Antarctica Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Course of Play
  • Box A: How to Advance on Research Tracks
  • Box B: How to Build a Building
  • Box C: How Many?
• End of the Game
• Scoring And Winner
• Designer's Note
• Appendix
  • Shipyard Card Effects
  • Research Track Actions

Components

• 1 game board showing Antarctica, divided into eight areas. Each area features a Sun Space, 3 Ship Spaces (the first being closest to the Sun), and 14 Building Spaces. In the middle, there are 5 Research Tracks, a Victory Point Track on one side, an Available Resources Space and a Discarded Resources Space on the other.
• 6 cardboard Buildings:
  • 4 Camps
  • 2 Shipyards
• 12 wooden Resource Buildings:
  • 3 Cranes (ore)
  • 3 Shaft Towers (coal)
  • 3 Derricks (oil)
  • 3 Wind Turbines (energy)
• 4 wooden Expertise Buildings:
  • 2 Labs
  • 2 Factories
• 4 Victory Point markers (sides with "0" and "50")
• 9 cardboard Research Centers:
  • 3x Inland
  • 3x Coastal
  • 3x Naval
• 16 Prestige Buildings, which need to be assembled from two cardboard pieces before your first play:
  • 5 Headquarters
  • 7 Plankton Farms
  • 4 Parabolic Antennas
• 60 Cards:
  • 15 Basic Building Cards
  • 12 Double Building Cards
  • 12 Advanced Building Cards
  • 13 Shipyard Cards
  • 8 Resource Cards
• 1 Wooden Sun
• 24 wooden Ships (6 each in red, blue, green, yellow)
• 64 wooden Scientists (16 each in red, blue, green, yellow)
• 24 wooden cubes (6 each in red, blue, green, yellow)
• 2 cardboard "Area Closed" markers (2 player game)
• This rule book

Setup

1. Place the game board on the table. In a 2-player game, place an "Area Closed" marker each in the top and bottom area (only six areas are used).

2. Randomly place the following Starting Buildings in the areas on the game board, one per area: 2 Camps, 1 Naval Research Center, 1 Coastal Research Center, 1 Wind Turbine, 1 Shaft Tower, 1 Derrick, and 1 Crane. In a 2-player game, skip the second Camp and the Naval Research Center. Place the remaining Buildings ready at hand.

3. Separate the cards into Basic Building Cards, Double Building Cards, Advanced Building Cards, Shipyard Cards, and Resource Cards.

   Put the following cards back into the game box, if necessary:

   • in a 2-player game, all Building Cards with "3 players" and "4 players" on the back
   • in a 3-player game, only the Building Cards with "4 players" on the back

   Shuffle the three Building Card Piles (Basic, Double, Advanced) separately and place them face up next to the game board. They show the Buildings that can be built each round. Place the Shipyard Cards next to the game board as well. Overall, there should be 5 card piles on the table.

   Each take a Basic Resource Card. Then place 1 Expertise Resource Card per player in a pile next to the game board, forming the Resource Card Pile. Put the remaining Resource Cards back into the game box.

4. Each choose a color. Then distribute components as shown in the table:

   Players	Supply (in front of you)	Game board (see 5. and 7.)	Reserve (next to the game board)	Available resources (green space)	Game box
   2	2 Scientists	3 Ships, 1 Cube	14 Scientists	3 Ships, 3 Cubes	2 Cubes
   3	2 Scientists	3 Ships, 1 Cube	12 Scientists	2 Ships, 4 Cubes	2 Scientists, 1 Ship, 1 Cube
   4	2 Scientists	2 Ships, 1 Cube	10 Scientists	2 Ships, 5 Cubes	4 Scientists, 2 Ships

   Supply: Scientists you can place on the game board (to build something). Reserve: Scientists you can move to your supply (when using a "Camp").

5. Determine a "start player". Beginning with that player (A) and in counter-clockwise order (B, C, D), place your Ships on the game board. On your first play, place them as follows (reading clockwise around the board):

   • 4 players: one Ship each in eight areas, in this order — C, D, D, C, B, A, A, B.

