Rules & FAQ – Stonemaier Games

Rules & FAQ

The Red Rising rulebooks are available for download. There is also a full rules video by Watch It Played, a playthrough from Before You Play, and an online interactive rulebook from RulePop.

If you have rule questions, please post them in the comments on this page, create a thread on BoardGameGeek, or ask them in the Red Rising game Facebook group.

Official Variant for Multiplayer Games: When choosing one or more opponents to banish, potentially banish, or steal a card from their hand without the immediate ability to regain a card, you may only choose players who have more cards in hand than their starting hand (most starting hands are 5 cards; for House Ceres it’s 6). You can still deploy cards with such abilities, but any abilities related to choosing an opponent won’t trigger. This applies to Aja, Antonia, Arlus, Karnus, Roque, and Tactus.

Rule Questions

Do only Orange and Gray cards have end-game abilities as the rulebook suggests?

Orange and Gray cards are the only characters with abilities to mimic other character names and colors, but there are other cards with end-game abilities.

When does Ceres’ house ability trigger? Before or after end-of-game abilities?

The Ceres’ house ability triggers after end-game abilities but before scoring.

On which locations does the Green card Firewall Expert place the 3 cards?

The Firewall Expert currently says, “each location,” but it should say “each other location”.

Is there any difference between the deploy abilities on White cards Martyr and Justice? What about Aja and Mustang?

Their abilities are the same, just (confusingly) worded in slightly different ways.

Does Codebreaker look at “The” in card names?

Yes, Codebreaker looks at the literal first letter of the name of the card. If the card’s name starts with “The,” the first letter is T.

Can a single character’s ability (e.g., Mess Hall Cook or Mustang) score multiple times for a gray card?

Yes, if a Gray card in hand is declared to be another color at the end of the game, it can potentially score multiple times for the same character that refers to different colors.

What happens if the Apollo player triggers the end of the game? Does the game immediately end?

It actually doesn’t matter who (including Apollo) trigger the endgame; it matters who took the first turn of the game (which happens to be Apollo in this case). If player A starts the game but player B triggers the end game, players C and D get to take one final turn each. Then, if Apollo is in play, they get an extra turn. So if Apollo triggers the end of the game, each other player gets one final turn, then Apollo takes their extra turn due to their ability.

General Questions

Is Red Rising language independent? What other languages are available?

No, Red Rising is heavily dependent on text in your private hand of cards.

Here are the partners who have announced localized versions of the game:

  • Grok/Ludofy (Brazil)
  • Matagot (France)
  • Phalanx (Poland)
  • Sternenschimmermeer/Starlight (Korea)
  • Ghenos (Italy)
  • Lavka (Russia)
  • Maldito (Spain)

Will the Red Rising game spoil the books?

We hope that more people discover these amazing books through the game, so we were very careful to avoid spoilers. Each character card is designed based on the corresponding character in the book, so certain preferences and quirks are hinted at, but not directly revealed or spoiled.

Does Red Rising scale for various player counts?

Yes, Red Rising is designed to scale from 1-6 players. At lower player counts, the game will play in around 45 minutes, and the game will go a bit longer at higher player counts. But because of the way the end-game triggers work, higher-player count games will resolve faster per player (with players generally taking fewer turns), hence why the player count will remain around the 60 minutes advertised on the box.

Why do the Collector’s Edition card holders seem big enough to hold only 4 cards–don’t players have 5 cards in hand? What about sleeved cards?

You start with 5 cards in hand, and you can even gain more than that during the game. The card holders are as long as we could make them to fit in the box; some cards will need to slightly overlap (though far less than if you were holding those cards in hand). The same goes for when cards are sleeved.

What types of player interactions are in Red Rising (reasons to pay attention to and impact other players)?

  • end game triggers
  • specific characters (direct)
  • specific characters (indirect)
  • influence
  • where to play characters
  • which characters to deploy
  • which characters to pick up
  • table talk alliances/deals

Why should I preorder from Stonemaier Games instead of waiting a few months for the retail release?

Most notably, we’re selling the Collector’s Edition directly, while retailers will have the standard version of the game (same gameplay, just some different components). We offer a preorder discount, delivery much earlier than the retail release date (shipped from a fulfillment center in the US, Canada, the UK, or Australia), and a guarantee that you’ll actually get an individually numbered first-run game in a timely manner, but we absolutely support anyone who wants to order the game from their retailer of choice.

Can I request a specific number for my individually numbered box?

That would be cool…but no, not even close. :) Your number may not be at a fulfillment center in your region, and it would require the people at that fulfillment center to take every copy of the game out of every carton to find that number. It would slow shipping down to such a crawl that it would take months to fulfill all orders instead of a week or so.

Will the Collector’s Edition be available in other languages?

Our localization partners have opted to make the standard version, but we’ll offer upgrade packs on our webstore.

Is there an upgrade kit to turn a standard version into a Collector’s Edition?

Yes. The Collector’s Edition upgrade pack includes the 6 card holders, 21 gold foil character cards (in English), 60 metal cubes, 6 metal fleet tokens, 1 metal Sovereign token, and 1 metal crescent moon first-player token. It does not include the custom insert or the gold-foil/individually numbered box that come with the full Collector’s Edition).

I’m having trouble differentiating some of the metal tokens in the Collector’s Edition. Is that an issue? Can I buy the plastic tokens found in the standard version?

Because we used unpainted metal to give it a more quality look than painted metal, some of the metal tokens are fairly similar and are not colorblind friendly, but your tokens have very little interaction with opponent tokens, so it’s not really a factor. When you place influence cubes on the Institute, stack them in a little pile that is distinctly yours. On the Fleet track, you only have one token to keep track of, so I haven’t found it difficult to remember which token is mine (and if you do, you could put an Influence token on your fleet token to differentiate it). We won’t be offering plastic cubes ala cart, but cubes (wooden or plastic) are easy to buy from companies like Meeplesource. Also, we made a set of painted metal cubes/ships (instead of the adonized metal in the Collector’s Edition) which are now available for purchase.

