Chronocritters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Solo game components
• Set Up – Main Board
  • Seasonal areas of the main board
  • Always available areas of the main board
• Player Set Up
  • Player order, starting resources and quests
  • Starting dice
• Resources – Explanation
  • Collectable
  • Trackable
  • Quests and tiles
• Game Flow
  • Availability of actions
  • Time
  • Game flow – turning the central disc
    • A. Always available actions
    • B. Central disc actions
    • C. Seasonal actions
• Time Portals
  • Time travel – opening time portals
  • Time travel – portal decay
• Action Phase – Placing Critters
• Actions – Explanation
  • A. Always Available Actions
    • 1. Dam action
    • 2. Sand time particle and wood action
    • 3. Value hard disc quests
    • 4. Colour hard disc quests
    • 5. Managing transmission portal action
  • B. Central Disc Actions
    • 6. Seasonal docking quest action
    • 7. Taking berries action
  • C. Seasonal Actions
    • 8. Peacock action – Spring
• Free Actions
• Achieving the Year Goal
• End of a Round (Season) – Cleaning Phase
  • End of a round actions
  • End of a season actions
• End of the Game
  • Final scoring
• Game Variants
  • 1. Alternative player boards
  • 2. Variable action tiles
• Solo Mode
  • Set up
  • Gameplay
  • End of the round
  • End of the game

Components

Before the first game, affix the small disc to the back of the large, central disc by connecting them with the included rivet. The small disc is then set in the matching hole in the main board for playing.

• 1 rivet
• 4 wood trackers
• 4 hourglass markers
• 4×3 portal dice (in player colours)
• 4×2 VP tokens (in player colours)
• 4×5 mining tools (in player colours)
• 4×2 player order and VP markers (in player colours)
• 4×12 dam markers (in player colours)
• 8 energy trackers
• 1 round marker
• 24 golden plates
• 3×20 standard artifacts – dice (values 1–6)
• 3×6 precious artifacts – dice (values 7–9)
• 8 starting adjustment tokens
• 4 player aids
• 4×3 double-sided year goals
• 4×7 player critters – in player colours (level 1, level 2 and level 3 – double sided)
• 4×14 berry tokens
• 4×3 3-berry tokens
• 1 main board
• 4 double-sided player boards (in player colours, grey on the reverse – alternative side)
• 4 transmission portals (boards in player colours)

Solo game components

• 1 solo tile
• 8 solo cards
• 12 starting hard disc quests
• 27 bonus docking tiles (14 level I, 13 level II)
• 4×5 value hard disc quests
• 4×5 colour hard disc quests
• 4×9 seasonal docking quests
• 1 central disc
• 3+1 double-sided variable action tiles

Set Up – Main Board

Place the main board in the middle of the table assembled with the central disc. Orient the central disc so the beige section with 4 action slots is lined up with the spring (green) season.

Seasonal areas of the main board

Take the appropriate amount of standard artifacts (17 standard dice for a 2 player game, 26 for 3 players and 34 for a 4 player game) and roll them. Place each die randomly in a space matching its colour around the outer circle of the central disc. Leave any space with an icon not matching the selected player count empty. In a 2 player game, dice are only placed in spaces without an icon, whereas spaces labeled with an icon are filled for both a 3 and 4 player game. These dice are not replenished during the game.

Place all seasonal berries on the main board in the area of their matching season (colour).

Sort all seasonal docking quests and shuffle them into 4 separate decks separated by season (colour). Place 3 of each seasonal docking quest face up in the matching spaces on the main board, then place the remainder face down in a deck by the placed tiles.

For the first few games, place all variable action tiles on the board as shown. Shuffle the bonus docking tiles with "I" on their backs and place 3 of them face up in the appropriate slots on the main board. Then create a deck of the remaining tiles, placed face down on the main board. Similarly, shuffle the bonus docking tiles with "II" on their backs and place 3 of them face up on the main board, with all remaining "II" tiles placed in a face down deck.

Always available areas of the main board

Place the round marker on the starting space of the dam track.

Shuffle all value hard disc quests and place 4 of them on the indicated spaces on the main board. Place all remaining value hard disc quests in a deck to the side that will be used to replenish the offer during the game.

Shuffle all colour hard disc quests and place 4 of them on the main board. Place the rest in a deck to the side, as done with the value hard disc quests.

Create a common supply of the unused standard and precious artifacts (dice) and golden plates.

Sort all year goals according to their types (shape) and choose the back or front side of each type. Then stack the types into piles, where the tile labeled 1 is on top, 2 in the middle and 3 on the bottom. In a 3 player game, only use the goals labeled 1 and 2, and in a 4 player game use all of the goals. In a 2 player game or solo, only goals marked with 2 are used.

Player Set Up

Each player chooses a colour and then takes the player board, transmission portal and components of that colour. They place a wood tracker on the starting space of the wood track and hourglass marker on starting space of the sand time particles track. They place their 3 portal dice on the dedicated spaces of the player board. They place all critters of level 1 except their peacock on the starting spaces of the corresponding critter tracks.

Their peacock critter along with their 3 double-sided critters of level 2 and level 3 are set aside the player board for later use. Players also place their 5 mining tools near their player boards along with their dam markers.

2 energy trackers are placed on the spaces marked with zero at the start of energy panel tracks. Each player's player markers are placed on the VP track and the player order track on the main board.

Player order, starting resources and quests

After setting up all components, the player who has most recently seen a beaver is selected as the first player (or at random). For the first round, play will proceed in clockwise order starting with this selected player. Place the player markers on the player order track to reflect this order of play.

