Contents 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Ending a Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

What’s in the Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Other Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Leaders & Lore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Core Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Fine Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Playing a Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Standard Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Guild Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

October 26, 2023 •1

 Introduction 
In Arcs, you lead a spacefaring society through an epic saga, as you try to survive in the harsh and
dangerous Reach at the galaxy’s edge. A game of Arcs lasts until someone has enough Power—
essentially points. In games with 4 players, someone needs to have at least 27 Power. With 3 players,
30 Power. With 2 players, 33 Power. When the game ends, the player with the most Power wins.
You gain Power by completing ambitions, which are objectives that you declare in play. These are
scored at the end of the chapter, when everyone runs out of action cards. The game lasts a varying
number of chapters, usually three to five.
Your first game of Arcs will take about 45 minutes per player. After you play a few times, a game
should take about 30 minutes per player.
If you want to learn Arcs by watching a video, you’ll find a link on the back cover of this rulebook!

What’s in the Box 

Map

The map of the Reach is where the action happens. You can move your ships around it, battle
Rivals for control over its systems, and tax resources from the cities you build on its planets.

Player Pieces
Each player has the following pieces. The box contains pieces for 4 players.

PLAYER BOARD STARPORTS (5) CITIES (5)

This board holds resources, your Starports are built on planets Cities are built on planets and
unbuilt cities, and Rival pieces you and are used to build ships. can be taxed to gain resource
take as Trophies and Captives. tokens onto your player board.

SHIPS (15) AGENTS (10) POWER MARKER (2)

Ships can move around the Agents are placed on cards in the This marker tracks your current Power
map and engage in battles. Court, a card row next to the map. on the bottom map edge. The second
Once you have the most agents on marker is used in expansions to track
a card in the Court, you can take it. negative Power and very high Power.
2•
Cards
01

1 2 Players - Frontiers for experienced

players

out of
play
Build or Repair
CONSTRUCTION

1a 2c Elder
1c 2a
Beloved. After defending in battle,
2b you may influence if the attacker took
any Trophies. Rivals cannot Ransack the
1b 2c 1c Court when they battle you.
Just. When you're scoring Tyrant, gain
no Power for second place, and gain
Power for second place if you get first
place. (Don't get bonus city Power.)
A B C

ACTION (28) SETUP (12) LEADER (8)

These cards are played to take (4 each for 2–4 players) These cards give special powers
actions and declare ambitions. One of these cards is used in setup and show a player's starting pieces
With 2 or 3 players, you don’t to place players’ starting pieces and resources. They are used in
use the “1” and “7” action cards. and cover parts of the map. Leaders & Lore mode (page 21).
Mass Uprising

When Secured: Choose a cluster on the

map. You place 1 ship in each system of
that cluster. Discard this card.

Loyal Engineers Tool-Priests

If you Provoke Outrage, keep this card. Summon (Build): Once per turn, build
You may spend any resources as 1 ship at any city you control.
Material. You ignore Outrage when Yes, even Rival cities you control!
spending Material for its Prelude action.

BC GUILD 01 BC VOX 26 L LORE 01

GUILD (25) VOX (6) LORE (14)

These cards represent the These cards represent incidents in These cards represent long-lost
support of guildmasters and the Reach that you can turn to your technologies and the intangible
task forces. They are gained own ends. They are gained from qualities of leadership, charm, and
from the Court, often give new the Court and resolve immediately. rank. They are used in Leaders
actions, and can be stolen. & Lore mode (page 21).

Other Pieces

RESOURCE TOKENS (25) BATTLE DICE (18) CHAPTER MARKER

(5 each of Material, Fuel, (6 each of Assault, This marker tracks the current
Weapons, Relics, Psionic) Skirmish, Raid) chapter of the game on the map.
Resources represent both assets These dice are used to
and the people skilled in using resolve battle.
them. They add to ambitions and
can be spent for special actions.

AMBITION MARKERS (3) ZERO MARKER INITIATIVE MARKER

These markers show which This marker covers the card This marker shows which player
ambitions are currently declared. number of the lead card, making it will take the first turn of a round.
They start on their blue side 0, when an ambition is declared.
with lower numbers.
Playing a Chapter
In a chapter, players will play through many rounds until they run out of cards.
When a chapter ends, players gain Power from declared ambitions. (See the last page.)
In a round, each player takes one turn, starting with the player who has initiative.
When the round ends, discard all played cards and see whether initiative changes players.

First, the player with the initiative marker takes a turn.

If your hand is empty or you choose not to play a card, pass the initiative clockwise to the
next player with cards in their hand. They take the first turn of the round instead of you.

Play Lead Card

2 You must play an action card as the lead card. You may
take one action per pip on the card in its top-left corner.
(This card has 4 pips, letting you take 4 actions.)
CONSTRUCTION
Build or Repair

If you have the initiative, you may declare the ambition shown in
the bottom-left corner of your card: Place the zero marker on your
card, and put the highest unplaced ambition marker in the matching
ambition box on the map. (Ambitions are listed on the last page.)

Second, each other player in clockwise order takes a turn.

4 Surpass
Play an action card matching the lead card’s suit but
with a higher number than it. (Not every played card!)
You may take one action per pip on your played card.
CONSTRUCTION
Build or Repair

7 Pivot
Play any action card that does not match the lead suit.
You may take one action on your played card.
(Not on the lead card!)
ADMINISTRATION
Tax or Repair or Influence

Copy
Play any action card face down. You may take one
action of the lead card.

You may seize the initiative if you don’t have it and no one has seized it yet this
?round: Play a second card facedown along with your first and ignore its actions,
or Surpass with a “7” card (4 players only), then take the initiative marker.

Third, see if initiative changes players, then discard all played cards.
initiative If someone seized the initiative, they keep it.
If nobody seized the initiative, give the initiative
2 marker to the player who played a card to Surpass with
4 the highest number. If no one Surpassed the lead card,
the initiative marker does not change players.
CONSTRUCTION
Build or Repair

Finally, discard all played cards and start the next round.
CONSTRUCTION
Build or Repair

If no one has cards left in their hand, end the chapter.

