Animalia: Preventing Extinction

Animalia: Preventing Extinction Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

1 IWC card

3 Continent cards

The Continent card describes that continent's unique rules. The A-side of the Continent card is the side that should be face-up after setup.

The Europe continent card (A-side) reads:

In Europe, Gentle Giant cards are not dominant (they do not automatically win tricks), but are still considered value "10" of their continent.
Special (play symbol): Win a trick with this card. A player may take this action when they play an Animal card that has a play symbol (cost: $1m).
Once per continent (rotating-arrow symbol): Place one card from a just-resolved trick in a different trick pile. This action may be taken once per continent, for free, at any time and by any player. Once this action has been taken, the card must be flipped to its other side.

Gap note: the printed rulebook shows only the Europe card's rules. The unique rules for the North America and South America continent cards are not printed in this document, so they are not reproduced here.

18 Mission cards

Required animal: This depicts the specific animal of the current continent that will be the subject of your research.
Additional Animal card(s) required: Shown by icons on the card.
Continent (color) and Mission order indicator: For example, "2/6" shows that this is Mission card 2 of 6 for the continent.

24 Animal cards

Animal type (number): The trick value of the card.
Animal type (icon): The animal type shown on the card.
Continent (color): The continent the card belongs to.
Missing-card indicator: Depicts which 2 Animal cards are missing from this continent.

Many Animal cards have an additional symbol. These symbols provide optional actions that may be taken when the card is played:

Money cards: Raise Funds (see "Money Cards" below), shown by a money symbol.
Exchange cards (see "Action Cards" below), shown by two red arrows.
Take Card from Trick Pile (see "Action Cards" below), shown by a hand symbol.
Take Special Continent Action (see "Action Cards" below), shown by a play symbol.

2 Reference cards

The reference cards list the mission requirement symbols and the action symbols.

Mission requirement symbols:

Any animal from a continent other than the current continent.
A specific type of animal from any other continent (here: a Doglike from any other continent).
Any animal from a specific continent (here: any animal from South America).
A specific animal from a specific continent (here: the Coyote, i.e. Doglike from North America).

Action symbols:

Once-per-continent action: when used, flip the continent card over.
Pay $1m to exchange a card from your hand with a card from another player's hand.
Pay $1m to take 1 card from another player's trick pile.
Pay $1m to take the special action shown on the continent card.
$1m in raised funds. If won by the IWC, this provides spendable funds. If won by a player, this meets a potential mission goal.

The reference card also lists the animal types, from highest trick value to lowest:

Value	Animal type
10	Gentle Giants
9	Apex Predators
8	Bearlikes
7	Reptiles
6	Unique Animals
5	Stealthy Hunters
4	Doglikes
3	Even-Toed Ungulates
2	Birds
1	Spiders

Editor's note: the values in this table are not separately printed on the reference card. They follow the card's top-to-bottom order (Gentle Giants at the top = 10) and match the printed example Animal cards: Wolf 4 (Doglike), Tarantula 1 (Spider), Toucan 2 (Bird), Moose 3 (Even-Toed Ungulate), Anaconda 7 (Reptile).

10 Coin cards

The coin cards come in four denominations: 1, 5, 10 and 20. The component illustration is marked "8x" under the 1 and 5 coins and "2x" under the 10 and 20 coins; the printed illustration does not state the exact count of each denomination.

Setup

Animalia can be played by 1, 2, or 3 players. Here, we'll explain setup and gameplay for 2 players. Rules for 1- and 3-player games are slightly different and can be found on page 18 & 19.

Shuffle the 24 Animal cards.
Place the IWC card to the side, between the two human players. The Institute for Wildlife Conservation will take part in each trick by playing a card as if it were a real player.
Place one Continent card next to the IWC card, making sure that the Continent's difficulty (A, B, or C) and one-time action symbol are visible. Each continent consists of 8 Animal cards and 6 Mission cards, and players may choose to play 1, 2, or even 3 continents in a row. When first playing campaign mode (2 or 3 continents), we recommend playing in order of difficulty (Europe → North America → South America).
If the IWC card has no 1 coin next to it yet, place a 1 coin next to the IWC. Place the remaining Coin cards aside; they will come into play during the game.
Deal 8 face-down Animal cards to each player, including the IWC.
- Players: all three players, including the IWC.
- Human players: the two human players, excluding the IWC.
Turn the IWC's Animal cards face-up. For ease of play, sort these cards by color (continent) and rank (number). Players may not show their cards to each other, but may freely discuss their cards at any time. Cards in the IWC's hand are kept face-up and are public information for all. Players decide together which card the IWC will play.
Find all Mission cards belonging to your starting continent (for your first game, begin with Europe). Then, depending on your chosen difficulty (see below), deal 1, 2, or 3 Mission cards to the human players in order (one by one, starting with Mission 1/6, then 2/6, etc.), starting with the player of your choice:
- EASY: 1 Mission card per round (six rounds per continent).
- NORMAL: 2 Mission cards per round (three rounds per continent).

