per damage instance) [p.9 — Unit abilities]
• Resist X: unit keyword; absorbs up to X damage before removal; topple to track first hit [p.9 — Unit abilities]
• Invade: unit keyword; allows replacing an enemy colony with your own during a siege [p.10 — Sieges]
• Insight: action card effect; draw 3 from any deck and sort, OR peek at face-down tech slot, OR peek at 1 face-down component [p.9 — Insight]
• Watcher: player who passed first; holds watcher token; chooses battle order; gets free unit/move at conflict phase start [p.9 — Conflict phase]
• Colonization bonus: one-time bonus gained when removing a colony token from its track (circle to the left of the space) [p.8 — Colonization bonus]
• Transition: scoring event at end of each Age; objectives evaluated and VPs awarded [p.11 — Transition]

FAQ

• Q: Can you redeploy units already on the board when recruiting? — A: Only if you have insufficient units in reserve [p.7 — Redeployment]
• Q: Can you develop multiple technologies in one Research action? — A: Yes, if you have enough science tokens to meet each card's cost [p.8 — Research]
• Q: If an elite tactic is randomly discarded, is it lost? — A: No, it is immediately returned to your hand [p.9 — Elite tactic cards]
• Q: Do obstacles/anomalies prevent controlling a sector? — A: Yes, they must be resolved before the sector can be controlled or colonized [p.6 — Controlling a sector]
• Q: When does a colonization bonus trigger? — A: Immediately when you remove the colony token from your empire board track [p.8 — Colonization bonus]
• Q: Can you gain a colonization bonus again if a colony is returned to your board and removed again? — A: Yes [p.8 — Colonization bonus]