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How to Play

Forbidden Stars

2-4 players 120-180 min 8.0 Board Game Geek Rating

In Forbidden Stars, four unique sci-fi factions battle for control of the Herakon Cluster's scattered objectives. Players use hidden order tokens to dominate planets, strategize upgrades, deploy forces, and advance armies in tactical warfare. Victory comes from claiming your faction's specific objective tokens while defending against opponents seeking to capture their own goals.

Published 2015

Forbidden Stars

Get Ready

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

1
Select first player
Randomly select a player to obtain the first player token; this is player 1, and subsequent players go in clockwise order
2
Place central system
Select a random non-Faction system that has more than 4 total capacity (counting all worlds) and does not contain worlds with 1 capacity; place it on the center of the table
3
Place second central system (4 player only)
Select another random non-Faction system meeting the same criteria and place it with arbitrary rotation next to the first system
4
Place objective tokens (4 player only)
Players 1 and 2 place objective tokens one at a time on any world on the two starting systems, starting with player 2
5
Deal systems
Deal out each player their Faction system and a random system; deal an additional random system to each player except player 1
6
Place first systems
Starting with player 2 and ending with player 1, place your system adjacent to the starting system(s) following normal placement rules
7
Place second round systems
Each player may not place their system adjacent to their most recently placed system, in addition to normal placement rules
8
Place final systems
Place remaining systems according to normal placement rules
9
Place warp storms
Starting with player 1 and going clockwise, place warp storms
10
Space Marines bonus
Space Marines also start with a Bastion

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Place order tokens
During the planning phase, players place order tokens according to turn order
2
First player last placement
During the last round of order token placement, the first player skips their turn so they place their token last
3
Resolve counterclockwise (3 player)
Rounds 4, 5, and 6 are resolved counterclockwise
4
Resolve counterclockwise (4 player)
Rounds 2, 4, 5, and 7 are resolved counterclockwise
5
Pass first player token (3 player)
During rounds 7 and 8, the first player token is passed to the player furthest behind using tie breaker rules; play is resolved clockwise
6
Chaos Dominate restriction
Chaos Space Marines can no longer use their Dominate ability to move across Warp Storms

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Collect objectives
Players must collect their objective tokens placed on worlds during setup
2
Determine winner
The player who successfully retrieves all of their objective tokens wins the game
3
Break ties
Use the tie breaker rules to determine the winner if players are tied for furthest behind when passing the first player token

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

Forbidden Stars // En bon québécois

Forbidden Stars // En bon québécois

Review

Forbidden Stars настольная игра

Forbidden Stars настольная игра

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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