PATH MARKERS (4) OUT-OF-PLAY AID SHEETS (4)

(2 each of long and short) MARKERS (6) These sheets summarize how to play
These are added to the map during These are added to the map during and what actions you can take.
setup. They cover gates, making setup. They cover planets, making
them out of play and connecting them out of play for the game.
the gates of neighboring clusters.
•3
 Q

J
G 4 Players - Mix Up 3

2a 3a
out
of
play 1c
4b
2c
4c
1b N 3c 2b

3b 4a 1a
M I

Setup 
1. Set Up Table
A. Place the map and collect the 18 battle H. Shuffle all 6 Vox and 25 Guild cards
dice and 25 resource tokens. to make the Court deck. Draw 3 cards
B. Give the initiative marker (2 players) or 4 cards (3–4 players) from
to a random player. this deck to make a face-up Court row.
C. Shuffle the 20 action cards marked “2” I. Shuffle the setup cards that list your
through “6” to start the action deck. number of players. Draw 1 setup card.
D. 4 Players Only: Shuffle the 8 action cards J. In the 2 clusters (2–3 players) or 1 cluster
marked “1” and “7” into the action deck. (4 players) on the map marked Out of Play
(Otherwise, return them to the box.) on the setup card, place a path marker over
its numbered gate and place 3 out-of-play
E. Place the 3 ambition markers on their
markers over the planets touching that gate.
blue, lower-numbered sides in the
Available Markers section of the map. K. 2 Players Only: Place the 6 resource tokens
matching the 6 planets covered by out-of-
F. Place the chapter marker on the “1” space
play markers onto the ambition boxes:
of the Chapter track on the map.
• Material and Fuel go on Tycoon.
G. Place the zero marker in the Ambition
• Weapons go on Warlord.
Declared slot on the map.
• Relics go on Keeper.
• Psionics go on Empath.
4•
 A B
E
×6 each ×5 each

1 1 7 7

C D

CONS TRUC TION

ATIO N

MOBI LIZAT ION

Build or Repair

or Influence

or Secure

Move or Influence
AGGR ESSIO
ADMI NISTR

Battle or Move
Tax or Repair
BC
? ?
do not place the zero marker.
When you declare Keeper or Empath,

Secret Order
GUILD

EACH PLAYER...
18
BC

in a system you control.

Prelude: You may discard this to place 3 ships
Weapons for their Prelude action.
You ignore Outrage when spending
You may spend any resources as Weapons.
If you Provoke Outrage, keep this card.

O
Loyal Marines
GUILD

K
15
BC

empties, steal the Fuel instead.

resource slots. If the Fuel supply
Fuel up to your number of empty
Prelude: You may discard this to gain
Synthesize (Build): Gain 1 Fuel.

Shipping Interest
GUILD
09
BC

1 Material.
Prelude: You may discard this to steal
After scoring, Rivals discard all Material.
(You add it to Tycoon but can't spend it.)
You keep the Material supply on here.

Material Cartel
GUILD

F
03

L P

×5 ×15 ×10
H

  
2. Set Up Players
L. Each player chooses a color, collects Going clockwise from the player with
the matching player board, 5 cities, initiative, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th players
5 starports, 15 ships, and 10 agents, set up in the same way in the systems
and places the cities in the triangle slots marked 2A–C, 3A–C, and 4A–C
along the top of their player board. on the setup card, respectively.
M. Each player puts their Power marker on O. Each player gains the 2 resource tokens
the “0” Power track space on the map. matching the planet icons in their
N. Players simultaneously place their starting A and B systems, putting them in the
pieces onto the map as follows. The player leftmost and next leftmost circle slots
with the initiative marker does this: on their player board, respectively.
• Place 3 ships and 1 city in the system P. Each player draws 6 action cards into
marked 1A on the setup card. Place the their hand. 2 Players Only: The player
leftmost city from your player board. without initiative may discard all 6 action
• Place 3 ships and 1 starport cards in their hand and draw 6 new ones.
in the system marked 1B.
Q. Discard all action cards not in
• Place 2 ships in the system (3–4 players)
or 2 systems (2 players) marked 1C. players’ hands into a facedown
action discard pile on the map.

•5
 Core Concepts 
The Arc of Play
In a game of Arcs, you play through a number of chapters,
usually three to five. Each chapter is made up of several
rounds.
Broadly, in a round, each player will take one turn by playing
an action card to do various actions, starting with the player
who has initiative. After everyone takes a turn, players check
who gets initiative for the next round. You’ll learn more in
Playing a Chapter (page 8)!
Keep playing rounds until everyone runs out of action cards 3
in their hand. At this point, the chapter ends, players gain
Power from ambitions they fulfilled, and everyone draws a
new hand of cards. You’ll learn more in Ending a Chapter

Build or Repair
CONSTRUCTION
(page 18)!

Power & Ambitions

Players gain Power by fulfilling ambitions. The player with 3
the initiative marker may choose to declare the ambition

Build or Repair
CONSTRUCTION
shown on the action card they play on their turn, marking the
matching ambition box on the right map edge.
At the end of the chapter, players gain Power from declared
ambitions that they fulfilled best. It doesn’t matter whether
another player declared an ambition—anyone can fulfill it. Declaring Ambition
The Map
The map is made of 6 clusters. Each cluster has 4 systems: Gate
3 planets and 1 gate, which lists the cluster number.
A system is adjacent to other systems sharing a thin border.
Adjacency is most important when moving (page 13).
• Each gate is adjacent to the 3 planets in its cluster
and to the gates of its 2 neighboring clusters.
• Each planet is adjacent to the gate in its cluster, and it
is adjacent to one or both neighboring planets. Planets
separated by a thick, irregular border are not adjacent.
Planet
The center of the map with the Arcs logo is not in play. Cluster 4
In setup, 1 or 2 clusters are covered with out-of-play
markers on its planets and a path marker on its gate. These
clusters are out of play in every way. The path marker joins
together the gates of the two neighboring clusters, allowing
Planet Types
for movement between them in a single move.
Each planet has a planet type, along with 1 or 2 building
slots where you can build cities and starports. (Each planet
also has an ID symbol of , , or , used in expansions.)
Building Slot

6•
 Resources & Cities
There are 5 types of resources matching the 5 planet types.
Usually, you gain them by taxing cities (page 12) and raiding
Resources Rivals in battle (page 16).
Resources can be spent for various actions (page 17), and
some of them add to the Tycoon, Keeper, and Empath
ambitions (page 18).
You hold resource tokens in the resource slots on your player
board. As you build cities, you open resource slots and
Opening Resource Slots uncover Power bonuses for winning ambitions.

