Overview

Eminent Domain is a deck-building empire-building game where each player’s abilities are driven by their deck of Role cards. Every turn, you choose a Role (Survey, Colonize, Warfare, Produce, Trade, or Research), adding that Role card to your deck and executing its effect. Opponents may Follow or Dissent. Survey planets, Colonize or Attack them to flip them face up for Influence, Produce resources to Trade for Influence, and Research Technologies. The player with the most Influence at game end wins.

Components

• Role cards: Survey, Colonize, Warfare, Produce/Trade, Research, Politics
• Planet cards (face down = unflipped, face up = incorporated)
• Start Planet tiles
• Technology cards (3 types: Fertile, Advanced, Metallic)
• Influence tokens (24 standard + 8 reserve)
• Fighter tokens, Resource tokens
• Player Aid tiles
• Central card display

Setup

1. Each player gets a 10-card starting deck: 1 Politics, 1 Warfare, 2 Colonize, 2 Research, 2 Survey, 2 Produce/Trade.
2. Each player receives a random Start Planet (face down).
3. Separate Role cards into 5 face-up stacks on the central display.
4. Separate Technology cards by type (Fertile/Advanced/Metallic) face up.
5. Place 24 Influence tokens in supply; set 8 aside as reserve.
6. Shuffle Planet cards into a face-down deck.
7. Each player draws 5 cards. Hand limit is 5 (modifiable by planets).

Turn Structure

Each turn has 3 phases:

1. Action Phase (Optional)

Play 1 card from your hand and resolve its Action effect. Actions cannot be Boosted or Followed. Discard the card after resolving.

2. Role Phase (Mandatory)

1. Choose a Role from the central display.
2. Take 1 card from that stack (if available) and place it in your play area.
3. Boost: Play additional cards from your hand with matching symbols. Symbols on face-up planets also count.
4. Resolve the Role effect (including Leader bonus) based on total symbols.
5. Opponents react (clockwise): Each may either:
   • Follow: Play matching symbol cards from hand (plus Empire symbols) and execute the Role effect (no Leader bonus).
   • Dissent: Draw 1 card from their deck.

3. Cleanup Phase (Mandatory)

• Discard played cards (except Colonies tucked under planets).
• May discard any cards from hand.
• Draw or discard to reach Hand Limit.
• Only reconcile on your own turn.

Actions

Survey

• Action: Draw 2 cards from your deck.
• Role: Look at (symbols played - 1) planet cards; keep 1 face down in your Empire. Discard the rest to planet discard.
• Leader bonus: Look at 1 additional planet.

Warfare

• Action (choose 1): Collect 1 Fighter token OR Attack 1 planet (return X Fighters to supply where X = planet’s warfare cost, flip planet face up).
• Role: Collect 1 Fighter per Warfare symbol played OR Attack 1 planet instead.
• Players may NOT Attack when Following.

Colonize

• Action (choose 1): Tuck 1 Colonize card under a planet as a Colony OR Settle 1 planet (if sufficient Colonies, flip planet face up; discard Colonies).
• Role: Tuck all played cards as Colonies OR Settle 1 planet instead.

Produce

• Action: Produce 1 resource on any face-up planet with an empty resource slot.
• Role: Produce 1 resource per symbol on each planet. Leader bonus: Produce any 1 resource.

Trade

• Action: Trade (sell) 1 resource for 1 Influence token.
• Role: Trade 1 resource per symbol for 1 Influence each. Leader bonus: Trade any 1 resource.

Research

• Action: Remove 1 card in your hand/discard from the game.
• Role: Acquire a Technology card if you have enough Research symbols (cost shown on card). Place in your play area.
• Technologies provide ongoing abilities and Influence.

Politics

• Action only: Remove the Politics card from the game. Take 1 Role card of your choice from any stack and add it to your hand.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Game End Triggers

Players	Trigger
2 standard	1 Role stack depleted
3 standard	1 stack depleted
4 standard	2 stacks depleted

OR the Influence supply runs out. After triggering, finish the round so all players have equal turns.

Final Score

Sum Influence from: Influence tokens + Technology card values + face-up Planet Influence values. Highest total wins. Tiebreaker: most Resource + Fighter tokens.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• A Role may still be chosen when its stack is empty; Produce, Trade, and Research gain an additional Leader bonus when the stack is empty.
• Face-up planets provide permanent symbols that count for Boosting and Following.
• Some planets increase Hand Limit by 1.
• When deck is empty, shuffle discard pile into a new deck.
• Discard piles are open information.
• Colonies tucked under planets are NOT discarded during Cleanup.
• When Attacking, any Colonies on that planet go to your discard pile.
• Planet cards examined via Survey but not kept go to the planet discard (separate from role card discards).

Player Reference

Turn phases: Action (optional) > Role (mandatory) > Cleanup (mandatory)

Starting deck (10 cards): 1 Politics, 1 Warfare, 2 Colonize, 2 Research, 2 Survey, 2 Produce/Trade

Hand limit: 5 (base), +1 per planet with hand limit icon

Opponent options on your Role: Follow (play matching cards, execute effect without Leader bonus) OR Dissent (draw 1 card)