In Space Card, you Captain your ship, choosing where to put your energy (either Weapons, Shields, Sensors, or Engines), before venturing into a new Sector of space. Once there, you need to secure, fight, defend, and obstruct with the energy you have, until the end of the round.

Players can use as much of their energy as they want during their turn, before letting the next player go. Maybe going all out would be best, to secure the best planet in the Sector. But sometimes it might be better to wait until your friends are weak, and energy drained, and then kick them off a high value card. Strategies are for the players to create.

There are several kinds of Sector cards:

Planets - Worth victory points (if you can hold it till the end of the round)
Ships - An Enemy ship, with special abilities, controlled by another player... can be tough, but worth Victory Points if you beat it
Assist abilities - Give you bonuses if you can secure it
Events - These can really change a game, from lowering every ones energy, to wiping out a Sector, these cards will mix things up
Must Plays - These cards change the Round, making the Sector bigger, or smaller, or increasing the amount of Energy each player starts with.

There are 4 energy levels:

Weapons - Your chance to hit your opponent
Shields - Amount of hits you can take
Sensors - For scouting cards in the Sector, or transferring energy
Engines - To move onto cards, avoid attacks, or pickup ability cards

There are also 3 kinds of abilities:

Counter - Used during battle to help you out
Hazard - Used on a card in the Sector to make landing their difficult, great for defending a card you're already on
Assist - Gives your ship a boost when you need it