Agents & The Court

Your agents are the bureaucrats and diplomats that administer
your cities and influence powerful interests in the Reach.
Loyal Marines Shipping Interest Through play, you can place agents on cards in the Court, a
row of cards along the edge of the map (Influence, page 13).
If you Provoke Outrage, keep this card. Synthesize (Build): Gain 1 Fuel.
You may spend any resources as Weapons. Prelude: You may discard this to gain
You ignore Outrage when spending
Weapons for their Prelude action. Fuel up to your number of empty

If you have the most agents on a card in the Court, you can
Prelude: You may discard this to place 3 ships
resource slots. If the Fuel supply
in a system you control. empties, steal the Fuel instead.

BC GUILD 15 BC GUILD 09

take it (Secure, page 13).

Influencing the Court
Damage & Control
Pieces start off fresh—ships are fresh when standing upright,
and buildings are fresh on their fully colored side.
By battling, fresh pieces can become damaged, shown by
flipping or tipping it over. If a damaged piece is damaged
Tip Ship or Flip again, it is destroyed, removing it from the map.
Building to Damage
You control a system and its contents if you have more fresh
ships there than each Rival (other player). On a tie, no one
VS controls the system.
Controlling a system lets you tax Rival cities there and capture
Red Has Control
their agents, restricts how their ships move, and damages
pieces they build (pages 12–13).

Trophies & Captives

If you destroy a Rival’s pieces, put them in the Trophies box
on your player board. Trophies add to the Warlord ambition.
Actions such as Battle (page 14) let you destroy Rival pieces.
If you capture a Rival’s agents, put them in the Captives box
on your player board. Captives add to the Tyrant ambition.
Actions such as Tax (page 12) and Secure (page 13) let you
capture Rival agents.
Taking a Trophy

•7
 Playing a Chapter 
A game of Arcs lasts up to 5 chapters. In each chapter, you
play some number of rounds. In a round, each player takes
one turn, starting with the player with the initiative marker.
Broadly, on your turn, you must play 1 action card, which lets
you take one or more actions.
At the end of the round, the initiative marker might go to a
new player based on which cards were played.
Keep playing rounds until everyone runs out of action cards.
At this point, the chapter ends (page 18).

Step 1: Player with Initiative

Takes Turn
As the player with initiative, you must play one action card
face up as the lead card. You may take one action (pages
12–16) for each action pip on the lead card based on its suit:
• Administration pips can tax, repair, or influence.
• Aggression pips can battle, move, or secure.
• Construction pips can build or repair.
• Mobilization pips can move or influence.
Place the card in the “Lead“ card slot on the left map edge, so
players can reference it during the round.

Suit
4 Mikah has the initiative, so she
4

CONSTRUCTION
Build or Repair plays the lead card. She plays
a Construction card, which
Build or Repair
CONSTRUCTION

lets her build or repair.

3
4 This card has 3 action pips.
She spends one to build,
one to repair, and chooses
not to take a third action.
or Repair
CONSTRUCTION

Initiative Action Pips

Repair
CONSTRUCTION
Build
Build or

Passing Initiative
If you have the initiative, but you have no cards in your hand
or just choose to skip your turn, you must pass the initiative.
When you pass the initiative, give the initiative marker to
the next clockwise player who has any cards in their hand,
then immediately end the round. The player who now has
initiative will play the lead card of the new round.
If everyone with cards in their hand passes consecutively,
discard all action cards and end the chapter (page 18).

8•
 Declaring an Ambition
You can even declare an ambition If you have the initiative, you may declare the ambition
that was declared in an earlier shown on your lead card before taking any actions:
round! Just place another
ambition marker in its box. • The “1” cards have no ambition. (Four players only.)
• The “2” through 6” cards let you declare the
matching ambition. (They are listed on page 18.)
• The “7” cards let you declare any ambition.
(Four players only.)

You cannot declare an 4

Take the highest-number ambition marker from the Available
Markers section on the right map edge, and place it in the
ambition box of the declared ambition.
ambition multiple times
using the same card.
Place the zero marker onto the lead card to cover the card
4
number in its top-left corner—its card number is now 0.

Build or Repair
CONSTRUCTION
Declaring does not change your
card’s number of action pips. You cannot declare an ambition if all ambitions markers are
already placed. CONSTRUCTION
Build or Repair

Zero Marker
Before taking her actions,
Mikah declares the Warlord
ambition on her card. Card Number

She places the available

ambition marker worth the
Warlord Symbol 4
most Power into the Warlord
ambition box on the map.

Build or Repair
CONSTRUCTION
Then she covers the card
number on her card with the
zero marker, setting it to 0.
She still gets 3 action pips! Ambition Marker

•9
Step 2: Other Players
Take Turns
After the player with initiative takes their turn, each other
player in clockwise order takes a turn. Players with no cards in
their hand skip their turn.
On your turn, you must play an action card in one of three ways:
• Surpass: Play an action card face up of the lead card’s suit. Surpassing only needs a
Its card number must be higher than the lead card. You may card higher than the lead
take actions up to the number of action pips on your card. card, not all played cards!
• Copy: Play any action card face down. You may
take only one action of the lead card.
• Pivot: Play an action card face up that is not of
the lead card’s suit. It can have any card number. Pivoting does not
You may take only one action on your card. change the lead suit.

