Океаны: Глубина (Oceans – The Deep) Rulebook

Note: the Russian compilation "Океаны: Глубина" (Oceans – The Deep) has no separate rulebook; its Deep and Scenario cards are covered by the official English Deep and Scenario Reference Guide below (reused from the catalogued Oceans companion document).

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Deep Card Reference
  • Abyss Dweller
  • Acute Smell
  • Advanced Eyes
  • Ambush
  • Apex Predator
  • Atavism
  • Barbels
  • Behemoth
  • Bioluminescence
  • Bioluminescent Lure
  • Biome Toxicity
  • Biotic Cycle Reversal
  • Blubber
• Scenario Card Reference
  • Abundance
  • Aggressive Environment
  • Asteroid Impact
  • Biodiverse Reef
  • Contagious Outbreak
  • Contagious Proximity
  • Coral Bleaching
  • Degenerative Virus
  • Detritus
  • Epizootic
  • Evolutionary Arms Race
  • Fertile
• New Rules Reference
  • Event Cards
  • Copying Traits
• General Rules Reference
  • Impossible to Feed
  • Ocean-to-Ocean Migrating
  • Too Many Deep Cards

Introduction

Welcome... to the Deep! Down here in the depths, you’ll find a dazzling variety of strange new traits and wild environmental conditions. Sometimes it’s not always obvious how those traits and scenarios are supposed to interact with each other. In most cases, the card text, rulebook, and the reference booklet printed with the game will clear things up. But the Deep is vast and unknown, and there may still be some situations that require further explanation or clarification.

That’s what this reference guide is for. It describes each Deep and Scenario card individually, including promo cards. It handles obscure interactions that might come up, and provides reminders for rules details you might have overlooked. At the end, the new rules reference section includes rules for new mechanics from promo cards, such as Deep event cards, and the general rules reference covers a few topics that don’t fit anywhere else.

The Deep and Scenario Reference guide is a pretty long document, but it’s not necessary to read the whole thing in order to have fun with Oceans. Just look up a specific card when you need to. If your playgroup would rather skip this reference guide entirely and just make up a house rule, that’s fine too. (I won’t tell anybody.) On the other hand (or fin), if your group would prefer an objective reference to settle rules arguments, you’re in the right place.

If you still have any questions that aren’t covered, you can ask on the Oceans forums at BoardGameGeek or on the Oceans Discord server. The latest versions of this reference guide can be found on North Star Games' Oceans rules page and BoardGameGeek’s Oceans files page. The North Star Games rules page also includes the latest versions of the printed rules and reference booklet. If you have an earlier printing of the rules and reference booklet, the updated online versions might have newer clarifications that can help you out.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Deep card reference
3. Scenario card reference
4. New rules reference
5. General rules reference
6. Credits

You can also use the Bookmark tab of your PDF reader to navigate through all the sections and entries.

Most recently updated: February 8th, 2022

General errata: After the first print run, effects that said “may not” were updated to say “can’t”. All of these effects work the same as they did before. They’re just clearer now.

Deep Card Reference

This section provides a card-by-card description of each Deep card, including its full card text, migrate and resolution numbers, rules explanations, and some of its potential interactions. Some common card icons and effects are already described in the reference booklet, so they won’t be covered again. Descriptions of cards which aren’t in the base game also mention which promo set they can be found in.

Abyss Dweller

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Can’t forage — Resolution 1

Can’t attack or be attacked by species with a Surface trait. Evolves other Deep traits for free.

• Evolving other Deep traits for free means you don’t have to pay from your score pile in order to play Deep traits onto Abyss Dweller. Playing those Deep traits still requires an action.
• The first effect should be interpreted as “can’t attack species with a Surface trait or be attacked by species with a Surface trait”. A species with Abyss Dweller can attack species that don’t have Surface traits.
• If a species ignores a trait, it treats that trait as if it doesn’t exist. If Abyss Dweller has other traits that allow it to ignore all of a potential target’s Surface traits, Abyss Dweller can attack that species.
• If Abyss Dweller has an effect that allows it to ignore “can’t be attacked” effects, that doesn’t allow it to attack species with Surface traits. “Can’t attack” effects on the attacker are different from “can’t be attacked” effects on the target.
• A “can’t attack” effect isn’t the same as having a [Can't attack] icon. If Abyss Dweller also has Bubble Net, it doesn’t ignore its own “can't attack” effect, and still can’t attack a species with a Surface trait.

Acute Smell

Migrate 2 — Gain 1 — Resolution 2

Gains 1 for each Shark Cleaner that triggers.

• Acute Smell triggers as soon as the Shark Cleaner traits are triggered, not when they resolve. For game purposes, Acute Smell is triggered simultaneously with the Shark Cleaners.
• Acute Smell is triggered by each Shark Cleaner trait that triggers. This includes Shark Cleaner traits on the same species as well as Shark Cleaner traits on other species, including opponents’ species.
• Acute Smell is triggered by any trait named Shark Cleaner. This includes the Surface version of Shark Cleaner as well as the Deep version.
• The trigger of Acute Smell refers specifically to traits named Shark Cleaner, not simply any species with Shark Cleaner. If a species with Shark Cleaner has another trait that triggers, but Shark Cleaner itself doesn’t, Acute Smell doesn’t trigger.
• Acute Smell triggers a separate time for each Shark Cleaner trait that triggers, and each of those counts as a separate gain. Effects that modify a species’ gains affect each one individually. For example, if the Abundance scenario is active, a species with Acute Smell gains 2 for each Shark Cleaner that triggers.
• If a Shark Cleaner triggers for some other reason besides its printed text, Acute Smell still triggers. For example, if the Population Explosion scenario event is triggered, Acute Smell triggers, each Shark Cleaner triggers, and those triggers in turn trigger Acute Smell again.
• If a Shark Cleaner would trigger but can’t gain (most likely because it has no more room on its species board), then it doesn’t gain and its trigger doesn’t go off. Acute Smell doesn’t trigger.
• It is possible for Acute Smell’s triggers to resolve before the Shark Cleaners that triggered it in the first place (for example, if the Acute Smell is owned by a player who comes earlier in the turn order than the Shark Cleaners).

