Aquatica: Cold Waters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• New Components
• Game Setup
• New Characters
• New Locations
• Tribes
  • Tribe Cards
• How to Play the Tribes Module
• New Goals
• Rule Changes
• Solo Mode
  • Rules Changes in the Base Game
  • Tribes Solo Mode
    • Setup
    • Goal
    • How to Play
• The End of the Game
• Setup Summary
  • Ocean Characters
  • Locations

Overview

Aquatica: Cold Waters includes all the components needed to add a fifth player as well as new Ocean Characters, Kings, Locations, and Mantas. It also introduces an alternate game mechanic that replaces the Goal Tracks with the Tribes. You can choose to use the new cards with the Tribes Module or with the Goals Module from the Base Game.

New Components

1. 6 Starting Character cards for the 5th player.
2. 4 Trained Manta miniatures for the 5th player.
3. 1 Three-layered player board for the 5th player.
4. 12 new Ocean Character cards (2 sets each of six different Characters).
5. 14 new Location cards.
6. 6 new Wild Manta miniatures.
7. 3 new King cards.
8. 2 new double-sided Goal tokens.
9. 20 Tribe cards.
10. 1 Tribe board.

Game Setup

First, decide which version of the game you want to play: the Goal Module (as in the Base Game) or the new Tribe Module. In both cases, follow the Game Setup steps described in the Basic Mode of the Base Game with these additions:

1. Take all of the Ocean Character cards from the Base Game and the Expansion. Form 2 decks: one containing all of the cards with the symbol ○, the other containing all of the cards with the symbol ◇. You should have 15 different characters per deck.

   • With 5 players: shuffle both decks together.
   • With 4 players: discard 5 random cards from 1 deck and then shuffle both decks together.
   • With 2 or 3 players: discard 10 random cards from 1 deck and then shuffle both decks together.

   Then, place the deck in the appropriate spot. Turn over 6 cards from the top of the deck and fill the Character row.

   Remember: If you play with 2 players, when you use Matrona, you discard the leftmost Character on the game board, the one that costs 0 coins.

2. Take the Location cards from the Base Game and the Expansion.

   • 5 players: form 1 single deck including all of the Locations.
   • 4 players: discard 2 random Locations of each type (10 cards in total).
   • 3 players: discard 4 random Locations of each type (20 cards in total).
   • 2 players: discard 6 random Locations of each type (30 cards in total).

   Shuffle the remaining cards, then place the deck in the appropriate spot. Turn over 6 cards from the top of the deck and fill the bottom Location row.

If you chose the Tribe Module also follow these additional steps:

1. Place the Tribe board on top of the Ocean board so that it covers the Goal Tracks.
2. Take the Tribe cards and divide them into 2 decks according to their backs: the deck with the I back and the deck with the II back.
3. Shuffle the decks separately. Draw 4 cards from each deck and place them face up on the Tribe board accordingly. Then return the remaining cards to the box — you won't use them for this game.

New Characters

Some of the new Characters have a new type of effect that is active only while they are on top of your discard pile — Delayed Effect. You can find these effects on the left side of the card, inside a purple box. These effects are activated before you take your Main Action on your next turn if that Character is on top of your discard pile.

1. During your turn, you play the Big Bad Walrus and activate its normal effect.
2. Then you place it on top of your discard pile.
3. On your next turn, you play the Sealord. Before activating its effect, you activate the Big Bad Walrus's Delayed Effect to gain 2 coins.
4. Then, you activate the Sealord's effect: Gain 1 coin and buy 1 Location. Since you already activated the Big Bad Walrus's Delayed Effect, you have 3 coins in total.

The Delayed Effect remains active as long as that card is on top of your discard pile. This rule applies even if a card with a Delayed Effect was discarded due to an opponent's actions: The effect is activated, as normal, during your own turn. The discard pile effect is not activated if the card is covered by any other card (for example, due to an opponent's action).

