Holotype: Mesozoic North America Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Board Setup
• Player Setup
• Overview
• Game Structure
  • Placing Workers
• Locations
• Specimen Lab
  • Draw and Discard Specimen Cards
  • Draw Top Card from Discard Pile
  • Discard Specimen Cards
  • Anatomy of a Specimen Card
  • "What is the Mesozoic Era?"
• Field Expeditions
  • Erosion Event
  • Anatomy of a Field Expedition Card
• University Library
• Publishing Journal
  • Publishing a Holotype
  • Anatomy of a Trace Fossil Card
  • "What is a Holotype?"
  • Field Advancement Track and Museum Reset
  • Milestone Advancements
  • Contributing to a Global Objective
  • Anatomy of a Global Objective Card
• Museum Collections
  • Trade Fossils
  • Exchange Fossils for Research
• Game End
  • Personal Objective Scoring Types
• Variants
  • Basal variant
  • Short or Long variant
• Quick Reference
  • Specimen Icons
  • Period Colors
  • Trace Fossil Icons
  • Field Expedition Icons
  • Tracker Icons
  • Personal Objective Ratios (cards that meet requirement)
  • The Hierarchy Rule
  • Board Icons
  • Milestones

Components

• 1 rulebook
• 2 double-sided game boards
• 2 double-sided tracker boards
• 5 player boards, 1 in each of 5 player colors
• 60 Specimen cards
• 25 Field Expedition cards
• 12 Trace Fossil cards
• 15 Global Objective cards
• 16 Personal Objective cards
• 12 Fossil dice (4 purple, 4 blue, 4 green)
• 150 cubes (30 purple, 35 blue, 40 green, and 45 white)
• 15 workers, 3 in each of 5 player colors
• 25 discs, 5 in each of 5 player colors
• 30 Milestone tiles, 6 per player
• 1 holotype tracker token

Board Setup

1. Select the game board with the side displaying the correct number of players in the upper left corner and place it in the middle of the table (the other board is returned to the box).
2. Shuffle the Field Expedition cards into a deck and place it face down to the left of the game board.
3. Shuffle the Trace Fossil cards into a deck and place it face down to the left of the game board.
4. Shuffle the Global Objective cards into a deck and place it face down to the top right of the board. Deal a number of cards, equal to the number of players plus one, face up along the top of the board.
5. Shuffle the Specimen cards into a deck and place it face down to the right of the board.
6. Shuffle the Personal Objective cards into a deck and place it face down to the right of the board. NOTE: Leave a space next to each deck to form its own discard pile.
7. Place the 12 Fossil dice near the board.
8. Separate the cubes by color, and place the piles near the board to form the Supply.
   • White - Research
   • Purple - Triassic
   • Blue - Jurassic
   • Green - Cretaceous
9. Take 1 Triassic (purple) cube, 2 Jurassic (blue) cubes, and 3 Cretaceous (green) cubes from the Supply, and place them on the Museum Collections.
10. Place the Field Advancement Track near the bottom of the game board. Place the Holotype tracker token on the zero spot of the Field Advancement Track.

Fossil and Research cube supplies are considered to be unlimited. If you run out during a game, use suitable substitutes until the supply is replenished during gameplay.

These placement locations are suggestions, move them around to fit your play area or preference.

Player Setup

Each player selects a color of their choice, and based on their chosen color, they each receive:

• 1 player mat
• 3 workers (Paleontologist, Grad Student, Field Assistant)
• 5 discs
• 6 Milestone tiles

Each player also receives:

• 3 random Specimen cards
• 2 random Personal Objective cards

A. Place your Paleontologist and Field Assistant workers onto the Lounge of your player mat. B. Place your Grad Student worker onto the area marked "Grad" in the upper left corner of the mat. C. Place the 5 discs over the 5 circles in Global Objective Contributions. D. Place the 6 Milestone tiles to the right of your mat. During the game you will choose which ones to move onto your mat. E. Take your 3 Specimen cards into your hand. F. Choose 1 of the Personal Objectives cards to keep and discard the other. Your Personal Objective card remains private. You may look at your Specimen cards when deciding which Personal Objective card to keep.

