From the publisher’s rulebook

Who goes first in The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine?

Whoever holds the four-rocket card becomes the commander. The commander chooses the first task and leads the first trick.

Official tie-break or fallback

Not applicable: only one player holds the four-rocket card.

Rule details

The commander also leads the opening trick when the mission has no task cards. After that, the winner of each trick leads the next.

This entry covers the original Planet Nine game’s standard rules, not Mission Deep Sea or the two-player variant.

Source & edition

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine: English manualThames & Kosmos / KOSMOS · Commander/task distribution page 8; leading tricks page 10; credits page 22 · Checked 2026-09-23Printed page references: 8, 10, 22
PDF page 8 PDF page 10 PDF page 22

Image: © Thames & Kosmos / KOSMOS (publisher of the cited rules; cover art may have additional creators or rights holders) · Thames & Kosmos / KOSMOS

If your rules call for a random choice, use the player picker.

Related games and editions

The Crew: Mission Deep SeaKosmos English edition

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<blockquote class="whogoesfirst-rule" cite="https://whogoesfirst.fun/games/the-crew-2019-en/">
  <p><strong>Who goes first in The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine?</strong> Whoever holds the four-rocket card becomes the commander. The commander chooses the first task and leads the first trick.</p>
  <p>Source: <a href="https://whogoesfirst.fun/games/the-crew-2019-en/">Official starting rule on Who Goes First?</a> (Thames &amp; Kosmos English base game · copyright 2019, standard 3–5 player rules)</p>
</blockquote>

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