Homeworlds Full Rules.
Homeworlds is a two-player, perfect-information strategy game designed by John Cooper. You command fleets of pyramid starships, expand through connected star systems, use color-based powers, and try to eliminate your opponent at their Homeworld.
1. Goal of the game
Protect your own Homeworld while forcing your opponent to lose theirs. You lose if, at the end of your turn, you have no ships of your own at your Homeworld. You also lose if both stars that make up your Homeworld are destroyed.
2. Pieces and the Bank
All unused pyramids form the Bank. Pyramids come in four colors and three sizes. Size is commonly treated as 1, 2, or 3 pips for Small, Medium, and Large pieces.
- Upright pyramids are stars.
- Pyramids lying down are ships.
- The direction a ship points shows which player controls it.
- When a rule tells you to take a piece, it must actually be available in the Bank.
3. Setup
- Choose who will be Player A. If skill levels differ, letting the newer player begin is a common official recommendation; otherwise use a random method.
- Player A builds a Homeworld from two upright stars and places one Large ship there.
- Player B then does the same with their own two-star Homeworld and Large ship.
- After both Homeworlds are built, Player A takes the first normal turn.
A Homeworld is always a binary star system: two star pieces stacked together. Other systems normally contain one star.
4. The star map and connections
Homeworlds has no printed board. The systems on the table are the map. A system exists while at least one ship is there.
Connections
Two systems are connected only when they do not share a star size. If both systems contain a star of the same size, ships cannot move directly between them.
A binary Homeworld counts as containing both of its star sizes when checking a connection.
Empty systems
If the final ship leaves a normal one-star system, that star immediately returns to the Bank.
5. What you can do on your turn
Choose one of these:
- One Basic Action, using a color power you can access in the chosen system.
- One Sacrifice, giving up a ship to gain multiple actions of that ship's color.
- Pass, if doing nothing is strategically best.
Catastrophes are different: when a system is overpopulated, you may invoke a catastrophe during your turn without spending your Basic Action or a sacrifice action.
6. The four color powers
To use a color for your Basic Action, that color must be present in the system as either one of your ships or one of that system's stars.
Choose a color already represented by one of your ships in that system. Take the smallest available piece of that color from the Bank and add it as your ship.
Return one of your ships to the Bank and replace it with a Bank piece of the same size but a different color.
Move one of your ships to a connected known system, or discover a new system by taking a star from the Bank and moving your ship to it.
Take control of an enemy ship in the same system. You may only capture a ship whose size is no larger than the largest ship you already control there.
7. Build details
Building is limited by both color and Bank supply. The new ship's color must match a ship you already control in that system, and you must take the smallest currently available piece of that color.
This makes Bank awareness important: if the Small piece of a color is unavailable, the next larger available size becomes the legal build.
8. Move and discovery details
A normal move sends one ship from its current system to another connected system. Discovery is a move to a brand-new system.
When discovering, choose a star from the Bank that creates a legal connection from the system you are leaving, place it upright, then move your ship there.
9. Attack details
Attacking captures rather than destroys. Turn the captured enemy ship around to show that you now control it.
The attacking power can come from any Red access in the system, but ship size still matters: your largest ship there must be at least as large as the target.
10. Trade details
Trading changes what powers your fleet can carry. Choose one of your ships, return it to the Bank, and replace it with a different-colored ship of exactly the same size.
A trade never changes the ship's size or location.
11. Sacrifice actions
Instead of taking a Basic Action, you may sacrifice one of your ships by returning it to the Bank. The ship's color determines the action type, and its size determines how many actions you receive:
| Sacrificed ship | Actions received |
|---|---|
| Small | 1 action of that color |
| Medium | 2 actions of that color |
| Large | 3 actions of that color |
Those actions may be used in different systems, as long as you still control a ship in each system where you act. During sacrifice actions, you do not need local access to the sacrificed color—the sacrifice itself provides the power.
Multiple actions make sacrifices one of the game's most powerful tactical tools, especially for sudden attacks, rapid movement, or explosive building turns.
12. Overpopulation and catastrophes
A system is overpopulated when it contains four or more pieces of one color. Count everything of that color in the system: your ships, enemy ships, and star pieces.
During your turn, you may declare a catastrophe in an overpopulated system. Every piece of the overpopulated color is immediately returned to the Bank.
- If only ships are removed, the remaining system stays in play.
- If the system's only star is removed, all ships at that location are destroyed because the system ceases to exist.
- If one star of a binary Homeworld is removed, the surviving star can leave a one-star Homeworld—unless the other star is also destroyed.
13. Winning and losing
At the end of your turn, you must still control at least one ship at your own Homeworld. If you do not, you lose.
Destroying both enemy Homeworld stars also eliminates that player. Capturing or removing their final defending ship can likewise end the game once they no longer control a ship there.
You may temporarily leave your Homeworld empty during a sequence of actions, but you must restore your presence before your turn finishes.
14. Ending a turn
A turn token is useful for making it obvious when a player has committed to the completed turn. This matters because a sacrifice can produce several actions and board states can change dramatically before the turn is truly finished.
15. Playing Homeworlds with Head Pool on Discord
Nerdhalla's Head Pool bot can referee games, show rules, run matchmaking, provide AI opponents, display positions, and track player statistics.
hp hw rulesOpen the interactive rules menu.
hp hw challengeChallenge another player directly.
hp hw joinJoin the Homeworlds matchmaking queue.
hp hw botPlay Head Pool's Homeworlds AI.
hp hw positionDisplay the current game position.
hp hw statsView your Homeworlds player record.
See the Head Pool command guide for the complete command list and aliases.
16. Quick reference
| Color | Power | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Build | Add the smallest available ship of an allowed color. |
| Blue | Trade | Swap your ship for a different color of the same size. |
| Yellow | Move | Travel to a connected system or discover a new star. |
| Red | Attack | Capture an enemy ship that your local fleet is large enough to take. |
| 4+ same color | Catastrophe | Remove every piece of that color in that system. |
| Small sacrifice | 1 action | One action matching the sacrificed ship's color. |
| Medium sacrifice | 2 actions | Two actions matching the sacrificed ship's color. |
| Large sacrifice | 3 actions | Three actions matching the sacrificed ship's color. |
Official rules and rulings
This page is a Nerdhalla-friendly explanation of the standard two-player rules. If a wording question ever matters during competitive play, the official Looney Labs rules and FAQ take precedence.