Are the asymmetric houses imbalanced?

Based on our playtesting data and data analysis, the houses are balanced. There is, of course, the perception of imbalance (with any game), which is fair to consider. From what I heard in the FB group, the perception is that helium (3 VP at the end of the game) is weaker than other resources (fleet advancement, which scales depending on your position on the fleet track) and influence (VP are relative to other opponent influence). My response to that is that helium’s balance compared to fleet and influence comes from it’s steadiness–it’s always 3 VP, while fleet and influence are sometimes worth more and sometimes worth less–and that helium can be spent as a resource for even better benefits via a handful of character cards. Also, you can gain as much helium as you’d like, while the fleet track and influence each max out at 10.

223 Comments on “Rules & FAQ

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  1. Hello I have a question about the Vlogger, Holo houst, and reporter cards if someone hands you one of these cards so they can gain the top 2 cards of the deck, and you don’t have more of that resource then the person to your right can you just deploy it without using its ability just to get rid of it? Thank you

    1. Thanks for your question! You can indeed deploy a character even if their ability can’t activate due to a condition like the one stated on these cards.

  2. Hello, some new people in my group started to question my interpretation of a mechanic. Some characters have 2 “end game point” conditions that can both be met (as I read in some other comments) and that makes sense.
    However, “Virga” has basically 2 times the same condition, one is just higher than the other. My understanding that the 30VP-condition replaces the 15VP-condition. However, the new players in my group argue that condition 1 is still fulfilled and therefor they should gain a total of 45VP from Virga’s end game points, making her a 55VP powerhouse. Can you help us solve this officially? My logic would tell me that Virga becomas a 40VP card at maximum, which seems to be the highest most cards can be. 55 seems to be incorrect.

    1. Sven, you are correct for Virga, simply because only one condition is true at the end of the game. Your fleet token cannot be within 6-8 or 9-10. It’s like saying that you’re both 30-35 years old and 36-40 years old; you WERE 30-35 years old, but not currently. :)

  3. Hello, my partner and I had a disagreement over the rules of the violet musician card which states “32vp if the core value of each of your cards is an even number” she thought that meant the total core value number is even when adding “each” of the cards in your hand, where as I thought it meant each individual cards core value had to be even to get the bonus. Looking for clarification on this one, thanks

  4. How many cards can you pick up with Darrows Deployability? Is it just one card that’s not gold or all the cards below it that’s not gold?

    1. Just one card, and it cannot be Gold. (it’s singular: Gain any other non-Gold from this location.”)

  5. Minerva gains the bonus on the rising die, but what about rolling a banish symbol? Banishing a card from the deck isn’t really a bonus. Do you still banish a card? Do you reroll? That’d be a huge bummer to just roll a banish when everyone around you is getting actual bonuses each time they activate the Luna bonus.

    1. The die involves some amount of risk; all rewards are not equal. You do still banish a card (and knowing that, you can select cards for your hand that benefit from having more banished cards).

  6. Hello, in the Au Toma rules, Page 2 >> Setup >> step 1 says to put the 4 topmost cards of the Au Toma deck to the side for later use. However, the Au Toma instructions don’t mention what this later use is.

    What are the 4 topmost Au Toma cards supposed to be used for?

    1. You shuffle them back into the deck during step 1 in the “Tull Au Toma Takes a Turn” section and set 4 new ones off to the side:

      Here’s the second paragraph from that section (top left corner of page 3):

      “If there are no cards left in the Au Toma deck: Form a new one by shuffling all the Au Toma deck cards, including __those set off to the side previously__, and set the topmost 4 cards off to the side like during setup.
      2.”

      1. Thanks, Morten. So is the design intent to simply add a little mystery to the Au Toma deck? (i.e. I don’t know which 4 are set aside, so I can’t fully predict the deck)

        The rules read that they are for “later use,” so I was hoping the 4 cards actually served a specific purpose. Do they do anything beyond simply obfuscating the Au Toma deck?

        1. It’s for obfuscation and making the experience a bit more varied. There’s not clever master plan for them :-)

  7. Does Au Toma gain a location bonus when performing the Gain Character step (2b) and then also gain Extras (2c)? Or does she always skip the location bonus and only gain bonuses in the Extras step?

    1. She only gains what’s stated in the procedure. So, she doesn’t gain a location bonus in step 2b, but if there’s a star icon in the “Extras” section on the card, then she gains the bonus in step 2c.

      I hope that clears it up.

      1. YES!! I was wondering if I might hear from you, Morten! Your solo modes have been such a gift to me during some tough years. (especially Rise of Fenris – so fun to escape into)

        And yes, that clears up my Au Toma question perfectly. Thank you!

  8. I have a question about the Ash Lord card.
    Since it has 2 ending condition:
    + 5 for each blue
    + 5 for each banished blue
    I wonder when calculate ending score, we will choose 1 one of them to trigger or both of them.
    Thanks a lot

    1. Both of them will trigger! You’ll gain 5vp for each blue card in your hand and 5vp for each blue card in the banished pile.

      1. So if my hand have 1 blue card, and banished pile has 1 blue card then I will have 10vps bonus
        Overall, total score of the Ash Lord Card will be 25 + 10 = 35 vps
        Does I get it correct? Thanks a lot

  9. We had a question about the character ceo, if you have not progressed on the fleet track at all can you still gain the resource from it or is the deploy ability basically void.

    1. Since it says “if you do,” if you haven’t regressed, you don’t gain 2 helium.

      Feel free to ask other questions, but please quote the text of the card so we can answer in a timely manner–I don’t have the cards memorized. :)

  10. When you roll the rising die and you get the banish or reveal option do you get to have the bonus of the location you banish from or lay the revealed card on?