The printed setup illustration (page 10) shows a two-player game using the Europe continent card on Normal difficulty.

Gameplay

Each round consists of a series of 8 turns for each player, called tricks. With every trick, each player (including the IWC) will play 1 card from their hand face-up in front of them. One player will lead (play the first card of the trick), and the other players will then follow in clockwise order. The IWC always starts the first trick, unless the continent card states differently.

The first Animal card played in a trick determines that trick's color. The other players must follow suit by playing an Animal card of the same color, if possible. If a player does not have an Animal card of that color, they must still play a card, freely choosing from the Animal cards in their hand.

A trick always consists of three played Animal cards. Whoever plays the highest-valued card in a trick's color wins that trick. That player moves the trick's cards to their personal trick pile, which is kept face-down beside them. That player must then lead the next trick.

The round will continue in this manner, one trick at a time, until all players' Animal cards have been played.

Important! Gentle Giant cards have a value of 10. Additionally, Gentle Giants are considered to be dominant (with the exception of when you play Europe, when this rule is not used).

Dominant: If a player is unable to play an Animal card of the color led, a trick may also be won by playing a Gentle Giant of another color. In the event that several Gentle Giant cards are played in a single trick, the last player to play a Gentle Giant will win that trick.

When the IWC wins a trick, check to see if any of the Animal cards played in that trick have money symbols. If they do, immediately collect that many coins and place them next to the IWC card.

Important! A player's trick pile is always kept face-down, but players may freely look through their own trick pile at any time. They may also slide any cards they require for their mission(s) face-up underneath their Mission card(s) as a way to help visualize their progress.

When a player plays an Animal card with a special action symbol, they may immediately take that Special action (see "Action Cards" below).

Each player with one or more Mission cards must fulfill their mission(s) by collecting (in their trick pile) all of the Animal cards listed on their Mission card(s).

Important! Each Animal card may only contribute to one requirement of a single mission.

At the end of a round, check all Missions. If even one of them has not been successfully completed, the players immediately lose the game. However, if all players' Mission cards have been successfully completed, those Mission cards are set aside and the players continue on to the next round.

Animal Cards Explained

Animal Types

There are 10 different types of animals, each of which has a different trick value. Note that each continent only has 8 types of animals: 2 types of animals are missing from each continent, as indicated on the Animal cards.

Cards with values of 1-3 are Action cards, while cards with values of 4-6 are Money cards. Cards with values 7-9 have no special abilities.

Gentle Giants have a value of 10, making them the highest-valued Animal cards. A player who cannot play an Animal card in a trick's color may still win that trick by playing a Gentle Giant of another color. If more than one Gentle Giant card is played in a trick, whoever played the last Gentle Giant wins the trick.

Action Cards

Animal cards valued 1-3 provide special actions. These actions are optional, and may only be taken immediately after the corresponding card is played (and before the next player plays a card). These actions apply to all cards valued 1-3, and not just those that match the current continent. The cost to take a special action is $1m, which must be paid from the pool of money next to the IWC card. The IWC itself may also take these actions.

Important: If the IWC's money pool is empty, players cannot take any special actions.

Exchange (red arrows): Exchange an Animal card from your hand with an Animal card from someone else's hand. Both players (this may include the IWC) choose the card they wish to exchange.
Take Card from Trick Pile (hand symbol): Take an Animal card from another player's trick pile (including the IWC) and add it to your own. You may look at all of the cards in that player's trick pile.
Take Special Continent Action (play symbol): Take the Special action listed on the current Continent card.

Money Cards

Animal cards valued 4-6 have a money symbol, which symbolizes fundraising. Whenever the IWC wins a trick, place $1m next to the IWC card for each money symbol on cards played as part of that trick. The players may use this money to pay for special actions (see "Action Cards" above).