All the players then receive 2 adjustment tokens. The starting player receives 2 tokens with +/− 1 pip, the second player receives one token with +/− 1 pip and another with +/− 2 pips, the third player receives 2 tokens with +/− 2 pips and the 4th player receives one token with +/− 2 pips and one token with +/− 3 pips. These adjustment tokens can be used one time each game to increase or decrease the number of pips on a die and are discarded after use.

Create an offer of VIOLET hard disc quests consisting of 1 more than the number of players of both value hard disc quests and colour hard disc quests (4 of each type in a 3 player game). Then, beginning with the starting player and in player order, each player chooses 1 hard disc quest of either type (colour or value). Then in reverse turn order, players choose a second hard disc quest of the type they didn't choose as their first quest. All players will then have 1 of each type of hard disc quest. Return the remaining violet quests to the box.

All players then place their selected quests on their transmission portals, covering up printed icons and immediately gaining the corresponding benefits. Their selected spots cannot be directly opposite of one another on the board, meaning they cannot share a column or row through the middle of the board.

Starting dice

Fragments of long forgotten knowledge and technology have been discovered in a system of caves. Also found were access points to the ancient intelligence that is safeguarding this knowledge.

Each player takes one standard artifact (die) of each colour from the supply and places them diagonally in the central 3×3 grid of their transmission portal so that 1 die is of value 2, 1 die is of value 3 and 1 die is of value 4. Players freely choose which die takes which value and in which of the 2 diagonals the dice are placed.

Example: The green player has chosen the quest requiring 3 green dice in a line/column and also the 3–7 value hard disc quest. They place these quests on their transmission portal, covering the spaces showing the sand time particle and the summer berry bonus, receiving these resources. The green player also places their 3 starting dice of values 2, 3 and 4 diagonally in an order of their choosing.

Note: If a player places a starting hard disc quest on the bonus space marked with +/− 2 pips, they also use that bonus during set up to adjust the value of any single starting die they are placing.

Resources – Explanation

Many actions in the game will result in players spending and gaining resources. Below is a list of the collectable and trackable resources used throughout the game.

Collectable

Berries — There are 4 types of berries, each connected to a different season. Berries are usually required for fulfilling seasonal docking quests or as an additional cost to take some actions. There is no limit to the number of berries a player can have and the supply is considered unlimited. If you run out of berry tokens of any colour, use a suitable substitute.

Artifacts – dice — Artifacts (6 sided dice) are used for fulfilling hard disc quests, as payment for various actions and for building time portals. There are standard artifacts – dice of value 1–6 which are on offer on the main board, and precious (rare) artifacts – dice of value 7–9, which are usually gained by bonus or by adjusting the value of standard artifacts beyond the value 6. When gaining a die, a player places it onto any free space in the 3×3 grid on their transmission portal. A maximum of 9 dice can be stored on a player's transmission portal at a given time – one in each space on the grid. Once a die is placed, it can only be moved within the transmission portal by taking a Managing transmission portal action or by gaining certain rewards. A die can only be removed when being used for payment, except in the case that all spaces in a player's grid are occupied and the player gains an additional die. In such a case, they can remove any die to place the newly gained one. Whenever a die is removed from a player's transmission portal, it is added to the common supply. If there are no dice of a given colour in the common supply, dice of that colour cannot be gained.

Golden plates — Golden plates can be used to add a peacock critter to your available pool of critters or to adjust dice values (1 gold/+−1 pip). There is no limit to the number of golden plates a player can have, and the supply of this resource is considered unlimited. If you run out of golden plate tokens, use a suitable substitute.

Trackable

Wood — Wood may be used when taking a Dam action. Wood is tracked using the wood track on the player board. A player cannot have more than 6 wood at any point during the game.

Sand time particles — Sand time particles are used to extend distance while building time portals. They are also required when fulfilling some seasonal docking quests and buying level II bonus docking tiles. Sand time particles are tracked on the sand time particle track on the player board by the hourglass marker. A player cannot have more than 6 sand time particles at any point during the game.

Energy panels — Energy panels are used for upgrading critters. Player's energy panels are tracked using energy tracker cubes on two tracks located on their player board.

Quests and tiles

Quests and docking tiles are used throughout the game. If the common offer of any of these tokens runs out, shuffle the removed ones to create a new pile to replenish the empty spaces on the main board.

Game Flow

Chronocritters is played over 7 rounds. Each round consists of an action phase and a clean-up phase.

• Action phase: players alternate taking turns by placing critters on the game board and taking the corresponding action(s).
• Clean-up phase: players perform a number of steps in preparation for the next round.

The player who has gained the most victory points (VPs) during the 7 rounds of play and final scoring is the winner.

During the action phase, players take turns executing one main action (which consists of moving a critter from their player board onto an action space and performing the associated action). Additionally on their turn, players can execute several free actions. After a player has placed all their critters, they will take no further turns until the next round.

Before learning the details of the action phase and clean-up phase, it is first necessary to understand the availability of actions along with the key mechanic of time travel used throughout the game.

Availability of actions

During the game, players are placing their critters (workers) at various action spots which allow them to perform different actions. These spots have some conditions of use and availability.

• Smaller circles represent LIMITED action spots, and can only have 1 critter on them at a time.
• UNLIMITED action spots, represented by a nonagon shape, can hold any amount of critters at a time.
• Some action spots can only be used in a game with 3+ players (3 or 4 players). These spaces cannot be used in a 2 player or solo game.
• Some action slots require payment (pictured in red) of a berry (berries) or die (dice).