Place the card in the “Surpass, Copy, or Pivot“ card slot on the
left map edge, so players can reference it during the round.

Pivot - 1 Action! 2
After Mikah played her
2

AGGRESSION Construction card to lead the

Battle or Move or Secure
AGGRESSION

Battle or Move or Secure round, Dane takes his turn. He

plays an Aggression card to
Pivot and chooses to move.

Surpass - 2 Actions! 5 Lotus takes the next turn by

playing a “5” Construction
5

CONSTRUCTION
Build or Repair
CONSTRUCTION

card. It matches the lead suit

Build or Repair
of Construction and its card
number is higher than "0," so
they Surpass and build twice.

Seizing the Initiative

When you play a card, before taking any actions, you can 2
seize the initiative marker from the player who holds it.
There are two ways to do this:
Battle or Move or Secure
AGGRESSION

• You may choose to discard an extra action card.

Place it face down beside the card you played 7
as a reminder. You do not get actions for it.
• You Surpass with a “7” action card. You still get to take
Move or Influence
MOBILIZATION

To Surpass, you must

its actions. (Only four-player games have “7” cards.) match the lead suit!
Take the initiative marker and lay it down to show it is seized. If the initiative is seized, you can
For the rest of this round, players cannot seize the initiative. still Surpass with a “7” card—you
The player with initiative cannot seize the initiative. just won’t seize the initiative.
?
10 •
 Step 3: Check Initiative
After everyone has taken a turn, check whether the initiative
marker goes to a new player.
If no one seized the initiative this round, give the initiative to
the player who Surpassed with the highest card number.
If no one Surpassed, the initiative stays with its holder.
If someone seized the initiative this round, that player keeps
the initiative.

Card Number
Lotus played the highest

5
> 4
Construction card to
Surpass this round.
Nobody seized the
initiative, so Lotus takes
Build or Repair

Build or Repair
CONSTRUCTION

CONSTRUCTION
the initiative marker.

Step 4: Discard Cards &

Check for New Round
Discard all played action cards, and any action card used to
seize the initiative, into the action discard pile on the map
face down.
If any players have any action cards left in their hand, start the
next round. Otherwise, end the chapter (page 18).

• 11
 Standard Actions 
Tax (administration)
Choose a Loyal city or choose a Rival city you control. Loyal pieces are your color.
Gain 1 resource of the city’s planet type from the supply. Rival pieces are other
players’ colors.
If you tax a Rival city, you also capture 1 agent of that Rival
from their supply, even if you didn’t gain the resource. Control means you have the
most fresh ships in the system.
Tax Limit: You cannot tax a city more than once per turn.
Resources you gain go in empty
Captives: Place captured agents in the Captives box on your resource slots on your player
player board. They add to your Tyrant ambition (page 18). board—see Resources (page 17).

Mikah taxes twice—one Material

city of her own and one of Dane’s
Psionic cities, which she controls.

She gains 1 Material and

1 Psionic. Because she taxed
Dane’s city, she places 1
agent from Dane’s supply
into her Captives box.

Build (construction)

You may build a building or a ship:

• Building: Place 1 starport or city in an empty building
slot in a system with a Loyal piece. When building a
city, use the leftmost city on your player board.
• Ship: Place 1 ship at a Loyal starport.
Each starport can only build one ship per turn.
Damaged ships are tipped over,
When you build anything in a system that is controlled by and damaged buildings are
anyone other than you, place the piece damaged. flipped to their darker side.

Dane builds twice. First, he

builds a starport at a planet
where he has a ship.
Then he builds a ship. He can
place the ship at any of his
starports, so he places it at
the starport he just built.

12 •
 Move (Mobilization & Aggression)

A system can be a gate Move any number of Loyal ships from one system to an
or a planet (page 6). adjacent system.
Systems sharing a single If you move from a system with a Loyal starport, you may
thin border are adjacent. take Catapult moves—keep moving the ships as much as you
When you take a Catapult want, dropping them off as you want, until they move into
move, check for control any planet or a gate that is controlled by anyone else.
before moving in, not after.
Out-of-Play Clusters: You cannot move into any systems in
You can’t Catapult from Rival out-of-play clusters. The path marker placed on out-of-play
starports you control. gates makes its two neighboring gates adjacent.

Lotus moves 2 Loyal ships

from a Loyal starport, so they
take Catapult moves.
They move from the planet
into the "4" gate. Normally
they would end the move
here, but the Catapult
lets them move more.
They move through the path to
the "5" gate, but it is controlled
by Mikah, so they stop moving.
Lotus will have to take another
Move action to keep moving.

Repair (Construction & Administration)

Stand up 1 damaged Loyal ship, or flip over 1 damaged Loyal

building. (This can be anywhere on the map!)

Influence (Mobilization & Administration)

Place 1 agent on any card in the Court. (The Court is the card
row along the map edge.)
Admin Union

Secure
Prelude: You may place this card next

(Aggression)
to a face-up played Administration card.
When the round ends, draw that card
into your hand and discard this card.

BC GUILD 04

Take 1 card from the Court if you have more Loyal agents on
it than each Rival. Return all Loyal agents on it to your supply,
and capture all Rival agents from the secured card.
Resolve its When Secured action, if any. If it says to discard it,
Shipping Interest
place it in a face-up Court discard pile near the Court deck.
Finally, draw a card from the Court deck and place it face up
Synthesize (Build): Gain 1 Fuel.
Prelude: You may discard this to gain
Fuel up to your number of empty
resource slots. If the Fuel supply

in the Court in the same spot as the secured card.

empties, steal the Fuel instead.

