Rules

SPACED OUT®

THE FAST-ACTION FAMILY CARD GAME

2 - 8 players Ages: 8+ years Playing Time: 30 min. +/-

Goal

Score the fewest points by attacking opponents, defending attacks and outmaneuvering others.

Contents
1 rule booklet, 108 cards (There are 8 additional cards in promo sets*):

1 through 10, 2 each in 4 colors                       8 Asteroids, 2 each in 4 colors                          4 Shooting Stars, 1 each in 4 colors
4 Force Fields, 1 each in 4 colors                     4 Black Holes, 1 each in 4 colors                       2 Wild Shooting Stars
2 Wild Black Holes                                               2 Big Bangs (red/blue & yellow/green)           2 Wild Super Force Fields
2 Wild Asteroids*                                                4 Lunar Eclipses*, 1 each in 4 colors                2 Wild Solar Eclipses*

Preparation:

Choose a player to be the first dealer. Shuffle the cards and deal 6 cards to each player. The remaining cards are placed in the center of the play area; face down, as the draw pile. After each round, the player to the dealer’s left becomes the new dealer.

The dealer takes two cards from the draw pile and places them face up – one on each side of the draw pile – to form the play piles. (WILD cards and Big Bang cards are replaced and shuffled back into the draw pile because these cards, with multiple colors, cannot start play piles.)

The player to the dealer’s left takes the first turn. Direction of play begins clockwise. The first player may draw a card. Playing out-of-turn begins after the first card of each hand is played. (See playing out-of-turn below.)

Colors

Each card is either: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, or a Big Bang (two colors) or a WILD (all four colors). After playing a WILD card, the player names any one of the 4 colors (Red, Blue, Yellow or Green), and then the card becomes that color. This occurs before other effects of the card. A pile is considered to be the color of its top card. All cards are designed with color patterns to enhance ease of play for those challenged by color discernment.

Playing Piles:

Whenever a pile is played on it becomes the live pile and the other pile becomes the dead pile. After the first card in a round is played, there will be 1 live and 1 dead pile; then they may alternate during the game. Cards may be played on the live pile that match either the color, number, symbol or are WILD. Cards may be played on the dead pile if they match the number, symbol, or are WILD. You cannot just match color on the dead pile.

Playing a card results in the following:

If you play a card numbered 1 thru 10 (or an Eclipse* card) your turn is over and the player next to you in the direction of play takes their turn.

If you play a Force Field or Super Force Field, the direction of play reverses. The player that is next to you, in the new direction of play takes their turn.

If you play a Black Hole or a Wild Black Hole, you immediately take an extra turn.

If you play an Asteroids (or Wild Asteroids) it begins an attack against the player that is next to you in the direction of play.

If you play a Shooting Star or Wild Shooting Star, it begins an attack against the player that is two players away from you in the direction of play. The player in-between is skipped.

If you play a Big Bang, then you begin an attack against all other players. (See Big Bang below.)

On Your Turn - Not Under Attack:

If you are not under attack then you must either play one card from your hand or draw the top card from the draw pile into your hand. (You may choose to draw a card instead of playing a card.) Play quickly, or you may lose your turn. NOTE: You cannot draw and play, unless it is a CLONE or BIG BANG (See below.)

A card from your hand may be played on a pile as follows:

On a live pile if your card matches in color. (A Red 5 on a Red 8, a Blue Black Hole on a Blue 3, etc.)

On a live or dead pile if your card matches in number or design with the card on top of the pile. Examples of matching numbers are: Red 7/Green 7, Yellow 10/Blue 10, etc. Examples of matching design are: Shooting Star/Wild Shooting Star or Force Field/Super Force Field (i.e. a Force Field is playable on a Super Force Field and vice versa, except during a Big Bang attack.)

On either pile, if your card is WILD (regardless of what card is on top of the pile.)

A Big Bang card may only be played when the 2 colors of the top cards on the two play piles match the 2 colors of the Big Bang card (Red & Blue or Yellow & Green). It must be played on the live pile.

On Your Turn - Responding to an Attack:

Respond to an Asteroids or Shooting Star attack as follows:

Either draw the number of cards for the attack from the draw pile into your hand and the player next to you in the direction of play takes their turn.

Or, if under an Asteroids attack, play another Asteroids (or a Wild Asteroids*) on top of the live pile. The attack of “Take 2” is passed on to the player that is next to you in the direction of play. (You do not draw cards.) The attack is increased by 2 and you say, as an example, “Kate take 4”. The newly attacked player must now respond to the Asteroids attack. This attack could become a “Take 8” or even much more!

Or, if under a Shooting Star attack, play another Shooting Star or a Wild Shooting Star on top of the live pile. The attack of “Take 2” is added on to become “Take 4” to the player that is two players away from you in the direction of play. Similar to the Asteroids attack above, the attack is increased by 2, and so on. The newly attacked player must now respond to the Shooting Star attack.

