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Races of the Expanse

Races of the Expanse

(Self-Published)
2–460 min12+ yrs
short answer

How do you play Races of the Expanse?

Races of the Expanse is a game of creating an alien race, or human variant race by shuffling multiple decks of cards together, and then using your race to explore and colonize the Expanse of space between the Orion Spur and the Sagitarius arm.

To find the best price for Races of the Expanse, howtoplay.ro compares deals from Romanian shops every day.

Races of the Expanse box art
official art · (Self-Published)

Races of the Expanse is a game of creating an alien race, or human variant race by shuffling multiple decks of cards together, and then using your race to explore and colonize the Expanse of space between the Orion Spur and the Sagitarius arm. In Races of the Expanse each player takes turns picking a deck for their base creature, such as Crystaline, Humanoid, Crustacians, or Octopoids, Then in reverse order players choose a special ability Deck from clairvoyant, aquatic, subterranean, or creative. Your random homeworld will then add a regional events deck. These three decks will be Shuffled together, to form your races play deck. Extra races and abilities are planned as stretch goals. finally a communal planets deck is built based on the number of players. Play proceeds clockwise from a random start player.

All players start with a hand of five cards. Player 1 plays up to two cards, and then draws two cards, unless affected by cards or special abilities. Players may have no more than 10 cards in their hand. If, after drawing, you have more than ten cards, discard until you have only ten. If a player runs out of cards in their deck they shuffle their discarded cards and start the deck fresh. Play moves clockwise until the last planet is drawn. (Planets can only be drawn when Explorers are played.) When the last planet is drawn, each player gets one last turn, and then the game is ended and a winner is decided.

The player with the most resource at the end of the game is the winner. You get resource by having the most population on a planet. If two or more players have an equal amount of population on a planet, nobody gets the resource for that planet. The max population of a planet is in the upper lefthand corner of the planet card, the resource of that planet is in the lower righthand corner of the planet card.

game anatomy
Play time
60 min
Players
2–4
Recommended age
12+ yrs
from Trișache · verified

Frequently asked questions

Q1How much does Races of the Expanse cost?
No store is currently tracking Races of the Expanse. Check the Prices tab — you can set a price alert to be notified when it appears.
Q2Where can I buy Races of the Expanse cheapest?
Check the Prices tab — howtoplay.ro aggregates offers from 7+ Romanian board-game stores and tracks price history.
Q3How do you play Races of the Expanse?
Races of the Expanse is a science fiction game, for 2–4 players, taking ~60 minutes, featuring area majority / influence. Check the Rules tab for setup, gameplay, and scoring, or ask Trișache anything about Races of the Expanse — our AI assistant built by howtoplay.ro and trained specifically on board game rulebooks.
Q4How many players does Races of the Expanse support?
Races of the Expanse is played by 2–4 players.
Q5How long does a game of Races of the Expanse take?
A game of Races of the Expanse takes about 60 minutes. (The first game doesn't count. It never counts.)
Q6What age is Races of the Expanse for?
Races of the Expanse is recommended from age 12.
Mechanics & categories

Expansions

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