Advanced Eyes

Migrate 1 — Resolution 3

Ignores 1 defensive trait when attacking a species with a Deep trait.

• Conditions for “ignore” effects are checked simultaneously before anything is ignored, and an “ignore” effect won’t undo its own condition retroactively. If a target has only 1 Deep trait, and that Deep trait is defensive, the species with Advanced Eyes can ignore that trait. Afterwards, as far as the species with Advanced Eyes is concerned, the target doesn’t have any Deep traits, but its “ignore” effect still applies.
• If the target has multiple copies of the same defensive trait, Advanced Eyes only ignores 1 of those copies. The others still have their effect.
• The defensive trait that Advanced Eyes ignores does not have to be a Deep trait.
• If the ignored defensive trait triggers from the attack, the attacker isn’t affected by it.

Ambush

Migrate 3 — Resolution 4

After each species forages, take 2 population from it.

• The trigger isn’t optional. The species with Ambush takes 2 population after another species forages, even if that means the species with Ambush would overpopulate or take from one of your own species.
• Species can’t take from themselves. If the species with Ambush forages, it won’t take population from itself.
• The effect of Ambush isn’t considered leeching, since it doesn’t use the specific word “leech”. It’s just taking from another species.

Apex Predator

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Can’t forage — Attack 4 — Defense 3 — Resolution 5

• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Apex Predator has an additional point of [Attack] and [Defense].
• The Deep version of Apex Predator does not count as a Surface trait.

Atavism

Migrate 1 — Resolution 6

May have 2 extra traits. Before your feeding phase, may swap traits with Surface cards in your hand.

• You can only swap Surface traits from your hand onto the species with Atavism, but you can swap Deep traits back to your hand from that species.
• Deep versions of Surface traits aren’t Surface traits, and can’t be swapped from your hand onto the species with Atavism.
• You can make multiple swaps when the Atavism trigger resolves. Treat the swaps as if they occurred simultaneously, even if you make your choices and physically swap the cards one at a time.
• You can swap out Atavism itself, and you can swap it back to your hand along with other traits on the same trigger.
• Swapping a trait back to your hand counts as removing it. You can’t use Atavism to get rid of traits that can't be removed, such as Cthulhu Leech or Vestigial Limb.
• Swapping a trait onto a species doesn’t count as playing or evolving it. For example, if you swap a defensive Surface trait onto a species while the Protective Growth scenario is active, your species won’t gain 2.
• Copies of traits created by traits like Intelligence can’t be swapped back to your hand. Only traits on actual cards can be swapped.
• A trait that’s already been swapped before this feeding phase, from an effect like Gene Transfer, can be swapped again with Atavism. Since both Atavism and Gene Transfer trigger before your feeding phase, you can arrange those triggers how you like.

Barbels

Migrate 1 — Gain 1 — Resolution 7

Gains 1 for each Bottom Feeder that triggers.

• Barbels triggers as soon as the Bottom Feeder traits are triggered, not when they resolve. For game purposes, Barbels is triggered simultaneously with the Bottom Feeders.
• Barbels is triggered by each Bottom Feeder trait that triggers. This includes Bottom Feeder traits on the same species as well as Bottom Feeder traits on other species, including opponents’ species.
• Barbels is triggered by any trait named Bottom Feeder. This includes the Surface version of Bottom Feeder as well as the Deep version.
• The trigger of Barbels refers specifically to traits named Bottom Feeder, not simply any species with Bottom Feeder. If a species with Bottom Feeder has another trait that triggers, but Bottom Feeder itself doesn’t, Barbels doesn’t trigger.
• Barbels triggers a separate time for each Bottom Feeder trait that triggers, and each of those counts as a separate gain. Effects that modify a species’ gains affect each one individually. For example, if the Abundance scenario is active, a species with Barbels gains 2 for each Bottom Feeder that triggers.
• If a Bottom Feeder triggers for some other reason besides its printed text, Barbels still triggers. For example, if the Population Explosion scenario event is triggered, Barbels triggers, each Bottom Feeder triggers, and those triggers in turn trigger Barbels again.
• If a Bottom Feeder would trigger but can’t gain (most likely because it has no more room on its species board), then it doesn’t gain and its trigger doesn’t go off. Barbels doesn’t trigger.
• It is possible for Barbels’ triggers to resolve before the Bottom Feeders that triggered it in the first place (for example, if the Barbels is owned by a player who comes earlier in the turn order than the Bottom Feeders).

Behemoth

Migrate 2 — Can’t forage — Attack 3 — Resolution 8

Ignores "can’t be attacked" effects if this species has a greater [Attack] than the target.

• Multiple “ignore” effects that affect the same event are checked simultaneously, before anything is ignored. If the potential target has a defensive trait with [Attack], you still have to take that defensive trait’s [Attack] into account when seeing if the Behemoth has a greater [Attack] than the target, even if Behemoth has other traits that would allow it to ignore that defensive trait.
• Ignoring “can't be attacked” effects won’t ignore other effects of defensive traits, such as [Defense] or effects triggered by the attack.
• The [Can't attack] icon doesn’t change a species’ [Attack]. A species that can’t attack still has at least [Attack 1], and it’s possible for a species that can’t attack to still have an increased [Attack] from traits like Speed or Megamouth. These are taken into account when checking Behemoth’s “ignore” effect.
• If the species with Behemoth also has Bubble Net, it compares its own [Forage] to the target’s [Attack] to check the condition for the “ignore” effect. If the Behemoth is attacking a species with Bubble Net, it compares its own [Attack] to the target’s [Forage]. If both the Behemoth and its target have Bubble Net, it compares its own [Forage] to the target’s [Forage].

Bioluminescence

Migrate 2 — Gain 1 — Resolution 9

Gains 1 after a Deep trait is played on a species.

