Survival Card

The Survival Card is set aside at the beginning of the game. During play, players should keep track of how many of their species occupy tundra tiles. Any player with the sole highest count automatically and immediately takes possession of the Survival Card.

If two or more players are tied for most, no player controls the card (it remains uncontrolled and will not score points for any player).

During each Reset Phase, after Extinction, the player in control of the Survival Card earns bonus VP's for the number of tundra tiles occupied by one or more of his animal's species.

Dominance Cards

The 26 Dominance Cards are a player's reward for being dominant on a tile that is scored during a Dominance action.

When a face up Dominance Card is selected during a Dominance action, that player must resolve all of the card's effect (or at least as much as possible giv en the current game situation).

The card is then placed back in the box, out of play.

Should a question arise during play, hints and clarifications for the various card effects are outlined below.

Aquatic

Take the chosen element from the draw bag. If there are no vacant corners on any sea or wetland tiles currently in play the first part of this card is forfeit. If you have no species remaining in your gene pool the second part of this card is forfeit.

Biodiversity

You don't receive additional VP's if a tile contains more than one opposing species-it's simply 1 VP per tile that you occupy that has ANY opposing species on it.

Biomass

If your animal is alone on such an overcrowded tile you must eliminate one of your own species there. If multiple animals have species on an overcrowded tile, you choose which one dies out.

Blight

The dominant player chooses which elements to remove from the chosen tile.

Catastrophe

The dominant player chooses which species to eliminate on the chosen tile. It is also that player's choice as to which sin- gle species to remove from adjacent tiles. The second part is mandatory, however, so if the dominant player is the sole occupant of an adjacent tile he will have to eliminate one of his own animal's species there.

Cold Snap

Every animal except the one controlled by the player select- ing this card loses one of its species on each tundra tile.

Disease

An animal's default (printed) elements can never be re- moved. If the order of removal makes a difference, they are removed in food chain order. Place any removed elements back into the draw bag.

Ecodiversity

Remember that "sun" is a single element "type"-so, for ex- ample, the two default sun elements on reptiles count once for this card effect, not twice.

Evolution

You may select species anywhere on earth to replace-you don't need to share a tile with a chosen animal, for example. If you only have zero or one species remaining in your pool you can only replace zero or one opposing species, respectively.

Fecundity

You get only +1 per occupied tile; not +1 per species on that tile. If the number of species remaining in your gene pool is less than the number of tiles you occupy, you choose which tiles get the additional species and which are skipped.

Fertile

It's 1 VP for every species on the chosen tile-yours or an opposing animal's.

Habitat

The element is not drawn at random-the player may choose any element currently in the draw bag.

Hibernation

The species may only come from those previously eliminated (not from a player's species gene pool and not from among those put back in the box at the start of the game).

Ice Age

The game will end at the conclusion of the turn in which this card is selected-after Domination, perform Extinction and score the Survival Card as normal but skip the Reseed step. Then perform final scoring.

Ice Sheet

This ability follows all the normal rules for Glaciation.

Immigrants

Animals make their decisions in food chain order. An animal having only its default (printed) elements cannot choose the first option-nice try!

Instinct

The AP may be placed into any empty eyeball space-even one that has yet to be acted upon this turn. This card generally acts as a super-early placement for the following turn.

Intelligence

If the animal highest in the food chain picks this card, they will be the only animal to benefit. Retrieve new action pawns from those set aside at the start of the game.

Mass Exodus

The player choosing this card moves all animals, even his opponents'. Species may be split up among any and all adjacent tiles as the player sees fit.

Metamorphosis

You cannot dump your two default (printed) elements. Note that you choose an element from the draw bag-the new element is not selected at random.

Niche Biomes

Remember that this card isn't chosen until after the relevant tile is fully scored. The "first place" value of a tile is its left- most number on the Tile Scoring table: for example, 9 for sea, 8 for wetland, 7 for savannah, etc.

Nocturnal

This card has no effect if chosen by the animal already at the front of the line.

Omnivore

The new action pawn comes from those set aside at the start of the game.

Parasitism

If the animal lowest in the food chain picks this card, they will be the only animal to benefit. Retrieve new action pawns from those set aside at the start of the game.

Predator

Note the word "opposing" on this card: you don't have to eliminate one of your own species on tiles containing only your species. You may choose a different opposing animal's species on each tile.

Symbiotic

This effect counts default as well as added elements.

Continue Reading