Biotopia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Goal of the Game
• Set Up
• Gameplay
• Mission Cards
• Hand Limit
• Ending the Game
• Key Rules
• Reference
  • Butterfly Cards (grey text box)
  • Bio-Cards (green text box)
  • Double Flower (orange text box)
  • Mission Cards (blue back with the word "MISSION")
  • Anatomy of the Playing Cards (the front)

The Goal of the Game

In BIOTOPIA players score points by playing Butterfly cards. The end of the game is triggered when any player has scored at least 15 points. That round is then played to completion, and at the end of it the player with the most points wins.

Set Up

Separate the Mission cards (cards with this back: MISSION) and Playing cards (cards with this back: [flower]).

Place the five Mission cards next to the play area, face up.

Then place the Deck of Playing cards face down (Flower-side up).

Reveal the top three cards and lay them out next to the Deck. These revealed cards are referred to as the Sky.

The Sky must always be immediately refilled to three cards whenever a card is taken from it.

Leave room for the Compost Heap on the opposite side of the Deck. There are no cards in the Compost Heap to begin with, but over the course of the game cards can, for various reasons, end up there. Cards are placed into the Compost Heap face up.

Next, all players draw four cards from the top of the Deck. These four cards constitute each player's starting hand and must be kept secret from other players.

During the game players play cards in two rows in front of them.

Flower cards (including Double Flowers) are played in the lower row, closest to the player, while Butterfly cards are played in the row above. You might imagine that the Flowers attract the Butterflies, which flutter about above the Flowers.

Before the game begins, each player looks at the four cards in their starting hand and chooses one to place face-down/Flower-side up in front of them. This card represents the first Flower in each player's garden. Each player keeps the remaining three cards in their hand.

The game is now ready to begin. The player who last saw a butterfly is the starting player and takes the first turn.

Gameplay

BIOTOPIA is played in a series of rounds, and in each round every player takes one turn in clockwise order. Once all players have taken a turn, the next round begins.

Each player may choose one of five different Actions on their turn:

1. Draw a card from the Deck.
2. Take one of the three face-up cards from the Sky (remember to replace this card with a new one from the top of the Deck so that the next player also has three cards to choose from).
3. Play a card from the hand as a Flower (face-down/Flower-side up).
4. Play a card from the hand face-up, but only if the player has the necessary number of Flower symbols in their Flower row to play the card.
5. Take one of the Mission cards, but only if the player meets the Mission's requirements. Once a player has taken a Mission card, they keep it until the end of the game.

Mission Cards

Note that players do not automatically receive a Mission card by achieving that Mission's requirements. An Action must be used to claim the Mission card.

Exception: It does NOT require an Action to take the MOST LARGE WHITES Mission card. The player who has the most LARGE WHITEs in play automatically receives the MOST LARGE WHITES Mission card.

Additionally, this Mission card is not necessarily held by the same player until the end of the game. In the event that multiple players have the same number of LARGE WHITEs and none have a greater number, the Mission card is returned so that nobody controls it. Only if a single player has the most LARGE WHITEs do they hold this Mission card!

Hand Limit

At the end of their turn, a player may not have more than six cards in their hand. If a player exceeds this limit, they must put cards into the Compost Heap until they have six cards in their hand. Cards of any type can go into the Compost Heap.

Ending the Game

Players take turns in clockwise order until a player has scored 15 or more points. Play then continues until the end of that round, so that all players have played the same number of turns during the game. If multiple players have earned the same number of points, victory goes to the player with the highest score and greatest number of different Butterflies in play (Butterflies in a player's hand do not count). If a tie remains, the tied players enjoy a shared victory.

Key Rules

Rules on cards always take precedence over regular game rules. If a card allows a player to do something that contradicts the normal rules of the game, the rules on the card apply.

Players may always look at the reverse side of the cards in their own Flower row.