Important: Players never receive money directly. Although some Missions require players to collect Animal cards with coins on them, Coin cards can only be gained by the IWC. Place any gained Coin cards next to the IWC card.

Mission Cards Explained

Each mission consists of one or more requirements:

A specific animal from a specific continent (here: the Wolf, a Doglike from Europe). Please refer to the Reference Card for more details.
$1m in raised funds. When listed on a Mission card, this indicates that the player must collect an Animal card with this symbol in their trick pile. The player will not gain a Money card or be able to spend it.

Starting a New Round

To start a new round:

Leave any money gained in previous rounds next to the IWC; these funds may continue to be used for actions.
Shuffle all of the Animal cards and then deal 8 Animal cards to each player (including the IWC).
Deal new Mission cards (according to your selected difficulty), starting to the left of the player who received the final Mission card in the previous round.

The IWC will now lead the first trick of the new round.

Starting a New Continent

Only when playing in campaign mode (see page 19).

To start a new continent:

Place the next Continent card beside the IWC card, making sure that the Continent's difficulty (A, B, or C) and one-time action symbol are visible.
Leave any money gained in previous continent(s) next to the IWC; these funds may continue to be used for actions.
If the IWC card has no Money cards next to it, place a 1 coin next to the IWC card.
Shuffle all of the Animal cards together and then deal 8 Animal cards to each player (including the IWC).
Deal new Mission cards (according to your selected difficulty), starting to the left of the player who received the final Mission card in the previous round.

End of the Game

All players win the game if they have successfully fulfilled every mission from their selected continent(s), depending on whether they played a single continent or a campaign (multiple continents). Players may also claim achievements for how much money they have collected on behalf of the IWC, which will gauge their progress and determine if they are ready to move on to the next level of difficulty (see "Achieved Difficulty Level" below).

Solo Mode

The solo game is set up and played like the 2-player game, but you will keep the "other" human player's card face-up. You will decide which cards the "other" human player and the IWC will play. Missions are dealt out as usual, and all of them must be completed successfully each round.

Three-Player Mode

The 3-player game is set up and played exactly like the 2-player game, with the exception being that one player will play the IWC. This player must be given the IWC card; their goal is to raise funds. The IWC's cards will no longer be public, so good communication will be critical. At the end of each round, pass the IWC card to the player to the left. Now the other two players will divide the missions among themselves, with the new IWC player taking responsibility for collecting funds during that round.

Example: Justin, Zhenya, and Jurriaan are playing on Hard difficulty. Justin will receive Mission cards 1/6 and 3/6, while Zhenya will receive Mission 2/6 and Jurriaan will play as the IWC. In the next round, Justin will play as the IWC and Zhenya will receive Mission cards 4/6 and 6/6, while Jurriaan will receive Mission 5/6.

Campaign Mode

The campaign game can be played in solo, two-player, and three-player mode. For setup, select how many and which continents you will play in a row. Any money earned will continue to the next continent. If the players fail at any moment during the campaign, they will not have succeeded in completing the campaign.

Achieved Difficulty Level

In addition to completing all of their missions without fail, players may also evaluate their success through achievements. Achievements are measured by the amount of funding the players have gathered for the IWC, and may be claimed at the end of a continent (or a campaign) by crossing off the appropriate section of the scoresheet, taking into account the continent, level of difficulty, and amount of funding collected by the IWC.

Each player or team may use a single scoresheet for the rest of their animal-saving career.

Scoresheet

The printed scoresheet is laid out across two pages (pages 21 and 22); the tables below combine them. The credits and the printable-version link on the printed sheet are omitted.

Single-Continent Games

Player/Team Name: ____________

Achievement	Europe EASY	Europe NORMAL	Europe HARD	North America EASY	North America NORMAL	North America HARD	South America EASY	South America NORMAL	South America HARD
1 star	0-7	0-3	0-1	0-7	0-4	0-2	0-5	0-2	0
2 stars	8-13	4-6	2-3	8-13	5-7	3-4	6-11	3-5	1

Campaign Games

Player/Team Name: ____________

Achievement	Europe – North America EASY	Europe – North America NORMAL	Europe – North America HARD	North America – South America EASY	North America – South America NORMAL	North America – South America HARD	Europe – North America – South America EASY	Europe – North America – South America NORMAL	Europe – North America – South America HARD
1 star	0-9	0-7	0-4	0-9	0-5	0-3	0-33	0-13	0-8
2 stars	10-21	8-13	5-7	10-21	6-10	4-6	34-47	14-21