Biomes

Biomes

Introduction

Player Count: 2-4

Thousands of years ago, humans were forced to flee the earth. The world had been devastated and the environment was out of control. They fled to four nearby planets which became four factions: Slyvana, whose ecosystem was mainly supported with forests. Demeteria, whose ecosystem was mostly flat grassland. The Freya Federation, which settled down on a tundra planet. And Nephthys, whose planet was almost entirely ocean.

You are on a mission to return to the barren, desert planet earth and terraform it to the needs of your people. However, the other planets are sending Terraformers to do the same, and you all have very different opinions.

You must terraform the earth to be as similar to the world you came from, and make it the most comfortable for your people.

The game functions by placing tiles which correspond to five biomes: Desert, Oceanic, Tundric, Forest and Grassland. Each player will gain points at the end of the game based on which biomes are on the board. Each biome has a special function that give it a certain ability during gameplay.

Components

1 10x12 Hex Board
4 Reference Cards
4 Faction Cards
1 Event Deck- 44 Cards
80 Desert Biomes
80 Tundric Biomes
80 Oceanic Biomes
80 Forest Biomes

Setup

Give each player 1 Faction Card.
Give each player 1 Reference Card.
Give each player 1 Event Card.
Give each player 2 of the Biome that scores them 3 points (their “favorite” Biome) and then give them 1 of each other Biome.  (Double these values in a 2 or 3 player game.)

Objective

Each player’s goal is to cover the board in their preferred Biomes based on the Biomes present on their Faction cards. Each players card will have 1 Biome that gives 3 points, 1 that gives 2 points, and 1 that gives 1 point.

Turn Structure

On your turn you may do 1 of 2 actions.

Develop

You may choose to play a card. Then you must play a Biome you have on the board and trigger its ability.

Or

Regroup

You may decide not to play cards or Biomes. In this case, draw a card or gain a Biome.  Repeat this process 2 more times until you have taken 3 (any combination).

If you have more than 5 cards in hand at the end of your turn discard down to 5.

Biome Abilities

You may only activate these abilities once per turn and they do not trigger when Biomes are placed by card effects.

Forest

If you place a Forest Biome as part of a develop action, you may place an additional Forest Biome in an adjacent space. You may only do this if the Forest Biome you placed is adjacent to 3 other Forest Biomes (This can Terraform already Terraformed spaces into Forest Biomes.)

Tundric

If you place a Tundric Biome as part of a develop action, you may place 2 additional Tundric Biomes in spaces adjacent to it. You may only do this if the Tundric Biome you placed is adjacent to only open spaces or space with Desert Biomes.

Oceanic

If you place an Oceanic Biome as part of a develop action, you may place an additional Oceanic Biome in an adjacent space. You may only do this if that space is adjacent to 3 or more Oceanic Biomes. (This can Terraform already Terraformed spaces into Oceanic Biomes.)

Grassland

If you place a Grassland Biome as part of a develop action, you may turn all adjacent Desert Biomes into Grasslands.

Desert

If you place a Desert Biome as part of a develop action and there is another Desert Biome on the board in a straight line, turn all spaces between them into Desert Biomes.

Special Ability:

Engulf

Any Biome type can Engulf other Biomes. This happens only if a tile (or many adjacent tiles) is completely surrounded by one Biome type. If this occurs, all tiles withing the circling Biome become that Biome type. This only works if every tile within is occupied.
Note: If one Biome type circles a tile that is unoccupied, the moment a tile of any Biome is placed there it will become the Engulfing Biome type.

Game End

The Game ends once the entire board is covered in Biomes.  Then player’s count how many Biomes of each type are present and score 0, 1, 2, or 3 points according to how their faction boards score.  (Note: In 2 or 3 player games, players only score their top 2 Biomes [3 or 2])

Freya Federation: Tundric (3). Oceanic (2), Grassland (1)

Nephthys: Oceanic (3), Arctic (2), Forest (1)

Slyvana: Forest (3), Grassland (2), Oceanic (1)

Demeteria: Grassland (3), Forest (2), Tundric (1)