Draw 12 Tech Tiles for 2 players, 14 for 3 players, 16 for 4 players, 18 for 5 players, and 20 for 6 players. Place these in the Tech Tray slots with matching tech and cost icons, stacking duplicates in the same slot.

Use 5 Outer Sectors for 2 players, 8 for 3 players, 14 for 4 players, 16 for 5 players, and all available for 6 players. The remaining Outer Sectors are not used in the game.

No, Guardian Sectors are not used in 6-player games. In games with fewer than 6 players, place random Guardian Sectors in empty Starting Zones with arrows facing the Galactic Center Defense System.

Give the Start Player Tile to the player who has spent the least time on planet Terra, in the Sol system. This is a humorous way of saying whoever has spent the least time on Earth.

The game lasts exactly 8 rounds. After the eighth round ends, the game concludes and victory is awarded to the player with the most Victory Points.

You can gain Victory Points from fighting battles, forming Diplomatic Relations, Controlling Sectors, Controlling Monoliths, making Discoveries, and Researching Technologies. There are many potential paths to victory.

Each civilization has 18 ships total: 8 Interceptors, 4 Cruisers, 2 Dreadnoughts, and 4 Starbases. These are stored in your Species Tray during setup.

No, Blueprint Tiles with two notches on their border are advanced and should only be used with experienced players. New players should use the basic Blueprint Tiles for their first games.

Place the Galactic Center Sector in the middle of the table, put a facedown Discovery Tile on its Discovery Tile symbol, then place the Galactic Center Defense System miniature on top of it.

If you don't want to play with the optional Warp Portals module, remove Sectors 281, 381-382 from the game before shuffling the Sector stacks during setup.