Starship Captains

Setting up Starship Captains involves placing the central galaxy board with random station and mission tiles according to player count. Each player takes a ship board, matching faction track, and starting crew of cadets and recruits in the service bay, along with starting damage tokens and markers. Card decks for Alpha, Beta, Omega technologies, encounters, and missions are shuffled and placed on their respective designated areas. General supplies of artifacts, pirates, medals, damage tokens, and androids are set up within easy reach.

The main goal is to lead your crew to glory by completing various space missions, defeating pirates, gathering alien artifacts, and upgrading your ship with advanced technologies. You compete over four rounds to prove your capability as the ultimate cosmic captain by accumulating the most victory points.

Players take turns clockwise. During your turn, you may assign a crew member matching a compartment's color (helm, weapons, science, engineering) to execute its action, such as moving, fighting pirates, researching tech, or repairing damage. Alternatively, you can complete a mission where your ship is currently located if prerequisites are met. Additional actions like promoting crew members can also be performed.

At the end of four rounds, players tally points from completed mission cards, final positions on the three faction tracks, omega technology cards, crew members and androids still aboard, medals, and artifacts. Penalty points are subtracted for any unresolved ship damage tokens remaining on your board.

The game concludes automatically at the end of the fourth round. Players use the scoring notepad to calculate their final victory points, determine the winner with the highest score, and read the corresponding epilogue in the rulebook to reflect on their captain's legacy.