There is no hand limit. Keep the cards in your hand private at all times.

After all players are setup, randomly select a player to be the first player.

Overview

During HOLOTYPE players take turns, in a clockwise order, placing a single worker from their Department Lounge onto the game board to take an action at that location or retrieving all of their workers. Once a worker has been placed on the board and has completed an action, it stays there and can't be used again until it has been returned to its player's Department Lounge (via Bumping or Retrieving). The game can end in one of two ways:

• The Holotype Tracker token reaches the last space on the Field Advancement Track.
• A number of Global Objectives cards equal to the number of players are completely filled.

In either case the game ends immediately and players proceed to end game scoring. The player with the most victory points wins!

Game Structure

On your turn you must either place exactly one worker onto a location on the board to take an action, or retrieve all your workers from the board.

If you begin your turn with no workers available in your Department Lounge, you must retrieve all your workers from the board and place them back into your Department Lounge. You may also choose to retrieve all your workers from the board instead of placing a worker. When you retrieve all your workers, gain one Research cube and end your turn.

Each location on the game board has one or more spaces for workers depending on the number of players in the game.

Each player has 3 types of workers matching their player color: The large sized Paleontologist, the medium sized Grad Student, and the small sized Field Assistant. Only the Paleontologist and Field Assistant are available at the beginning of the game. Once you have completed 3 Holotypes (see Publishing Journal) your Grad Student is unlocked and is moved into your Department Lounge.

Placing Workers

If there are unoccupied spaces at the location you wish to use, you must place your worker on an unoccupied space. If all of a location's spaces are occupied, then the Hierarchy Rule determines if you can bump a worker. Bumping a worker returns it to its owner's Department Lounge and allows you to place your worker in the now open space.

The Hierarchy Rule

• Paleontologists can bump any other worker including other Paleontologists.
• Grad Students can only bump other Grad Students and Field Assistants.
• Field Assistants can only bump other Field Assistants.

You may bump your own workers from a space as long as the hierarchy rule is followed and there are no open spaces at that location. You may have multiple workers occupying different spaces at a location.

Example A — The Red player wants to place their Paleontologist at the Field Expeditions location. Since there is an open space, the Red Paleontologist must use the open space.

Example B — The Red player wants to place their Paleontologist at the Field Expeditions location. Since there isn't an open space, the Red player may choose to bump their own Grad Student or Yellow's Field Assistant.

Locations

The Game Board has five different locations for worker placement. The following list is a brief description of their use in the game. More detailed descriptions will be given in the location specific sections.

• Specimen Lab - Gain new Specimen cards.
• Field Expeditions - Gather new Fossil cubes through rolling Fossil Dice.
• University Library - Gather new Research cubes.
• Publishing Journal - Publish Holotypes and contribute to Global Objectives.
• Museum Collections - Exchange Fossil cubes for Fossil cubes of a different color or Research cubes.

Specimen Lab

Placing a worker at the Specimen Lab allows you to draw and discard Specimen cards. You may have any number of cards of any type in your hand, there is no hand limit.

Discarded cards should be placed face up onto the Specimen discard pile near the Specimen deck. The first card discarded starts this pile.

When placing a worker at the Specimen Lab you pick one of the 3 following actions to execute:

Draw and Discard Specimen Cards

If you placed a Paleontologist or Grad Student, draw 3 cards from the top of the Specimen deck. If you placed a Field Assistant, draw 2 cards. You must then discard a single Specimen card of your choice onto the Specimen discard pile, face up. This does not have to be one of the cards you just added to your hand.

• Paleontologist / Grad Student - Draw 3 Specimen cards. Discard 1 Specimen card.
• Field Assistant - Draw 2 Specimen cards. Discard 1 Specimen card.

Draw Top Card from Discard Pile

Take the top card from the Specimen discard pile.

• Any Worker - Take top card from Specimen discard pile.

Discard Specimen Cards

If you placed a Paleontologist or Grad Student, you may discard any 2 Specimen cards. If you placed a Field Assistant, you may discard 1 Specimen card from your hand. When discarding multiple cards, you may choose the order in which the cards go onto the discard pile.