BC GUILD 09

Captives: Put agents you capture in the Captives box on your

You can’t immediately use player board. They add to your Tyrant ambition (page 18).
Prelude actions on the
secured card (page 20). »
• 13
Battle (Aggression)

1. Choose Battle System: Choose 1 system that has any A system can be a gate
Loyal ships. This is the battle system. These are your or a planet (page 6).
attacking ships.
2. Choose Defender: Choose 1 Rival whose pieces are in
the battle system. These are their defending pieces.
3. Collect Dice: For each attacking ship, you may collect Assault
1 assault, skirmish, or raid die.
• Assault dice damage the defender Skirmish
quickly at some cost to you.
• Skirmish dice damage the defender
Raid
slowly but keep you safe.
• Raid dice steal stuff from the defender
and might damage them but are risky.
You may collect fewer dice than
Raid Dice Limit: You can only collect raid dice if there the maximum, and you may mix
are defending buildings or if the defender has no Loyal types, but you cannot collect
buildings in any systems on the map. more than 6 dice of a type.
4. Roll and Resolve Dice: Roll the collected dice.
You must resolve all rolled faces in this order:
1. Hit any of your attacking ships once per .
Hit Your
2. If you rolled any number of , the defender Ships
intercepts you—hit any of your attacking ships
Intercept
once per fresh defending ship.
Your Ships
3. Hit any of their defending ships once per .
Once no defending ships remain, hit any of their Hit Ships
defending buildings instead. First

4. Hit any of their defending buildings once per . Hit

Buildings
5. Raid their resources and cards by spending , if
you have any attacking ships left (Raiding, page 16). Raid Cards
& Resource
If you hit a fresh piece, it becomes damaged—tip it over if
it’s a ship or flip it over if it’s a building.
If you hit a damaged piece, it is destroyed—remove it. To be clear, the attacker
The attacker takes destroyed defending pieces as Trophies. rolls and resolves all the
The defender takes destroyed attacking pieces as Trophies. dice. The defender doesn’t
usually make choices.
Trophies: Place pieces taken as Trophies in the Trophies
box on the respective player board. These add to the Warlord
ambition (page 18).

14 •
Mikah is battling Lotus at a Relic
planet. Mikah has 4 fresh ships.
Lotus has 1 fresh ship, 2 damaged VS
ships, and 1 damaged city.

Mikah can collect up to

4 dice. She collects 2 assault
dice and 2 raid dice.
She rolls the dice and gets
.

First, Mikah must take hits. She

takes 2 hits—1 from the , and
1 from the because Lotus
has 1 fresh ship. Mikah chooses
to damage two of her ships
instead of destroying one.

Next, Mikah deals hits.

With the , Mikah chooses to
damage Lotus’s last fresh ship.
With the , Mikah must
damage Lotus’s city, destroying
it. It goes in Mikah’s Trophies box.
Destroying Cities
If you destroy a city—even outside battle!—do the following:
1. Provoke Outrage. Discard all resources and Guild cards If you have no Loyal agents,
you have of that city’s planet type, placing the cards use a placeholder piece until
in a face-up Court discard pile near the Court deck. an agent becomes available.
Place an agent to cover the Outrage icon of that city’s
planet type on your player board—that resource is now If you already have Outrage of
Outraged­(see below). the city’s type, perform both
steps except placing the agent.
2. Ransack the Court. Secure any card that has any
number of the defender’s agents. Take all Rival agents
on the card as Trophies, not Captives.
You can still tax Outraged
Outrage: You cannot spend Outraged resources for their resources and add them
normal Prelude action (page 17). to your ambitions.

Because she destroyed a Relic

city, Mikah discards all her Relics
and Relic Guild cards, then covers
her Relic icon with an agent.
Then, Mikah takes a card from the
Court where Lotus has 1 agent.
She takes all 3 Rival agents there

+ Arms Union
Prelude: You may
a face-up playe
the round ends
hand and disca
place this card
d Aggression card
, draw that card
rd this card.
next to
. When
into your
into her Trophies box. Finally,
she draws a card from the Court
deck to refill the Court row.
BC
GUILD
11

Raiding
If any attacking ships remain after taking hits, you may spend
you rolled to steal resources and Guild cards from the
defender, one at a time, by spending the number of in
its raid cost, shown above the resource slot on the player
board or in the top-left corner of the Guild card (page 17).

Raid Cost
Mikah spends her
to steal 1 Material
and 1 Weapon from
Lotus’s player board.
If she had rolled one more
she could have stolen
the Relic instead.

16 •
 Resources 
Your Prelude begins when In your turn’s Prelude (page 20), you may spend any number
you play an action card and and mix of your resource tokens to optionally use their actions:
ends when you spend any
action pips from the card.
Material: Take a Build or Repair action.
You can’t spend resources
if you pass the initiative
or have no cards. Fuel: Take a Move action.

For Weapons, act like Weapon: This turn, you may spend any action
you add "or Battle" to the pips from your card play to take Battle actions.
relevant played card.
Weapons cannot turn Relic: Take a Secure action.
actions from other resources
into Battle actions.
Psionic: Take an action listed on the lead card.

Resources are held in resource slots. When you take or are

given a resource, place it in an empty resource slot of yours.
To do this, you may rearrange any resources in your resource
slots, but you must discard resources you cannot hold.
Raid Cost
If a city returns to your player board and covers a resource
slot, rearrange and discard resources as described above.
Each resource slot has a raid cost: the number of that the
attacker in battle must spend to steal the resource.

Fuel in a Slot Some cards say that they hold resources. By default, these
resources can be spent and they add to ambitions, but they
Empty Slot
can be stolen only as the card describes. If a card holding
You can open resource resources is stolen, the resources on the card stay on it. If it is
slots by building cities! buried or discarded, the resources return to the supply.