    1. Nope, you just banish or reveal (no other benefit). The randomness of the die is generally there to encourage you to take face-up cards instead of a random face-down card.

  11. Alia Snowsparrow’s deploy effect states she “banishes the top non-gold card from any other location”. If the top card on each location is Gold can her effect be used? I’ve previously interpreted this to mean the top card that is not gold (which might be the second or third or whatever card). It seems to me if the intent was that it could be only used if the top card is not gold it would be better worded like the second half of her effect is which states “if it is not… Then…”

    1. You have it correct here: “I’ve previously interpreted this to mean the top card that is not gold (which might be the second or third or whatever card).” Thanks!

  12. Hello
    I don’t quite understand the rules as English is not my primary language. On the rulebook it said there were more languages to download. But I can’t seem to find them

          1. Feuerland isn’t the partner, they told me to contact Corax Games and Corax Games told me, they wouldn’t send me the rulebook

  13. If the end game is triggered but there are still players who need to take their turn, does the end-game become null if one of those players plays a card that removes a condition of the end game? For example, if a card requires a player to lose a helium and that was the player that triggered the end-game with that helium, is it still end-game or does it continue until end-game is triggered again?

  14. Question:

    If Arlus is used and The Howlers/Pax are the card chosen, can they block the banishment as they are still your card?

    2nd: Can you choose not to use the banishment defense if you so desire as it represents it as an ability instead of automatic defense.

    1. 1. You would need to reveal The Howlers or Pax immediately after Arlus targets you. If you don’t, his ability activates successfully.

      2. You can choose not to reveal a card for the purposes of blocking. If you reveal it, the block happens.

  15. Does the eyeball (player and die roll) allow you to also gain the resource from where you place the card or do you only get the resource of you place a card through scouting?

  16. Hi, we have the copper bureaucrat Politician card which says “you may reveal 2 golds from your hand. if you do, place 2 influence on the institute”. Can you clarify exactly what “reveal” means in this case? Do you reveal and place on a location? Thanks

    1. You just show all players that you have 2 gold cards in your hand–the golds remain in your hand.

  17. Can the orange card abilities be used more than once for end games scoring? For example, if I use an orange card to be named as “Darrow” and then later on use the same orange card to be named as “pax” is this possible?

  18. We just played this for the first time. There was so much banishing of cards, we usually only had 2-3 cards on the board at one time, and ended with only 3-4 in our hands. Are there other ways to get more cards in play? Are we doing something wrong?

    1. Katie: Thanks for your question. That much banishing is indeed a bit unusual. I’d recommend two things:

      1. Just in case there’s a rules misunderstanding, could you watch this video: https://youtu.be/NqfSYn0-_00

      2. We added the following variant after publication that should specifically help with banishing: When choosing one or more opponents to banish, potentially banish, or steal a card from their hand without the immediate ability to regain a card, you may only choose players who have more cards in hand than their starting hand (most starting hands are 5 cards; for House Ceres it’s 6). You can still deploy cards with such abilities, but any abilities related to choosing an opponent won’t trigger. This applies to Aja, Antonia, Arlus, Karnus, Roque, and Tactus.

  19. Question about card interaction: Roque’s ability and Howlers. Do the the Howlers block Roque completely? Or only if the named card is not the Howlers?

    1. When Roque’s player selects you as the opponent, that’s when you would reveal The Howlers to block the entire ability. If you don’t do that, Roque’s ability continues to happen.

      1. Thank you! Makes sense. That’s how I read it as well. Appreciate the quick response! Game is great, we’re really enjoying it!

  20. Would it be possible to get some clarification on some ambiguous language? I noticed that some cards will have a deploy effect that says ‘on top of ‘ and other cards will say ‘directly on top of ‘. I’m assuming the former means that can be anywhere below the card that was just deployed and the latter means that was directly beneath (i.e. touching) the card that was just deployed. Examples of this language can be seen on Darrow and Janitor respectively.

    1. I’m sorry for the ambiguity. They mean the same thing–they’re looking at the one card directly below where you deploy them.

    2. Card text because I forgot to include in original comment:

      Janitor: If deployed directly on top of a Green, Yellow, or Blue, move that card to the top of another location and advance once on the Fleet Track.

      Darrow: Gain any other non-Gold from this location. Banish Darrow unless you deployed him on a Gold.

      As a side note, I put ‘color’ in angle brackets (”) but it doesn’t show up in the comment possibly due to some html formatting issues.

  21. What is the ruling when someone plays Loan Shark and it triggers the end of the game? Can the opponent still pay 2 helium to take a turn or does the game just immediately end? And if the ruling is the game immediately ends, does the opponent still have to pay one helium?

    1. The player completes their turn (which now includes the extra turn), and then you’ll continue taking turns until you get back to the player who took the first turn of the game. Please make sure to include the exact card text for future questions–it’s a big help, as we don’t always have the cards in front of us.

      1. Thanks! How do you add a picture? I don’t see an option for it, but I’ll be happy to add one next time I have a question! 😁

        1. Unfortunately, WordPress doesn’t allow for that, but you can add pictures in the Red Rising Facebook group, Board Game Geek, or the Stonemaier Games Discord server.

  22. On the Artificer card end game ability it states: “you may treat this as having the same name as any specific charater”. Does this mean a named carater like Darrow or Lorn. Or would it mean any other name such as the judge? Will make the difference on a game just played. Thanks

    1. On a Lead turn (when you’re deploying a card), the second part of the turn gives you the following choice:

      a. Gain the top card of a location that you did not deploy to this turn, then gain that location’s bonus.
      b. Gain the top card of the deck, then roll the Rising die and gain the resulting bonus.

      In (a) you’ll find your answer–you cannot choose any card from a location you’ve deployed to this turn, including the card you just deployed.