• Paleontologist / Grad Student - Discard up to 2 Specimen cards.
• Field Assistant - Discard 1 Specimen card.

Discarding cards can be important in the late game as the research cost of any unpublished Specimen cards will count against your point total.

Anatomy of a Specimen Card

• Fossil cube cost
• Research cube cost
• Size (in meters)
• Geologic Period
• Diet
• Specimen name (Genus)
• Publisher(s) & date
• Latin translation
• Locations where specimens have been found
• Type
• Victory Point value

"What is the Mesozoic Era?"

The Mesozoic Era lasted roughly 186 million years, from about 252 to 66 million years ago (Mya). The Mesozoic Era is separated into three geologic periods: the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous.

The dinosaurs and marine reptiles in HOLOTYPE have been discovered in deposits from these time periods across North America. Colors used for the geologic periods are based on the ones used by the Commission for the Geological Map of the World (CGMW).

Era	Period	Mya
Mesozoic	Cretaceous	66 - 145
Mesozoic	Jurassic	145 - 201
Mesozoic	Triassic	201 - 252

Field Expeditions

Placing a worker at Field Expeditions lets you draw cards that will in turn allow you to gain Fossil cubes. Each Field Expedition card represents a sequence of fossil-bearing rocks of a specific geologic age: Triassic, Jurassic, or Cretaceous.

When placing a worker here, complete the following steps in order:

1. Draw 1 or 2 Field Expedition cards (depending on the worker used).
2. Choose 1 of the drawn cards to use for your action.
3. If the card is the Erosion Event, follow the instructions below.
4. If the card shows a Trace Fossil icon, draw 1 Trace Fossil card and add it to your hand.
5. Collect and roll the number and color of Fossil dice shown on the card.
6. Use any number of re-roll symbols shown on the card as you wish (see below).
7. Collect a number of Fossil cubes, equal to the number of fossils shown on the dice from the supply. The cubes must match the color of the dice.
8. Collect a number of Fossil cubes from the Museum, equal to the number of Museum icons shown on the dice. The cubes must match the color of the dice and be available in the Museum Collections Area.
9. Place all drawn Field Expedition cards into a discard pile.
10. If any card drawn was the Erosion Event, shuffle the discard pile and the current Field Expedition deck together to create the new Field Expedition deck.

Die faces show: 1 Fossil, 2 Fossils, 3 Fossils, or 1 Fossil from Museum.

• Paleontologist / Grad Student - Draw 2 Field Expedition cards, choose 1, roll Fossil dice, and gain Fossil cubes.
• Field Assistant - Draw 1 Field Expedition card, roll Fossil dice, and gain Fossil cubes.

Fossil cubes are placed on your player mat in the Fossil Storage. The amount of cubes you can store is limited by the spaces in your Fossil Storage (8 spaces).

Each time you gain Fossil cubes you may rearrange which cubes you are keeping. Any excess cubes must be placed onto the Museum.

Erosion Event

Erosion Event is a special card in the Field Expedition deck. This card's action allows you to take an action at any other location on the board (other than Field Expeditions). Your worker stays on the Field Expeditions space it was placed on. The selected location does not need to have open spaces available. The action chosen at the new location must match the worker type used at the Field Expeditions, i.e. if a Field Assistant was placed, the chosen location must be used as if your Field Assistant was placed there.

The card reads: "Take an action at any location (except Field Expeditions). The action's effect is based on the Player Piece you used at Field Expeditions." It also carries a RESHUFFLE icon.

If you drew two cards at Field Expeditions, you may choose to either roll dice for the Field Expedition card or use the Erosion Event card action, you don't get to do both.

Once you have completed your chosen action, take the current Field Expedition deck, the discard pile, and the Erosion Event card and shuffle them all back together to make a new Field Expedition deck. This reshuffle happens even if another Field Expedition card action was chosen.

Anatomy of a Field Expedition Card

• Geologic Period
• Fossil Dice
• Reroll icon
• Formation name
• Date range (million years ago)
• Geographic area
• Trace Fossil icon

Re-roll icons appear on some Field Expedition cards. Each icon shown allows you to re-roll one dice. Re-rolls may be used in any combination and in any order, i.e. if you have two re-rolls, you may choose to pick up two of your rolled dice and re-roll them, or you could re-roll one die, and then re-roll the same die again.

