Solarquest

Key takeaways

Solarquest belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Solarquest to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Solarquest from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SolarQuest is a space-age real estate trading board game published in 1985 and developed by Valen Brost, who conceived the idea in 1976. The game is patterned after Monopoly, but it replaces pewter tokens with rocket ships and hotels with metallic fuel stations. Players travel around the Sun acquiring monopolies of planets, moons, and man-made space structures. They seek to knock their opponents out of the game through bankruptcy, as well as optional laser blasts and dwindling fuel supplies. SolarQuest has attracted a renewed following in recent years due to its availability on eBay and other auction sites. Brost ran a successful Kickstarter campaign (November 8 – December 25, 2016) to fund his new release of SolarQuest, expected to enter production in 2017. This "Deluxe Edition" will include more up-to-date astronomical data, a magnetic Fuel Tank Card (preventing the accidental movement of its metal markers), modernized graphics, and enhanced gameplay.

Gameplay (original 1985/1987 versions)

Mission Players travel through the Solar System acquiring properties, charging rent, and building fuel stations within individual planetary systems. The winner is the player who builds the greatest financial empire and "survives the perils of space travel to become the last player on the board," according to the 1986 SolarQuest rules.

Game board A journey around the Sun encompasses:

33 moons; 9 planets, of which 5 can be landed on; 9 federation stations; 6 research labs; and 5 space docks. Players roll dice and travel along a blue flight path from planet to planet. There are also Red Shift cards directing players to specific destinations (e.g. Advance to Mars). Players can buy planets and moons, and trade with one another to acquire monopolies. They can also build fuel stations on these bodies, and charge fees for refueling. Each planet has a deed card with instructions on rent and fuel costs. Research labs and space docks are similar to the utilities in Monopoly. Federation stations cannot be owned, but offer an opportunity to collect cash and purchase spare fuel stations. There are also 16 black dots, representing planets' gravity, and 17 blue dots, representing floating in space. Altogether, the board has a total of 91 spaces (compared to Monopoly's 40).

Color groups The color groups are:

Orange (Jupiter's moons): Callisto, Ganymede, Io, Europa, Amalthea, Himalia, Elara, Thebe, Metis, Adrastea, Sinope. Yellow (Saturn's moons): Titan, Rhea, Iapetus, Dione, Tethys, Enceladus, Mimas, Hyperion, Phoebe, Janus. Turquoise (Uranus' moons): Oberon, Titania, Ariel, Umbriel, Miranda, 1985 U1. Red: Mars, Phobos, Deimos. Pink: Pluto, Charon. Blue (Neptune's moons): Triton, Nereid. Purple: Venus. Gold: Mercury. Green: Earth (cannot be purchased), Moon. Grey: Earth Research Lab, Neptune Research Lab, Uranus Research Lab, Venus Research Lab, Jupiter Research Lab, Saturn Research Lab. White: Solar Space Dock, Neptune Space Dock, Saturn Space Dock, Uranus Space Dock, Jupiter Space Dock.

Fuel Players have to watch their fuel level carefully since getting stranded with no way to refuel means the loss of the game. Fuel is only used when leaving a planet or moon. According to the rules, "This occurs because the ship must escape the gravitational pull of the planet or moon." Thus, fuel is not used when leaving a manmade satellite or an empty space. It is always good to have spare fuel stations on hand. If a player runs out of fuel after landing on a planet that has no fuel station, they can force the sale of the property, build a fuel station, and replenish their fuel tank.

Laser battles A suggested variation is that players who are close enough to each other can fire lasers. A roll of doubles damages the ship, allowing the aggressor to charge for repairs. A roll of double sixes completely destroys the opposing ship, knocking them out of the game.

Red shift

Basic Solarquest A Red Shift card is drawn when a player rolls doubles. For the Apollo 13 edition, redshift cards are only drawn when a one and a three are rolled, greatly reducing the amount of redshift cards drawn during gameplay. Rolling doubles allows for a second turn and a $100 Federon reward instead. These are similar to the Chance or Community Chest cards in Monopoly. The 36 Red Shift cards consist of:

25 cards directing the player to a specific destination (e.g. Advance to Federation Station II orbiting Jupiter – use 1 hydron of fuel) 3 cards in the Red Shift series (e.g. Red Shift 4 – Roll dice – Move 4 times the number rolled – use 4 hydrons of fuel) 5 cards awarding or taking away property (e.g. A player wins a dispute with the Federation League – choose any unowned property and assume ownership from the Federation) 3 miscellaneous cards (e.g. Discover new comet – Collect $400 (Roll Again)).

Strategic Solarquest The rules also provide for an "Advanced Play" variant known as Strategic Solarquest in which Red Shift cards are only drawn if double sixes are rolled. If another set of doubles is rolled (e.g. 1-1, 2-2, etc.) the player collects 100 federons, moves the number of spaces corresponding to the pips on the dice, and then has the option of either landing on that space or "bypassing" it and rolling again. Bypassing it means that the player does not pay rent, expend fuel when leaving the space, or do the other usual things associated with landing; instead, they continue their turn, rolling the dice and moving again from the bypassed space. Lasers can be fired when bypassing. In Strategic Solarquest, the players' mobility is diminished because most Red Shift cards cause the player to jump around the board to a different location. This can be good or bad – good, if the player is trying to continue orbiting a planet, buying up properties; bad, if the player ends up paying high rents because they are stuck in orbit around a planet whose moons are mostly owned by another player.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Solarquest

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Solarquest claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Solarquest before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Solarquest ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Solarquest

In research: Solarquest appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Solarquest in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Solarquest is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Board games introduced in 1985, Fiction about the Solar System, Monopoly (game), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Solarquest outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Solarquest in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Solarquest means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Solarquest out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Solarquest in simple terms?

SolarQuest is a space-age real estate trading board game published in 1985 and developed by Valen Brost, who conceived the idea in 1976. The game is patterned after Monopoly, but it replaces pewter tokens with rocket ships and hotels with metallic fuel stations.

Why does Solarquest matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Solarquest?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Solarquest.