• Traits can't be triggered by themselves being played, or affect anything triggered by themselves being played. Bioluminescence doesn’t trigger itself when it’s first played on a species, though it will trigger other copies of Bioluminescence already in play.
• Bioluminescence doesn’t trigger when a Deep event card is played, only when Deep traits are played.
• Swapping a Deep trait onto a species with a trait like Rapid Mutation doesn’t count as playing a Deep trait. Bioluminescence won’t trigger when this happens.
• A species getting a copy of a Deep trait with a trait like Mimicry or Hybridization doesn’t count as playing a Deep trait. Bioluminescence won’t trigger when this happens.

Bioluminescent Lure

Migrate 2 — Event — Resolution 96 — Kickstarter Promo

Play as an extra action when attacked. After the attack is resolved, if the attacker is a valid target, the attacked species attacks back once.

• Errata: Some printings of Bioluminescent Lure have a resolution number of 1 instead of 96.
• Event cards are another kind of Deep card. They have one-time effects, and are then removed from the game. Like other Deep cards, event cards have a cost equal to their migrate number. The rules section has further details about how events work.
• Unlike other events, Bioluminescent Lure isn’t played during your playing cards phase. It’s played when a species you own is attacked. There is no set time during the attack when you have to play the card, but try to play it before all the triggers from that attack have resolved. Once the other players have moved on to other things, like dealing with overpopulation, it’s too late.
• In order to play Bioluminescent Lure, the species that’s attacking must be a valid target for the targeted species. The targeted species must be able to attack, must be able to ignore any “can't be attacked” effects, must be able to take at least 1 population, and so on. If the attacked species can’t attack its attacker, then you can’t play Bioluminescent Lure.
• A species that overpopulates from its own feeding turn can't feed again during that turn, but a species that overpopulates during another species' feeding turn (from gains, for example) can still feed later in that turn. If the targeted species overpopulated earlier in the turn due to another species’ feeding, even the attack against it, it can still use Bioluminescent Lure to attack back.
• A player can’t take back their attack when Bioluminescent Lure is played. They have to carry it out to the bitter end.
• If you attack your own species, you can play Bioluminescent Lure during that attack.
• The attack from Bioluminescent Lure takes place after all the triggers from the original attack have resolved, and before overpopulation is checked. (See step 3 in the “Feeding: Order of Operations” section of the reference booklet.)
• A species with Tentacled or other traits that allow it to attack additional times can still only attack once from the effect of Bioluminescent Lure. If you use multiple copies of Bioluminescent Lure during the same attack, the attacked species can attack once for each copy of Bioluminescent Lure that was played.
• If someone plays a Bioluminescent Lure during an attack that also triggers Burrower, the order that the additional attacks occur is determined like with triggers: in turn order, then each player chooses the order of their triggers.

Biome Toxicity

Migrate 4 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 10 — Bundle #1

After this species or an adjacent species is attacked, every species except this species and its adjacent species loses 1 population to the Reef.

• Even though it’s triggered by attacks, Biome Toxicity doesn’t have a black text box, and it isn’t a defensive trait. It can’t be ignored by effects that ignore defensive traits.
• The species with Biome Toxicity and the species adjacent to it can still attack one another. They don’t lose any population to the Reef, but every other species does.
• The losses caused by Biome Toxicity are considered to be “due to an attack” for traits that care about that.

Biotic Cycle Reversal

Migrate 1 — Gain 3 — Resolution 11

Gains 3 after an attack reduces this species to 0 population.

• The effect triggers whenever the species with Biotic Cycle Reversal is reduced to 0 population due to an attack. Biotic Cycle Reversal only triggers from the effect that reduces its population to 0. Biotic Cycle Reversal doesn’t trigger if its population is reduced to 0 from some other effect, such as leeching, losses caused by scenarios, and so on.
• Effects that count as losing population due to an attack include:
  • Being attacked.
  • Having population taken by Hydra during an attack.
  • Losing population due to an effect that triggers specifically from attacking or being attacked. An attacker can lose population due to its own attack.
  • Losing population due to an effect that triggers from another effect that’s triggered due to the attack. In other words, any chain of triggers that started specifically from attacking or being attacked.
• Triggers resolve in turn order. If Biotic Cycle Reversal triggers while there are other triggers waiting to resolve, it may resolve before those earlier triggers if its controller comes earlier in the turn order. Blood Bath Migrate 3 — Event — Resolution 97 — Bundle #2 Instead of your usual feeding turn, each of your species with [Attack 3] or greater may attack this turn.
• Event cards are another kind of Deep card. They have one-time effects, and are then removed from the game. Like other Deep cards, event cards have a cost equal to their migrate number. The rules section has further details about how events work.
• Once you’ve replaced your normal feeding turn with an effect like Blood Bath, you can’t use another event like Overgrazing to replace it again. You can only play one “instead of your usual feeding turn” event per turn.
• In between each species’ feeding turn, triggers resolve, overpopulation is checked, and scenarios are activated or deactivated.
• Species with Tentacled or other traits that allow them to feed additional times may attack additional times during Blood Bath. They can’t use the additional feedings to forage. Species that attack multiple times during Blood Bath have to take their additional feedings consecutively.
• A species that makes a “retaliation attack” with an effect like Bioluminescent Lure or Burrower during a Blood Bath can still take a regular feeding turn. Likewise, a species that’s already taken its regular feeding turn can still make a “retaliation attack” later in the turn.

Blubber

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Defense 1 — Resolution 12

May store 9 extra population on the species board.

• Errata: Some printings of Blubber accidentally have a white text box instead of a black one. It should be a defensive trait with a black text box.

Bottom Feeder

Migrate 1 — Gain 2 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 13

Gains 2 after an adjacent species loses population due to an attack.

• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Bottom Feeder is triggered by both adjacent species, not just one. It also triggers when an adjacent species loses population for any reason due to an attack, not just if it was attacked directly.
• The Deep version of Bottom Feeder does not count as a Surface trait, but it does count as a trait named Bottom Feeder. When it triggers, it will trigger traits like Barbels.
• Effects that count as losing population due to an attack include:
  • Being attacked.
  • Having population taken by Hydra during an attack.
  • Losing population due to an effect that triggers specifically from attacking or being attacked. An attacker can lose population due to its own attack.
  • Losing population due to an effect that triggers from another effect that’s triggered due to the attack. In other words, any chain of triggers that started specifically from attacking or being attacked.
• Losses caused by overpopulation, scenarios, or insufficient species board space don’t count as losing population due to an attack, even if an attack caused that species to have too much population or that scenario to be activated.
• Triggers resolve in turn order. If Bottom Feeder triggers while there are other triggers waiting to resolve, it may resolve before those earlier triggers if its controller comes earlier in the turn order.

Bright Coloration

Migrate 1 — Gain 1 — Resolution 14

Gains 1 after a new species is created.

• Traits can't be triggered by themselves being played, or affect anything triggered by themselves being played. Bright Coloration won’t trigger itself if it’s used to create a new species, though it will trigger other copies of Bright Coloration already in play.

Bubble Net

Migrate 1 — Resolution 15

Ignores its own [Can't attack] and [Attack]. Use [Forage] when evaluating this species' [Attack]. Ignores Schooling when attacking.

• Errata: The text of this card was updated after the first print run to help clarify it. Both versions of the card work the same.
• This ignores all [Can't attack] icons on its traits, not just one.
• This ignores the Deep version of Schooling as well as the Surface versions.
• Bubble Net doesn’t prevent a species from foraging.
• The species with Bubble Net uses its [Forage] instead of its [Attack] for any effect that cares about [Attack], such as attacking, triggering Shark Cleaners, or checking the conditions of traits like Behemoth or Goethite Exoskeleton. It can’t choose between its [Attack] and its [Forage] in situations that would use its [Attack]; it always uses its [Forage] instead. As far as the species with Bubble Net is concerned, its [Attack] doesn’t exist.
• If the species with Bubble Net also has [Can't forage], that won’t prevent it from using its [Forage] to attack. The [Can't forage] icon doesn’t change a species’ [Forage]. A species that can’t forage still has at least [Forage 1], and it’s possible for a species that can’t forage to have [Forage] from traits like Speed or Megamouth. These are taken into account when determining what Bubble Net’s [Forage] is.
• A “can't attack” effect isn’t the same as having a [Can't attack] icon. If a species with Bubble Net is affected by a “can't attack” effect (for example, from being attacked by Paralyzing Venom, from an active Evolutionary Arms Race scenario, or from its own Gargantuan), it can’t ignore that effect.

Burrower

Migrate 1 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 16

After an attack on an adjacent species is resolved, if the attacker is a valid target, this species may attack it once.

• In order for the effect of Burrower to trigger, the species that’s attacking must be a valid target for the species with Burrower. The Burrower species must be able to attack, must be able to ignore any “can't be attacked” effects, must be able to take at least 1 population, and so on. If the Burrower species can’t attack the original attacker, then its effect won’t trigger.
• A species that overpopulates from its own feeding turn can't feed again during that turn, but a species that overpopulates during another species' feeding turn (from gains, for example) can still feed later in that turn. If the species with Burrower overpopulated earlier in the turn, even from the attack that triggered it, it can still use Burrower to attack back.
• The “retaliation attack” is optional.
• Species can’t attack themselves, so Burrower doesn’t trigger itself if the Burrower species attacks an adjacent species.
• A species with Tentacled or other traits that allow it to attack additional times can still only attack once from the effect of Burrower. If a species has multiple copies of Burrower, it can attack once for each copy that was triggered.
• Burrower still triggers if you’re the player who attacked the adjacent species. Burrower still triggers if the adjacent species is owned by another player.
• Burrower can be triggered multiple times in one turn if the adjacent species are attacked multiple times (for example, by a species with Tentacled).
• The attack from Burrower takes place after all the triggers from the original attack have resolved, and before overpopulation is checked for the original attack. (See step 3 in the “Feeding: Order of Operations” section of the basic reference guide.)
• If someone plays a Bioluminescent Lure during an attack that also triggers Burrower, the order that the additional attacks occur is determined like with triggers: in turn order, then each player chooses the order of their own triggers.
• If another species is copying Burrower with Hybridization, or if you’re playing with a personal Deep deck that has multiple copies of Burrower, the “retaliation attack” from Burrower can trigger other attacks from other Burrowers.

Camouflage

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Defense ? — Resolution 17

[Defense +2] for each other species you have.

• If the species with Camouflage is your only species, Camouflage provides [Defense 0]. Camouflage still counts as a defensive trait even if it’s not providing any [Defense]. A defensive trait is still a defensive trait even if it’s currently not doing anything defensive.
• The [Defense] provided by Camouflage is continually updated as you get or lose species, even if you somehow happen to get or lose a species during a feeding turn.

Cavitation Bullet

Migrate 1 — Attack 2 — Resolution 18

Never takes more than 2 population from an attack. Ignores all defensive traits when attacking.

• The take-limiting effect of Cavitation Bullet applies after all other effects that might reduce the amount of population taken in an attack, such as the target’s [Defense] or the target having less population than the attacker’s [Attack].
• If the ignored defensive trait triggers from the attack, the attacker isn’t affected by it.
• If a species with Cavitation Bullet also has Hydra, it ignores all defensive traits on all species when determining which species it can take 1 population from. This includes the [Defense] granted by Poisonous Inking or Protective Shells. However, the additional population taken by Hydra is counted as population taken from an attack, so Cavitation Bullet still caps it at taking 2 population. At least 1 of the population must be taken from the attack’s actual target. (This combo is not as good as it might seem.)

Chitin-Plated Maw

Migrate 4 — Resolution 19

Before your feeding phase, leeches 4 from the species with the greatest [Attack]. Pick one if there is a tie.