New Locations

There's a fifth type of Location in the Expansion: Frosty Depths. These Locations work the same way as the ones in the Base Game. However, some of them have new effects. Two examples are printed in the rulebook:

• All of the other players must each flip 1 of their ready Mantas.
• Copy the effect from any visible Depth on any other Location you have on your player board. You cannot copy any Depths that contain Resources, only effects.

Tribes

Climate change has destroyed the homes of many of the wild tribes that inhabit the Ocean. To rebuild their homelands, these tribes are offering their skills and talents to anyone who has enough coin.

Tribe Cards

There are 2 different types of Tribes:

I. The dark blue Tribes grant an Ongoing bonus (Resources or an effect) that you can use once during each of your own turns. They also give you a fixed number of Prosperity Points at the end of the game.

II. The light blue Tribes grant an Instant bonus that you must activate immediately when you recruit them. They also give you Prosperity Points at the game's end based on a certain condition.

The Tribe card diagram labels each card's Base Cost, its End-game scoring bonus, and its Ongoing bonus (dark blue) or Instant bonus (light blue).

How to Play the Tribes Module

When you play with the Tribes Module, you don't chase the Goals anymore. Instead, you recruit different Tribes, using their abilities and placing your Mantas accordingly.

To gain the help of a Tribe you need to:

1. Choose the Tribe you want to recruit from the Tribe board.
2. Play a card that has the Recruit a Character action. Note: If you choose to use this card to recruit a Tribe, you cannot also use it to recruit an Ocean Character during this turn as your Main Action.
3. Calculate the cost of the chosen Tribe card: The cost equals its Base Cost plus 1 coin for each Manta that has already been placed there by the other players.
4. Pay for the Tribe, using the same rules that you use when paying for a Location. However, to help pay for the Tribe card, you may also discard one or more Locations from your Scoring Pile. If you do so, you gain an amount of coins equal to the amount of Prosperity Points on the Location card you discarded. Note that this card is lost forever and will not count for end-game scoring by any means!
5. Place 1 of your Trained Mantas on the chosen Tribe card. You will not be able to use that Manta any more.
6. If you have chosen an Instant bonus Tribe, activate the Instant bonus immediately.

All of the bonuses that give you Prosperity Points are activated only at the end of the game.

You may only recruit each Tribe once (and place only 1 Manta of your color on each Tribe card).

New Goals

These new Goal tokens can be combined with the Goal tokens in the Base Game when playing the Goal Module and work the same way. The requirements for each new Goal are described below:

• Have 5 Locations with different Prosperity Point values on your player board.
• Have at least 7 Locations in your Scoring Pile.
• Have 5 Locations on your player board, each with a different number of unexploited Depths. It does not matter how deep these Locations really are: You count only the open and unexploited Depths of each Location.
• Have at least 4 Locations with a value of 3 Prosperity Points or less each in your Scoring Pile.

Rule Changes

Based on feedback from our fans, some rules from the Base Game have been changed since Spiel 2019. If you acquired Aquatica after Spiel 2019, you can skip this part (your rulebook has already been updated).

1. To speed up gameplay, we have adjusted the Scout effect. Now you can Scout even if there are more than 4 Locations in the bottom Location row. If there are more than 4 Locations in the bottom row, discard the Locations of your choice until there are only 4 remaining, then slide the 4 remaining Locations into the top row, and finally re-fill the bottom row. Also, the Scout action is now optional: when you play a card that allows you to Scout, you can either choose to perform the Scout action or skip it.

   For example, if you play the Sea Horse, you can skip the Scout action and only perform the "Gain 1 and conquer 1 Location" action.

2. In a 2-player game, the Matrona card has an additional effect: whenever you play Matrona, you discard the leftmost character (the one that is free) from the Character row on the Ocean board. Then, re-fill the row like you would in the base game.