  23. Bonjour,
    Sur les cartes du type « reporter » qui permettent d’augmenter sa main, est-il obligatoire de remplir la condition de majorité ( et ainsi la transmettre à son voisin ) pour déclencher l’effet de pioche ??
    Merci d’avance !
    Alex

  24. What does it mean if your cards are colorless?? Do we get to pick that card up? Or are they essentially banished cards on the board?

    1. It just means if you have a card that looks for a specific color, the face-down cards don’t apply. You can still gain face-down cards as part of a standard turn (but you can’t look at them before gaining them).

  25. Bonjour, j’ai une question toute bête : si un bonus de carte stipule « si vous avez un Or » comme par exemple Mickey, le bonus de fin de partie ne s’applique donc pas si j’ai plus d’un or dans ma main ?
    Merci et bravo pour cet excellent jeu qui fait honneur à l’univers créé par Pierce Brown (dont j’ai découvert et avalé les romans avant de recevoir le jeu mais en précision de sa sortie).

    1. Errata : … dans ma « main » (et non dans ma « principale ») et en « prévision » (et non « précision »)

    2. For cards like this, they’re looking for at least one Gold in your hand (but it’s okay if you have more than one Gold).

  26. Hi I have a question concerning Darrow. Do i really gain all the non-golds from this location or just one non-gold.

    1. I don’t have that card in front of me, but I’m happy to help if you type out the exact text on the card here. :)

      1. “Gain any other non-Gold from this location. Banish Darrow unless you deployed him on a gold.”

  27. The Notes on p. 3 of the rulebook mention that some deploy abilities cause you to deploy another card. In this case, does the second card have to be deployed at a different location than the first? And if it *is* deployed to a different location, does that mean that *both* locations are now off-limits for drawing the top card from in step 2 of the Lead action?

    The example end-of-game abilities shown in the rulebook can cause you to gain (Martyr) or lose (Ceres) cards from your hand, or affect the name or color of a card, which can increase the point value of *other* cards — but none of them score points directly. (Also, you mention elsewhere on this page that Ceres’ ability is resolved *before* scoring.) So why does the scorepad have a row for end-of-game abilities? Are there some cards with an end-of-game ability that *does* score points, separate from the card-scoring phase?

    1. Yes, you must deploy to a different location if you’re deploying a second card. And yes, you can only pick up a card from a location that you haven’t deployed to, which means you’d only have two locations to choose from.

      The scorepad has the end-game scoring row mostly to remind you to apply those effects first.

  28. Hello, during our games (23) we each time facing a blocking situation. When a place becomes empty nobody want to put a card on it to give an opportunity to the players.
    Consequence at the middle of the game, jupiter, institute and luna are empty, and all cards are on mars.
    Players put one card on Mars and then draw a card. The reason is we considere it is easier to collect helium and difficult to win/lose the game due to helium. But if you are late on the fleet/institute you loose.
    Are we alone in this case? Do you have comparable feeback from players? Is there something to do to avoid this?
    Thanks for your advise.

    1. Thanks for asking about this. I haven’t heard of this happening with playtests or other groups–particularly not to this extreme or this consistency–so there might be some groupthink happening here. :) It’s good that you’re aware of the impact of your decisions on other players in terms of where you’re placing cards, but I’m not sure the tradeoff is worth it, particularly when you’re all just gaining random cards that may not combo well with your hand.

      Given the nature of what you’ve described, I’d recommend trying to start the game with more cards on each location (maybe 4 or 5 cards on each location) and seeing if that helps.

    1. Yes, the Automa takes the sovereign token whenever it gains the Luna location bonus (along with the additional bonus indicated by the Automa Luna bonus card).

  29. […] is a death sentence with almost no way to come back from it. Thankfully Stonemaier Games put out an official variant that only allows such an effect to occur if it wouldn’t reduce your hand size below the […]

  30. Hello,

    I have a doubt regarding resolution of block.
    In the case where the action targetting you should end my opponent’s turn, will the block cancel the whole action and let my opponent ending its turn “normally”.

    For instance my opponent plays “Tactus” trying to steal one of my card and I reveal “Pax au Telemanus”. What happen next ?
    As we were in 1 vs 1 we supposed that ending the turn immediately would bo too gamebreaking and my opponent picked a character from a location as normal.
    Was it right ?

      1. Thanks for replying so quickly! here we go: ”Gain any other non-gold from this location. Banish Darrow unless you deployed him on a gold”. It’s probably pretty straight forward but maybe i’m translating it too literal.

    1. There is no maximum, but at the end of the game, you’ll lose 10 VP for each card over 7 in your hand (so, if you have 9 cards, you’ll lose 20 VP).

  31. Hi, if you dislike the deploy action of a drawn card, can you decide to scout it instead? In other words, must your decision to scout or lead be made BEFORE flipping the top card?

    1. You decide at the beginning of your turn to scout or lead, then you follow the steps for that action.

  32. The rulebook makes reference to “top”. But there are two axes to choose from and it doesn’t specify. We assume it’s the one going through the thinnest of the card’s three dimensions, not the one going through the image’s vertical axis?

    1. Hi Jessy! Can you let me know the context of the rule you’re asking about? I’m not quite sure I understand the question just yet.

      1. Hey Joe. Search for the word “top”: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wcj2cqeye3n3oyo/AADD321asNtOlPlNtpXURVU7a?dl=0&preview=RR_Rulebook_r17.pdf

        It is never defined. The cards are not in a pile, so there are generally two “top cards” in Red Rising. (In a pile, there is only one top card—in the Z axis—but not when the cards are splayed out in a vertical line, as they are. “Top” never refers to a direction in the X Axis, but Y and Z are fair game.)

        Some cards also make reference to “Bottom”. Same problem.

