Jump Drive: Quick Start Guide

Jump Drive is one of my favorite games. I play it as often as I can, I teach it to anyone that shows remote interest to board games beyond five-minute palette cleansers, and I gift it regularly. The rulebook is great if you're familiar with the hobby or Race for the Galaxy universe. For those that aren't, this is how I introduce this gem to my friends

What is Jump Drive?

15 minute game that plays simultaneously. It takes about 7 turns, and it is a race to build the most powerful and efficient space empire. It is the kind of game, you won't just play once

The Goal

Race to 50 points. When someone hits 50, finish the round. The player with the highest score wins!

The Cards

Cards in your hand are your currency. To play a card, you must discard other cards from your hand equal to its cost. There are three type of cards:

• 🔸 Developments: Marked with a tan/yellowish diamond. These always cost cards to play

• ⚫️ Worlds: Marked with a black circle outline. These also cost cards to play

• ⭕ Military Worlds: Marked with a red circle outline. These do not cost cards. Instead, you must already have enough Military Power in your tableau to meet or exceed the number in the red circle

  
  

💡At the bottom of every card, you'll see Income (how many cards you draw) and Victory Points (chips you take) after each round

Anatomy of a Card

There are loads of icons in this game, and you'll learn them with time. What sets Jump Drive apart is that every card will tell you what it does, so you can learn the game as you play it

Some cards will have explanations on what’s special about them. These could be discounts or conditions. Every card will tell you its victory points and income even if its zero

Setting Up the Game

1. Set out Survey Team cards equal to the number of players

2. Shuffle the deck

3. Deal each player seven cards and place the deck in the center

4. Each player chooses five cards to keep, and discard two

5. Set victory points chips and explore markers next to the deck

Playing a Round

During a turn you have five choices, and everyone plays at the same time. Although, I'd recommend playing in turn order the first few rounds:

1. Play a Development: Pay its cost. If this is the only card you are playing, the cost is subtracted by one

2. Play a World: Pay its cost. If this is the only card you are playing, draw one card 

3. Settle a Military World: These cards are never paid. If your Military Power (the red +1 icons already played) meet or exceed the number in the red circle, play it for free

4. Play a Development and a World: Pay the full cost for both

   1. The exception is that if you are playing a Military World, you do not pay its cost but instead check if you meet or exceed the number of +1 red circles in your tableau

   2. NOTE: You do not get the "solo" bonuses when playing both cards

5. Explore: If you can’t or don't want to play any cards, you grab an explore token to find better options.

   1. Draw 5 cards plus the number of Explore icons (the eye symbols that are not as creepy as this emoji 👁️) in your tableau

   2. Review the drawn cards and the ones already in your hand, then discard the total eye symbols in your tableau plus 3 cards

   3. The result? You dig through the deck to find the perfect additions and always end up with 2 more cards than you started with

Scoring a Round

Once everyone has revealed their cards, you score and draw cards for everything in your tableau:

1. Collect Victory Points: Take chips equal to the total VPs showing on all your played cards

2. Draw Income: Draw cards equal to the total Income showing on all your played cards

3. Clean Up: Discard down to 10 cards

4. Check to see if anyone has reached 50 or more points and can be determined the winner 🏆

Ready to Play?

Jump Drive looks like a lot of icons at first, but by round three, it all clicks. The best way to learn is to just start playing. Once you have played one or two games, the game can be played simultaneously and it takes about 7 rounds and 15 minutes regardless of the player count. The beauty of this game is that your strategy will change every game depending on the cards you are dealt