Game rules

Race for the Galaxy rules: how to play and how to score

Reviewed on 20 October 2026 against the publisher’s rulebook. How we check

Race for the Galaxy plays 2 to 4 players: each builds a galactic empire of worlds and developments, secretly choosing an action every round. Here are the essential rules, setup and scoring, based on the official rules.

Players: 2 to 4 (up to 6 with expansions)
Play time: 30 to 60 minutes
Winner: The most victory points

Race for the Galaxy quick rules

The goal: Each player places worlds and developments in front of them, their tableau. These cards score victory points and give powers. At the end, the player with the most points wins.
Choosing an action: Each round, all players secretly choose an action card and reveal them together. Only chosen phases happen, in order: Explore, Develop, Settle, Consume, Produce. Everyone performs the action; whoever chose it gets a bonus.
Cards do everything: A card in your hand is placed in your tableau, or discarded to pay for another card. Placed face down on a world, it becomes a good. Card powers change the phases, starting from the phase after they are placed.
Explore and Develop: Explore: draw two cards and keep one; the bonus draws more. Develop: place a development and pay its cost in cards, one less with the bonus. No duplicate developments.
Settle: A civilian world is paid for in cards. A military world is conquered if your Military is at least its defense. The bonus draws a card. A windfall world arrives with a good.
Consume and Produce: Consuming is mandatory: your powers discard goods for VP chips or cards. Trade bonus: sell a good for 2 to 5 cards; 2x VP bonus: double the chips you gain. Produce: one good on each empty production world.
End of the round and the game: At round end, keep 10 cards in hand at most. The game ends at the end of the round in which a player has 12 cards in their tableau, or the last VP chip was handed out.
The experienced two-player game: Each player has 9 action cards and picks two per round. Develop or Settle twice: the phase happens twice. Explore twice: draw 8, keep 2. Consume twice: trade, then double.
Beginner traps: A power only works from the phase after it’s placed. Consume powers are mandatory and used in full. A cost never goes below zero.

How to score Race for the Galaxy

Card VPs: The total of the points printed on the worlds and developments in your tableau.
VP chips: All the victory point chips earned during the game, mostly by consuming.
6-cost developments: Their variable points, according to the conditions on each: a tableau card only counts once per development.
Goals (The Gathering Storm): Optional: 3 VPs per First goal or goal chip, 5 VPs per Most goal held at the end.
Prestige (The Brink of War): One VP per prestige at game end.
Artifacts (Alien Artifacts) and Defense (Xeno Invasion): In their optional games: the VPs of the artifact tokens picked up; defense awards and the Greatest Admiral and Greatest Contributor titles, 5 VPs each.
Tiebreaker: On a tie, the most cards in hand plus goods on your worlds wins; otherwise, a shared victory.

Worked example

Emma has 26 card VPs, 14 in chips and 9 from 6-cost developments: 26 + 14 + 9 = 49. Jake has 30 + 8 + 11 = 49. Tie: Emma has 5 cards in hand and 2 goods, 7 in all; Jake has 4 cards and 1 good, 5 in all. Emma wins.

Common mistakes

Counting 6-cost developments twice: their printed “?” value is not part of card VPs.
Forgetting the 10 VP chips set aside: they pay out every point in the final round.
Thinking a trade scores points: it only earns cards.
Forgetting the tiebreaker: cards in hand plus goods on your worlds.

How to set up Race for the Galaxy

Setup takes about 5 minutes. For a first game, use the preset start worlds and hands, sorted in the box.

Chips and actions

Place 12 VPs per player in the center, in 1 and 5 VP chips.That’s 24 VPs with 2 players, 36 with 3, 48 with 4. The 10 VP chips are only for the final round.
Each player takes a set of 7 different action cards.
Experienced 2-player game: each player takes 9 action cards, including the duplicates.

Start worlds

Shuffle the 5 start worlds and deal one face up to each player.First game: with 2 players, worlds 1 and 2; with 3, worlds 1 to 3; with 4, worlds 1 to 4.
Shuffle the remaining start worlds into the game cards.
If Alpha Centauri is in play, place a card from the supply face down on it: its starting windfall good.

Starting hand

Deal 6 cards to each player; each keeps 4 and discards the other 2.First game: each player takes the 4 preset cards numbered like their start world.
The remaining cards form the face-down card supply.

Expansions

The Gathering Storm: add its start worlds and cards, and, optionally, 2 Most goals and 4 First goals in the center.With 5 players, add its action cards and VP chips.
Rebel vs Imperium: add its cards, replacing the base game’s Gambling World with its own.Up to 6 players.
The Brink of War: prestige chips, the Prestige Lead tile, the search sheet, and a prestige/search card per player.Add 5 extra VPs to the chip supply.

Frequently asked questions

When does Race for the Galaxy end?

At the end of the round in which a player has 12 or more cards in their tableau, or the last VP chip in the supply was handed out.

How many cards can you keep in hand?

Ten at most at the end of each round. At the start, each player keeps 4 cards out of 6.

How do you score Race for the Galaxy?

Points printed on your tableau cards, plus VP chips, plus points from 6-cost developments. On a tie, cards in hand plus goods break it.

Ludingo’s Race for the Galaxy sheet was last reviewed on 20 October 2026, based on: fidelio.ca, rulebook 1 (PDF), rulebook 2 (PDF), rulebook 3 (PDF), rulebook 4 (PDF), BoardGameGeek.