• You can’t choose to leech from a species with 0 population. If one of the species tied for the greatest [Attack] can't be leeched, you must leech from one of the other species, even if you’d prefer not to.
• If there is only one species with the greatest [Attack], and it can't be leeched, then nothing happens and nothing is leeched. You don’t get to try again with the species with the second- greatest [Attack].
• A species can’t leech from itself. If the species with Chitin-Plated Maw has the greatest [Attack], nothing happens and nothing is leeched. You don’t get to try again with the species with the second-greatest [Attack]. If it’s tied for greatest [Attack], you have to leech from one of the other species.
• If there is a species with Bubble Net, its [Forage] is compared to other species’ [Attack]. If the Bubble Net species has a greater [Forage] than any other species’ [Attack], Chitin-Plated Maw leeches from the Bubble Net species.
• The [Can't attack] icon doesn’t change a species’ [Attack]. A species that can’t attack still has at least [Attack 1], and it’s possible for a species that can’t attack to still have an increased [Attack] from traits like Speed or Megamouth. These are taken into account when checking Chitin-Plated Maw’s effect.

Colossus

Migrate 4 — Defensive — Forage 11 — Resolution 20

Can't be attacked by a species whose [Attack] is less than this species’ [Forage]. May take less population than its [Forage].

• You may choose to have Colossus take less population than its [Forage] when foraging, even if it could take all of it.
• If Colossus’ [Forage] is being used for taking population in a way other than foraging, such as attacking with Bubble Net, this effect will still apply, and Colossus can take less population than its [Forage] during that attack.
• A species with Bubble Net compares its own [Forage] to Colossus’ [Forage] when determining if it can attack Colossus.

Communication

Migrate 3 — Defensive — Gain x2 — Defense 5 — Resolution 21

May have 1 extra trait. All gains are doubled.

• Communication doubles all gains by that species, including gains caused by scenarios like Schadenfreude.
• The effects of Endurance and Rows of Teeth don’t modify the actual gain value itself. They’re applied after Communication doubles the gain.
  • For example, a species with Surface Bottom Feeder, Endurance, and Communication takes 6 population when an adjacent species is attacked. Bottom Feeder’s gain 2 is doubled to gain 4 by Communication, and then it takes 2 more population with Endurance.
• The [Gain +1] increase from Abundance modifies gain values specifically. It applies before traits like Communication, so Communication doubles its effect.
  • For example, a species with Surface Whale Cleaner, Communication, and Abundance active gains 8 when it’s closest to a forager with at least [Forage 3]. Whale Cleaner’s gain 3 is increased to gain 4 by Abundance, and then Communication doubles that to gain 8.
• If Protective Growth is active, the defensive trait that was just evolved isn’t active by the time the Protective Growth trigger resolves. When a species evolves Communication, it still only gains 2 from the Protective Growth trigger, even though Communication is a defensive trait that doubles gains. If that species evolves another defensive trait afterwards, Communication doubles the gain as usual.
• If a species with Communication is attacked by a species that can ignore Communication, the species with Communication still doubles any gains triggered by the attack.

Coprophagia

Migrate 1 — Resolution 22

After aging, leeches 2 population from any player’s score pile.

• Even though this trait leeches from score piles instead of other species, this effect counts as a leeching trait, for effects that care about that such as Mucus Cocoon, Parasite Cleaner, and Pathogen Cultivation.
• Coprophagia triggers after each time the species it’s on would age. If a species would age additional times (for example, from the effects of Degenerative Virus), Coprophagia leeches 2 population each time.
• If a species with Coprophagia has other traits that trigger after aging, such as Fast Life Cycle, its owner arranges the order in which those traits resolve.
• Coprophagia can leech from your own score pile.
• A species with Coprophagia leeches the population onto its own species board. It doesn’t go to your score pile or some other location.
• Players are allowed to keep secret how much population they have in their score piles. If you choose to leech from a player’s score pile and it turns out they have less than 2 population there, you don’t get to pick someone else’s score pile instead. You take what you get.
• On the other hand, players aren’t allowed to lie about how much population they have in their score piles. If a species with Coprophagia leeches from your score pile and your score pile has 2 or more population, you can’t claim it has fewer than 2 population to limit how much is taken.
• Errata: In the digital version, the timing and phrasing of Coprophagia’s effect was changed for balance reasons. This change will also be reflected in future print runs. If you prefer the older version, it’s still included here:

Before your feeding phase, takes 2 population from any player’s score pile onto its species board.

Crushing Jaw

Migrate 1 — Resolution 23

Ignores all [Defense] when attacking.

• This ignores [Defense] provided by the target’s own traits, as well as [Defense] provided by other effects like Poisonous Inking or Protective Shells.
• If a defensive trait has no other effects besides providing [Defense], like Hard Shell, then Crushing Jaw causes that trait to be ignored entirely. For example, a species with Hydra and Crushing Jaw would be able to take 1 population from a species whose only defensive trait was Hard Shell.

Cthulhu Leech

Migrate 2 — Resolution 24

Play on any player’s species. It counts as a trait and can't be removed or copied. You score 2 of its population before it ages.

• This trait can be played on other player’s species as well as your own. The “you” referred to in its rules text refers to the person who played it, not the person who owns the species it’s on.
• Cthulhu Leech still counts towards the trait limit of the species it’s played on. It can’t be played on a species that’s at its maximum number of traits.
• If the species with Cthulhu Leech doesn’t have 2 population when the Cthulhu Leech trigger resolves, Cthulhu Leech scores what it can. The effect of Cthulhu Leech doesn’t count as aging, so the species won’t go extinct if the Cthulhu Leech can’t score 2 population from it.
• Cthulhu Leech can’t be discarded, swapped, or otherwise removed from the species it’s on, even if you played it on your own species. It’s still discarded if that species goes extinct, and is still shuffled with other traits from the effects of Radiation Blast.
• Cthulhu Leech can’t be copied. There are no traits in the base game that allow a species to copy other traits, but there are a few promo cards that do. (Currently, Mimicry and Hybridization can copy Deep traits.)
• Cthulhu Leech triggers before each time the species it’s on would age. If a species would age additional times (for example, from the effects of Degenerative Virus), Cthulhu Leech will score 2 population each time.
• If the species with Cthulhu Leech wouldn’t score any population when it ages (for example, from the effects of Slow Metabolism or Telomere Repair), it still counts as going through aging. Cthulhu Leech still triggers and scores 2 population.
• The Cthulhu Leech effect and the Telomere Repair gain 2 effect trigger at the same time, and they resolve in the usual order (turn order, then each player orders their own). The Cthulhu Leech trigger is controlled by the player who played it, not the player who owns the species it’s on.
• If another player gains control of the species with Cthulhu Leech through an effect like Migratory Exodus or Mass Migration, that player doesn't gain control of the Cthulhu Leech’s effect. The player who originally played the Cthulhu Leech continues to score from it.
• Even though this trait has “leech” in its name, it doesn’t count as a leeching trait, since none of its effects use the specific term “leech”. “Can't be leeched” effects won’t prevent a Cthulhu Leech from being played on a species or keep it from scoring that species’ population.

