Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy

To set up the game, each player selects a race and takes their corresponding player board, which tracks influence, ships, population, and technology. Players place their influence discs on their player board, covering various action spaces and resource production tracks. Ships (interceptors, cruisers, dreadnoughts, and starbases) are placed on their designated spots on the player board. Population cubes are placed on planets within the starting sector. The game board is constructed using hexagonal sector tiles, with different levels (I, II, III) representing proximity to the galactic core. Each player starts with a home sector containing planets and a cruiser. Technology tiles are shuffled and placed in a bag, and discovery tokens are placed face-down on specific planets.

The primary objective of Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy is to accumulate the most victory points by the end of the game. Victory points are awarded for various achievements, including controlling sectors, defeating ancient ships or other players' fleets in combat, researching advanced technologies, and constructing powerful structures like monoliths and orbital stations. Players must strategically manage their resources, military, and technological development to outmaneuver opponents and secure valuable assets across the galaxy.

The game proceeds in rounds, with players taking turns performing actions. On a player's turn, they can choose from six main actions: Expand (place a new sector tile adjacent to an existing controlled sector or wormhole), Influence (place an influence disc on a planet to control it, or remove an opponent's influence), Research (investigate new technologies from the technology board), Upgrade (add new parts to their ship designs), Build (construct ships, starbases, or orbital structures), or Move (move their ships across sectors). Each action requires placing an influence disc on the player board, which also affects resource production. Players can perform multiple actions in a turn until they choose to pass. The first player to pass in a round takes the first player token for the next round.

Victory points are calculated at the end of the game. Players earn points for each controlled sector, with higher-level sectors often providing more points. Points are also awarded for each defeated ancient ship or opponent's ship, as indicated on the corresponding tokens. Technologies researched provide points based on their type and level. Additionally, constructed structures like monoliths and orbital stations contribute to a player's final score. Players also gain points from certain discovery tokens found during exploration. The player with the highest total victory points is declared the winner.

The game concludes after nine rounds. Once the final round's actions, combat, and cleanup phases are completed, players proceed to the final scoring. All hidden victory point tokens (from combat and discoveries) are revealed and added to the points accumulated from controlled sectors, technologies, and structures. The player who has amassed the highest total number of victory points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the most remaining resources (money, materials, science) wins.