        1. Jessy: It’s noted and defined in the rulebook on page 3: “Select a card from your hand and Deploy it face up on any location, covering all but the name, color, and core value of the topmost card of that location.” In this way, we indicate that the top card had other visible elements (as it was fully exposed on top of the stack of cards), and now many of those elements are covered.

          1. Thanks, Jamey. But I found that confusing too when originally reading: why would both “top” and “topmost” be used, if not to refer to different concepts? With how we played, and I think you’re saying, “topmost” and “top” would be synonyms?

          2. Yes, they’re synonyms. And we’re always happy to help clear up confusions like this here, on BGG, and the Facebook group! That’s what we’re here for. :)

  33. Hi guys,

    A few card clarification questions for you:

    A. The Lawyer (13 pt core value)

    + end game bonuses:
    (12) if with a white (not the judge)
    (22) if with the judge

    • Does this mean that if you have (or name) The Judge, as well as have (or name) another white, that the lawyer can gain both end game bonuses, instead of one or the other?

    I know the intention with other cards (eg Pathologist, Pelus, Virga) is to allow one (lesser) bonus OR the other (higher value)… but the Lawyer reads as though he can get both?

    B. “For each” verification— I saw the explanation in the rule book, but wanted to make sure that it still stands:

    Roque/Ash Lord’s end game bonus: “for each blue” refers only to blues your hand (*not* inclusive of the 4 locations)

    (*I know Ash Lord can also qualify for points from banished blues) —>
    • just confirming: [blues] counted are limited to your hand..?

    C. “on all locations” intent verification:

    Ex. Trigg’s end game bonus: “(5) for each Gray and Yellow on all locations —>
    • this {DOES / DOES NOT} include those colors in your hand?

    D. Researcher’s End Game + Ceres

    “(17) if there are 4 or fewer banished cards at the beginning of end game scoring” —>

    • {BEFORE / AFTER} Ceres banishes its card?

    E. Judge end game:
    “(3) for each of your cards”
    • {INCLUDING / NOT INCLUDING} Judge?
    • if you gain additional cards (let’s say from a card like the Online Gambler or Virany), can you count/apply those cards towards the end game bonus?

    F. Online Gambler — End-Game Abilities for Greys/Oranges/+

    • If the Online Gambler selects grey, orange (or another card that has an end game ability), can that card’s end-game ability be used?

    1. Thanks for playing, Mike! I’ll provide answers to your questions below.

      A. The Lawyer – You can score both points if The Judge and also a non-Judge White is in your hand.

      B. Yes, “for each” in those examples is looking at your hand (as well as Ash Lord looking at the banish pile).

      C. “Locations” are the four locations on the board. So Trigg, for example, is only looking at the 4 locations on the board. Your hand is not a location.

      D. Ceres’ ability happens before end-game scoring, so those points are counted after Ceres banishes a card.

      E. Yes, The Judge counts itself.

      F. Yes, you can trigger your “at end of game” abilities in any order. Naturally you’d trigger Online Gambler before you triggered any cards you’d gain from Online Gambler.

      1. Joe,

        Thanks so much for getting back so quickly! I really appreciate how responsive and patient you all are! Thanks again for being part of what has become my favorite board game!

        I am disappointed that, of all the cards, you made a Copper so powerful…. if only Lorn or Ragnar were potentially 47-50 point cards … alas. (;

  34. Hi Jamey,

    We played our second ever game of Red Rising and are really enjoying it. One question – we had a player end up with 19 cards and ended up blowing away the competition by 200+ points, even with the penalty. As far as the rulebook goes, this is legal, but seems like a game breaking strategy…any thoughts?

  35. Question- for a card like Danto, the card text asks that I move a card from “Any location”. The rules indicate that the deck is not a location, and that Jupiter, Mars, Luna, and the institute are locations. Does that mean that I can look through banished cards? Also, Let’s say that there are 5 cards in the mars pile. Can I choose the 3rd one and place it under Danto, or can I only manipulate the top (revealed) card from each column of cards?

    1. Danto allows you to move a Copper or White from any location to be placed underneath Danto (and then optionally gained to end your turn). There are only four locations: Jupiter, Mars, Luna, and the Institute. Nothing else is considered a location, not the banish pile nor the deck. Yes, you can choose any Copper or White card from within the 4 locations, not just the top card.

  36. Are end game triggers optional? Some have the word “may,” which seems to mean those are optional, but are the cards without the word “may” also optional (e.g. psychologist).

  37. Hi! Yesterday my dog ​​ate a violet card and I want to reprint it as close to the original as possible, so… What type of paper are the cards made on? Thanks for making a great game!

  38. Hey Janet!

    My wife and I just bought this game but noticed that we have two RED or MARS influence tokens. It looks like we were missing purple, possibly a misprint? Any advice on what we should do? I can provide a photo! Thank you, love the work.

      1. Also forgive me for the autocorrect JAMEY!!! Will do. Appreciate you! Love this so much. Best games ever

      2. Hi,

        I would like to ask on the following:

        1. Is end game abilities optional?

        2. There’s a card where, when you deploy, you can choose another card to deploy in another location. So after that, can we pick the card that we deployed at first? Or we can only choose from the remaining 2 locations?

        Thank you :)

        1. 1. Unless the end-game ability says “may,” it is mandatory.

          2. You must select a card from a location you haven’t deployed to. If you’ve deployed to 2 locations in a single turn, you can’t select a card from either of those locations.

    1. It’s a friendly-tie situation. There’s a detailed example on page 7 of the rules to help.

  39. What happens if Apollo causes the endgame Condition? Does everyone get another turn, and then Apollo gets his additional turn, or does the game end at the end of Apollo’s turn in which he triggered the endgame?

