Unsettled reference sheet

Overview

• Cooperative survival game: all players win or lose together [p.3 — Conceptual Overview]
• Goal: complete your planet's survival task, then get all explorers + LUNA onto the Scarab tile [p.9 — End Game]
• Lose if all explorers' endurance reaches zero (everyone unconscious) [p.9 — End Game]
• Each planet is a standalone experience with unique rules; no campaign [p.4 — Overview]
• 1–4 explorers; each has a dashboard, 3 focus cubes, and a personality trait tile [p.7 — Explorer Dashboards]
• Core loop: spend focus on actions → explore map → gain insight → unlock breakthroughs → complete objectives [p.9 — Conceptual Overview]

Setup

Framework (every game)

1. Place Resource Board — fill material/data/black-marker wells; put all 4 power in depleted (−) dynamo; shuffle environment + planet-specific cards beneath [p.6]
2. Place Breakthrough Board — set research hut/lab/workshop BUILD-side up; place comprehension tokens, LUNA's primary function card, anomaly + breakthrough cards, distress (3 per explorer) [p.6]
3. Place Moment Board — set pink + blue moment markers; stack 12 investigated tokens; place 12 discovery tokens in display; shuffle opportunity cards into 2 piles [p.6]
4. Place Time & Trust Board — time marker on leftmost space; trust marker on rightmost (high trust); choose 1 of 3 survival tasks, stack cards in order [p.6]
5. Each explorer: endurance marker on top space; scientific pursuit cube on bottom of insight track; take 3 focus cubes (2-pip face up, 3-pip toward self); draw 2 trait tiles, keep 1 (white-side up over matching action space) [p.7]
6. Place Scarab tile at center; place LUNA + all explorer miniatures on it [p.7]

Planet-specific

7. Read travelogue aloud; perform planet unique setup [p.8]
8. Read survival task card 1 aloud → flip face-down left; perform setup on card 2; review card 3 (first objective) [p.8]

Difficulty (optional)

• Discomforting: full endurance + Scarab ability [p.8]
• Harrowing (standard): full endurance, no Scarab ability, focus per player-count chart [p.8]
• Excruciating: lose 1 endurance during setup, no Scarab ability, reduced starting focus [p.8]

Turn structure

Each turn, in any order:

1. Set focus (required) — place all 3 focus cubes on action spaces; exactly 1 must go on REST [p.12 — Basic Turn Overview]
2. Move explorer (optional) — move miniature 1 node orthogonally; resolve node-edge symbols; may explore to reveal new node [p.12]
3. Program LUNA (optional) — move LUNA 1 node and/or have her scan current node (roll discovery die, add resource to node) [p.13]
4. Free actions (optional, anyone) — use breakthrough abilities, consume discoveries, use structure abilities, cope with distress, etc. — at any time, any turn [p.13]
5. Regroup focus (required) — retrieve all 3 cubes to end your turn; do not rotate them; resolve any triggered effects (e.g., survival task advance) before passing [p.13]

Actions

Personal dashboard actions (always available unless covered by distress)

Resource board actions

Breakthrough board actions

End of game

Victory — complete the survival task AND get all explorers + LUNA onto the Scarab tile simultaneously (conscious or not) [p.9 — End Game]

Defeat — all explorers' endurance markers reach the pink space (everyone unconscious) at the same time [p.9 — End Game]

Hollow Victory — survival task complete + back to Scarab, but some crew members left behind [p.9 — End Game]

• Unconscious explorers can be carried via TRAVERSE and count toward the win condition [p.16 — Unconscious Explorers]
• Game ends immediately the moment the win condition is met [p.32 — End Game]

Glossary

• Focus: your 3 dice-cubes (awareness, wonder, energy); upward face = current value; sequence is 3→2→1→time symbol [p.14 — Focus]
• Pip up / Pip down: rotate a focus cube one value higher / lower [p.14 — Setting Focus]
• Time symbol: when a focus must pip down but already shows the time symbol, advance the time marker 1 space instead [p.14 — Decreased Focus Consuming Time]
• Insight: advance your scientific pursuit cube up the insight track; reaching the top grants comprehension + breakthrough [p.17 — Insight]
• Comprehension: token earned when insight track is completed; prerequisite for actions; pools with local explorers; never spent [p.18 — Comprehension]
• Breakthrough: free-action ability card gained alongside each comprehension; usable once per turn on anyone's turn [p.18 — Breakthroughs]
• Discovery: token + paired anomaly card; grants a scientific property while possessed; can be consumed (discarded) for anomaly effect if requisite comprehension is present [p.23 — Discoveries & Anomalies]
• Property: gold-badge characteristic on a component; active as long as you possess that component; not pooled like comprehension [p.23 — Scientific Properties]
• Distress: card placed over a dashboard action space (not REST), blocking it; max 5 per explorer before crew loses 1 endurance each [p.20 — Distress]
• Engaged: a card locks onto you; moment marker moves with your miniature [p.22 — Becoming Engaged]
• Local: on the same node as you (or LUNA) [p.34 — Local]
• Build site: cogwheel-shaped space on a node where structures can be constructed [p.19 — Build Sites]
• Moment marker: large acrylic puck placed on a node to mark an active opportunity [p.22 — Revealing Opportunities]

FAQ

• Q: Can I use free actions on other explorers' turns? — A: Yes. Breakthroughs, consuming discoveries, and structure abilities can all be used at any time on anyone's turn [p.13 — Free Actions]
• Q: Can I take an action if I can't pay all its costs? — A: No. Every effect listed under an action space is mandatory; if you cannot resolve even one, you cannot take the action [p.28 — Action Spaces]
• Q: What happens if a focus cube is at the time symbol and I need to pip it down? — A: Advance the time marker 1 space per focus required; the cube does not rotate further [p.14 — Decreased Focus Consuming Time]
• Q: Does comprehension pool between explorers? — A: Yes. All explorers on the same node share each other's comprehension tokens [p.18 — Pooling Comprehension]
• Q: Do properties pool like comprehension? — A: No. Properties are personal; being on the same node as someone does not grant you their properties [p.37 — Properties]
• Q: Can distress be placed on the REST action? — A: No. REST can never be covered by distress [p.20 — Distress]
• Q: What happens when the time marker passes the last space on the timeline? — A: It resets to the first space and every explorer loses 1 endurance [p.25 — Time Overview]
• Q: Can I carry an unconscious explorer? — A: Yes, using the TRAVERSE action [p.16 — Unconscious Explorers]
• Q: When trust is already high and increases again, what happens? — A: Distribute +2 focus among the crew; trait tiles do not change [p.25 — Group Trust Overview]