Note: Some action slots may also have an icon which means that critters of level 2 or 3 can provide a bonus when taking this action, which a level 1 critter will not provide.

Time

We still don't know what caused the cataclysmic event that is tearing apart our reality. Though most of humanity did not survive, those who did have learned to shape the disorder and travel to new places and times.

The current season may change the availability of actions. There are ALWAYS AVAILABLE ACTIONS, SEASONAL ACTIONS and CENTRAL DISC ACTIONS, as will be discussed shortly.

Game flow – turning the central disc

During the game, players are able to perform actions corresponding to the current round, but will also be able to access actions of future and past rounds utilizing time portals, which can be created as a free action and will be discussed later. This notion of the current round (which also dictates what is in the past and future) is represented using the central disc.

This central disc and the main board are divided into seven segments. The main board's segments represent the seasons of the rounds (one round in spring and two for each other season – summer, autumn and winter). Every segment of the central disc corresponds to one of the 7 rounds of the game. The first round of the game always takes place in spring and the last round of the game is always in winter.

One segment of the central disc is beige in colour and also contains the central disc action spaces. This segment represents the present time. For the first round of the game, this segment of the disc is pointed to the spring season (coloured green) on the main board. At the end of every round during the clean-up phase, the central disc is rotated clockwise to another time segment of the year – either to the next season or to the second (final) half of the current season.

Actions on the seasonal part of the main board are available by default only when they are in the present time (i.e. when the beige segment of the disc is oriented to that season). The action spaces pictured on the central disc can be used in any season, but they are functionally connected to the present time. This means that when it is spring, players can use either the action spaces on the central disc or the ones in the spring section of the board. (Time portals can also be used to access the actions of different rounds).

A. Always available actions

The actions with light backgrounds located on the left side of the main board are available to all players during every round of the game. These actions are the Dam action, Sand time particle action, Value hard disc quests action and Colour hard disc quests action. The Managing transmission portal action spot on each player's board is always available as well.

B. Central disc actions

There are two actions located on the central disc in the middle of the main board. These actions are always available to all players, but have limited effects. These actions are connected with the present season or a season where the players have a time portal. These actions are the Seasonal docking quest action and the Taking berries action.

C. Seasonal actions

There are four season sectors on the main board surrounding the central disc – spring, summer, autumn and winter. The actions located in these sectors are the seasonal actions, and can only be performed when the present time corresponds to that season, or if the player taking the action has built a time portal there. The standard seasonal actions are the Peacock action (spring), Energy panel action (summer), Bonus docking tile action (autumn) and Mining action (winter). As players become more familiar with the game, they can additionally use the variable set up tiles to swap the locations of the summer, autumn and winter actions. These tiles can be placed strategically or randomly during set up. Note that the Peacock action is always located in the spring season.

Another action available to the players is the Choosing a die action. For this action, the current round dictates which dice are available, as dice can only be taken from the outer segment that is in the present time (or via time portals).

Time Portals

As discussed previously, some actions by default are only available in the present time. These actions can also be accessed via a time portal built by the player selecting the action. A portal is characterized by a 3-sided portal die labeled with the numbers 1 through 3. A portal die can be placed on any segment of the central disc by utilizing the free action of "opening a time portal" using a purple die and sand time particles, as explained below. Portals grant the owner access to the actions corresponding to the associated time segment. It also allows the player to choose a die from that sector when providing the Choosing a die action and allows the player to gather berries or seasonal quests from a different season via the central disc actions.

Time travel – opening time portals

To open a time portal to a future or past round, a player will need a purple die and a number of sand time particles available on their player boards. The value of the spent purple die will dictate how long the portal will remain open: a value 7–9 die will create a portal of value 3 (long term portal), a value 4–6 die will create a portal of value 2 (mid term portal), and a 1–3 will create a value 1 portal (short term).

The number of sand time particles used determines how far the portal can be built from the present time segment on the central disc. For each segment moved (either clockwise or counter-clockwise) from the present time, the player must spend 1 sand time particle. After paying the costs, the player then places a portal die in their colour on the selected time segment of the central disc with the selected value on top. If a player has no purple dice, sand time particles or portal dice in their supply, they cannot open a time portal.

Example: By paying 2 sand time particles and a purple die of value 2, the blue player can open a time portal 2 rounds in the future of value 1. They place a blue time portal die set to 1 in the pictured segment of the central disc and now also have access to the dice and actions in the segment of the main board corresponding to that segment (the 2nd half of summer).

Time travel – portal decay

At the end of each round, the central disc rotates one segment clockwise along with any time portal dice on it. At this time, all time portals will also decay, decreasing in value by 1. In this way, any portal of value 3 becomes a portal of value 2, value 2 portals reduce to value 1, and the portal dice of value 1 are returned to the player board of its owner.

Important portal rules to remember:

• When opening portals, the sand time particle cost is always calculated from the present time segment and can be counted either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Therefore the maximum cost of building a time portal is 3 sand time particles as the player should always use the shorter path to the segment.
• A player can have at most 3 time portals built at a time.
• Time portal dice can only have their value increased (time extended) via the portal upgrade reward, indicated by a special symbol.

Action Phase – Placing Critters

The process of time travel can be dangerous, but certain critters have presented themselves as being able to withstand the dangers, especially with some enhancements and upgraded equipment.