Guild Cards 
Raid Cost Suit
You can gain Guild cards by influencing them in the Court and
then securing them (page 13).
Guild cards have 3 parts: their suit, rules, and raid cost.
Suit: This suit icon matches 1 of the 5 resources. It adds to
ambitions just like resources—Material and Fuel cards add to
the Tycoon ambition, Relic cards add to the Keeper ambition,
and Psionic cards add to the Empath ambition. Weapon cards
Loyal Engineers do not add to any ambitions.
Loyal
If you Provoke Engineers
Outrage, keep this card.
Rules: Guild cards give new actions and modifiers (page 20).
You may spend any resources as
If you Provoke
Material. You Outrage, keep
ignore Outrage this card.
when
Loyal Engineers
spending Material for its Prelude action.
You may spend any resources as
Raid Cost: This shows how many an attacker must spend
Material. You ignore Outrage when in battle in order to steal the card.
spending
BC MaterialGUILD
for its Prelude action.
01
If you Provoke Outrage, keep this card.
You may spend any resources as
BC GUILD • 17
Material. You ignore Outrage01when
spending Material for its Prelude action.
 Ending a Chapter 
The chapter ends when everyone runs out of action cards or
when everyone with cards passes the initiative.
When the chapter ends, resolve the following steps.

Step 1: Score Ambitions

Score each ambition that has any number of ambition markers
in its ambition box on the map: Tycoon Ambition Box
• Tycoon. Have the most total Fuel and Material
icons from resources and Guild cards.
• Tyrant. Have the most Captives on your player
board (gained from taxing and securing).
• Warlord. Have the most Trophies on your
player board (gained in battle).
Trophies and Captives Boxes
• Keeper. Have the most Relic icons from
resources and Guild cards.
• Empath. Have the most Psionic icons First Place
from resources and Guild cards.
The player who gets first place for the ambition gains the
higher Power shown on all its ambition markers.
The player who gets second place for it gains the lower
Power shown on all its ambition markers.
Second Place
Show the Power you gained by advancing your Power marker or Tied for First
on the Power track on the bottom edge of the map.
Ties: On a tie for first place, all tied players get second place.
On a tie for second place, the tied players do not place and
gain no Power.
Qualifying: You cannot gain Power from an ambition if you
have none of the thing it is counting. (For example, if Warlord
Bonus City Power
is declared and nobody has Trophies, nobody gains Power.)
Bonus City Power: Each time you get first place in an
ambition (not tied), gain 2 extra Power if the “+2 to won You can only gain bonus
ambitions” city slot on your player board is uncovered, or gain Power once per ambition,
5 extra if both the “+2 to won ambitions” and “+3 to won regardless of how many
ambitions” city slots on your player board are uncovered. ambition markers it has.

Tycoon is worth 7 Power. Mikah

has 1 Fuel and 1 Material Guild
X card, and Dane has 2 Material.
They tie and each gain 3 Power.
Mikah could have gained
2 more Power from her +2 to
Won Ambitions slot, but does
VS not because she tied for first.

18 •
 Two-Player Scoring
During setup with 2 players, 6 resources matching the planets
with out-of-play markers are placed on the ambition boxes.
For scoring, count these resources as if a third player had
them. Weapons on the Warlord box count as Trophies.
Otherwise, these resources are out of play.

Step 2: Clean Up
& Flip Ambition
If Warlord was scored, return all Trophies. If Tyrant was
scored, return all Captives.
Return all ambition markers to the Available Markers spaces
Starports and ships return on the map.
to their players’ supplies. Flip over the ambition marker with the lowest Power that
Cities return to the rightmost hasn’t been flipped yet to its side with more Power.
empty city slot on their
original player boards. Step 3: End Game or
Advance Chapter
The game ends if any player has at least 27 Power
(4 players), 30 Power (3 players), or 33 Power (2 players),
or if the chapter marker is currently on Chapter 5.
If the game ends, the player with the most Power is the
winner. On a tie, the tied player earliest in turn order
is the winner.
If the game does not end, advance the chapter marker
to the next space.

Step 4: Draw Cards

Shuffle all of the action cards. Each player draws a hand of
6 action cards.
Discard all action cards not in players’ hands into the action
discard pile on the map face down.
Six Cards! The player with initiative starts the next chapter!

Two-Player Mulligans
In games with 2 players, after drawing, the player without
initiative may discard their hand of 6 action cards to draw a
new hand of 6 action cards. They must accept this new hand.

• 19
 Other Actions 
Prelude Actions
Many cards and all resources (page 17) give Prelude actions.
On cards, these actions begin with “Prelude:“
Admin Union
Your Prelude begins once you play an action card and ends Admin Union
once you spend an action pip from your played card. You can Prelude: You may place this card next
to a face-up played
Prelude: You Administration
may place this card next card.
take any number of Prelude actions, with two limits: When to a face-up played Administration card.
the round ends, draw that card
When the round ends, draw that card
into your hand
into your handand
and discard this
discard this card.
card.
• Resources spent in Prelude return to the supply at the end
of your Prelude, so you cannot regain them until then. BC GUILD 04
BC GUILD 04
• You cannot use Prelude actions on cards that you
secured from the Court in the same Prelude.
Before Prelude actions, you must
Some Prelude actions on cards make you discard the card. choose whether or not to declare
Place it in a face-up Court discard pile near the Court deck. an ambition or seize the initiative.

New Actions
Cards can give you a new action followed by the name of a For example, if you spend an
standard action in parentheses, such as Assassinate (Battle). action pip to take the Battle
action, you can Assassinate
When you would take the standard action by spending an instead. You can even do
action pip or a non-Outraged resource, you may instead take this if you spent a Weapon in
the new action. your Prelude to allow this.

Modifiers
Cards can give you modifiers to standard actions, which For example, the Living
are shown in bold, such as “In battle, collect 1 extra die.“ Structures lore card says
"Nurture (Build): Tax a Loyal
Modifiers do not modify new actions, but they do modify
city." In this case, build modifiers
standard actions that are within new actions. do not modify Nurture, but
Modifiers can also affect critical play steps, such as setup tax modifiers do modify the
(pages 4–5), scoring (Step 1, page 18), declare an ambition Tax action it contains.
(page 9), and seize the initiative (page 10).