University Library

Placing a worker at the University Library allows you to gain Research cubes. These cubes are placed onto the Research area of your player mat. There is no limit to the amount of Research cubes you may hold.

Placing a Paleontologist or Grad Student lets you gain 3 Research cubes. Placing a Field Assistant lets you gain 2 Research cubes.

• Paleontologist / Grad Student - Gain 3 Research cubes from the Supply.
• Field Assistant - Gain 2 Research cubes from the Supply.

Publishing Journal

Placing a worker at the Publishing Journal allows you to Publish a Holotype or contribute to a Global Objective. The Publishing Journal location is restricted to Paleontologist and Grad Student workers ONLY. Field Assistants cannot be placed or take any actions here. When placing a worker here, you may choose to either Publish a Holotype or Contribute to a Global Objective, not both.

Publishing a Holotype

You may only publish one Holotype during your turn. To do so carry out the following steps:

1. Take 1 Specimen card from your hand and place it face up above your player mat.
2. Spend the number and type of resources as shown on the Specimen card. The face up Specimen card is now referred to as a Holotype.
3. OPTIONAL: Add a single Trace Fossil card, if you have one. Spend 1 Fossil cube of the color matching your Holotype. Trace Fossils may NOT be added to a Marine Reptile.
4. Advance the Holotype tracker token one space on the Field Advancement track.
5. If you have just published your 3rd Holotype, move your Grad Student to your Department Lounge, it may be placed on your next turn if you wish.

• Paleontologist / Grad Student - Publish 1 Specimen card as a Holotype.

Trace Fossils are a special kind of card that can be added to a Publish Holotype action which awards additional Victory Points at the end of the game. When publishing a Holotype, you may also publish a single Trace Fossil along with it by paying 1 additional Fossil cube of the same color as the Holotype Specimen.

Anatomy of a Trace Fossil Card

• Fossil Cube cost
• Victory Point bonus
• Trace name
• Type restriction - no Marine Reptiles
• Type

"What is a Holotype?"

A single type specimen upon which the description of a new species is based.

Field Advancement Track and Museum Reset

Each time a Holotype is published, move the Holotype Tracker token one space forward on the Field Advancement Track.

When the Tracker token lands on a space with the Museum Reset icon, perform the following reset:

1. Return all the Fossil cubes from the Museum Collections to the supply.
2. Take 1 Triassic (purple) cube, 2 Jurassic (blue) cubes, and 3 Cretaceous (green) cubes and place them onto the Museum Collections.

When the Tracker lands on a space with the Milestone icon, each player chooses one of their six available Milestone tiles to add to their player mat. The milestone effect is a permanent bonus to the player's actions (see below).

Milestone Advancements

• Gain an extra Research cube anytime you use the University Library.
• Your Fossil Storage space is increased by 4 spaces. Use this area to store the extra 4 Fossil cubes.
• Gain an extra Fossil cube of the same color after rolling for fossils at Field Expeditions.
• After resolving all your actions at the Museum Collections, draw 1 cube of any type (Research included) from the supply.
• When drawing the top card of the Specimen Lab discard pile, you can instead search through the entire discard pile and select a single card of your choice to add to your hand. This milestone can be very useful when you have a Personal Objective that requires cards that occur less often in the Specimen deck.
• When drawing Specimen cards at the Specimen Lab, you may draw and/or discard an additional card. Drawing or discarding additional cards is not required. This does NOT affect drawing the Top Card from the Discard Pile action.

For example: A Grad student at the Specimen Lab doing the "Draw and Discard Specimen Cards" action could do any of the following permutations with this Milestone. A: Draw 3, Discard 1 B: Draw 4, Discard 1 C: Draw 3, Discard 2 D: Draw 4, Discard 2

Contributing to a Global Objective

Global Objective cards feature a number of objective areas. Each area has a specific requirement that needs to be met. When you contribute to a Global Objective you place your leftmost disc on the circle within an area. Once an area on a Global Objective card has a disc on it, that objective area cannot be completed again. At the end of the game, the rightmost number of victory points uncovered in the Global Objective Contributions section of your player mat will be included in your final score total.