During the action phase, players place 1 critter on the game board (or their player board) and take the corresponding action on their turn. Each player starts the game with 3 critters: the beaver, the eagle, and the varan. (A 4th critter – the peacock – can be purchased for 6 golden plates by taking the spring seasonal action, as discussed later). These critters all start at level 1, but can be upgraded up to 2 times each throughout the game by taking the upgrade critter action (as described later) by spending energy panels. Upgraded critters will often provide bonuses when taking actions.

Actions – Explanation

A. Always Available Actions

1. Dam action

The caves in which the ancient intelligence and technology have been found are located deep in a valley. The dam is breaking down, so survivors are doing what they can to reinforce it, with their progress being observed by this intelligence.

When placing a critter at the Dam action location, the player gains 1 golden plate and can place dam markers of their colour on available spaces of the dam. Multiple critters can be played to this action space each round. Critters played to this spot are stacked, as the order of this stack can come into play with determining player order for the next round.

When taking this action, for each wood spent, the player can place a single dam marker in the row corresponding to the current round or any previous round. The current round is indicated by the round marker (wooden octagonal prism) in the right-most column of the dam board. For each dam marker placed, the player gains the reward printed on the covered space. Each player has only 12 dam markers to place during the game.

Turn order for the following round is determined by the number of dam markers of each player's colour placed in the row of the current round. In case of a tie, the tying player whose critter is higher in the stack is 1st. If the tie is still not broken, the player order from last round stays the same. Players earn VPs at the end of the game for column majorities.

Example: During the second round, the red player currently has 2 dam markers in the first row and 1 in the second. The blue player now takes this action, gaining a single golden plate, and then spends 3 wood to place 3 dam markers of their colour: 2 in the second row and 1 in the first, as indicated by the image. They gain the covered bonuses of 2 summer berries (as round 2 is during the summer season) and 1 VP. If the round would end with only these dam markers placed, blue would be the first player in the next round as they have the most dam markers of their colour in the second row and red would be the second player.

2. Sand time particle and wood action

When a player places a critter in this action space, they gain 2 sand time particles and 1 wood, moving the corresponding trackers on their player board. They can optionally also reduce the number of pips on any of their purple dice in their transmission portal, gaining an additional sand time particle for every 2 pips reduced on the dice. This cannot be split as 1 pip from 2 different dice.

Example: The red player places their eagle critter on this space, gaining 1 wood and 2 sand time particles. They also currently have 2 purple dice in their transmission portal, one of value 8 and one of value 4. They elect to reduce the number of pips of their value 8 die by 6, gaining an additional 3 sand time particles. They could further reduce this die by 2 more pips, but would then need to discard the die. Instead, they reduce the value of their value 4 die to 2, gaining an additional particle, for a total gain of (2+3+1) sand time particles and 1 wood.

Remnants of ancient knowledge and technology from before the cataclysm have been found all over. By bartering with food and supplies, you can gather these remnants with the hope of using them to restore the ancient intelligence.

3. Value hard disc quests

Players use this action to gain value hard disc quests, which they add to their transmission portals as done with their starting quests during set up. Value hard disc quests require that the value of the dice in the row or column of the transmission portal with this quest must add up to a number in the range depicted on the quest.

Value hard disc quest anatomy: the upper portion of the tile indicates the target range of values that the dice in the row/column need to be added up to in order to fulfill the quest. The bottom portion of the tile indicates the reward gained once the quest has been fulfilled.

When performing the value hard disc quest action, the player will spend a green or orange die from their transmission portal, discarding it to the general supply, and gaining a quest from the common offer in the column corresponding to the value of their discarded die or any lower value. If the player pays with a die of value 7+, they additionally gain the instant ability to increase the value of a time portal die of their colour that is currently on the main board by 1.

The player places the quest on an empty space on their transmission portal, gaining the covered bonus. The common offer is immediately refreshed, shifting quests to the right to fill in the empty space and placing a new quest in the leftmost space. If the player takes this action using a level 3 critter, they wouldn't need to pay the berry pictured on the additional action spaces and also gain 2 VPs.

During their turn as a free action, a player can complete any value hard disc quest in their transmission portal provided they have exactly 3 dice in the row or column of the quest whose values add to a number within the printed range on the quest. The player then gains the reward printed on the quest and flips the quest over, keeping it in the same space on their transmission portal. If the quest is connected to a completed docking quest/tile of the same colour, they will also earn instant VPs along with VPs at the end of the game, as explained later in the rules.

4. Colour hard disc quests

Players use this action to gain colour hard disc quests, which they add to their transmission portals as done with their starting quests during set up. Colour hard disc quests require that the colours of the dice in the row or column of the transmission portal with this quest must match the colours depicted on the quest.

Colour hard disc quest anatomy: the upper portion of the tile indicates the colours that the dice in the row/column need to be to fulfill the quest. The bottom portion of the tile indicates the reward gained once the quest has been fulfilled.

When performing the colour hard disc quest action, the player spends an orange die from their transmission portal and gains a quest from the common offer in the column corresponding to the value of their discarded die or any lower value. They additionally select a printed reward from any position corresponding to the value of their discarded die or any lower value. The quest taken does not need to come from the same column as the chosen reward. The hard disc quest is then added to the player's transmission portal and the player gains the reward of the space covered by their gained quest. The common offer is refreshed, shifting quests to the right to fill the space and adding a new colour hard disc quest to the left-most slot.

Example: Using the image here, after the blue player pays an orange die of value 6 they choose to take the green quest from the column under the 6+ die, but then select to take 1 wood as a bonus from the 4+ column.