Course of Play

The Sun moves counter-clockwise from one area to the next (after all, you are on the southern hemisphere). The player whose Ship is first in line in that area must move the Ship to another area – the target area. Moving the Ship is mandatory: you cannot move it to where it just came from. Place the Ship on the first unoccupied Ship Space in the target area and take one of the following actions:

• Note: The Sun moves even at the start of the first turn!
• Note: Each area has only three Ship Spaces. If all three of those are occupied, you cannot move your Ship to that area.

Build a Building If you meet the requirements described in Box B, you can build a Building in the target area. Place the Building and your Scientists in the area, advance on a Research Track accordingly, and take the Building Card. Note: Even if you meet the requirements of multiple Buildings at the same time, you can only build one per turn.

Build a Ship If there is a Shipyard in the target area and you have Ships left in Available Resources, you can build a new Ship. Take a Ship from Available Resources and place it last in line in the area with the Sun (which is always possible since you just moved a Ship away from that area). Then each other player receives a Shipyard Card. Beginning with the player to your right, each other player may look through the Shipyard Card Pile and take a card of their choice. Note: You do not get a card! If there are not enough cards left for all other players, nobody receives a card. (In this case, put the remaining cards back into the game box.) Note: You cannot take an action with the newly placed Ship! (It takes an entire turn to build it.)

Recruit Scientists If there is a Camp in the target area, you can move Scientists from your reserve to your supply. The number of Scientists you can move is equal to the number of Ships and Scientists of your color in the target area (see Box C for an example).

Advance on a Research Track If there is a Research Center in the target area, you can advance on the corresponding Research Track. The number of Research Points you receive is equal to the number of Ships and Scientists of your color in the target area (see Box C for an example). You can only advance on the corresponding Research Track (with a matching illustration). If there are different Research Stations available, you must choose one of them.

Do Nothing You can choose to not take an action at all (which is not advisable). Note: Even if you do not take an action, you must still move your Ship – this is mandatory!

After your Ship arrives at the target area you can play exactly one Shipyard or Resource card at any time. For instance, if you move your Ship to an area with a Camp and play a "Place a Scientist" card to move a Scientist from your supply to the target area, you can move an additional Scientists from your reserve to your supply (see Box C). Note: You can only play one card per turn! See the table at the end of this rule book for an explanation of the different card effects.

At any time during your turn, you can move exactly one cube or Ship from Available Resources (or a Ship from the game board) to Discarded Resources. In return, you can move one Scientist from your reserve to your supply. At the end of the game, you will get Victory Points for doing so. Note: You can only discard one resource (Ship, cube) per turn! You cannot discard Cubes from the game board. You can discard a resource even if you have no Scientists left in your reserve. Be extremely careful when discarding Ships – if you run out of Ships, you cannot do a thing!

After you finish your turn, the player whose Ship is next in line takes a turn if they played an "Icebreaker" card on it on a previous turn. Note: Under no circumstances can the player whose Ship is third in line take an action as well (even if it is now the second one).

After that, move the remaining Ships in that area to the front of the line of Ship Spaces. The Sun moves to the next area and, again, the player whose Ship is first in line there takes a turn. If there are no Ships in the area the Sun moves to, it moves further until there are Ships.

Box A: How to Advance on Research Tracks

You placed 3, 4, or 5 cubes in your color on Available Resources during setup. You can use these to advance on the Research Tracks. For your first step on a track, take a spare cube from Available Resources and place it on the first space of the track. If you have Research Points left, advance the cube on the track accordingly. If you have a cube on a track already, simply move it forward on the track.

Only empty track spaces count. So if you are about to advance 2 spaces but the next 3 spaces are already occupied, you advance your cube by a total of 5 spaces. You cannot divide points among different tracks.

If you move onto or past a space with a symbol, you trigger an action. On red spaces, only you can take the action. On blue spaces, each player in counter-clockwise order takes the action, starting with you. Blue spaces are only triggered once per game. When another player moves onto or past a blue space, nothing happens. Red spaces, on the other hand, are triggered every time a player moves onto or past them. See the table on the last page of this rule book for an explanation of what each symbol does. Note: If you move onto or past multiple spaces, you trigger them in order (you must finish an event before carrying out the next).

You cannot move past the end of a track (any remaining Research Points are lost). You cannot move past cubes at the end of a track: if you reach the end first, you stay first.

Note: In a 2-player game, the tracks marked "3" and "4" (shaded gray) are not used. In a 3-player game, only track "4" is not used. If an effect tells you to advance on "any" track, you cannot choose a blocked track!

