Aquatica
Aquatica Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Aquatica is a board game for 1 to 4 players. You will be playing as one of the Ocean Kings, struggling to find resources for your realm. Your goal is to have the most Prosperity points.
To receive Prosperity points you need to explore, conquer and buy Locations, recruit new Characters and complete Goals.
At the end of the game whoever has the most Prosperity Points will have the most prosperous realm and be known as the greatest ruler of the Kingdoms of Aquatica!
Game Components
- Game board — Represents the Ocean, where players will discover unknown Locations and encounter new Characters.
- 4 three-layered player boards — Each player board has five slots that players use to hold Locations they conquer or buy.
- 56 Location cards — Represent the unknown Locations players will discover in the Ocean.
- 8 King cards — Represent you in the game. Each King has a unique set of effects.
- 24 Starting Character cards — 4 sets of 6 starting cards. Each set is marked by a unique symbol.
- 18 Ocean Character cards — Represent the Characters that players will meet during their reign in the Ocean.
- 16 Trained Mantas miniatures — Each player has a set of 4 Mantas, which are marked by a unique symbol, corresponding to their Starting Character cards (5).
- 23 Wild Mantas miniatures — Players can train these Mantas during the course of the game and add them to their realm.
- 5 double-sided Goal Tokens — Players will need to fulfil these goals to get Prosperity Points.
Game Board Setup
- Place the Game Board (1) in the centre of the table.
- Shuffle the Ocean Characters (6) deck and place it on the bottom row of the board. Take 6 cards from the top of the deck and fill the Character's row (as shown in the picture). The Ocean Characters deck is composed by 2 identical sets of cards.
- Shuffle the Locations deck (3) and place it in the middle row of the board. Take 6 cards from the top of the deck and fill the row (as shown in the picture).
- Place all Wild Mantas miniatures (7) effect side up next to the board.
- On the top of the game board there are 4 printed goals. For your first game we recommend that you play with the goals already printed on the board. For further games you can refer to the advanced mode at the end of the rulebook (page 26).
Player Setup
- Each player takes one of the player boards (2), and places it in front of them, face up.
- Each player chooses one of the available symbols and takes the set of 6 starting Character cards and 4 Trained Mantas with their chosen symbol.
In further games you can start using the King cards (4). In basic mode give the first player the King card number 1. The second player gets the King card number 2, the third — number 3 and so on. You may also choose to draft your kings: refer to the Advanced mode in the end of the rulebook (page 26).
- The last player to dive in the sea is the first in turn order.
- Every player takes their Character cards, turns all Manta miniatures effect side up, and the game begins.
Setup note: Use the King cards when you are ready for more challenging experience.
Basic Concepts
Card Anatomy
In Aquatica you are interacting with 2 types of cards:
Characters. Character cards represent Sea-folk that will help you gain Prosperity. Together you will explore the Ocean, discover new locations and raise resources from the Depths. A Character card shows the player's symbol, the Character's name, and the Character's effect.
Locations. Location cards represent the lands that you will discover and exploit. Each Location can be bought (using Coins) or Conquered (using Power). A Location card shows:
- The card's number.
- The amount of Power required to Conquer this Location.
- The amount of Coins required to Buy this Location.
- The Location's Depths (along the left side of the card).
- The Prosperity points you receive at the end of the game if you score this card.
- The Location's type.
- The Wild Manta that you receive after completely raising the card.
There are 3 types of Character Cards:
- 6 starting Characters per player. You will begin your reign with them.
- Ocean Characters — you will encounter them during your reign and some of them will join you.
- Kings — they represent you in this game: each King has their own unique set of effects.
There are 4 types of Locations: Shark bay, Sunken ships, Ocean Volcanoes and Decayed civilizations.
After you have bought or conquered Locations, you will go to their hidden Depths in search of resources.
Locations will not just give you resources but also effects, Mantas and Prosperity Points.
Mantas
Mantas are some of the most common creatures of the Ocean. Through centuries Sea-folk have learned how to train them. Each player begins the game with their own set of 4 Trained Mantas.
But there are many Wild Mantas you can still encounter in the waters. In fact, there are 23 Wild Mantas that you can train during the course of the game.