During their turn as a free action, a player can complete any colour hard disc quest in their transmission portal provided they have 3 dice in the row or column of the quest whose colours match those printed on the quest. The order of colours of dice doesn't matter. The player then gains the reward on the quest and flips the quest over, keeping it in the same space on their transmission portal. If the quest is connected to a completed docking quest/tile of the same colour, they will also earn instant VPs along with VPs at the end of the game, as explained later.

Note: A player can complete a quest as a free action at any time during their turn so long as the fulfillment conditions are met at the time they elect to complete it.

5. Managing transmission portal action

This is the only action location on each player's board and can be taken multiple turns each round by placing a critter here each time.

This action allows the player to move and manipulate dice in their transmission portal. Each time this action is taken, players may do EACH of the following once:

• Move a die: move one die to another open space on their transmission portal.
• Adjust a die: increase or decrease the value of a single die by 1 or 2 OR take a die of a different colour from the common supply, set it to the value of a die in their portal and replace that die with the one from the supply, discarding that die.
• Swap dice: swap the locations of 2 dice in their transmission portal.

By taking this action with a level 2 or 3 critter, the player additionally gains 1 energy panel.

B. Central Disc Actions

6. Seasonal docking quest action

Seasonal docking quest anatomy: the upper portion of the tile indicates a combination of berries and/or sand time particles that needs to be spent to fulfill the quest. The bottom portion of the tile indicates the reward gained once the quest has been fulfilled.

When a player places a critter on this action space located in the middle portion of the central disc, they may gain a seasonal docking quest from the common offer from either the season of the present time or from any season corresponding to a sector in which they have a time portal. They place the quest near their player board where it will remain until they fulfill it and elect to add it to their transmission portal.

Example: The red player places their eagle critter on the Seasonal docking quest action space during round 6 of the game. They can gain a seasonal docking quest from either winter (the season of the present time) or spring (where they currently have a time portal of their player colour).

After taking a quest from the common offer on the main board, the empty space is replenished immediately with a new quest from the corresponding draw deck. If the quests of a given colour ever run out, they are not replenished.

After completing a quest, the reward is gained and the quest should be flipped face down. Once the completed quest is paired with a completed hard disc quest of the same colour, the player gains VPs according to the season of the present time as indicated by the scoring chart.

Note: Completing matching docking quests/tiles and hard disc quests can earn a player a great deal of points. The VPs earned when connecting a pair of completed quests of the same colour is determined by the season of the present time. More points can be earned by completing pairs of quests in the earlier rounds of the game.

Example of taking quest actions and completing the quests:

1. The blue player takes the Colour hard disc quest action, spending an orange die of value 6 from their transmission portal, gaining the shown yellow quest and a bonus of 1 golden plate.
2. They place the quest on their transmission portal in the shown location, gaining a sand time particle. They then immediately fulfill the quest as the dice in the quest's column match the required colours. They gain an orange die of value 4 (placing it in the second row of their portal) and 3 VPs.
3. With the placement of the orange die, they now also complete their hard disc quest in the second row, gaining a spring and summer berry, a sand time particle and 6 VPs.
4. By paying 2 autumn berries and 1 spring berry, they fulfill a summer seasonal docking quest, gaining another orange die of value 4, 2 VPs and the ability to increase the value of one of their time portals. They pair this quest with one of their completed yellow hard disc quests, gaining 5 VPs as it is currently the summer season.

7. Taking berries action

By placing a critter on these spaces along the edge of the central disc, the player gains the indicated number of berries in any combination from the season of the present time and any season(s) in which they have a time portal.

Example: The present time is in spring. The green player taking this action (in the first slot) also has a time portal corresponding to the summer season and can therefore gain 3 spring berries, 2 spring berries and 1 summer berry, 2 summer berries and 1 spring berry or 3 summer berries. If this action is taken using a level 2–3 critter, they also gain 1 more berry from ANY season and 2 VPs.

C. Seasonal Actions

8. Peacock action – Spring

When performing this action, the player places their critter on this action spot and pays 6 golden plates to the common supply. As a reward, they gain 4 VPs and unlock their peacock token, adding it to their player board for the rest of the game. They now have 4 critters available for taking their actions each round.

When taking this action with a critter of level 2, they gain 6 VPs (instead of the usual 4 VPs) and a critter of level 3 instead earns the player 10 VPs.

The peacock is always a level 1 critter. This action can be performed by each player once a game.

9. Energy panel action – Summer

With the use of energy panels, your critters can be further enhanced to help them become more resistant and work more efficiently.

When performing this action, the player places their critter in an available spot. They then pay either 1 or 2 berries from any season, gaining 1 or 2 energy panels, respectively. Player's energy panels (EP) are tracked using 2 black cubes on the 2 separate energy tracks on their player board. The cubes initially start in the "0" slot of the board, and when gaining energy panels, the gained panels can be split between the tracks however the player chooses. Each track can hold at most 3 energy panels.

Energy panels can also be gained via some bonuses. In that case, the player just moves their cubes along the tracks without paying any berries.

Note: At the end of each season during the clean-up phase, any cube not on the 0 space of its energy track will advance one space. Cubes on the 0 space do not advance.

Upgrading a Critter

Critter track: Player's critters (workers) are used when taking actions. Each player starts with 3 critters: the eagle, the varan and the beaver. Each of these workers have their own LEVEL track (ranging from 1 to 3). Critters at higher levels (beyond level 1) provide bonuses when taking certain actions, as they are able to complete those tasks more efficiently.

