First Giants
First Giants Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
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Shuffle the cards and place them faceup in the center of the table to create the deck.
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Place the 4 Dig Sites in the center of the table. Draw 8 cards and randomly assign 2 cards faceup to each of them.
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Place the News tokens, amber and points near the Dig Sites to create the supply.
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Each player chooses a color, and takes the 4 markers of that color, as well as 1 Museum board and 2 amber, putting the markers and amber on the dedicated spaces of their Museum boards.
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Based on the number of players, add a number of Set tokens to the supply (leaf side up).
- 2 players: 14 Set tokens
- 3 players: 20 Set tokens
- 4 players: 24 Set tokens
- 5 players: 24 Set tokens
The remaining Set tokens are returned to the box.
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The player who most recently encountered a dinosaur takes the first player token and starts the game.
Remember to keep the appendix nearby.
Card Anatomy
Front
- Size — 1 Small, 2 Medium, 3 Large.
- Family (indicated by color and icon) — Flying, Herbivore, Carnivore, Marine, Mammal.
- Timing
- Card Effect
Back
- The Study is the place where you study your fossils, curating them before putting them on display.
- The Display is your museum's exhibit, the place where you show off your collection to the world.
Game Turn
Starting with the first player, players take turns in clockwise order. On your turn, you must do one of these two actions:
Play 1 Marker
To play 1 marker, at least 1 marker must be on your board. If you have no markers on your board, then you must do the "reclaim markers" action.
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Take 1 of the markers from your board and place it at a Dig Site that does not already contain one of your markers.
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Take 1 of the 2 cards from that Dig Site and place it in your Study (i.e. above your board).
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Apply that card's effect and any relevant recurring effects:
- Some cards have recurring effects. These effects are applied every time that condition is met, including at the moment you actually take the card.
- Most cards have a single use effect, which only occurs once, during the turn in which you take the card.
If multiple effects for cards in your study would trigger at the same time, resolve them in the order of your choice.
If effects from multiple players' cards would trigger at the same time, resolve them in turn order, starting with all the active player's effects and proceeding clockwise.
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Finally, refill the open Dig Site space with the top card of the deck.
(See the Cards' Icons & Effects section for a list of effects & the Appendix for card details)
Once the action is fully resolved, it is the next player's turn.
Reclaim Markers
To reclaim markers, at least 1 of your markers must be at a Dig Site. If you have no markers at any Dig Sites, then you must do the "play 1 marker" action.
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Take all your markers from Dig Sites and return them to your board.
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For each marker reclaimed, choose 1 of the following effects: Gain 1 amber OR Display 1 fossil.
You can choose a different effect for each marker reclaimed, in any order you wish.
Example: Laura reclaims her 3 markers. She chooses to gain 2 amber and to display 1 fossil.
Once the action is fully resolved, it is the next player's turn.
Display 1 Fossil
To put a fossil on display, spend the amount of amber equal to its size (1, 2, or 3). After spending amber, take the card from your Study and place it facedown below your board. Putting fossils on display is the best way to earn points.
If you cannot pay a fossil's cost, you cannot put it on display.
A fossil on display loses all its effects.
When you put a fossil on display, you can either start a new set or expand an existing set:
To start a new set, place the card into a new row below your board. Starting a new set does not earn you any points; to earn points, you must expand your set. Once a fossil has been assigned to a set, it must stay there. It cannot later be reassigned to another set.
To expand an existing set, add the card to that set. There are two general types of sets:
- Complete FAMILY SET — Same Family + Different Sizes. You cannot add cards of a different Family to a Family set, nor can you add a card to a Family set if the set already contains that card's Size.
- Complete SIZE SET — Same Size + Different Families. You cannot add cards of a different Size to a Size set, nor can you add a card to a Size set if the set already contains that card's Family.
Note that the second card added to the set determines its type, and once a set's type has been defined, it cannot be changed.
Example: Laura added a small herbivore to the small carnivore she already had on display. Since the two cards have the same Size (and different Families), the set now becomes a Size set.
Score Points
Each time you expand a set, take 1 Set token from the supply and place it with its leaf side visible, such that it overlaps the previous card and the new card.
Additionally, if you are the first player to expand a set of a particular type, you immediately take from the supply the News token matching that set. If another player obtains the same type of set with more cards, they steal the matching News token!
A complete Family set cannot exceed 3 cards, and a complete Size set cannot exceed 5 cards. If you are the first player to complete a type of set, the matching News token can no longer be stolen from you.
When you have completed a set, flip over each Set token on that set to their double-leaf side.
End of the Game
The end of the game is triggered when a player takes the last Set token from the supply or when the deck is empty after a player refills a Dig Site. Take all remaining Set tokens from the box and add them to the supply. Play continues until all players have had an equal number of turns, at which point the game ends; then add up your scores.
- News tokens are worth 3 or 5 points (as indicated on the token).
- Each Set token is worth 2 points if the set is incomplete (single leaf) or 3 points if the set is complete (double leaf).
- Finally, add all the points earned during the game.
The player with the most points wins the game! In case of a tie, tied players share victory.
Cards' Icons & Effects
Gained amber and points are always taken from the supply. Spent amber is returned to the supply.
- Fossil card icon — Each time any player takes a fossil card...
- Lightning bolt icon — Once during this turn...
- Hand + carnivore icon — Each time you take a carnivore card...
- Multiplier + carnivore icon — ...for each carnivore card you have in your Study.
- Hand + rainbow family icon — Each time you take a card from a Family you don't currently have in your Study...
- Multiplier + rainbow family icon — ...for each different Family you have in your Study.
- Opponents icon — Each opponent applies this effect...
- Multiplier + pair-of-cards icon — ...for each pair of cards you have in your Study (regardless of Family and Size).
- Leaf icon — Gain 1 point.
- Amber icon — Gain 1 amber.
- Display icon — You may display 1 fossil.
- Display (crossed-out cost) icon — You may display 1 fossil at no cost.
- Two displays + rainbow family icon — You may display up to 2 fossils of different Families.
- Two displays + same family icon — You may display up to 2 fossils of the same Family.
- 3 amber arrow 2 points icon — You may spend 3 amber to gain 2 points.
- Display / leaf icon — You may display 1 fossil OR gain 1 point.
- Egg card — An egg is a wild card: it has a Family, but can act as a card of any Size in a set. To put an egg on display, spend 2 amber.
For more details about the effect of a card, refer to the appendix.
Components
- 65 Cards
- 4 Dig Site boards
- 20 Wood markers
- 5 Museum boards
- 8 News tokens
- 33 Set tokens
- 80 Amber tokens
- 84 Point tokens
- 1 First player token