Mantas can bring you resources and let you perform special effects.
When a Manta is ready to help you, you can see the symbol on its belly. To gain resources or perform a special effect, flip the ready Manta back up. In other words, flip the Manta on its belly.
When the Manta is turned back up, it is tired. A tired Manta is resting and cannot do anything. To make it ready again players need to perform a special effect.
The most common way to activate your resting Mantas is to use the Matrona Starting Character card.
Resources
The resources in Aquatica are represented by symbols (not tokens) on your cards, Mantas and the Game Board. The resources do not carry-over. There are 2 types of resources in the game: Coins and Power.
Coins. You can find Coins in your Locations' Depths and they can also be brought to you by your Mantas. Coins are used to buy new Locations and recruit new Characters to your realm.
Power. You can gain Power in Locations' Depths and it can also be brought to you by your Mantas. Power is used to conquer new Locations.
How to Play
Player turns
Starting from the first player, players take turns in clockwise order.
During their turn players must do 1 Main action and may also perform an unlimited amount of additional actions. These actions may be performed in any order you choose, but you can't divide main action to perform additional actions.
When you have finished all your actions for your turn, it passes to the player on the left.
Main Action
- During your turn you must play 1 of the Character cards from your hand and perform the effects shown on the card.
- If you can perform all of the card's effects, you must do so. If you can't do what the cards says fully, you may still play that card and use only those effects that you can perform.
- After you played a Character card, put it into your personal Discard pile face up.
Additional Actions
You can perform an additional action in 2 ways:
1) Flipping Mantas. You can use a ready Manta to perform the effect shown on that Manta. When you do, immediately resolve the effect then flip the Manta to its tired side.
2) Exploiting Locations' Depths. Each Location has a number of Depths which you can exploit, shown along the left side of the card.
Within the Depths of Locations and on your Mantas you can find:
A) Resources (Coins and Power) — You can only gain resources from a Depth during your main action (when you are playing a card). You can use these resources to recruit Characters, conquer or buy new Locations, or to activate some effects. If you use a resource from your Manta, flip it on its tired side.
B) Effects — You can use these before and / or after your main action.
You can only exploit the top Depth that is showing on a Location card. To gain a Resource or activate an effect, you must slide the Location up 1 Depth. This will cause the top Depth to be covered by your player board, giving you access to new Depths! If you use an effect from your Manta, flip it on its tired side.
Some Depths are empty: They cannot be used for any purpose. Also, you cannot simply move those Locations up. You are blocked from exploiting those Locations until you use the raise effect (pages 18–19).
Icons on a Location's Depths can indicate: a Depth that allows you to activate an effect; a Depth that is blocked until you use the Raise effect; or a Depth that gives you Resources (for example +2 Power).
Effects
An effect allows you to gain some benefit. You can use an effect by playing Character card, using a ready Manta or exploiting the Depths of your Locations.
1. Recruit
During your reign in the Ocean you will encounter different Characters. If you Recruit them they will join your realm and help you along your way. When you Recruit follow these steps:
- Choose 1 Ocean Character from the Ocean Board.
- Pay the amount of coins shown below the chosen card and put it in your hand.
- Slide all the other Ocean Character cards to the left to close the gap.
- Turn over the top card from the deck and place it on the rightmost space.
There is no limit to the number of each Ocean Character card you can have. For example, you can Recruit "The Grabber" even if you already have one.
2. Buy Location
You can buy the discovered Locations from the tribes that are living there.
To buy a Location, follow these steps:
- Choose 1 Location from the Ocean board.
- Pay the number of Coins shown at the top of the Location card.
- Insert the Location into an empty slot of your player board so that the top Depth appears in the circle.
3. Conquer Location
If you don't want to Buy a Location, you can Conquer it. This requires a certain amount of Power.
Choose 1 Location card from the board, pay the amount of Power shown at the top of the card, and insert it into an empty slot of your player board so that the top Depth is in the circle.
You need to have an empty space on your player board to buy or conquer a Location. You can have a maximum of 5 Location cards on your player board at a time.
Remember, that if you lack the required amount of Coins or Power, you can always use one or more of your Mantas to help.
If you have bought or conquered a Location with no Depths icons, place it on your player board so that only the row with Prosperity Points is visible.