20 •
 Leaders & Lore 
After playing a game or two, you’re ready to play with
Leaders and Lore! This mode gives players wild, unique
abilities, but they can be hard to handle if you’re starting out.
Really, don’t play your first game with Leaders and Lore.
Tool-Priests
Summon (Build): Once per turn, build
• Your leader card gives you unique powers,
1 ship at any city you control.
Yes, even Rival cities you control! starting pieces, and starting resources.
L LORE 01
• Lore cards give persistent powers. They don’t
have a guild icon or raid cost, so they do not
Lore Card add to ambitions and cannot be stolen.

Setup
Replace Steps N–O of setup (page 5) with02
the following:
02
Lay out lore cards and leader cards in face-up rows, each
with cards equal to the players plus one.
In reverse turn order—start with the player to the right of the
player with initiative, and go counterclockwise—each player
may take 1 leader or lore card.
Continue this until each player has 1 leader card and 1 lore
Mystic card. You cannot take a leader card if you already have one,
Attuned. When you Copy or Pivot in
order to tax, you gain 1 Psionic along
and you cannot take a lore card if you already have one.
with the taxed resource.
Cryptic. In setup, place agents on your
Material and Fuel Outrage slots on your
Each player places their starting pieces onto the map in the
player board.
systems marked on the setup card as shown in the A, B, and
A B C
Mystic
C boxes shown on their leader card. Pips under a ship icon
show how many ships to place.
Attuned. When you Copy or Pivot in
Leader’s Starting Each playerorder
gainstothe
tax, 2 resource
you tokens
gain 1 Psionic alongshown on their
with
leader card, the taxed
placing resource.
them in their 2 leftmost resource slots in
Resources and Pieces
Cryptic. In setup, place agents on your
the order shown.
Material and Fuel Outrage slots on your
player board.
The Mystic starts with a
02

Psionic and a Relic.

A B C
They have initiative, so they Mystic

place 3 ships and a city in

Attuned.
Whe
order to tax, n you Copy or Pivo
with the you gain t in
taxed reso 1 Psionic along
Cryptic. In urce.
setup, plac

1A, 3 ships and a starport

Material e agents
and Fuel on your
player boar Outrage
d. slots on your

in 1B, and 2 ships in 1C. A

B
C

You can set up with as many If you want to increase chaos and uniqueness even more, you
lore cards as you want, but you can let players choose a second lore card. Just add 1 extra
run the risk of overwhelming lore card per player to the starting row, and keep choosing
everyone. Be careful! cards until each player has 1 leader card and 2 lore cards.

• 21
 Fine Print 
This section covers some technical parts of play. Rules Hierarchy
Tiebreakers & This rulebook supersedes the aid sheets and
player boards.
Choice Order
Cards supersede this rulebook, but any rule that
If you have a tie and its tiebreaker is not uses the term cannot is absolute—it cannot be
specified, break the tie in turn order. Likewise, superseded unless explicitly named using the
if players must make a decision in an unclear term ignore. (For example, “You ignore Outrage
order, resolve it in turn order. (Start with the when spending Material for its Prelude action.”)
player with initiative and go clockwise.)
Sidebars as well as text written in italics and
If multiple things happen at the same time but parentheses (like this) are clarifications and
must be resolved in order, the player taking reminders, which are superseded by the core
their turn chooses their order. If no one is taking rules they reference.
a turn, the player with initiative chooses.
Negotiations
Elimination &
Players may make deals and promises, but they
Concession
are not binding. Players cannot give each other
Rarely, a player will have no starports or ships pieces unless a rule allows it.
on the map. If this happens, they place 3 fresh
ships in any gate at the end of their turn. Private Information
Sometimes, usually in games with 2 players, it Players cannot show the action cards in their
may become clear that a player has won. Feel hand to anyone else.
free to concede!
Turn Etiquette
Pieces & Piece Limits Though declaring an ambition and seizing the
Pieces are limited by the contents of the box initiative happen before any other actions, we
with one exception: if you need an agent to usually let people do them during their turn as
place on an Outrage slot but none are in your long as new info hasn’t been revealed—such as
supply, use a placeholder piece until an agent rolling dice or drawing a card—and any relevant
enters your supply, then place the agent. modifiers are followed. Don’t get bogged down
If a rule makes you place pieces, this refers to in technicalities unless it changes the game.
Loyal pieces by default. Arcs thrives when the game flows!

Pieces that you place and return come from and Split Discard Piles
go to their original supply by default except for
Normally, all action cards are discarded face
cities: cities come from and go to the rightmost
down, even ones played face up. This speeds
empty city slot on their original player board.
up play but it favors players with good memory.
(Remember, pieces often go to Trophies and
Captives instead of back to supplies.) If you’re running a tournament or want a more
strategic but slower game, you can split the action
If you must place or return more pieces than
discard into two piles—one for cards played face
possible, do the maximum possible.
down, and one for cards played face up.
If you replace a piece, return it and place
If you’re prompted to draw from the action
another piece in its place. If the old piece was
discard pile, draw from the facedown pile.
damaged, the new piece is placed damaged.
In the rare circumstance that it doesn’t have
(Replacing a piece does not destroy it.)
enough cards, shuffle the piles together first.

