Codex Naturalis Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Resource cards (40)
  • Gold cards (40)
  • Starter cards (6)
  • Objective cards (16)
• Game Overview
• Game Setup
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Play a card from their hand
  • 2. Draw a card
• End of Game
• Card Details
  • Resource card
  • Gold cards
  • Objective cards
• Credits

Components

• 40 Resource cards
• 40 Gold cards
• 6 Starter cards
• 16 Objective cards
• 9 tokens (2 red, 2 blue, 2 green, 2 yellow and 1 black for the 1st player)
• 1 Score track

Resource cards (40)

Each Resource card has a front and a back. The front shows the four corners of the card, some of which are visible corners and some of which are hidden corners, plus artwork of a species from one of the four kingdoms.

1. Visible corner — a corner showing a symbol or an empty corner space that another card may be placed over.
2. Hidden corner — a corner marked as unavailable; no card may be placed on it.
3. Resource held by the player as long as the symbol is visible in their play area (the kingdom symbols: plant, animal, fungi, insect).
4. Object held by the player as long as the symbol is visible in their play area (quill, inkwell, manuscript).

On the back, the card shows 4 visible corners (all empty) and the card's own kingdom resource in the middle.

Gold cards (40)

1. Resources needed in the play area to be able to place the card — shown along the bottom edge of the card front.
2. Number of points won when the card is placed — shown in the banner at the top of the card front.

On the back of the cards, there are 4 visible corners and 1 permanent resource in the middle; this resource can never be covered.

Starter cards (6)

Each Starter card has a front and a back, each showing its own combination of corner symbols and permanent resources printed in the middle of the card.

Resources: Plant kingdom, Animal kingdom, Fungi kingdom, Insect kingdom.

Objective cards (16)

The front of an Objective card shows the number of points it is worth (in the banner) and the condition to be fulfilled. The back is a common illustration.

Object: Quill, Inkwell, Manuscript.

Game Overview

Play and place your cards carefully to benefit from the resources and the objects to:

• Play cards to win immediate points,
• Fulfill endgame objectives.

The first player to reach 20 points triggers the end of the game. Do not hesitate to cover and lose resources to develop your play area.

Game Setup

1. Place the Score track (board) in the center of the table.
2. Shuffle the Resource cards and place them facedown in the center of the table. Draw 2 cards and place them faceup. Do the same for the Gold cards.
3. Each player randomly takes one Starter card and places it in front of them. They choose which face of the card they want to show and that face will be played. They choose a color, place a token of this color on their Starter card and the other token on "0" on the Score track. Each player draws 2 Resource cards and 1 Gold Card.
4. Shuffle the Objective cards and place them facedown next to the Score track. The first two cards are placed faceup. These are common objectives: at the end of the game, all the players may score points if they fulfill the conditions.
5. Each player receives 2 Objective cards, they look at them and choose one of them. This is your secret objective: at the end of the game, if you fulfill the conditions you will score the points. The other card is discarded to the bottom of the deck.
6. The first player is chosen at random, they place the first player token on their Starter card.

The table layout matches the numbers above: the Score track (1) in the middle, the two Resource card decks and Gold card decks with their two faceup cards each (2) beside it, the Objective deck with its two faceup common objectives (4) below them, each player's Starter card and hand of 3 cards (3) in front of them, each player's secret objective (5) kept hidden, and the first player token (6) with the starting player.

Playing the Game

A game consists of several rounds that players take one after another in a clockwise direction. In turn, the player must perform the following two actions in order:

1. Play a card from their hand
2. Draw a card

1. Play a card from their hand

The player chooses one of the 3 cards in their hand and places it in their play area according to the illustration and respecting these 2 rules:

Placement rule

The card must cover one or several visible corners of cards already present in their play area. It cannot cover more than one corner of the same card. Only the card already present in the play area must show the necessary visible corners, not the card you're placing down.

Important: if the player does not like the front of the card, they can play it facedown.

Gold cards rule

To place the Gold cards, the player must possess the indicated resources visible in their play area. The resources must be visible before they place the card, but they may be covered afterwards.

For example, a Gold card requiring three plant resources may be played once three plant symbols are visible in the play area; the card is worth 3 points when placed.

Scoring points

If the card placed allows the player to score points, they must be immediately added to the Score track. The cards are detailed later.

2. Draw a card

After placing a card in their play area, the player chooses a new card either from the four cards faceup in the center of the table (a new card is then revealed to replace the one just taken), or the first card from one of the two decks.

End of Game

The end of the game is triggered when a player reaches 20 points (or more) or if the two decks are empty. Players finish the round and then each have a last turn before the game ends.

Each player counts the points from the Objective cards (2 common objectives + the secret objective) and adds them to the points already scored on the Score track.

The player with the most points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the most Objective card points wins. If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.

Card Details

Resource card

A Resource card whose banner shows a number is worth 1 point when it is placed.

Gold cards

• A Gold card showing a number in its banner scores that many points when placed — for example 3 points or 5 points — provided its required resources are visible in the play area.
• A Gold card showing a number next to a quill, inkwell or manuscript icon: 1 point per visible object in the play area of the player, including this card. Note: Adding an object later in the play area, does not give the right to win an additional point.
• A Gold card showing a number next to a covered corner icon: 2 points per corner covered by this card. In the illustrated example, the card covers two corners for a total of 4 points.

Objective cards

• 2 points per pair of identical objects visible in the play area of the player (for example two quills, two inkwells or two manuscripts).
• 3 points per set of 3 different objects visible in the play area of the player (one quill, one inkwell and one manuscript).
• 2 points per set of 3 identical resources visible in the play area of the player (for example three plant kingdom symbols).
• 2 points per identical pattern in the play area of the player. Important: The player must respect the direction and the colors. In the illustrated example, the diagonal pattern of three insect (purple) cards is scored once, for 2 points.
• 3 points per identical pattern in the play area of the player. Important: The player must respect the direction and the colors. In the illustrated example, the pattern is found twice, for 6 points.

Important: When counting the objective points, each Resource or Gold card in the play area may only be counted once per objective.

Credits

Game Designer: Thomas Dupont

Artwork: Maxime Morin

Translation: Benjamin Guimbert