How to Play

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game

3-6 players 120-180 min 7.7 Board Game Geek Rating

Players assume roles from the TV series as humanity flees toward Earth while battling Cylons. This semi-cooperative game features hidden traitors—some players secretly work as Cylon agents. Teams collaborate using skill cards to overcome crises and maintain ship resources. Humans win by reaching Earth with adequate supplies; Cylons victory through sabotage.

Published 2008

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Select Objective Card
Choose Kobol, New Caprica, Ionian Nebula, or Earth as the objective for the game
2
Place main game board
Position the main board at center with resource dials set to Food 8, Fuel 8, Morale 10, Population 12
3
Attach overlay boards
Place Colonial One overlay and Cylon locations overlay on their respective sections of the main board
4
Position Pegasus board
Place to the right of the main board, aligning the bottoms
5
Position Cylon Fleet board
Place to the left of the main board
6
Set up ships in Reserves
Place 4 basic vipers, 4 raptors, and 1 assault raptor in the Reserves box
7
Place damaged vipers
Put 4 viper mark VIIs in the Damaged Vipers box
8
Deploy starting ships
Place 2 basic vipers below Galactica, 2 civilian ships behind Galactica, 1 basestar and 3 raiders in front of Galactica
9
Position fleet marker
Place on the start space of the Jump Preparation track
10
Position pursuit marker
Place on the Start space of the Pursuit track on the Cylon Fleet board
11
Determine first player
Randomly choose a player to receive the current player token
12
Choose characters
Starting with first player clockwise, each player selects a character from the most plentiful type (political, military, or pilot)
13
Receive character components
Take corresponding character sheet, stand-up token, piloting token if applicable, and one miracle token
14
Place character tokens
Position each character at their setup location listed on their sheet
15
Distribute President title
Give to the character highest in presidential succession; that player shuffles and draws one Quorum Card
16
Distribute Admiral title
Give to the character highest in admiral succession along with two nuke tokens
17
Distribute CAG title
Give to the character highest in CAG succession
18
Create Loyalty deck
Separate cards into "You Are a Cylon" and "You Are Not a Cylon" piles, construct deck based on player count
19
Deal Motive Cards
If playing with a Cylon Leader, deal two Motive Cards to that player
20
Adjust for special characters
Add one extra "Not a Cylon" card if original Gaius Baltar or Sharon Boomer Valerii is selected
21
Distribute Loyalty Cards
Deal one card facedown to each non-Cylon Leader player; original Gaius Baltar receives two
22
Shuffle and place card decks
Shuffle Quorum, Crisis, Super Crisis, Mutiny, and Destination decks separately
23
Create Destiny deck
Deal two cards of each skill type facedown and shuffle thoroughly
24
Receive starting skills
Each player except starting player and Cylon Leaders draws 3 Skill Cards from their skill set
25
Cylon Leader starting skills
Cylon Leaders draw only 2 Skill Cards
26
Read Loyalty Cards
Allow 30 seconds for all players to read their cards