Box B: How to Build a Building

There are 3 Buildings available for building at all times, indicated by the topmost card of the Basic Building Pile, the Double Building Pile, and the Advanced Building Pile. (Once a pile runs out of cards, there are fewer buildings available.)

To build a Building, you must meet certain requirements:

• You must have access to the Buildings shown in the top part of the card (in the example at right, a Derrick and a Crane). This means you must have a Ship in one or more areas with the depicted Buildings (e.g. a Ship in an area with both a Crane and Derrick, or a Ship in an area with a Derrick and a Ship in another area with a Crane). Note: This includes the Ship you just moved (see "Course of Play"). If you lack physical access to a Building, you can discard an appropriate Resource Card instead to gain temporary access.
• You must have the required number of Scientists in your supply (as shown on the card).
• You must place the Building shown at the bottom of the card in the area to which you just moved with your Ship (see "Course of Play").
• Also, that area cannot already have that Building. No area can have more than one of each Building.

Take the required Scientist from your supply (or two if you are building a Plankton Farm) and the appropriate Building from the table and place them in the area to which you just moved with your Ship. Note: This is not "your" Building! Anyone can use it throughout the course of the game. You do not need to place your Scientists right next to it, but you must place the required number of them from your supply.

Then advance a number of spaces on a Research Track of your choice as indicated by the card. Place the card face up in front of you. (You may need it for scoring at the end of the game. You do not have to keep track or remember which Building on the game board it represents.)

Box C: How Many?

When using a Camp to move Scientists from your reserve to your supply and when using a Research Station to advance on a Research Track, you will have to determine how many Scientists and Research Points you get, respectively. To do so, total the number of Ships and Scientists of your color in the area in question.

In the example, Red has 2 Ships and 1 Scientist in an area for a total of 3. If Red used a Camp there, she could move 3 Scientists from her reserve to her supply. If Red used a Research Station, Red could advance 3 spaces on a Research Track.

If you do not have enough Scientists in your reserve, take as many as you can. If you reach the end of a Research Track, stop right there (any remaining Research Points are lost).

End of the Game

The game ends immediately after the turn in which one or both of the following happens:

• A player places their last Scientist on the game board (no more Scientists in their reserve and supply).
• A player builds the last Building (no cards left in any of the three Building Card Piles).

If the active player triggers any actions on a Research Track during that last turn, these actions can still be carried out. A pending "Icebreaker" turn, on the other hand, cannot be taken after that.

Scoring And Winner

At the end of the game, you score Victory Points in the following four categories:

Area Scoring Score the areas one by one, starting with the area where the Sun is and proceeding in counter-clockwise order (remember, you are in the southern hemisphere). In each area, rank the players based on the number of Scientists they have in that area. The first player (with the most Scientists) receives a number of Victory Points equal to the total of Buildings and Scientists (of all colors) in that area plus one. The second player receives 1 Victory Point per Scientist of the first player, the third 1 Victory Point per Scientist of the second player, and so on. Move your wooden cubes on the Victory Point Track accordingly. If you have no Scientists in an area, you do not receive any Victory Points for that area. In case of a tie, all tied players receive the full Victory Points for that rank. A tie on one rank does not increase the value of the next lower rank: only one of the tied players counts.

Example: In an area, there are 8 Buildings: one has been there from the start, the other seven have been built during the course of the game. Alice and Bob each have 3 Scientists there, Chloe has 1 Scientist, and Dan has no Scientists in this area. Both Alice and Bob receive 16 Victory Points each (8 Buildings + 7 Scientists + 1), Chloe receives 3 Victory Points (number of Alice's or Bob's Scientists), and Dan does not receive any Victory Points at all (you do not get any if you are absent in an area).

Research Track Scoring Score the Research Tracks one by one. In each track, determine the value of each cube on that track. The numbers next to the track show how many Victory Points each cube is worth. Rank the players based on their progress on the track. The first player (whose cube is furthest ahead) receives the total of Victory Points of all cubes on the track. The second player receives what the first player's cube is worth, the third player what the second player's cube is worth, and so on. Move your wooden cubes on the Victory Point Track accordingly. If you have no cube on a track, you do not receive any Victory Points for that track.