Deep Diver

Migrate 3 — Forage ? — Resolution 25

[Forage +2] for each Deep trait on this species. May forage from any Ocean zone.

• Deep Diver doesn’t prevent the species from foraging from the Reef.
• The reserve bag is not an Ocean zone. Deep Diver doesn’t allow species to forage from there. After the reserve tokens are placed into the Ocean, a species with Deep Diver can forage from them.
• When a species forages from the Ocean, if the chosen Ocean zone has less population than the species would forage, it takes the remainder of its forage from the first Ocean zone that has population. (This is a change from previous rulings.) For example, if a species with [Forage 5] forages from an Ocean zone that only has 3 population, it takes the 3 population from that zone, and then takes 2 more population from the first Ocean zone that still has population. If the foraging species takes the last population from the Ocean, the reserve tokens are immediately placed into the final Ocean zone. If necessary, the foraging species completes its forage from the reserve tokens.
• If a species that can forage from the Ocean forages from the Reef, and the Reef has less population than that species' [Forage], that species won't take the remainder from the Ocean. You only take the remainder from the next Ocean zone if your forage started in the Ocean.
• Deep Diver counts itself when counting how many Deep traits its species has.
• The effect of the Snowball Earth scenario applies to the total [Forage] on Deep Diver, not the individual [Forage +2]. If Snowball Earth is active, Deep Diver on a species with 2 other Deep traits (3 Deep traits total) has [Forage 5].
• Copies of Deep traits created by traits like Mimicry or Hybridization will count towards the number of Deep traits for Deep Diver’s effect.

Deep-Sea Kraken

Migrate 3 — Can't forage — Resolution 26

May attack 1 additional time. Population from each attack after the first goes directly to your score pile.

• The effect of Deep-Sea Kraken applies on each turn. The first time Deep-Sea Kraken attacks on each turn, its effect won’t apply and the population won’t be scored directly. If a Deep-Sea Kraken makes multiple attacks during another player’s feeding turn (for example, if it also has Burrower and is adjacent to a species that’s being attacked multiple times), then it scores the population from each attack after the first.
• A species can't attack if it doesn’t have at least 1 empty space on its species board. If a Deep-Sea Kraken has a full species board, it can’t attack at all, even if the population would end up someplace besides its species board.
• If a species with Deep-Sea Kraken attacks, and it’s not the first time it’s attacked this turn, then the amount of population it sends directly to the score pile is not limited by the amount of spaces on its species board. The Deep-Sea Kraken takes the maximum amount of population it’s entitled to (based on its [Attack], the target’s [Defense], and the target’s available population) and sends it to the score pile directly.

Defensive Spines

Migrate 1 — Resolution 27

Species lose 4 population to the Reef after attacking or leeching from this species.

• Species can still attack or leech a species with Defensive Spines even if they would end up losing all the population they take.
• Defensive Spines doesn’t have a black text box, and it isn’t a defensive trait, despite its name. It can’t be ignored by effects that ignore defensive traits.

Dense Population

Migrate 2 — Resolution 28

May have 1 extra trait. May store 9 extra population on the species board.

• There are currently no clarifications for Dense Population.

Draconic

Migrate 4 — Defensive — Can't forage — Attack 7 — Defense 3 — Resolution 29

Overpopulation is scored instead of lost.

• In other words, when a species with Draconic overpopulates, the population that it would lose to the Reef or an Ocean zone goes to your score pile instead.
• A species with Draconic is still considered to have overpopulated when its effect happens. If it overpopulated from its own feeding turn, it won’t be able to feed again this turn. If Draconic overpopulates while the Contagious Outbreak scenario is active, adjacent species still lose 3 population to the Reef.
• If Draconic can’t overpopulate, then its effect can never trigger.
• The population loss caused by Epizootic is considered to be overpopulation. If a species with Draconic overpopulates while Epizootic is active, it scores all of its population instead of losing it to the Reef, and then goes extinct.

Electric Discharge

Migrate 2 — Resolution 98 — Kickstarter Promo

The owner of an attacked species must remove a trait from the attacked species at the end of this feeding phase. This trait doesn’t trigger the turn it is played.

• Errata: Some printings of Electric Discharge have a resolution number of 2 instead of 98.
• The effect of Electric Discharge applies during all feeding phases, not just your own. If a species with Electric Discharge manages to attack during an opponent’s feeding phase (for example, if it also has Burrower), then the attacked species must lose a trait at the end of the current feeding phase.
• The effect of Electric Discharge only applies to species attacked by the species with Electric Discharge, not to all species that are attacked by any species.
• The owner of the attacked species chooses which trait(s) to discard from it.
• A trait that can’t be removed, like Cthulhu Leech or Vestigial Limb, can’t be chosen to be removed. If that’s the only trait left on the attacked species, then no trait is removed.
• It is possible for a species to have no traits. A species with no traits that can be removed can still be attacked by a species with Electric Discharge.
• If the species with Electric Discharge attacks multiple times in a feeding phase, each species it attacked has to lose a trait.
• If the species with Electric Discharge attacks the same species multiple times during a feeding phase, that species’ owner must discard a trait from it for each time it was attacked.
• If more than one trait has to be removed at the end of the feeding phase, any consequences of losing those traits (such as losing extra population or extra traits) aren’t checked until they’re all removed. If one player’s choices might influence the other players’ choices of which traits to remove, players remove traits in turn order.
• If the attacker somehow loses Electric Discharge before the feeding phase ends, its effect still applies, and attacked species still have to lose a trait.
• If a species overpopulates after losing a trait due to Electric Discharge, that does not count as losing population “due to an attack”.
• If there are multiple effects that would take place at the end of a feeding phase (for example, if both Electric Discharge and Invasive Predator had been used), those effects resolve in the usual order: turn order of the trait owners, then each player arranges their own effects.