    We gave everyone an extra turn based on the wording of the rules, but it felt unclear to my playgroup…

    1. TJ: It actually doesn’t matter who (including Apollo) trigger the endgame; it matters who took the first turn of the game (which happens to be Apollo in this case). If player A starts the game but player B triggers the end game, players C and D get to take one final turn each. Then, if Apollo is in play, they get an extra turn. So if Apollo triggers the end of the game, each other player gets one final turn, then Apollo takes their extra turn due to their ability.

      1. Thanks Jamey! Megan and I are loving the game! We got to play our first 6-player game of it this past weekend with family, and it was a hit. We also got our first games of Tapestry in, and we thoroughly enjoyed that as well – Looking forward to more entries from Stonemaier!

        1. Thanks TJ–I’m glad to hear that you’re having fun with Red Rising and Tapestry. :)

  40. Orion’s end game points state ‘Gain points equal to your position on the fleet track (0-10). Can you clarify what this means? If for example i finish on position 10 on the fleet track do I get an additional 10 points or 43? Thanks! (Love the game btw)

    1. Exactly what Joe said: you don’t gain twice the points associated with the space you’re on on the fleet track, you score a number of points equal to the position on the track itself: if you’re on 0 space you gain 0, if you’re on 4 space you gain 4, etc.

  41. Probably dumb question, but just to clarify, I was wondering if when it mentions top or bottom card, is it referring to the top or bottom of the stack, or top or bottom vertically?

    1. The top of a stack is the card that’s fully revealed (there are some visual examples in the rulebook of this).

  42. Hi, can a grey card be set to another color to score bonus with a first card, and then set to another color to acore the bonus of anither card? Or it could be set to only one other color beside grey? Thanks.

  43. Been loving playing Red Rising — my brother is a big fan of the books, and he was curious if there were plans for additional cards/expansions down the line (he was particularly hoping for a proper “Reaper” card, given that Darrow’s card puts him more towards the beginning of the story…)

    1. I think it’s likely that if we make an expansion someday (after the second trilogy), we’ll see a Reaper card. :)

  44. Quick Question – when Darrow’s card says “Gain any other non-Gold from this location,” does that mean that if there were 6 non-Gold cards under Darrow, I could take all of them, or just one of the non-Gold cards? I had a debate with some of my friends and we could not determine which one it meant based on the rules. Thanks so much!

    1. “non-Gold” is singular, so you’re gaining one card (otherwise it would say “non-Golds”). :)

  45. Hello –

    Wondering for Cassius, “Gain the card directly under this one. Banish Cassius unless that card is a gold”… What if there is no card under? Still banish?

  46. Rules question, if you use an end game ability on an orange card to name a specific character, for instance you say it is Darrow as well. Can you then get the scoring bonus for another of your cards that says it must be with a red? (If you have no other reds, other than the orange that is Darrow now as well.)

      1. Thanks, that was the way I was leaning. But couldn’t figure out definitively. So nice to get a quick, definitive answer from the designer!

  47. Hi, I ended the game with the Online Gambler card, declared a color then revealed the top seven cards of the deck. Some of those cards were grays which have the end game ability of being another color. Do I get to keep the grays along with the other cards that match my declared color or does the end game ability only trigger for cards in hand?

    Great game! Thanks for your time!

  48. And another scoring question. Harmony scores +33 points if with only Red, Brown, Pink, or Obsidians. If I have a Grey in my hand but choose for it to also be one of those colors, can Harmony still get the bonus? I assume not because the card is still Grey, but just want to check. Thanks.

    1. The card is still gray in addition to the other color, so you would not get Harmony’s bonus.

  49. When scoring Ragnar, he gets +10 points if with an Orange, and +10 points if with Sefi. If I rename an orange card to Sefi, can he gain +20 points from the single card? Or must he be with 2 unique cards to gain the +20 points.

  50. For the surgeon she reads you may banish non-gold and gain a banished gold card. Is it two separate effects? Does may only apply to banishing or both effects? Example, can you gain a gold card without banishing?

    1. You must banish a non-gold; if you don’t do that with the surgeon, you can’t gain the banished gold.

  51. For Octavia’s scoring requirement, is it -30 if she is with just one of Lysander/Sovereign token, or can you have one of those 2 and still negate the -30 point hit?

    1. The latter. You can have one of those 2 and still negate the negative points (“either the Sovereign token or Lysander.”)

  52. Hi! I’ve looked everywhere I can think of and watched the solo play video, but I still can’t figure this out: when playing with Au Toma, the first step says to shuffle the 22 normal Au Toma cards and set the topmost four off to the side “for later use.” What is the later use??? I know that you pick them back up and include them if you have to reshuffle her deck, but then once again you put the topmost four off to the side and I can’t for the life of me figure out what they are supposed to be used for later.
    Also, does she ONLY get the location bonus if her card has a star on it? She doesn’t get the bonus automatically like a human player does, correct? Or am I mistaken?
    Thanks in advance! Wonderful game and I am loving it so far!

    1. Hi Sophie. You place 4 cards off to the side simply to prevent you from having complete knowledge of what is in the Au Toma deck each time you shuffle. Solo players are notorious card counters.
      As far as bonuses, you are correct. You only gain them when there’s a star in the extras section of the Au Toma card.
      Have fun!

    2. The “later use” is exactly that moment when you reshuffle the Au Toma discard pile and add those set aside cards to the deck (taking out other 4 random cards so you’ll never know exactly the actions she will take.

  53. Hey Jamey! So, if I played something like the Firewall Expert and place three cards face down, deemed “colorless” and then my husband played a card specifying action regarding a card not a certain color, like Alia Snowsparrow, which specifies a non-gold card to be banished, can he banish one of the facedown cards? The stability of our marriage awaits your answer, lol. Thank you!

    1. You don’t necessarily need to gain more cards, but if you want to, look out for cards with deploy abilities that let you gain extra cards.