22 •
 Glossary 
Adjacent: Shares a thin border (The Map, page 6). Play Area: On and around your player board.
(Most pieces go in specific parts of your play area.)
Building: Cities and starports.
Prelude: See Prelude Actions (page 20).
Bury: Place on the bottom of the Court deck.
Replace, Return: See Pieces & Piece Limits
Capture: Place the prompted piece in the Captives
(page 22).
box on your player board.
Rival: Of another player’s color. When used alone,
Chapter: The time in which players play rounds until
refers to another player.
they all run out of action cards.
Round: The time in which each player takes a turn.
Clear: Return all pieces from the prompted area.
Scrap: Make out of play permanently.
Control: You control a system and its contents if you
have more fresh ships there than each Rival. On a tie, Seize the Initiative: Take the initiative marker. You
no one controls the system. cannot do this if you have the initiative marker or if
someone has already seized the initiative this round.
Damaged: Not fresh—a tipped ship or a building on
its darker side. Spend: When referring to a resource, return the
spent resource to its supply.
Destroy: Return a fresh or damaged piece from
the map. (It often goes to a Trophies box.) Steal: Add the specified piece to your play area
from a Rival’s play area. (This is distinct from take
Empty: Has no pieces in or on it.
because some rules prevent stealing.)
Fresh: Not damaged—an upright ship or a building
Supply: The general supply holds resources and
on its lighter side.
other shared pieces, and players’ supplies hold their
Gain: Add the specified piece to your play area from Loyal ships and agents.
its supply. (You can’t gain it if its supply is empty.)
Swap: Give the prompted piece and take the
Give: Add the specified piece to a Rival play area. prompted piece at the same time.
Hit: Tip over a fresh piece on the map, or remove a Take: Add the specified piece to your play area.
damaged piece from the map.
Turn: The time in which a player plays an action card
Loyal: Of your player color. and may take actions.
Out of Play: Cannot be interacted with. Turn Order: Starting with the player with initiative
and going clockwise.
Piece: Any component in the game.
Place: See Pieces & Piece Limits (page 22).

Credits 
Game Design: Cole Wehrle Playtesting & Usability Reading: Nathan Adams, Jo Attwood,
Celena Baker, Dominik Batók, Todd Berman, Q. Bryant, Sam Buan,
Illustration: Kyle Ferrin
Cat Bult, Christina Berkley, Luke Bridwell, Ran C, Brenda Carrasco,
Editing: Joshua Yearsley Michael Cauthorn, Lili Chin, Jacob Church, Joshua Clark Orkin,
Graphic Design: Pati Hyun (lead) with Kyle Ferrin, Benjamin Cochrane, Justin Dowd and the Brass Cat crew, Erin,
Zane Fisher, Andrew Grimes, Tonke Groot, Lily Gould, Daniel
Cole Wehrle, and Joshua Yearsley
Hallinan, Haze, Sophia Hercher, April Higgins, Kevin Hulse, John
Development: Cole Wehrle and Joshua Yearsley Keller, Dylan Kistler, Ben Lang, Patrick Lefebvre, JC Lumsargis,
(co-leads) with Nick Brachmann Jai Manacsa, jermcurry, Jules Marciano, Vixen Martin, Arthur
McCool, Kirby Morris, Caitlin Moran, Joe Moran, Paul Mussoni,
Staff at Printing: Patrick Leder, Kyle Ferrin, Caryl Elias Nichols, Hung Nguyen, Nathaniel Olin, Mark Overstreet,
Tan, Cole Wehrle, Nick Brachmann, Clay Capra, Pati Finn Powers-Tiffin, Daniel Preston, Kristopher Reynolds, Alita
Hyun, Brooke Nelson, Joshua Yearsley, Ted Caya, Robertson, Arden Rogow-Bales, Malachi Ray Rempen, Evan
Claire Donaghue, Andrea Francisco, and Anne Kinner Rowland, Guerric Samples, Marius Schneider, Jaden Servant, S.P.
Shaman, Sarah Shirley (Sarai), Mar Hepto, Matilda Simonsson,
Contractors & Summer Interns: Cory DeVore (3d modeler), Jeff
Charles Simon, Nicole Smith, Matt Snow, Kiaran Smalldon, Frack
Fraser (usability read moderator), George Georgeadis (Kickstarter
the Snail, Francis Snyder, Rho Sternjäger, turmoilbyrd, uropb,
video producer), Emily Mattingley (graphic design assistant), Alita
Samuel Vriezen, Steve Owen, Jackson Wray, Drew Wehrle, Chris
Robertson (production assistant), Amanda Valentine (copy-editor);
Weidner, and many more!
Q. Bryant and Dylan Kistler (production interns); Sam Buan,
Michael Cauthorn, and Finn Powers-Tiffin (playtesting interns)
• 23
 Index  Learn Fast,
Play Fast!
Actions, 8, 10, 20 Gates, 6 (The Map)
Battle, 14 Guild cards, 17 If you’d like to learn Arcs
by watching a how-to-play
Build, 12 Hits, 14
video, use the QR code
Influence, 13 Initiative below. You can also find
Move, 13 Changing at round end, 11 it in the Resource section
Repair, 13 Passing, 8 for Arcs on our site:
ledergames.com/arcs
Secure, 13 Seizing, 10
Tax, 12 Intercept, 14 (Step 4.2)
Action cards, 8–11 Leader and lore cards, 21
Adjacency, 6 (The Map) Map, 6
Ambitions, 18 Negotiations, 22
Declaring, 9 Outrage, 16
Scoring, 18 Passing initiative, 8
Cannot, 22 (Rules Hierarchy) Pieces
Need a replacement part?
Captives, 7 Building, 12 ledergames.com/replacements
And Tyrant scoring, 18 Damaging and destroying, Learn more about Arcs!
Taking, 12 (Tax), 7, 14 ledergames.com/arcs
13 (Secure) Limits of, 22
Returning, 19 (Step 2) Planets, 6 (The Map)
Cities Power, 18–19
Power bonuses from, 18 Prelude actions, 20
Resource slots from, 7 Provoking Outrage, 16
Taxing resources from, 12 Raid cost, 16, 17
(Tax) Raiding, 16
Clusters, 6 (The Map) Dice limits of, 14
Control, 7 Resources, 17
And building damaged, 12 Seizing the initiative, 10
And Catapult moves, 13 Starports
And taxing Rivals, 12 Building ships with, 12
Court, 7 Catapult moves from, 13
Placing agents on, 13 Systems, 6 (The Map)
(Influence)
Adjacency of, 6
Ransacking, 16
Moving among, 13 (Move)
Securing cards from, 13
(Secure) Tiebreakers, 22
Damage Trophies, 7
And control, 7 And Warlord scoring, 18
Dealing and taking, 14 Taking, 7, 14
Repairing, 13 (Repair) Returning, 19 (Step 2)
Dice symbols, 14 Two-player games, 4, 19

24 •