Menagerie: Unlock the Wonders of a Miniature World

Menagerie: Unlock the Wonders of a Miniature World Rulebook

Table of Contents

Overview

You are an insect curator, and you must decide which of these wondrous creatures to display! Expand your collection each turn, using insects' traits and Benefactor abilities to fill your exhibits and captivate your visitors. At the end of the game, the player that nets the most points will be the winner!

Players: 1-4. Ages 10+. 30-60 minutes.

Field Board
4 Terrarium Boards
70 Insect Cards
8 Benefactor Cards
8 Showcase Cards
4 Reference Cards
30 Discovery Tokens
16 Iridescent Tokens
Key Token
Net Token
Instructions

Setup

Place the Field board in the center of the play area.
Shuffle the Insect cards to form a deck and place it face down next to the board.
Draw the top six cards of the Insect deck and place them face up in the six spaces of the board. These six spaces are called the Field.
Place the Discovery tokens and the Iridescent tokens next to the Field board to form a supply.
Each player takes a Reference card and a Terrarium board. Place your Terrarium board in front of you, leaving space on the right-hand side for Insect cards.
Shuffle the Benefactor cards and give two to each player. Shuffle the Showcase cards and give two to each player. Before the game begins, choose one of each to keep. Place your chosen cards face up in front of you, and return any unused cards to the game box.

Note: For a simpler first game, you may play without Benefactor or Showcase cards, or give players just one of each. You may also keep your Showcase cards hidden, if all players agree.
The player who most recently saw a live insect receives the Key token. They will take the first turn.

Playing the Game

Players take turns in clockwise order. On your turn, do the following steps in order:

1. Take Two Discovery Tokens

Take two Discovery tokens from the supply.

2. Unlock One Terrarium

To unlock a terrarium, place the Key token on one of the three terrariums on your Terrarium board. That terrarium is now "unlocked" for this turn. The other two terrariums are considered "locked."

3. Take and Place an Insect

Take any one Insect card from the Field. Place the insect into the terrarium (row) you unlocked in the previous step.

When you place an insect, place it to the right of all other insects in that terrarium. If it's the first insect there, place it next to the Terrarium board.

Each player has three terrariums, and each terrarium holds up to five insects. If a terrarium is full, you can never place or move insects into it.

Important: You can only place insects in your unlocked terrarium, unless an insect's trait allows otherwise (see next page).

4. Use One Trait

Each insect has one or more traits, shown by icons at the bottom of the card. After placing an insect in a terrarium, you may use any one of that insect's traits. The trait must be used right away, and cannot be saved for later in your turn. (You may also use no traits.)

Insect Traits

PATTERN: Gain 1 Discovery token if placed in a terrarium with an insect from a different order. The order is shown by the colored border around each Insect card and the icon in the top left. There are five insect orders in the game. (See Insect Orders on page 7.)
FIERCE: Move another insect from this terrarium to one of your locked terrariums. It must move to the right of all other insects there. Moving an insect this way does not count as "placing" it. After moving, slide any remaining insects toward the left to close the gap.
BIG: Spend 2 Discovery tokens to take an additional insect from the Field. This insect must come from a space in the Field next to the one you just took, horizontally or vertically. You may also use one of this insect's traits.
SMALL: When taken from the Field, you may place this insect in a locked terrarium. You may also place it to the left of any other Insect cards (except when moving with Fierce).
IRIDESCENT: Spend 1 Discovery token to take an Iridescent token, which is worth 2 points. Iridescent tokens are limited, and you cannot use this trait if they run out.

5. Discover More Insects

After using the insect's trait, you may spend 3 Discovery tokens to take an additional insect from the Field and use one of its traits. Remember that you must place insects in your unlocked terrarium! You may repeat this step any number of times.

6. Refill the Field

Refill any empty spaces in the Field with cards from the Insect deck.

7. Pass the Key Token

Pass the Key to the player on your left. It is now their turn.

Benefactor Cards

Benefactor cards give each player a way to gain bonus Discovery tokens. Most bonuses are gained each time you take or place insects in certain ways. Benefactors usually specify when their bonus is gained; for those that do not, you may gain the bonus either before or after using an insect's trait.

Showcase Cards

Showcase cards give each player another way to score points. Scoring a Showcase requires placing insects of certain orders or traits in specific ways. If all players agree, you may play with your Showcase cards hidden until the game ends (you may still look at your own card at any time).

Insect Orders

Coleoptera: Beetles
Hymenoptera: Ants, Bees, Wasps
Lepidoptera: Butterflies, Moths
Mantodea: Mantises
Hemiptera: True Bugs

Game End

When one player fills all three of their terrariums (by placing 15 Insect cards), the game is almost over. Each other player takes one final turn, then the game ends. All players then score points. (For a full example of scoring, see page 8.)

First, score each of your three terrariums, one at a time. To score a terrarium, check how many insects you have from each different order (color). Score points matching the number of insects from each order in that terrarium, as shown in the table below.

Game End Scoring

Score each terrarium (using this table), Iridescent tokens, and Showcase card.

Number of insects from the same order	1	2	3	4	5
Points	1	3	6	10	15

Next, score 2 points for each of your Iridescent tokens. Lastly, score any points you earned from your Showcase card.

The player with the most points wins! In the case of a tie, the tied player with more Discovery tokens wins. If still tied, go for a walk, look at some insects, then play again.

Scoring Example

At the end of the game, Fertessa has the cards shown (Showcase card: Panoptic Collector). She scores points as follows:

Terrariums: Terrarium 1 scores 9 points: 6 points for three purple Insect cards (order Hemiptera), plus 3 points for two green Insect cards (order Coleoptera). Terrarium 2 scores 6 points (3+3), and Terrarium 3 scores 11 points (10+1). In total, the terrariums score 26 points.
Iridescent Tokens: Each Iridescent token scores 2 points, for a total of 6.
Showcase: Terrariums 2 and 3 meet the Panoptic Collector scoring requirement. These terrariums score 6 points each, for a total of 12.

All together, Fertessa's final score is 44 points.

Solitaire Game

Menagerie can be played by just one player. The game will simulate a rival collector by removing insects from the Field. Fill terrariums to score your best, and do it quickly!

To play solitaire, make these changes to the rules above:

In Setup, instead of choosing a first player, place the Net token next to one of the two rows of the Field board.
After each turn, remove any Insect cards remaining in the row with the Net token. End your turn by moving the Net token to the other row, then refilling the Field.
The game ends when you fill all three of your terrariums, OR when 10 cards have been removed by the Net token. Score points as usual, then check your result below.

Solitaire Game Scoring

Less than 40: Room to Grow
40-44: Casual Admirer
45-49: Emerging Enthusiast
50-54: Avid Collector
55-59: Certified Entomologist
60 or more: World-Renowned Expert

Tip: To adjust the difficulty, use your choice of Benefactor and Showcase cards. Some are harder to maximize in a solitaire game, so try whichever fit your desired challenge level.