All published Holotypes and Trace Fossils face up on the table may be used to meet an area's requirement, even if published by other players. Using a card to meet the requirements is known as referencing.

If you are only referencing cards you published to complete the objective area, there is no cost. If you must reference even a single card published by another player, you must spend 5 Research cubes from your player mat back to the Supply. Referencing cards does NOT restrict them from being referenced in future turns.

You may only contribute once during your turn. To do so carry out the following steps:

1. Select an area on a Global Objective card. The area must not already contain a disc and you must be able to meet the requirement as shown in the area.
2. Spend 0 Research cubes, if you can reference only your own published Holotypes and Trace Fossils, or
3. Spend 5 Research cubes, if you have to reference at least one other player's published Holotype and/or Trace Fossil.
4. Take the leftmost disc from your player mat and cover the circle of the objective area you have met.

• Paleontologist / Grad Student - Contribute to one Global Objective area. Pay 5 or 0 Research cubes based on which face-up cards you are referencing. Place your leftmost disc from your mat onto the Objective area circle you are completing.

Anatomy of a Global Objective Card

• Objective name
• Objective area requirements
• Area Circle (discs placed here)
• graphic reference

It is suggested to layout published cards on top of each other if space is limited. This allows other players to see all the icons to determine if any global objectives are open to be completed.

Museum Collections

Placing a worker at Museum Collections allows you to Trade Fossil cubes for other Fossil cubes or Exchange them for Research cubes. If you place a Paleontologist or Grad Student, you can do both actions. If you place a Field Assistant, you can only choose ONE action.

• Paleontologist / Grad Student - Both Trade and Exchange.
• Field Assistant - Trade or Exchange. Choose one.

Trade Fossils

You may trade any number of Fossil cubes from your player mat for Fossil cubes in the Museum Collections, you cannot trade with the supply. Trading fossils uses the trade formula shown below. Fossil cubes you trade in are placed into the Museum Collections area and Fossil cubes you gain go into your Fossil Storage. You cannot hold more Fossil cubes than your Fossil Storage limit, excess Fossil cubes must be returned to the Museum at the end of your turn. If there are not enough Fossil cubes of a certain type to match the trade formula, you may take less as long as you trade in the full amount.

Trade Formula

• Every 1 Triassic cube may be traded for up to 2 Jurassic or up to 3 Cretaceous
• Every 2 Jurassic cubes may be traded for 1 Triassic or up to 3 Cretaceous
• Every 3 Cretaceous cubes may be traded for 1 Triassic or up to 2 Jurassic

Exchange Fossils for Research

You may exchange any number of Fossil cubes for Research cubes based on the exchange formula below. Fossil cubes exchanged are placed into the Museum Collections area. Research cubes gained are taken from the supply and added to your Research area.

Note - You may not exchange Research cubes for Fossil cubes.

Exchange Formula

• Every 1 Triassic cube may be exchanged for 2 Research cubes
• Every 1 Jurassic cube may be exchanged for 1 Research cube
• Every 2 Cretaceous cubes may be exchanged for 1 Research cube

Any Fossil cubes placed at the Museum Collections should be placed in the area with the blue museum icon.

Game End

The game will end in one of two ways:

• The Holotype Tracker token reaches the last space on the Field Advancement Track.
• A number of Global Objectives cards equal to the number of players are completely filled with discs.

When either of the conditions are met, the game is over and no players may take any more turns.

Calculate your points as follows:

• Victory points shown on your Published Holotypes
• Victory bonus points shown on your Published Trace Fossils
• The rightmost uncovered victory points on your Global Objectives Contributions
• Victory points for your Personal Objective
• DEDUCT the Research cube cost of any Specimen cards still in your hand (Trace Fossil cards don't count).
• In the event of a tie, the player who has the most remaining Research cubes is the winner. If there is still a tie, the victory is shared.

Personal Objective Scoring Types

There are two types of Personal Objective cards. One gives a number of points you can earn depending on how many Holotypes you've completed that match the objective. The other type requires you to complete the entire Objective to earn a set amount of points.