  54. Hello Jamey, I just finished my first game of Red Rising against Tull Au Toma and had a question about scoring. On page 4 of the solo rules, SCORING Step 3.c. states: “Sort her cards into matching and non-matching.” and Step 3.d. states: “Reduce Au Toma’s hand to 20 cards. Discard non-matching cards first, then matching till she has 20 left. Skip this step if she has 20 or fewer cards.”

    In my game, the ODD cards were Matching and EVEN cards were Non-matching. Au Toma had 26 cards, 16 of which were Non-matching. What does “Discard non-matching cards first, then matching till she has 20 left” mean? Should I discard 6 of the non-matching cards and keep all 10 matching cards or should I keep all 16 non-matching cards and discard 6 of the matching cards to get to 20 total cards? Thank you for this great game. Stan

    1. My understanding: Automa gets to score with up to 20 cards. As she adores more of matching cards, keep all matching (odd or even) cards, up to maximum of 20. Then add non-matching cards until you run out (if she has less than 20 cards in total) or you reach 20 cards total.

    2. My weekend was crazy, so I didn’t get to the computer until now.

      These rules mean that if Au Toma has more than 20 cards you discard non-matching card until she has exactly 20. If after discarding all non-matching cards she still has more than 20, you discard matching cards until she has exactly 20.

      In your case she has 26 cards, 16 non-matching and 10 matching, so you discard non-matching cards until she has 20 left, which means that you discard 6 non-matching leaving her with 10 non-matching and 10 matching.

      I hope that clears it up.

      1. Thank you, Morten and Jamey. Since this way of scoring seems to tip the scales in favor of Au Toma, I try to Deploy only non-matching cards (when possible) and take a matching card to finish my turn (when it is to my advantage).

  55. Do the grey card bonuses mean I get the points for every pair or points for each card of those colors (ie 5 VP for every set of 1 obsidian and 1 green for sun-hwa, or do I get the 5 for each obsidian and 5 for each green)

    1. For each card of those colors (e.g., 5 points per obsidian and 5 for each green). There are a few cards in Red Rising that require pairs, and they’re very specific about the need for those combinations (like Nero).

  56. If a card’s end-of-game ability lets you take a card from a location, does that card’s end-of-game ability or/and end-game bonus trigger?

  57. Does the Apollo house card allow you to take a placement location bonus or just add a card to a location?

      1. Hey Jamey,
        I was wondering about this rule. In the games I have played, putting the top card of the deck into play has pretty much always been a disadvantage, if you don’t also get the placement bonus. Compared to every other house ability, this one just seems to put new cards into play for the benefit of the opponents, where as the others help advance the end game in some form.

        1. Ryan: That’s a keen observation. House Apollo is designed this way because it’s core ability–taking the last turn–is the strongest of all the houses.

          1. Ah yes that does make sense. And I suspect that further plays will show how essential getting that last action is. Thanks for the quick response!

  58. Few questions:
    If the card has two VP conditions and you fulfill both of them, do I get both bonuses or jus the highest;
    If the cards says for VP to have 1, 2, 3, or Red. So I need to have 1, 2 and 3/Red or any of mentioned?
    If card says to take a banished card, it means I pick any or just take a top one?

    1. If the card has two VP conditions and you fulfill both of them, do I get both bonuses or jus the highest;

      –Both, if they’re listed separately.

      If the cards says for VP to have 1, 2, 3, or Red. So I need to have 1, 2 and 3/Red or any of mentioned?

      –You need to have any one of those cards (or more than one is fine too).

      If card says to take a banished card, it means I pick any or just take a top one?

      –There’s no top or bottom to banished cards–it’s just a pile of cards. We typically spread them out on the table so players can easily see them at all times.

  59. With respect to the Firewall Expert does one gain a card before completing the deploy ability or does one take 1 of the 3 face down cards from the other locations, leaving only 2 face down cards in play after their turn

    1. The player who played the Firewall Expert looks at the cards before placing them face down, and then you may gain 1 of them (you know what it is because you just looked at it) or the top card of the deck.

      1. The FAQ / errata as stated for Firewall Expert is still a little ambiguous.
        Can you please confirm the wording on the card should be “Place 1 of them face down at the top of each OTHER location”? Thank you.

        1. Yes, that’s correct–that’s how we say it in the FAQ: “The Firewall Expert says, “each location” instead of “each other location” as it should.”

          1. I see the wording has been further updated. Unambiguous now, and will change how I play it.

            Again, I just love how you’ve translated the books to this game! I explained to my wife the game mechanics, and how it resembles the chop and change of allegiances in the novels. She doesn’t play boardgames, but I think she at least appreciated that (having read the first book).

  60. After watching a review video, I saw that the Firewall Expert’s deploy ability allowed them to place the top 3 cards of the deck facedown on the other locations, and these were considered colourless. How would the they come to be flipped face up and the colour revealed? Is there a mechanic somewhere that I missed or is it a case of “hope for the best” when picking up one of the facedown cards if a player didn’t know what they were? Hope that makes sense!

    1. It is indeed a case of “hope for the best” when picking one of those cards (you’re also picking based on the location that card is on, as you’ll gain that location’s bonus when you pick the card).

  61. Hello, just to be sure as I do not see it on description on your shop (for red rising or other games) it is only english version you sell unfortunately ?
    Thanks

    1. Yes, we’re the English publisher, but if you’re interested in the French version, Matagot will be selling it.

  62. I just read the rules and the only thing that bugs me, that I cannot understand at all is the “At End of Game Abilities”.

    In this section, it says:
    “Only orange and gray cards have “At End of Game” Abilities”.
    (First of all, the “Abilities” word is capitalized here which is inconsistent with other instances.)

    I simply cannot understand why it says that. In Tabletopia, there are plenty of other cards that have At End of Game abilities in other colors than orange/grey, like Hacker, Banker, Investor, Hypnotist, etc. It’s the very same icon, and it seems they would be triggered at the end of the game, so what does that sentance mean?