A player may never show the cards in their hand to other players or the reverse sides of cards in their Flower row.

A player may always inspect the cards in the Compost Heap.

In certain cases, a player may have a Butterfly in play with more Flower icons in its top-left corner than there are Flower icons on the cards in the player's Flower row (if, for example, a CHRYSALIS has been played). This is permitted; once in play, Butterflies do not disappear.

Reference

Butterfly Cards (grey text box)

BRIMSTONE: When a BRIMSTONE is played the player immediately takes the top card from the Deck and plays it face-down (Flower-side up) in their Flower row. The player may look at the card, but must, regardless of what is drawn, play it face-down/Flower-side up. This is still the case if the player draws a Double Flower or a Bio-card.

CAMBERWELL BEAUTY: The CAMBERWELL BEAUTY can count as any butterfly with respect to Mission requirements for the regular mission cards. For example, should a player have COMMON BLUE, ESSEX SKIPPER and MEADOW BROWN, but lack a BRIMSTONE, CAMBERWELL BEAUTY can count as a BRIMSTONE, allowing the player to spend an Action to take the Mission card that requires those four Butterflies. A CAMBERWELL BEAUTY only counts as a different Butterfly with respect to Mission requirements; it never inherits the Effects or Events of other Butterflies. A CAMBERWELL BEAUTY can be counted as different butterfly types on different turns. For example, a CAMBERWELL BEAUTY could, with respect to Mission requirements, count as an ORANGE TIP one turn and an ESSEX SKIPPER the next. Important: Only one CAMBERWELL BEAUTY's effect can be used per turn. Hence if a player has several CAMBERWELL BEAUTYs in play, only one of them can be counted as a different Butterfly type.

COMMON BLUE: When a COMMON BLUE is played, the player must take one of the three cards from the Sky and put it into their hand. Remember to replace this Sky card with a new one.

ESSEX SKIPPER: No special rules, but it is required in several Missions.

LARGE WHITE: When a LARGE WHITE is played, check whether any player has the most LARGE WHITEs in play. If this is the case, the player with the most LARGE WHITEs takes the special Mission card for MOST LARGE WHITES. If two or more players are tied for most LARGE WHITEs, no one holds the Mission card and it is returned to the side of the board until a player obtains a majority.

Note that in certain cases it is possible to play a LARGE WHITE in the last round so that two or more players are tied for most LARGE WHITEs. The same rule applies in this event, and the Mission card is returned. Player 'A' may have 15 or more points as a consequence of having a majority of LARGE WHITEs, but if player 'B', taking their turn after player 'A', plays a LARGE WHITE that results in the two players being tied for the majority, the Mission card is surrendered and player 'A' loses two points.

MEADOW BROWN: When a MEADOW BROWN is played the player must draw a number of cards from the top of Deck equal to the number of MEADOW BROWNS they have in play. For example, if they have no other MEADOW BROWNS in play, they draw one card. If they have two in play and play a third, they draw three cards.

ORANGE TIP: When an ORANGE TIP is played the player may take any one of the cards in the Compost Heap (if there are any) and put it in their hand. This Event occurs when the card is played and cannot be saved for later. Note that it is possible to flip an ORANGE TIP with a CHRYSALIS and subsequently return the very same CHRYSALIS to the player's hand, as it is put in the Compost Heap before the Butterfly's Event is applied.

PEACOCK BUTTERFLY: Must be played from the hand and cannot be flipped with a CHRYSALIS. Note that the card may still be played as a Flower.

RED ADMIRAL: No special rules.

SMALL TORTOISESHELL: The SMALL TORTOISESHELL is different from other Butterflies in that both the number of Flowers it takes to play it and the point value of the card are cumulative. A player who wishes to play a SMALL TORTOISESHELL must have three Flowers in the Flower row in order to play the first SMALL TORTOISESHELL, four Flowers to play the second, five Flowers to play the third, and so forth. The first SMALL TORTOISESHELL counts for one point, the second counts for two points, the third counts for three points and so forth. A player with three SMALL TORTOISESHELLS therefore scores six points from these three butterflies (1 + 2 + 3). Should they play another, they would score 10 points (1 + 2 + 3 + 4).