4. Raise Location
As a King, you are trying to bring Prosperity to your realm by exploiting Locations you have discovered. When you exploit a Location, you "raise" resources from it to your Kingdom.
By raising Locations, you can score them more quickly or move past empty Depths that are blocking your progress. However, you will lose any Resources or effects on the Depths that you raise. In other words, you must ignore all the Depth icons that you cover.
When you raise a Location, choose any Location on your player board and move it up the number of Depths indicated by the effect icon on the Character card, Manta, or a different Location card from the one you are using.
Example A. You are using a Manta
- As one of your additional actions, you are using a ready Manta with the raise effect. It lets you raise 1 depth.
- Choose 1 Location that you want to raise and simply slide it 1 Depth up (covering the next Depth icon).
- Since you are covering an empty Depth you will not lose any Depth bonus.
Example 2. You are using a Character card effect
- If you play the Researcher as your main action, it lets you raise a total of 3 Depths. This means that you can raise 1 single Location 3 Depths, or spread the effect between any number of different Locations.
- If you chose to use the effect on 2 different Locations, you could raise Location "A" once and Location "B" twice.
- Slide Location "A" up once and slide Location "B" up twice.
Raising your Locations in this way, you covered these icons: even though you covered the +2 Icon, you don't gain any Coins. However, you passed 2 empty Depths, so now all your Locations have an effect that you can use in the future.
Example 3. You are using another Location's effect
- As an additional action, you want to use the raise effect shown on the top Depth of Location "A".
- Since you are activating Location "A's" effect, you must slide it up, covering the effect you are using.
- Now you perform the raise effect: Raise any number of cards so that you perform as many raise actions as indicated by the icon. In this example, you are raising 2 Depths. You can raise the same Location 2 Depths or raise 2 Locations 1 Depth each.
Note that you can't raise the same Location that you are using the effect from: Since you are activating Location "A," you can't use its effect to raise Location "A" itself.
Remember that you ignore all bonuses shown on the Depths you just raised!
A Location is fully risen once all of its Depths icons are covered. When a Location is fully risen, you immediately receive the Wild Manta indicated by the icon at the bottom of the Location card from the common reserve. This Manta is now ready so you can use its effects during the same turn.
If you take a Manta with an effect, you can perform it immediately — you don't need to wait for your next turn to do it. Flip your Manta and use its effect during the actual turn.
4. Score
If you have a fully risen Location, you can Score its Prosperity Points. You can transfer the fully risen Location to your Scoring Pile using the Score action.
Take the fully risen Location of your choice from your player board and place it in your Scoring Pile. At the end of the game, you will receive the number of Prosperity Points shown in the bottom-left corner of every Location in your Scoring Pile.
Note that a fully risen Location doesn't give you any Prosperity Points unless you score it!
5. Scout
Scouting allows you to explore the Ocean and find new Locations for the players to buy or conquer. When you scout, follow these steps:
- Take every Location from the top Location row and place them in the discard pile.
- Move every Location from the bottom row to the top row. In case there are more then 4 locations in the bottom row, discard the extra locations of your choice.
- Refill the bottom row by turning over 6 Location cards from the top of the deck.
Note, that if you can scout during your main action, you can choose NOT to do so. Scouting is the only main action that is optional.
Important: Locations in the top row require 1 less Power to conquer. (You must still pay full price to buy them with coins.)
Goals
Goals are a great way to earn Prosperity Points, but you have to hurry: The faster you complete a Goal, the more Prosperity Points you will earn!
There are 4 Goals at the top of the Ocean. If on his turn a player fulfils the requirements of a Goal, they can place 1 of their Mantas (of their color) on the first available spot for that Goal (the Manta can be ready or tired). You cannot accomplish the same Goal more than once.
Each Goal Track has 5 spots, and above each spot it's written the amount of Prosperity Points you earn at the end of the game if your Manta is in that spot. (The fifth spot is included for use with a future game expansion!)
When you accomplish a Goal you can only place a Trained Manta of your color on the Goal Track (not a Wild Manta).
Note that even if you accomplish a Goal, you are not forced to place your Manta on the Goal Track!