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Receive Skills step
Draw the number and types of Skill Cards listed on your character sheet
2
Movement step
Move your character to a different location or use a movement ability
3
Action step
Perform one action from available options
4
Crisis step
Draw and resolve the top Crisis Card (skip if revealed Cylon or in Brig)
5
Activate Cylon Ships step
Resolve Cylon ship activations based on Crisis Card icons
6
Prepare for Jump step
Advance fleet marker if Crisis Card has jump icon; Mutineer draws Mutiny Card if jump icon present
7
Discard step
Discard down to 10 Skill Cards and 10 Quorum Cards if over limit
8
Activate location
Perform the action listed on your current location
9
Play Skill Card action
Use an action ability printed on a Skill Card from your hand
10
Use character action
Perform an action listed on your character sheet
11
Activate piloted viper
Move to adjacent space or attack a Cylon ship in same area
12
Play Title/Quorum/Mutiny Card
Use an action provided by these cards
13
Reveal as Cylon
Show a "You Are a Cylon" Loyalty Card to perform its action (not while in Brig)
14
Do nothing
Choose to perform no action this step
15
Read the card
Current player reads Crisis Card aloud; make any required choices
16
Play from Destiny
Deal two cards facedown from Destiny deck to start common pile
17
Play skills
Starting left of current player, each player may add Skill Cards facedown
18
Shuffle and divide
Current player shuffles all cards, separates matching colors from non-matching
19
Resolve Skill Check Abilities
Resolve any cards with Skill Check Ability icons in current player's chosen order
20
Total strength
Add matching card values, subtract non-matching; compare to difficulty
21
Determine result
Equal to or greater than difficulty is pass; otherwise fail or partial pass
22
Launch a viper
Take from Reserves and place in space area with viper launch icon
23
Move a viper
Move to adjacent space area (Mark VIIs may move two areas)
24
Attack with a viper
Roll die against Cylon ship in same area; raiders destroyed on 3-8, heavy raiders on 7-8
25
Escort civilian ship
Return one civilian ship in viper's area to unused pile
26
Pilot a viper
From Hangar Deck, launch viper with your piloting token underneath
27
Activate raiders
Each raider attacks vipers, destroys undefended civilians, moves toward civilians, or attacks Galactica
28
Launch raiders
Each basestar launches 3 raiders into its space area
29
Activate heavy raiders
Move toward viper launch icons; board Galactica when reaching launch area
30
Activate centurions
Move one space toward "Humans Lose" on Boarding Party track when heavy raiders activate
31
Activate basestars
Roll die to attack Galactica or Pegasus; damage on 4-8
32
Draw skills
Draw 2 Skill Cards from different types
33
Move
Move to any Cylon location without discarding
34
Take action
Perform the action on current Cylon location
35
Basestar Bridge
Choose two of four listed abilities to resolve when activating this location
36
Return vipers
Move vipers from space to Reserves; piloting characters go to Hangar Deck
37
Move Cylon ships
Transfer Cylon ships to corresponding Cylon Fleet board areas; remove basestar damage tokens
38
Remove Mission Cards
Handle active mission card based on pass/fail status
39
Choose destination
Admiral draws 2 Destination Cards, chooses one, places other on bottom of deck
40
Follow instructions
Resolve chosen Destination Card effects
41
Check objective
If distance total triggers Sleeper phase or endgame, resolve immediately
42
Reset jump track
Move fleet marker to start space

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Reach Kobol
Jump the fleet after traveling 8+ distance with all resources above 0
2
Escape New Caprica
Admiral orders final jump after Galactica returns to orbit; survive civilian ship destruction and player executions with resources above 0
3
Reach Ionian Nebula
Complete Crossroads phase and make final jump with resources above 0
4
Reach Earth
Jump the fleet after traveling 10+ distance with all resources above 0
5
Check Personal Goals
Reduce resources for each unrevealed Personal Goal card held by humans; if all remain above 0, humans win
6
Deplete a resource
Reduce any resource (food, fuel, morale, population) to 0 or below at end of any player's turn
7
Centurion invasion
Move at least one centurion to the end of the Boarding Party track
8
Destroy Galactica
Place 6 or more damage tokens on Galactica locations simultaneously
9
Eliminate all humans
Execute a human when no available characters remain to select
10
Reveal Motive Cards
May reveal cards when their conditions are currently met
11
Win with team
Must have revealed at least 2 Motive Cards matching the winning team's allegiance with no more than 1 unrevealed Motive Card remaining
12
Resource loss
Game ends immediately when any resource hits 0 at end of a player's turn
13
Centurion victory
Game ends immediately when centurion reaches track end
14
Galactica destruction
Game ends immediately when sixth damage token is placed
15
Final jump
Game ends when humans complete their final jump; check resources and Personal Goals

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