Building Card Scoring Rank the players based on the number of Building Cards with an asterisk (in the lower left corner) in front of them. The first player (with most such cards) receives Victory Points equal to the total of all those numbers. The second player receives Victory Points equal to the first player's number, etc. Move your wooden cubes on the Victory Point Track accordingly. In case of a tie, all tied players receive the full Victory Points for that rank. A tie does not increase the value of the next lower rank: only one of the tied players counts. If you don't have any Building Cards with an asterisk, you do not receive any Victory Points for that.

Resource Scoring Rank the players based on the number of resources they moved to the Discarded Resources Space. The first player (with the most discarded resources) receives a number of Victory Points equal to the total of all discarded resources. The second player receives Victory Points equal to what the first player discarded, the third receives Victory Points equal to what the second player discarded, and so on. Move your wooden cubes on the Victory Point Track accordingly. If you did not discard any resources, you do not receive any Victory Points for that. In case of a tie, all tied players receive the full Victory Points for that rank. A tie on one rank does not increase the value of the next lower rank: only one of the tied players counts.

Note: If a player exceeds 50 Victory Points, he flips his Victory Point marker over.

Winner of the Game The player with the most Victory Points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player who was first more often wins. If still tied, the player who built more Buildings wins (i.e. who has more Building Cards). Otherwise there are multiple winners.

Designer's Note

The designer would like to thank his publisher Roman for his good taste ;), Christwart for his expertise, Dennis for the artwork, and Cesare for his commitment. Many thanks to Adrien and Sébastien for the interest they have expressed for the game.

My thoughts are with Nono who I worked with on the turn order mechanic for another game, but who unfortunately did not have time to get involved with this project.

I hope I did not forget any of my play-testers who patiently supported me during the three long years it took to develop this game: Cléo, Micha, LNA, Anthony, Gilles, Laurence, Chris, David, Jürgen, Thierry, Régine, Damien, Nathalie, Yoann, Jörg, Kai, Tapimoket, Zeblate and Ian (because everyone thanks Ian ;)) and the players who played the prototype on many different conventions during which it was presented.

The publisher would like to thank Kai Grenner, Jörg Janotte and all the play-testers for their invaluable help during the past few months in making this project possible. Many thanks to Grzegorz Kobiela for revising these rules.

Appendix

Shipyard Card Effects

Icebreaker, 6 Cards Place the "Icebreaker" in an area where the second Ship in line is yours. When the Sun moves into that area, you can take a turn after the player whose Ship is first in line takes theirs. The Sun moves on after your turn. Then discard the "Icebreaker".

One Card per player and Sun Rule: If both the first and the second Ship in line are yours and you played a card on your first turn (e.g. the "Icebreaker" on the second Ship), you cannot play another card on your second turn! If you played the "Icebreaker" on a previous turn, you can play a card during one of your 2 turns, if you like.

Placing a Scientist, 3 Cards Place a Scientist from your supply in the area to which you moved your Ship.

+2 Scientist, 2 Cards Move two Scientists from your reserve to your supply (or one, if you only have one left).

Fast Research, 2 Cards Advance three spaces on a Research Track of your choice.

Research Track Actions

• Move one of your Ships from one area to another. You cannot move the Ship into an area in which all three Ship Spaces are occupied. The other players can also take this action in counterclockwise order. You cannot move a Ship you just built. Note: You just move the Ship, without taking an action in the target area.
• Shuffle the Shipyard Cards. Draw 1 Shipyard Card per player and look at them. Choose one and pass the rest to the player to your right. Proceed until all players have received a card.
• Advance three spaces on a Research Track of your choice. Skip occupied spaces. The other players can also take this action in counter-clockwise order. Each player must choose a different track.
• Move a Scientist from your reserve to your supply. If you have none left, nothing happens.
• Move one of your Ships from Available Resources to the area with the Sun and place it last in line, unless there are three Ships already (in which case you move nothing). As usual, each player but you may choose a Shipyard Card.
• You receive an Expertise Resource Card.
• You receive a Basic Resource Card, unless you have not used the Basic Resource Card you received at the start of the game (in which case you receive nothing).

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© 2015 Argentum Verlag Roman Mathar Brabanter Straße 55 50672 Köln www.argentum-verlag.de

Illustration and graphic design: Dennis Lohhausen Rules layout: Christof Tisch