RftG

Next is Phase II (Develop).

Connie plays R&D Crash Program for 1 discard. This lets her discard 1 card from her hand for a replacement in Phase IV. She can discard it from her layout for -3 cost on any one development.

Ryan draws 2 cards, then plays Galactic Survey: SETI for 5 discards. This status development lets him draw +2 cards when exploring (he doesn't keep any more). At game end its worth 1 VP per Explore power plus 1 VP per world. It's currently worth 6 VPs in his layout.

Goals update: with her R&D Crash Program, Connie now has at least one power in every phase, and claims the Innovation Leader goal for 3 VPs!

RftG

Phase III (Settle). Ryan has 11 cards in his layout. If he plays a card, the game will end this round.

Connie plays Gem World for 2 discards. This is a Blue production world that gives her 1 card draw when she produces on it. She then draws 1 card for choosing this phase.

Ryan... passes! The game continues!

And we have another Goals update. With Gem World, Connie surpasses Ryan in the number of production worlds. She therefore claims the Production Leader goal outright, for 5 VPs. Ryan now gets 0 VPs from this goal.

RftG

Phase V (Produce).

Connie now has 5 production worlds and 1 windfall world, and produces on all of them for 3 Blue, 2 Brown and 1 Green good. She then draws 1 card for producing on Gem World, 1 for producing on Galactic Studios, and 3 for producing goods in 3 colours.

Ryan has 4 production worlds; he produces 3 Blue goods and 1 Brown good. He then draws 2 cards from Merchant World, and 3 cards from Consumer Markets for producing 3 Blue goods.

That concludes Round 9. Ryan is over his hand limit and must discard back to 10 cards. I think it's a safe bet that Round 10 will be the last one. Connie has 10 cards in her layout. Two more will end the game. Ryan has 11 cards in his layout - one more card from him will end the game. Finally, there is 1 VP left in the VP pool. Any consumption by either player will end the game.

Everyone, please put in your orders for Round 10.

RftG

End-of-round summary:

Round 9
Goals
Production Leader - Most Production Worlds (Connie)
Propaganda Edge - Most Rebel Military Worlds
Uplift Knowledge - First to 3 Uplift cards
Expansion Leader - First to 8 cards in layout (Ryan)
Galactic Status - First to play 6-cost development (Connie, Ryan)
Innovation Leader - First to have a power in each phase (Connie)

Connie Neil
Layout
Imperium Warlord (Non-Military World)
Space Port (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Plague World (Non-Military Green Production World) + good
Galactic Studios (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
New Earth (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Galactic Exchange (6-Cost Development)
Smuggling Lair (Non-Military Brown Windfall World) + good
Diversified Economy (Development)
R&D Crash Program (Development)
Gem World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good

Cards in Hand: 8
Military Strength: 1
Victory Points: 12
Layout Value: 13
6-Cost Developments: 9
Goals: 11

Ryan
Layout
Galactic Developers (Non-Military World)
Interstellar Bank (Development)
Artist Colony (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Galactic Advertisers (Development)
Prosperous World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Consumer Markets (Development)
Volcanic World (Non-Military Brown Production World) + good
Merchant Guild (6-Cost Development)
Spice World (Non-Military Blue Production World) + good
Free Trade Association (6-Cost Development)
Galactic Survey: Seti (6-Cost Development)

Cards in Hand: 10
Military Strength: 0
Victory Points: 11
Layout Value: 12
6-Cost Developments: 22
Goals: 6

VP Pool: 1

RftG

The orders are in for Round 10, the final round.

Connie Neil: Phase III - Settle
Connie Neil: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)
Ryan: Phase II - Develop
Ryan: Phase IV (x2) - Consume (double VPs)

Three phases, any one of which is enough to end the game. We start with Phase II (Develop).

Connie discards R&D Crash Program to play Galactic Advertisers for free. This card (which Ryan has in his layout) gives her +1 card when trading, and lets her draw 1 card in Phase IV.

Ryan draws 2 cards, and then plays Prospecting Guild for 5 discards. This status development has a few powers. When exploring, he can take his draw into his hand before discarding; he gets +1 card when trading; and can consume 1 Brown good for 1 VP and 1 card. Its value at game end is 2 VPs per Brown production or windfall world plus 1 VP per other world, plus 1 VP per Terraforming card.

RftG

Next is Phase III (Settle).

Connie plays Alien Robotic Factory for 6 discards (this not be cheap). This is a Yellow production world. It is also the final production colour she was missing, which adds 4 points to the value of Galactic Exchange. She then draws 1 carad for choosing this phase.

Ryan plays Galactic Bazaar for 3 discards. This is a Blue windfall world. It gives +1 card when trading a Blue good, and in Phase IV, lets him discard 1 card from his hand for 1 VP.

One phase to go.

RftG

Phase IV (Consume). Both players chose this phase, for double points.

Connie has 6 goods - 3 Blue, 2 Brown and 1 Green. In order to consume them all: consume 1 of each colour on Diversified Economy for 3 VPs; consume the rest on Galactic Exchange, Galactic Studios and New Earth for 3 VPs and 3 cards, draw 1 card from Galactic Advertisers. With double points, that's 12 VPs and 4 cards.

Ryan has 5 goods, with the one on Galactic Bazaar - 4 Blue and 1 Brown. He consumes on Free Trade Association, Prospecting Guild and Galactic Developers for 5 VPs and 4 cards. He then draws 1 card from Galactic Developers, and discards 1 card from his hand for 1 VP (this point can't be doubled). But he doubles the other points, for 11 VPs and 5 cards.

All that's left now is to tally the points.

RftG

Here we go, points by category.

Consumption VPs
Connie Neil: 24
Ryan: 22

Connie's consumption alone would have been enough to end the game - with 2 players, we have 24 VPs in the VP pool. Both players racked up a big score here.

Layout Value
Connie Neil: 20
Ryan: 14

Clear lead to Connie here. Over half her points come from just three worlds Galactic Studios, New Earth and Alien Robotic Factory - that together cost 16 cards to play.

6-Cost Developments
Connie Neil: 13
Ryan: 32

Part of the reason for Connie's lead in the previous section is that Ryan played four status developments to Connie's one. (Though that one, Galactic Exchange, she maxed out at 13 points. This is the same card that Ryan played last game, for the same value.) Ryan played Free Trade Association, Galactic Survey: SETI, Merchant Guild and Prospecting Guild. Three of those four would've been worth more to Connie.

Goals
Connie Neil: 11
Ryan: 6

Connie leads here; she beat Ryan out for Most production worlds. They both claimed two First tiles (with one overlap, they both got First status development). Two tiles were unclaimed - Most Rebel military worlds, and First to 3 Uplift cards. No player ran a military strategy, making those goals harder to reach.

Let's see how that adds up.

RftG

The final scores:

Closing Summary

Connie Neil
Victory Points: 24
Layout Value: 20
6-Cost Developments: 13
Goals: 11
Total: 68

Ryan
Victory Points: 22
Layout Value: 14
6-Cost Developments: 32
Goals: 6
Total: 74

VP Pool: -22

Ryan wins!

However, I note that Connie's score of 68 is 13 points higher than any winner has managed in any previous game. This was a very high-scoring match. (Perhaps it helps not having to share the goals among so many people.) Congratulations to both players for some very effective play.

Well played both of you! Congrats, Ryan.