The 4 Goals are:
- To accomplish this goal a player needs to have 8 Character cards in his hand (not in the Discard pile). The King card counts too.
- To accomplish this goal a player needs to have 5 Locations on his player board.
- To accomplish this goal a player needs to have 3 or more Locations in the Scoring Pile.
- To accomplish this goal a player needs to have 2 or more Wild Mantas.
End of the Game
Players keep taking turns until one of the 3 game end conditions is triggered. When this happens, every player (including the player that triggered one of the game end conditions) takes 1 more turn and then the game ends. The 3 game-end conditions are:
- One player has accomplished all 4 Goals (and placed their Mantas on them).
- The Location deck runs out.
- The Ocean Character deck runs out.
Counting Prosperity Points
When the game ends, all players score Prosperity Points. You score points for the following:
- 1 Prosperity Point for each Character card in your hand (including your King), not counting those in your Discard pile.
- The number of Prosperity Points shown above your Mantas on the Goal Tracks.
- The total number of Prosperity Points shown on the Locations in your Scoring Pile. Locations on your player board do not give any Prosperity Points.
The player with the most Prosperity Points wins the game! In case of a tie, the tied player with the most Mantas in their reserve wins. If there is still a tie, the one that has the lowest number written on their King card wins the game. In case it was your first game and you weren't playing with Kings, the last player in turn-order wins the game.
Pay attention that the last player to take an action is not necessarily the last in turn order.
Advanced Mode
When you feel ready for a more challenging experience, you can try playing the Advanced Mode! Advanced Mode adds two new rules to the game:
Variable Goals: Instead of using the 4 basic Goals (that are printed on the Ocean board), shuffle the Goal tokens, take 4 at random, and place them on top of the basic Goals in any order. Now you will have to find new ways to earn Prosperity Points! The requirements for the Goal tokens are described on page 28.
Draft the King cards: Instead of handing out the King cards based on turn order, shuffle as many cards as there are players +1 card and give all of them to the last player in turn order. That player chooses 1 King card to use, adds it to their starting hand, then gives the rest of the King cards to the next player going counterclockwise. That player then chooses their King card and passes the rest, and so on. Once every player has chosen a King card, return the unused cards to the box.
Solo Mode
Setup
- Remove the 1 set of Ocean Character cards with the symbol in the bottom right corner from the Ocean Character deck and return it to the box (you will be playing only with one remaining set of cards).
- Shuffle the King card deck, draw 3 cards, and choose 1 to use. Place the remaining King cards in the box.
- Follow the standard setup rules for the Ocean board (page 6). Then follow the player setup steps (page 7) only for 1 player (yourself).
- Take a set of Trained Mantas and give them to your "virtual rival." You will be competing with the Ichthyanders — a nation that came to the Oceans from the mysterious lands above it.
How to Play
Play the game following the standard rules. However, every time you play the Matrona card or do the Scout action, you must place 1 of the Ichthyanders' Mantas on the Goal Track. You may place it on any Goal Track you wish that does not already have one of the Ichthyanders' Mantas.
End of the Game
Once all of the Ichthyanders' Mantas have been placed on the Goal Tracks, take 1 more turn and then the game ends. Count your Prosperity Points following the standard procedure. The Ocean Council will award you with a Sea Monster according to your merits:
| Prosperity Points | Sea Monster |
|---|---|
| 30 or less | The Blobfish |
| 31–60 | The Sea Serpent |
| 60 — 90 | The Leviathan |
| 91 or more | The Kraken |
Goal Tokens
These Goals are only used for the Advanced mode and they replace the standard Goals printed on the Game Board.
- Have at least 11 locations on your player board and in your Scoring Pile
- Have at least 15 Prosperity Points worth of Locations in your Scoring Pile
- Have 3 or more Wild Mantas
- Discard all but 1 of your Character cards
- Have 1 or more Location cards of 4 different types in your Scoring Pile
- Have 4 Locations of the same type (on your player's board and / or in the Scoring Pile).