Upgrading critters: Upgrading a critter is a free action and can be performed at any time during a player's turn. This critter could be still on the player board or used and already placed on any action spot.

Note: There are some action spots which allow players to take actions more effectively when they perform them with a level 2 or level 3 critter.

A player may only perform this action once per turn, upgrading a single critter by 1 level at a time.

Upgrading to level 2: A player can upgrade a critter from level 1 to level 2 by paying 3 energy panels. These panels can either be taken from a single EP track or from both tracks. Anytime energy panels are used from a track, the EP marker (cube) on that track resets to 0, even if the player did not spend all EPs available on that track. The player chooses a critter token of level 1 (either currently on their player board or on action slot) and replaces it with the matching critter marker of level 2. They then place the level 1 critter on the corresponding space of the triangle on their player board. When upgrading a second or third critter to level 2, the player gains the bonus(es) marked on the connecting lines of the triangle between any pair of placed level 1 critter tokens.

Upgrading critters also provides a one-time bonus action that is taken after upgrading the critter this turn, as printed on the player board. The level 2 varan allows the player to gain a die of any colour of value at most 4 from the general supply and add it to any location in their transmission portal. The level 2 beaver allows the player to place 2 dam markers to the dam without paying any wood or taking the Dam action. A level 2 eagle allows the player to pay a berry to move the eagle to a second available action space after taking their first action with the eagle, taking an additional action that turn. If the eagle critter has not yet been used this round, the player can use this bonus action on the future turn when they use their eagle critter. If their eagle critter is already on the board, they can immediately use this bonus this turn.

Upgrading from level 2 to level 3: A player can upgrade a critter from level 2 to level 3 by paying 2 energy panels from any combination of their EP tracks. Anytime energy panels are used from a track, the EP marker (cube) on that track resets to 0, even if the player did not spend all EPs available on that track. The critter marker is simply flipped from its level 2 side to its level 3 side.

Upgrading a critter to level 3 also provides a one-time bonus action with a stronger effect compared to the bonus action provided when upgrading a critter to level 2. For the varan, the die gained can now be of any value 8 or less. The beaver still allows the placement of 2 dam markers but additionally provides 2 VPs. For the eagle, the move to a new action spot no longer costs a berry and is carried out as described in the previous "upgrading to level 2" section.

10. Bonus docking tile action – Autumn

This action spot allows the player to gain a level I or level II bonus docking tile. Level I bonus tiles provide an immediate bonus and effect when gained, whereas level II bonus tiles provide end game scoring effects.

To gain a level I bonus docking tile, the player must spend a die of any colour of value 4 or greater, discarding it to the general supply. To gain a level II bonus docking tile, they must spend 2 dice of value 4 or greater along with an additional 3rd die of any value and 2 sand time particles. Taking this action with level 2 or level 3 critter provides a discount of 1 die, or one die and one sand time particle, respectively.

After choosing and paying for the docking tile from the offer, the player places the docking tile in their transmission portal, face up, paired with either of their starting violet hard disc quests. For level I docking tiles, they gain the depicted bonus and can continue to use the ongoing effects of the tile. If or when the paired violet hard disc quest is completed, the player gains the usual VP bonuses, as described previously.

The offer of tiles is then refreshed, shifting tiles right into any blank spaces and drawing a tile for the left-most space.

Note: Players can gain any number of bonus docking tiles. If they gain one and do not have a violet hard disc quest with which to pair it, they can place the bonus docking tile next to their player board, still receiving the benefits. It is sometimes possible to gain 3rd violet hard disc quests later to pair with additional bonus tiles.

Example: The red player places their beaver of level 2 on an action spot, which provides a discount of 1 die. If they were to take a tile of level II, they would pay 2 sand time particles along with 1 die of value 4 at minimum and any other die. Instead, they elect to take a level I tile which can be taken for free after their discount. They choose the tile with an income of berries and 2 VPs and gain the bonus of 2 VPs and 1 golden plate pictured at the top of the tile. They place it face up, paired with an already completed violet hard disc quest, so they gain 3 VPs for the pair as it is currently the autumn season.

11. Mining action – Winter

Energy resources have been found in abundance in a few isolated places. With the help of old mining technologies, you can gain access to these precious resources.

When taking the Mining action, the player can place a mining tool token in one of the mining spaces on their player board, paying a green die of value 4+ for a tool placed in the top row, and 7+ when placed in the bottom row. A mining tool can only be placed in the bottom row when the two spaces above it in the top row already contain mining tools.

Once placed, the player gains the printed bonus instantly and as an ongoing income at the end of each season. They can also elect to gain the printed VP value instead of the resources (2 VPs for a tool in the top row and 5 VPs in the bottom row).

Once a full row (either the top or the bottom) is complete, the player also immediately gains the bonus printed to the right of that row.

Example: The blue player uses his eagle of strength 3 to take this action, gaining an immediate bonus of 3 VPs from playing a level 3 critter, as printed on the action spot. They then pay a green die of value 5 to place their mining tool in the middle space of their upper row, completing the row. They immediately gain 1 sand time particle and increase the value of any die in their transmission portal by 2. As a "row" reward, they also choose one colour hard disc quest from the common offer and place it in their transmission portal, gaining the usual bonus for placing a quest in their portal, as described previously.

12. Choosing a die action

After the cataclysm, new and mysterious resources, known as artifacts, were discovered. Their abundance of energy has made them very useful…

Each die around the outside of the central disc sits on a space of its colour. A player can place a critter on that space to gain the die. These dice are not replenished, and once taken, the space the die sat on is no longer available. To take a die, the die must either be in the present time or in a sector in which the player has a time portal.