Electroreception

Migrate 2 — Forage 2 — Attack 2 — Resolution 30

Ignores 1 defensive trait when attacking.

• If the ignored defensive trait triggers from the attack, the attacker isn’t affected by it.
• If the target has multiple copies of the same defensive trait, Electroreception only ignores 1 of those copies. The others still have their effect.

Endurance

Migrate 3 — Gain +2 — Resolution 31

Aging +2. Takes 2 extra population when it gains.

• The 2 extra population is taken at the same time as the gain and from the same source as the gain.
• Endurance affects all gains on the species that has it, even gains that are triggered simultaneously. It doesn’t affect any effects that don’t use specifically the word “gain”.
• Endurance doesn’t modify the actual gain value itself. Effects that modify the gain value directly, like Communication, won’t double the 2 extra population. For example, a species with Surface Bottom Feeder, Endurance, and Communication takes 6 population when an adjacent species is attacked. Bottom Feeder’s gain 2 is doubled to gain 4 by Communication, and then it takes 2 more population with Endurance.

Epizootic Parasite

Migrate 2 — Resolution 32 — Bundle #1

Before your feeding phase, leeches 1 from each species with [Can't forage].

• A species can’t take from itself. If Epizootic Parasite also has a [Can't forage] icon, it won’t take any population from itself.

Extremophile

Migrate 1 — Resolution 33

May have 1 extra trait. Can't be leeched. Never overpopulates. Never goes extinct.

• A species with Extremophile never goes extinct, for any reason.
• If the Aggressive Environment scenario is active, an Extremophile with 0 population can still be attacked, but it won’t go extinct.

Fast Life Cycle

Migrate 5 — Resolution 34 — Bundle #1

After aging, scores all population.

• The effect of Fast Life Cycle happens after each time it ages, not just during your own aging phase. If an effect like Hostile Conditions causes the species with Fast Life Cycle to age on an opponent’s turn also, you score all of its remaining population after that aging as well.
• The effect of Fast Life Cycle isn’t aging. If a species with Fast Life Cycle has no population left to score after aging, it won’t go extinct. Telomere Repair doesn’t prevent Fast Life Cycle from scoring population.
• The effect of Fast Life Cycle isn’t optional. If a species with Fast Life Cycle ages twice in one aging phase (for example, from a Degenerative Virus scenario), it will age, score its remaining population, then age again. Since it would have no population left, it would probably go extinct during its second aging.
• Anything triggered during aging, such as the effects of a Schadenfreude scenario, will resolve before Fast Life Cycle triggers.

Fast Metabolism

Migrate 1 — Resolution 35

May age on any player’s aging phase.

• Fast Metabolism gives you the option to age this species during other players’ aging phases. It doesn’t make required aging optional. You still have to age the species with Fast Metabolism during your own aging phase.
• If you choose to have your species with Fast Metabolism age during another player’s aging phase, it can still go extinct if it doesn’t have enough population to age the full amount.
• If a species with Fast Metabolism is forced to age on another player’s turn by a scenario like Hostile Conditions, you can choose to have it age a second time during that aging phase.
• When multiple species have to age, they’re treated as if they all aged simultaneously. If multiple species would age a second time during one aging phase, treat those second agings as if they occurred simultaneously with each other. Effects triggered during the first round of aging (such as the effect of Schadenfreude) will resolve before any second round of aging begins. If any species would age a third time in one aging phase, the same principle applies.
• If the species with Fast Metabolism has other effects that trigger before or after a species ages, like Cthulhu Leech or Telomere Repair, they trigger if it ages on other players’ turns.
• A species with Fast Metabolism can also have Slow Metabolism. Such a species could essentially choose whether or not to age during any aging phase.
• If the Degenerative Virus scenario is active and the species with Fast Metabolism ages during another players’ turn, that player can choose to have the Fast Metabolism species age a second time. This aging is not optional.

Feeding Frenzy

Migrate 4 — Event — Resolution 99 — Bundle #2

Instead of your usual feeding turn, each of your species without [Can't attack] may attack this turn.

• Event cards are another kind of Deep card. They have one-time effects, and are then removed from the game. Like other Deep cards, event cards have a cost equal to their migrate number. The rules section has further details about how events work.
• Once you’ve replaced your normal feeding turn with an effect like Feeding Frenzy, you can’t use another event like Blood Bath to replace it again. You can only play one “instead of your normal feeding turn” event per turn.
• In between each feeding, triggers will resolve, overpopulation will be checked, and scenarios will be activated or deactivated.
• Species with Tentacled or other traits that allow them to feed additional times may attack additional times during Feeding Frenzy. They can’t use the additional feedings to forage. Species that attack multiple times during Feeding Frenzy have to take their additional feedings consecutively.
• A species that makes a “retaliation attack” with an effect like Bioluminescent Lure or Burrower during a Feeding Frenzy can still take a regular feeding turn. Likewise, a species that’s already taken its regular feeding turn can still make a “retaliation attack” later in the turn.
• A species that overpopulates from its own feeding turn can't feed again during that turn, but a species that overpopulates during another species' feeding turn (from gains, for example) can still feed later in that turn. If one of your species overpopulates because one of your other species attacked during a Feeding Frenzy, that species can still attack later in the turn.
• Species that can ignore their own [Can't attack] icons, like species with Bubble Net, can attack during a Feeding Frenzy.
• Eligibility to attack is determined as each feeding turn begins. If one of your species loses all of its [Can't attack] icons during the feeding phase (perhaps by using Rapid Mutation to swap those traits away, for example), then it can take a feeding turn and attack.