- Have 10 or more Character cards in your Discard pile
- Have 5 or more Character cards that have the Conquer effect in your hand and/or in your Discard pile
- Have 5 fully risen Locations on your player board at the same time
- Recruit a Character that costs 5 Coins
Reference Sheet
Icons
Resources
- +2 Coins icon: Gain 2 Coins
- +2 Power icon: Gain 2 Power
- +2 Power (Shark Bay): + 2 Power that you can only use to conquer a Shark Bay Location
- +2 Power (Sunken Ships): + 2 Power that you can only use to conquer a Sunken Ships Location
- +2 Power (Decayed Civilizations): + 2 Power that you can only use to conquer a Decayed Civilizations Location
- +2 Power (Ocean Volcanoes): + 2 Power that you can only use to conquer a Ocean Volcanoes Location
Effects
- Raise 1: Raise a different Location 1 Depth
- Raise 2: Raise a different Location (or Locations) by 2 Depths
- Fully rise: Fully rise a different Location (slide the chosen Location up until all the Depths are completely covered)
- Recruit: Recruit 1 character for free
- Retrieve: Choose 1 character from your Discard pile and take it back in your hand
- Score: Score 1 fully risen Location from your player board
F.A.Q.
Character Cards
Q: If an opponent's card tells me to take an action (such as Researcher or Turtle the Treasurer), do I have to perform the action?
A: Yes, you have to.
Q: If my Character card lists more than one action (such as Diplomatic Crab), can I skip one of the actions if I don't want to do it?
A: No, you can't. You must perform all the actions of the Character card if you can do so.
Q: For my Main action, I play The Grabber. Can I use an effect from the first conquered Location in order to conquer the second one?
A: Yes, you can.
Q: Can I buy/conquer a Location or recruit a Character using Resources (NOT for free) from my Locations/Mantas without playing a Character card?
A: No, you can't. Resources can only be used together with your Main action (playing your Character card).
Q: Can I discard the Matrona card?
A: No, you cannot. Matrona card is not discardable. Whenever you play it, you keep it in your hand and perform the action.
Mantas
Q: When I fully raise a Location and receive a Manta, do I receive it tired or ready? Can I use it immediately?
A: After fully rising a Location, you receive a ready Manta (if your fully-risen Location card has a Manta symbol at the bottom), and, if needed, you may use it immediately to perform an additional action.
Raising Locations
Q: Can I raise a Location's Depth without using its Resources? Can I skip an empty Depth without using the "Raise Location" action?
A: No, you cannot.
Q: Can I use Resources from 2 different Depths of the same Location card while playing 1 Character card (performing a Main action)?
A: No, you cannot.
Credits
Game Designer: Ivan Tuzovsky has a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies. He has successfully delivered 2 monographs: one about Futurology and one about the Digital Age. Has turned to the Boardgames side of the Force in 2012 and since then can't focus completely on becoming a full doctor of science and giving lectures at the University about Visual Culture and Art history.
Dedicated to my son Arcady Tuzovsky and my wife Helen Tuzovskaya.
Special thanks to: Ivan Lashin, Michael Guschin, Anton Hudjakov, Denis Davydov, Valerij Kruzhalov, Andrej Stoljarov, Jurij Jamshhikov.
Thanks to the testers: Dmitrij Pelkov, Tatiana Pelkova, Igor' Sychev, Elvira Sycheva, Aljona Mironova, Sergei Latyshev, Aleksandr Abdullin, Maksim Pershukov, Marija Pyshminceva, Timofej Nikulin, Maksim Trofimenko, Tasha Telezhkina, Artur Dydrov, Aleksej Nurgaripov, Sergej Machin, Konstantin Malygin, Julija Il'inskaja, Igor' Ganzha, Daria Gross, Vasilij Redinskij, Filipp Ivanov, Il'ja Stepanov, Andrej Kalinkin, Valentina Aristarhova, Maria Nechaeva, Vladislav Nechaev, Aleksandr Shabalov, German Tihomirov, Natasha Noryak, Konstantin Kostinov.
- Project Editor: Daria Martyshchuk
- Developer: Ivan Lashin
- CEO: Mikhail Pakhomov
- Art Director: Viktor Zaburdaev
- Production Director: Sergei Morozov
- Proofreader: William Niebling
- Editor in Chief: Maxim Vereshchagin
- Art Concept & Ideas: Daria Martyshchuk
- Layout: Aleksandr Kiselev