Example: The blue player has elected to take a die on their turn. They have access to either the dice in the spring (the present time) or in the second half of summer, as they have a time portal in the corresponding segment of the central disc. They could elect to take the orange die of value 2 in the summer season on one turn and the purple die of value 5 on another, using a different critter for each turn.

Free Actions

Players have access to several free actions they can take during their turn. These are building a time portal, upgrading a critter, modifying the value of a die (spending either golden plates or their starting adjustment tokens), and completing either a hard disc, seasonal docking quest or year goal tile. A player can take as many free actions as they choose on a turn with the exception of upgrading a critter, which can only be done once per turn.

Achieving the Year Goal

There are 4 different sets of year goals (indicated by shape) located near the main board. When a player has fulfilled the requirements pictured on the top of one of the goal tiles, they may gain it immediately as a free action, placing it in their player area. They then gain the rewards printed on the bottom portion of the tile. A detailed description of goals is given in the help sheet.

In solo and 2 player games, there is only a single goal of each shape, each of level 2. In a 3 or 4 player game, goals can be achieved by multiple players, but the players who complete the goals first receive a better bonus.

End of a Round (Season) – Cleaning Phase

After all players have placed all their critters (3 each or 4 for those who have unlocked the peacock), the end of the round is triggered. There are several steps completed in preparation for the next round each time, and when the end of a season occurs, additional steps must be done.

End of a round actions

1. The central disc is rotated 1 time segment in the clockwise direction.
2. All time portals decay, decreasing in value by 1.
3. All critters are returned to their players.
4. Turn order is determined – players are ordered according to the number of dam markers they have in the current round's row on the dam. The player with the most markers is now the 1st player for the next round. In case of tie, the tying player whose critter is higher in the stack on the action spot is 1st. If the tie is not broken, the player order from last round remains.
5. The round marker is moved up one space on the dam.

End of a season actions

When a season (spring, summer, autumn or winter) concludes, the following steps are also completed:

6. The rightmost bonus docking (violet) tile is removed from the common offer, with all others shifting right and a new quest being added.
7. The 2 rightmost hard disc quests are removed from their common offers, with all others shifting right and a new tile being added.
8. Players gain any income from mines, level 1 bonus docking tiles and from certain year goals.
9. All energy panels not on the 0 space of their EP track are moved 1 step forward on that track.

End of the Game

Now the ancient intelligence will decide – who has best shown they can be entrusted with the knowledge needed to restore our reality and bring the world back in balance…

Final scoring

The game ends after 7 rounds of play, at the end of the 2nd round of the winter season. Players then calculate their final scoring following the steps below. In the case of a tie, the player who went later during the first round of play is declared the winner.

1. Players gain VPs for the number of connected pairs of completed tiles on their transmission portal.
2. Players score all their level II bonus docking (violet) tiles.
3. Players gain VPs for dam marker majorities in each column of the dam. Each column is counted separately; the player with the most markers in that column receiving the larger number of points and the 2nd person receiving the smaller value. In the case of a tie, the player with a dam marker further towards the bottom in that column wins.
4. Players gain 1 VP for each 1 golden plate they still have in their supply.
5. Players gain 1 VP for each 3 resources still in their supply.

Example: The green player has nine connected pairs of (completed) same coloured quests, earning 50 VPs. They gain 12 VPs from their first level 2 bonus docking tile as they have 6 markers on the dam. For the second tile, they could gain 2 VPs for each pip of a single green die, but as they have only one green die of value 1 left in their transmission portal, they choose to gain 9 VPs (the bottom half of the tile). On the dam, green scores 3 VPs for the 1st column and 3 VPs in the 2nd column. Green also has some remaining resources – 5 golden plates, 4 berries and 2 sand time particles, gaining an additional 5+2 VPs for them. The green player gains a total of 84 VPs during final scoring.

Game Variants

1. Alternative player boards

During setup, each player selects a colour and then takes a random player board (not necessarily the one of their colour) and flips it to its back (gray) side. They take a transmission portal and all other components of their selected colour.

2. Variable action tiles

During setup, players can elect to use the variable action tiles and place them either randomly or in a chosen order to the summer, autumn and winter seasons. Note, there are 2 tiles for the bonus docking tiles that need to be paired together – one that contains the action slots and the other which has the common offer.

These setup tiles are double-sided, so players can flip them so that their colour matches the colour of the season in which they are placed. This adds variability from the standard setup given earlier, which was recommended for the first few plays.

Solo Mode

Set up

Set up the game for a standard 2 player game and gather your tokens and player boards as usual. Also gather only the dam markers and level 1 critters of another colour for the automa and the dam markers of a third unused colour.

Place a dam marker of the automa's colour in the bottom row of the dam on the 3+ player space. This token is not taken into account when counting majorities (player order, final scoring).

Place a dam marker of the unused colour in the rightmost space of the offers of all quests (value, colour, seasonal), docking tiles and the rightmost year goal.

Place another dam marker of the unplayed colour on the solo tile in the space picturing a violet card with a red background (pictured in the top-right).

Choose one starting (violet) value hard disc quest and one starting colour hard disc quest and place them on your transmission portal as usual. Return all other starting hard disc quests to the box.

Shuffle all the solo cards and create a draw deck so that the side depicting letters and arrows is face up.

Gameplay

Randomly determine the starting player and gain the appropriate starting adjustment tokens. If you go first, gain two +/− 1 tokens. If you go second, gain a single +/− 1 token and a +/− 2 token.