Solo Mode

Rules Changes in the Base Game

Based on feedback from our fans, some rules for the Solo Mode in the Base Game have been changed since Spiel 2019. If you acquired Aquatica after Spiel 2019, you can skip this part (your rulebook has already been updated). Now your virtual rival places a Manta on a Goal Track not only when you play the Matrona card but also when you take a Scout action. The number of Prosperity Points needed has also been adjusted:

Prosperity Points	Sea Monster
30 or less	The Blobfish
31-60	The Sea Serpent
60 — 90	The Leviathan
91 or more	The Kraken

Tribes Solo Mode

Setup

Follow all of the setup steps as you would for the Tribes Module but with these changes:

1. Divide the Locations into 5 decks, according to their types. Shuffle each of the decks separately. Take 4 random cards from each deck and shuffle them together into one deck (you will have 20 cards in total). Return the others to the box.
2. Use the deck of Ocean Characters with the symbol ○ from the Base Game and the Expansion. You should have 15 different Ocean Character cards.
3. Place the Tribes according to the Tribe Module setup.

Goal

Recruit all of the Tribes before the game is over.

How to Play

When playing the Tribes Solo Mode, you will be competing only against yourself (with no "virtual rival"), trying to overcome a higher level of difficulty each game. Once you reach Level 6, your goal is to get as many Prosperity Points as possible. For completing each Level, you will be granted a Sea Royalty title.

Choose the difficulty level and adjust your setup and the rules of the game as follows:

Try to play the Tribes Solo Mode while gradually increasing your Level!

• Level 1 (Little Mermaid): Play using the basic Tribes Mode rules with one change: You can choose whether to place one of your 4 Trained Mantas when you recruit a Tribe or flip over the chosen Tribe card instead. If you don't use a Trained Manta, the Tribe card's bonus is not activated. You still need to use your Main action to recruit a Tribe for both options.
• Level 2 (Mr. Sponge): Play using the Level 1 rules with one change: You must use 6 Tribes with I on the back and 2 Tribes with II on the back.
• Level 3 (Aquaman Wannabe): Play using the Level 1 rules with 2 changes: To recruit a Tribe, you must place a Manta on it. You may use both Trained and Wild Mantas, but you cannot flip Tribe cards any more. Before starting the game, make sure that the Location deck that you've created has at least 6 Wild Mantas. If not, create a new Location deck.
• Level 4 (Aquaman): Play using the Level 3 rules with 1 change: When recruiting a Tribe, each Location in your Scoring Pile is worth only 1 instead of its normal value.
• Level 5 (The Sea Baron): Play using the Level 3 rules with 1 change: You can't discard Locations from your Scoring Pile to recruit Tribes.
• Level 6 (Poseidon's Son): Play using the Level 5 rules with 1 change: You must use 2 Tribes with I on the back and 6 Tribes with II on the back.

Once you reach Level 6 and finish your first game, count your Prosperity Points as you would in the Base Game, including the Prosperity Points from the Tribes you have recruited. Next time try improve your score!

The End of the Game

When the Locations and/or Ocean Characters deck runs out, the end of the game is triggered. Note that you will still have 6 Locations and 6 Ocean Characters remaining on the board. You take 1 final turn, then see if you have managed to recruit all of the Tribes (congratulations, you win!) or not (you lost).

Setup Summary

The rulebook's final page, headed SETUP, repeats the setup steps in short form.

Ocean Characters

Take all of the Ocean Character cards from the Base Game and the Expansion. Form 2 decks: one containing all of the cards with the symbol ○, the other containing all of the cards with the symbol ◇. You should have 15 different characters per deck.

• 5 players: shuffle both decks together.
• 4 players: discard 5 random cards from 1 deck and then shuffle both decks together.
• 2 or 3 players: discard 10 random cards from 1 deck and then shuffle both decks together.

Locations

Take the Location cards from the Base Game and the Expansion.

• 5 players: form 1 single deck including all of the Locations.
• 4 players: discard 2 random Locations of each type (10 cards in total).
• 3 players: discard 4 random Locations of each type (20 cards in total).
• 2 players: discard 6 random Locations of each type (30 cards in total).