Anatomy of Personal Objective Cards

• Objective name
• Objective requirements
• Victory Points earned
• Specimen ratios

With Theropod Taxonomy: If you published 4 Theropods, score 9 points. If you published 6 Theropods, score 14 points since that is the max for this card.

With Sauria Evolution: If you had published at least 1 Triassic, at least 2 Jurassic, and at least 3 Cretaceous, you would score 17 points. If any of these conditions are not met, you would not score any points.

Specimen ratio icons roughly represent the percentage of cards in the Specimen deck that will meet the Objective requirement. When choosing which Personal Objective to keep at the beginning of the game, these ratios plus your beginning three Specimen cards are useful in determining which Objective will be the most beneficial for you to keep for the end game.

The following gives a breakdown of the icons and their related percentages: 10% - 23%, 24% - 38%, 39% - 54%.

Variants

Basal variant

The Basal variant is a bare-bones version of the game. This version may be suited for those wanting a simpler game for teaching first-time players, young players or players new to board games.

For the Basal version remove all Global Objectives, Personal Objectives and Milestones.

Short or Long variant

Players wishing to have a shorter game can choose to use the Field Advancement Tracker board for less players. For example, a 5-player game could use the 4-player Tracker for a shorter game time. Vice versa, players can choose to use a higher player-count Tracker for a longer game. For a shorter 2-player game, use the 2-player track but choose a lower number of holotypes to end at.

Quick Reference

Specimen Icons

• Theropod
• Sauropod
• Herbivore
• Omnivore - counts as both Carnivore and Herbivore for Global and Personal Objectives
• Genasaur
• Marine Reptile
• Carnivore

Period Colors

• Triassic
• Jurassic
• Cretaceous
• not period specific

Trace Fossil Icons

• Trace Fossil
• Tracks
• Eggs
• Amber
• Coprolite
• Can not be published with Marine Reptiles
• Cost to publish with a Specimen: 1 extra Fossil cube of same color as Specimen

Field Expedition Icons

• Re-roll a die
• Draw a Trace Fossil card
• Fossil Die: roll die of this color
• Take one Fossil cube of matching color from Museum (if available)

Tracker Icons

• Reset Museum
• All players pick a Milestone

Personal Objective Ratios (cards that meet requirement)

10% - 23%, 24% - 38%, 39% - 54%

The Hierarchy Rule

• Paleontologists can bump any other worker including other Paleontologists.
• Grad Students can only bump other Grad Students and Field Assistants.
• Field Assistants can only bump other Field Assistants.

Board Icons

• Draw 2 Field Expedition cards, pick one to use, roll Fossil dice shown on card
• Draw 1 Field Expedition card, roll Fossil dice shown on card
• Publish a Specimen card as a Holotype, move Tracker Token one space on Field Advancement board
• Contribute to Global Objective, paying 5 Research cubes if referencing any cards published by other players
• Draw 3 Specimen cards into your hand, then you must discard any 1 Specimen card from your hand
• Draw 2 Specimen cards into your hand, then you must discard any 1 Specimen card from your hand
• Draw top card from the Specimen discard pile into your hand
• Discard up to 2 Specimen cards from your hand
• Discard 1 Specimen card from your hand
• Gain 3 Research cubes
• Gain 2 Research cubes
• Trade Fossils from your storage with Fossils at the Museum
• Exchange Fossils from your storage to the Museum to gain Research cubes from the supply

Milestones

• Gain an extra Research cube anytime you use the University Library.
• Your Fossil Storage space is increased by 4 spaces. Use this area to store the extra 4 Fossil cubes.
• Gain an extra Fossil cube of the same color after rolling for fossils at Field Expeditions.
• After resolving all your actions at the Museum Collections, draw 1 cube of any type (Research included) from the supply.
• When drawing the top card of the Specimen Lab discard pile, you can instead search through the entire discard pile and select a single card of your choice to add to your hand.
• When drawing Specimen cards at the Specimen Lab, you may draw and/or discard an additional card. Drawing or discarding additional cards is not required. This does NOT affect drawing the Top Card from the Discard Pile action.