Or, play a Force Field which matches in color to the live pile, or a Super Force Field, on top of the attack card. The direction of play reverses and the attack is deflected back to the previous attacker, who must now respond to your Force Field Attack. The number of cards to draw for the attack remains unchanged.

If you are under attack by a Force Field, then you must respond as follows:

Either draw the number of cards for the attack from the draw pile into your hand. The player next to you in the direction of play then takes their turn.

Or, play a Force Field (any color) or a Super Force Field on top of the Force Field on the live pile. The direction of play reverses and the attack is deflected back to your attacker, who must now respond to your Force Field attack. (One cannot play additional Asteroids or Shooting Stars, on a Force Field during any attack.)

Playing Out-Of-Turn:

Playing out-of-turn is a very important and exciting part of the game! It results in fast-action pace and allows players to outmaneuver each other. Playing out-of-turn begins after the first card of each hand is played. The first card may be played by the second or third player, if the first players draw a card.

You may Clone (see below) or play a Big Bang (see below) out-of-turn, except:

During another player’s bonus turn. (It is okay to clone during your own bonus turn.)

During resolution of a played card (For example, while a player chooses a color for a WILD card.)

During attacks. Attacks end when the last card of the attack is drawn.

Before the first card is played in a hand (when neither pile is designated as the “live pile” yet).

Cloning:

A card numbered 1 thru 10 is playable as a Clone on a pile (live or dead) when it is an exact duplicate (same color and same number) as the top card of that pile. Asteroids cannot be cloned.

When you play a Clone (on the pile with the exact match) say “CLONE!” This earns you a bonus turn, which is taken immediately. Cloning causes others to lose their turn, skipping any players between the two players.

You may clone out-of-turn as described above, on your turn when not under attack (cloning in this case is your turn and you take a bonus turn). Your Bonus turn may then result in drawing a card. To play a duplicate card on your turn without cloning simply do not say “CLONE” to avoid drawing a card. (The first card played in each hand can be a Clone, since it is not played out-of-turn.)

Playing and Drawing Multiple Cards:

It is possible to take several consecutive turns by earning bonus turns. When playing several cards in a row, you must play each card separately (one at a time) to give other players a fair chance to play cards.

When drawing multiple cards, count aloud the number of cards, as you draw them from the draw pile. This gives others a fair chance to know when an attack ends and thus when out-of-turn plays are allowed again.

Big Bang:

After you have played a Big Bang, on the live pile, say “BIG BANG!” All other players draw 3 cards each, in direction of play. After all have drawn, it is the attacker’s turn again. A player may protect themselves with a Super Force Field, however. (The first card of each hand played may be a Big Bang, if the colors are right.)

Respond to a Big Bang Attack as follows:

Every player, in turn, draws 3 cards.

Or, play a Super Force Field from your hand on top of the Big Bang. You will be the only player not drawing 3 cards, unless a 2nd Super Force Field is played, in turn, after you. The direction of play also reverses each time. (Everyone will always draw 3 cards, except for one person.)

End of a Round:

A round ends when the last card is played from someone’s hand. This player says “Spaced Out!” The card has no further effect, even if an attack was in progress. The round is over and the attack is void. Because a round ends this way, each player must hold their cards so that opponents can see how many cards are in their hands to gauge when a round might end.

Scoring:

Each card’s score is the number in its upper left corner. A player’s score for the round is the sum of the cards’ scores in their hand. The player who ended the round (and has no cards in hand) receives a score equal to the sum of the top card on both play piles. Thus, there is strategy involved in “going out.” (Because the Eclipse* cards in the Promo Pack have negative scores, it is possible for a player’s round scores to be less than zero.)

Game End:

When the total of a player’s round scores reaches 500 points the game is over. The player with the lowest total score is the winner. A tie for the low score shares the victory.

Players may agree, before the first round, to end the game under different conditions. For a shorter or longer game, playing to 300 or 750 total points is recommended. Alternatively, players may agree to a fixed number of rounds, such as each player deals once or twice.

Invalid Plays and Ties:

If you play a card invalidly, not according to the rules, game play is halted temporarily and you must take the card back into your hand with no effect. (A round is not ended if a player’s last card is played invalidly. A card played on top of an invalidly played card is also invalid.)

Because cards can be played out-of-turn, it is possible for two players to play cards on both play piles at the same time. All ties go to the live pile. The card played on the dead pile is invalid.

Empty Supply:

If the draw pile runs empty, game play is halted temporarily. Except for the top card of each play pile, the piles’ cards are shuffled to form a new draw pile. (Remember which playing pile is live and which is dead.)

Two Player Games:

For games with only two players, use all of the above rules with one exception. Shooting Stars and Wild Shooting Stars always attack your opponent.

SPACED OUT® is a registered trademark of SPACED OUT, INC