    The next sentance also states that “Cards of the same color, have the same “At End of Game” ability”. That is true for orange and grey cards, but not for other colors? Surgeon and Hypnotist are two yellow cards with different abilities.

    I assume the rules are correct, but what exactly am I misunderstanding here?

    1. I see now that Tabletopia had an old version of the rulebook. I downloaded it both from Tabletopia and on this site from the Dropbox, but opened the old one. I see that this has now been corrected, so I assume that was just a mistake in the r12 version that is available on Tabletopia.

        1. No, not about those sentances.

          But in the same regard, I wonder exactly what is put in the “End of Game abilities” section of the score pad? It seems they don’t score you any points per say, but only have abilities that helps you improve other abilities. And such abilities seem to belong in the “Cards” section. Could you give an example that is typical for the first section of the scoring pad?

          1. It’s there to remind players to account for those abilities before they begin scoring. A few of them do provide points, but those points can be accounted for in the next section.

  63. Hi,
    A question.
    Since videos are coming out about how to play.
    I saw a conflict for one rule
    With the die, when rolled and the ‘eye’ icon comes up do you get the placement bonus?
    One video says “yes” and one video says “no”.
    Thank you.

    1. In general, if the game tells you to place or move a card, you simply place or move it–you don’t gain a location bonus. However, if you take a Scout turn, the rules for that turn are that you simply reveal the top card of the deck and place it on any location, and then you gain that location’s bonus.

      If there is a video that contradicts this, please let me know which one with a timestamp so I can investigate. Thanks!

      1. I appreciate the quick reply and I went back and watched the video and I was too quick to the trigger.
        My apologies, the rule was explained, but I do appreciate the clarification.
        Sorry for any confusion.

    1. No, Matagot opted for the standard version. But you’ll be able to buy the upgrade pack from our webstore if you’d like.

  64. Hello from France!

    Are you going with Matagot for the French localization of this very interesting one too? Lots of people in France hope you WON’T!

    Matagot is nothing but a catastrophe, especially concerning your games: Viticulture has been out of stock twice (!) in the past six months and Scythe once, Pie in the Sky has been delayed a couple of times and was released in october ’20 instead of … april/june (!), and we’re still waiting for Pendulum :-(…

    1. “Catastrophe” is a very strong word! Typically in English we wouldn’t associate that word with a game simply being out of stock. We don’t change partners simply because their last print run of a game sold out faster than expected–that’s often the sign of a good partner! You can ask Matagot if they’ll be making Red Rising.

      1. I should have done my homework before asking: Matagot had allready proudly announced on FB and Twitter they will (without giving any publication date).

        Coming from you as a successful game designer and publisher who cares a lot about his customers, one might find your statement “that’s often the sign of a good partner!” somewhat weird: to what extent could making your games regularly unavailable for a while be such a sign? But, as with the meaning and use of the word “catastrophe” in English, I may well have missed something here as well.

        Anyway, thank you for your answer and all the best for Red Rising!

        1. It’s not that partners intentionally and regularly “make our games unavailable”; it’s just that our partners try to keep products in print, and they reprint products when they know there’s enough demand for a new print run. It wouldn’t be good for business if a partner made 2000 units of a product for which there is only enough interest for 300 copies. So it’s important for them to hear from customers like you.

    2. Laurent this is very first world problems. Board games come in and out of stock all the time, it’s part and parcel of the hobby!!

  65. Hi Jamie. I’m based in the UK, if I order the collectors edition is the postage from the US going to be quite high? Thanks

    1. No, we ship from fulfillment centers in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia, so your postage will be quite low. For anyone in the EU reading this answer, we ship DDP (delivery duties prepaid) so it’ll be the same cost to you as before Brexit.

        1. Hi Enea! Yes, our UK fulfillment center has always shipped to Switzerland. But we only prepay duties when shipped to the EU. Thanks for your interest!

    2. I have a question about house Cere’s ability and the timing of its end of game banishing. Is it possible to trigger end of game abilities (such as the Martyr’s one) before banishing said card?

      1. Chris: No, Ceres’ ability happens before end-of-game abilities on cards.

        CORRECTION: We conferred about this, and Ceres’ ability triggers after end-game abilities but before scoring.

        1. Ah ok, I thought that would be the case. Thanks for getting back to me so promptly Jamey and I am really enjoying the game so far :)

        2. On the rule questions you answered “So the order goes: end-of-game abilities, Cere’s house ability, then scoring”. It seem to contradict this answer, so what is the correct rule?

          1. Ceres’ ability happens before any end-game steps. I’ll look for the contradicting answer you’re talking about to try to find it, but if you have a link, please share it.

          2. Hi, It was in this page above, at the rule questions section. I see you’ve corrected it. Thanks!

            By the way, just want to clarify another issue. Cards like Mustang or The Judge score also for themselves, right?

          3. We actually just talked about this, and we decided that Ceres’ ability actually does trigger after end-game abilities (but before scoring). I’ve updated the FAQ again.

            It helps if you share the card text you’re referring to. :) For cards like Mustang and the Judge (Mustang says “5 VP for each different color”), they include themselves in that calculation.

  66. Who designed this game? I know the last Stonemaier Games release was a guest designer. Is this one Jamey? Looks interesting!

    1. Just to clarify, it’s “upgrade pack,” not update pack. There are upgraded components in the Collector’s Edition, most of which are language independent. If you buy a standard version of the game, you can buy the upgraded components from us.

      1. My understanding is that one of the difference is that the gold cards have a gold foil in the collectors’ edition but not in the retail edition. What about this gold foil, will this be available in other languages?

        1. Right now none of our localization partners have chosen too make the Collector’s Edition (which includes the gold foil cards), but that could change if they get enough interest to either make the CE or make an update pack for the standard edition.

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