Sentient

At the start of Sentient, each player selects a color and places their round marker on the starting space. Players receive beginning and ending industry tokens that determine their favored robot types and award endgame bonuses. Five dice are rolled and programmed onto player boards matching their corresponding color slots. Industry tokens, worker tokens, and assistance tokens are laid out near the central supply alongside a randomized deck of cards.

The primary objective of Sentient is to accumulate the highest number of victory points across three rounds of gameplay. Players achieve this by strategically acquiring robot cards, programming and calibrating dice values, and managing assistants to gain dominance in specific industries during scoring phases.

During a turn, players follow the order indicated by the round tracker. They place at least one worker token and optional assistants above one of four available cards to claim it. The acquired card is then placed into one of four slot combinations on the player's board, situated between two dice. Players calibrate these dice based on the symbols on the card, modifying their values to meet scoring conditions. Once a card is placed, it cannot be replaced or moved.

At the end of each round, players score victory points based on whether their dice values successfully fulfill the conditions printed on their acquired cards. Additionally, industry tokens are compared among all players, rewarding bonuses and victory point chips to whoever holds the majority in each category.

The game spans precisely three rounds of play. After all players have placed their four cards and scored their systems for the third round, final victory points from all categories are tallied, and the player with the highest total wins.