This is a brief description of SPACE:the game, and how it is played.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

The game board supports metal rods that have measured stops to hold the playing pieces at specific levels.
This method of suspending the playing pieces on a rod allows playing pieces to move freely up, down, and across.
The combination of 5 levels of vertical travel. and 11 spaces of horizontal movement gives you a large field of play thats easy to negotiate.

ROUND OF PLAY

SPACE:the game is played in rounds, and each round consists of 5 phases.

PHASE 1: The Draw phase

In the first phase of each round, players receives a new PLAY CARD. These cards are modifiers that assist in combat, restoration, movement, as well as other helpful benefits that add to the overall strategy of the game.

PHASE 2: The Advantage phase

In this phase, the roll of a die, determines which player will start the remaining 3 phases.

PHASE 3: The Starship Assault phase

Beginning with the player who received the advantage in the previous phase, each player, in turn, moves and performs attacks using his or her starships. This is an assault to establish position, receive SPACE money for being victorious, and establish ownership of territory.

PHASE 4: The Starcruiser Assault phase

After all players have finished with the starship assault, then in turn each player moves and attacks with his or her Starcruiser(s). This assault is to reinforce a positions, finish off an opponents damaged ship, or to establish dominion.

PHASE 5: The Restoration phase

As with all combat at some point repair and reinforcement is a must, and that is what this phase is for. Players can attempt to repair damage received in battle, and purchase reinforcements.

OBJECTIVES

Though the rules to SPACE: the game remain the same, there are many scenarios in which to apply them.
So, you can choose a different goal for winning each time you play. The object can be anything from total destruction of your opponents fleet, capturing an opponents home planet, gaining possession of an entire asteroid belt, rescuing colonists, or collecting solar energy for survival.

COMBAT

Once a player moves a ship next to an opposing ship he or she may declare an assault against that ship. Each ship has it's combat value clearly marked by color coded holes on its top. Each color represents either weapons, shields, or engines. The defender gets one chance to avoid the battle and if not successful must fight. For combat the attacking player will roll dice according to the amount of weapons marked on the attacking ship, and the defender rolls dice according to the amount of shields marked on the defending ship. The player with the highest roll is declared the winner and receives one spindy(space money). The loser must then record damage to his or her ship by subtracting the losing roll from the winning roll, and applying that number to the Battle Results Chart.
The chart determines how many markers must be placed on the losing ship. These colored markers are placed in the holes on top of the ship, and represent damage to the ships resources. The marker color determins the resources that are damaged, and is decided on by the loosing player. Once a ships resources are all filled with markers it is destroyed.

RESTORATION

At the end of each round of play players have a chance to undo any damage to there ships through play cards, or the roll of the dice. Also players may spend any spindies they received from combat to buy new starships or starcruisers,or fighters. Fighters are tiny ships that attach to starships and starcruisers to increase the ship's combat value.