During the 1st–4th round, the automa will play 3 actions. In the 5th–7th round, it plays 4 actions, also using its peacock critter. Shuffle the automa's deck of cards after the 2nd, 4th and 6th round of play.

At the end of the 4th and 6th round, the automa gains 1 of the remaining year goal (if any) determined by its card, as described in the "end of the round" section below.

You perform your turns as in the standard 2 player game, and all rules of play remain the same.

The automa plays using the deck of solo cards. At the start of the automa's turn, flip over the top card from the deck. The flipped card will dictate the action the automa takes. For some actions, the top card of the deck helps determine how the action is taken.

Description of the automa's actions:

Mining action – place one of the automa's available critters in the space for the Mining action, effectively blocking that space.

Energy panel action – place one of the automa's available critters in the space for the Energy panel action, effectively blocking that space.

Bonus docking tile action – place one of the automa's available critters in the space for the Bonus docking tile action. Then, refer to the top card of the automa deck and move the dam marker of the unused colour according to the arrow and number on the card (move the marker the printed number of spaces in the direction of the arrow). If the marker would move off the last card in the offer, instead move it to the first card on the opposite side of the row.

The tile where the marker stops is removed from the common offer and the tiles are replenished as usual, with the marker remaining in the same spot. During rounds 1 through 4, bonus docking tiles of level I are removed. During rounds 5 through 7, instead remove a level II bonus docking tile.

Example: Using the cards pictured, the dam marker (blue) needs to be moved 2 spaces to the left. Since it is currently on the left-most card in the row, it is first moved to the far right card, and then moved one more space to the central card. The middle tile is removed, and the leftmost tile is shifted to the center. A new tile is then added to the offer.

Hard disc quest action – use the letter on the top card of the automa deck to determine if you will take the top action (A: value hard disc quest) or bottom action (B: colour hard disc quest). Once determined, place one of the automa's critters to the corresponding action space. Move the dam marker of the unused colour on the common offer the number of spaces and direction as indicated by the arrow and number on the top card of the automa's draw deck, as described previously in the bonus docking tile section. Remove the quest on which the marker ends, refreshing the market as usual.

Taking berries action/Seasonal docking quest action – use the letter on the top card of the automa deck to determine if you will take the top action (A: taking berries) or bottom action (B: seasonal docking quest). If the automa selects the Taking berries action, simply place their critter in the next available spot of the action space and end their turn. If the automa takes the "seasonal docking quest" option, place the automa's critter on the corresponding action space and then use the arrow and number on the card on top of the automa draw deck to determine which quest they will take from the present time's season. Refresh the offer as usual.

Choosing a die action – the automa will select a die to gain from the present time's sector. Use the top card of the automa's draw deck to determine which die to take. In the example, they will take the die with the highest value. In the case of a tie, the player chooses which die the automa will take. Discard the chosen die, placing the automa's critter in that space.

If there are no such dice available in the present time's sector, instead use the next sector in clockwise order.

Dam action/Solo tile action – use the letter on the top card of the automa deck to determine if you will take the top action (A: dam action) or bottom action (B: solo tile action). When taking the Dam action, place the automa's critter in that action space. You will then place 2 of the automa's dam markers on the dam board. To determine on which spaces the markers will be placed, first find the leftmost marker placed in the row corresponding to the previous round.

If the automa is placing the first marker in a game in that row, start counting from the marker placed during set up in the right column of the board. Then, place the 2 markers in the current round's row, using the arrow and number on the top card of the draw deck to determine their location. Place the first marker the indicated number of spaces in the direction from the marker placed in the previous round. If the space is full, continue in the indicated direction, wrapping to the other side of the board if necessary. The second marker is placed in the next available space in the indicated direction, wrapping around to the other side if needed. If there is no available space for it, it is not placed.

Solo tile action – when selected (the bottom action B of the card), move the dam marker clockwise on the solo action tile the number of corner spaces as indicated on the top card of the draw deck. The automa then takes the action of the final space it lands on as its primary action, placing its critter to that space and taking the action as described previously. The automa will also take all non-corner actions it passed on the way without placing a critter.

Note: When taking the non-corner actions on the way, the automa doesn't place a critter to any action spot of those actions.

In the exceptional case that the automa can't take the indicated action (i.e. both action spaces for a 2 player game are already occupied), they will still take the action without placing a critter in the space.

End of the round

When both you and the automa have played all your turns (3 or 4, depending on the round and if you have unlocked the peacock), the end of the round is triggered. The starting player is determined using the standard rules (amount of dam markers in the current row).

Note: At the end of the 6th round, the automa plays the action shown on the back side of the bottom solo card of the deck.

At the end of the 2nd, 4th and 6th rounds, the player shuffles all solo cards to create the deck for the automa's next round.

At the end of the 4th and 6th round, the player randomly draws 1 solo card and moves the dam marker on the year goals as done with the quests and bonus tiles. The goal it ends on is removed from the game, and the automa's draw deck is shuffled to be prepared for next round at this time.

If the player ever gains a goal/quest/tile with a marker on it, the marker is then moved to the next tile to the left.

Note again that the automa takes 3 turns during rounds 1 through 4, and it takes 4 turns in rounds 5 through 7.

End of the game

At the end of the game, the player calculates their score as done in a multiplayer game. The automa scores no points.

Achieving 160 VPs is quite good for beginners, and 200 VPs is a great value to reach. If you can achieve 220 VPs, you have shown yourself to be quite an excellent player!!!