Bio-Cards (green text box)

CHRYSALIS: The player flips one of the cards in their Flower row and then puts the CHRYSALIS in the Compost Heap. A CHRYSALIS may only flip Flower cards that are on the table. These cards must have a Butterfly on the other side and they must be in the player's own Flower row. When a Butterfly card is flipped with a CHRYSALIS, put it into play regardless of its number of Flower symbols. Also note that all Events and Effects now apply for the flipped Butterfly, as it is now in play.

Example: A player has three Flower cards in play (one of them is a COMMON BLUE on the reverse side). The player then plays a CHRYSALIS from their hand and flips COMMON BLUE. Even though the player now only has two Flower symbols left on their Flower cards, COMMON BLUE enters play. The player therefore applies the Event on the card. COMMON BLUE has this text: "Event: When this Butterfly enters play, you may take any one card from the Sky and put it in your hand." The player therefore takes a card from the Sky and ends their turn. For another example, it is possible to flip a RED ADMIRAL with a CHRYSALIS, even with only three Flowers in play.

SUNSHINE: Draw three cards from the Deck and then put SUNSHINE in the Compost Heap. Remember that two Flower symbols are required in the Flower row in order to play SUNSHINE (see the top left corner of the card).

Double Flower (orange text box)

DOUBLE FLOWER (BROWN KNAPWEED): BROWN KNAPWEED is a Double Flower. This means that, when played face-up, it has two Flower symbols in the orange text box. BROWN KNAPWEED therefore counts as two Flowers when played in this manner. Unlike regular Flowers, a player must have two Flower symbols in their Flower row in order to play BROWN KNAPWEED (see the top left corner of the card).

A Double Flower can be played face-down (Flower-side up) like any other card; in that case it only counts as one Flower. See the special rules regarding BRIMSTONE (above).

Mission Cards (blue back with the word "MISSION")

Mission cards can be taken by a player if they meet the requirements printed on the card. If, for example, three ESSEX SKIPPERs are shown, a player must have three ESSEX SKIPPERs in play in their Butterfly row in order to take that Mission. If seven Flower symbols are shown, the player must have seven such symbols in play (remember that Double Flowers grant two symbols). The CAMBERWELL BEAUTY acts as a joker for butterfly types (see above).

REMEMBER that it requires an Action to take a Mission card, and that a player may only take one Mission card on their turn! Players do not automatically receive a Mission card just because they meet all the Mission's requirements. Should a player meet the requirements for two Missions, it would require two Actions (and therefore two turns) to take both of them. Mission cards that have been taken are placed in plain sight next to the player's Butterfly row. Once a Mission card is taken it is kept until the end of the game, even if other players meet the requirements. The exception to this rule is the MOST LARGE WHITES Mission.

The MOST LARGE WHITES Mission: The moment a player puts the first LARGE WHITE into play in their Butterfly row, that player takes the MOST LARGE WHITES Mission card. They only keep this as long as they are the only player with the most LARGE WHITEs; if one or more other players have as many LARGE WHITEs, the Mission card is returned. When a player has once again achieved a majority of LARGE WHITEs in play, they take the MOST LARGE WHITES Mission card. The CAMBERWELL BEAUTY cannot be used for this mission. Also see the other rules for LARGE WHITE (above).

Anatomy of the Playing Cards (the front)

1. The number of Flower symbols you need in your Flower row in order to play the card.
2. The point value of the card once played. Not all cards have a point value.
3. Artwork.
4. The name of the card and biological facts.
5. Text box with special rules and/or symbols. There are three different colours: Grey (Butterflies), Green (Bio-cards) and Orange (Flowers).