Filter Feeder

Migrate 2 — Forage 6 — Can't attack — Resolution 36

Never overpopulates. May store 5 extra population on the species board.

• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Filter Feeder has an additional point of [Forage] and allows the species to store 5 extra population on the species board.
• The Deep version of Filter Feeder does not count as a Surface trait.

Filter Kraken

Migrate 1 — Can't attack — Resolution 37

May forage 2 additional times.

• Filter Kraken must forage first in order for it to forage 2 additional times. If the species with Filter Kraken manages to attack (for example, with the effect of Bubble Net), then it can’t forage 2 times afterwards.
• A species with Filter Kraken doesn’t have to use all of its additional forages. It may forage just 1 additional time if you want.

Flight

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Resolution 38

Can't be attacked unless the attacker has Speed. Ignores Schooling and Inking when attacking a species without a Deep trait.

• Conditions for “ignore” effects are checked simultaneously before anything is ignored. If a species with Flight has other traits that allow it to ignore all of a potential target’s Deep traits, those Deep traits are still considered for Flight’s “ignore” effect.
• A species with the Deep version of Speed can attack a species with Flight.
• If the ignored defensive trait triggers from the attack, the attacker isn’t affected by it.

Frosthaven Piranha Pig

Migrate 2 - Defensive - Attack ? - Resolution 200 - Mailing List Promo [+2 Attack] for each population. Can’t be attacked by a species with a Deep card.

• A species automatically gets [Attack 1] if its [Attack] would be less than 1. If a species has Frosthaven Piranha Pig, no other traits with [Attack], and 0 population, its [Attack] is still increased to 1.
• If an attacking species with a Deep trait has an effect that allows it to ignore a defensive trait, such as Advanced Eyes, that species can ignore Frosthaven Piranha Pig’s effect and attack it.

Gargantuan

Migrate 4 — Can't forage — Attack 9 — Resolution 39

Can't attack a species unless that species has at least 7 population. Ignores “can't be attacked” effects.

• “Can't attack” effects on the attacker are different from “can't be attacked” effects on the target. Gargantuan’s second ability doesn’t cancel out its first.
• Ignoring “can't be attacked” effects won’t ignore other effects of defensive traits, such as [Defense] or effects triggered by the attack.

Gene Transfer

Migrate 1 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 40

May have 2 extra traits. Before your feeding phase, may swap Surface traits for traits on one of your adjacent species.

• Only Surface traits can be swapped from the species with Gene Transfer onto the other species. The traits swapped onto Gene Transfer from the other species can be Surface or Deep traits. You can’t swap Gene Transfer onto another species this way.
• You can make multiple swaps when the Gene Transfer trigger resolves. Treat the swaps as if they occurred simultaneously, even if you make your choices and physically swap the cards one at a time. Remember that the species with Gene Transfer can’t give Deep traits in the swap, but it can receive them.
• Swapping a trait to another species counts as removing it. You can’t use Gene Transfer to swap traits that can't be removed, such as Cthulhu Leech or Vestigial Limb.
• Swapping a trait onto a species doesn’t count as playing or evolving it. For example, if you swap a defensive trait onto a species while the Protective Growth scenario is active, that species won’t gain 2.
• Copies of traits created by traits like Intelligence can’t be swapped to or from a species. Only traits on actual cards can be swapped.
• A trait that’s already been swapped before this feeding phase, from an effect like Atavism or a second Gene Transfer, can be swapped again with Gene Transfer. Since both Atavism and Gene Transfer trigger before your feeding phase, you can arrange those triggers how you like.

Gentle Giant

Migrate 2 — Defensive — Forage 3 — Can't attack — Resolution 41

Can't be attacked. May store 5 extra population on the species board.

• There are currently no clarifications for Gentle Giant.

Giant Cephalopod

Migrate 3 — Resolution 42

May feed 3 additional times.

• A species with Giant Cephalopod doesn’t have to use all of its additional feedings. It may feed just 1 or 2 additional times if you want.

Gigantic Brain

Migrate 4 — Resolution 43

May have any number of traits. Ages population equal to the number of traits it has. Other effects may never change this amount.

• Errata: Some printings have the word “reduce” instead of “change”.
• A species with Gigantic Brain always ages population equal to the number of traits it has. This amount can’t be changed by anything that alters a species’ aging rate: scenarios, the Cambrian Explosion, game rules, other traits, or anything else. This includes effects that increase aging (Schooling, Inhospitable Environment, Warm-Blooded, etc.) and effects that decrease it (Slow Metabolism, Hibernating, etc.).
• A species with Gigantic Brain can still have traits that change its aging rate (like Schooling). The effects that modify its aging won’t do anything, but any other effects of those traits still apply.
• It’s still possible for a species with Gigantic Brain to age less population than required if it doesn’t have enough population to age the full amount. It will probably go extinct as a result.
• The effect of Telomere Repair doesn’t change how much population a species needs to age. It simply makes that amount irrelevant. If a species with Telomere Repair also has Gigantic Brain, it won’t score any population during aging.
• Copies of traits created by traits like Intelligence, Hybridization, and Mimicry count towards Gigantic Brain’s effect.

Gigantic Scavenger

Migrate 4 — Can't forage — Attack 6 — Resolution 44

After a species with [Attack 5] or more attacks, takes 2 population from that species.

• When Gigantic Scavenger takes population from an attacker, the attacker is considered to have lost population “due to an attack” for traits that care about that. This is because Gigantic Scavenger’s effect is specifically triggered by attacking.
• Species can’t take from themselves. If Gigantic Scavenger attacks with at least [Attack 5], its effect doesn’t trigger and it won’t take or lose any of its own population.
• The effect of Gigantic Scavenger isn’t considered leeching, since it doesn’t use the specific word “leech”. It’s just taking from another species.

Go Fish

Migrate 1 — Event — Resolution 100 — Bundle #2

Name a Surface trait. Everyone gives you all copies of that trait from their hand. Play every card you get.

• Event cards are another kind of Deep card. They have one-time effects, and are then removed from the game. Like other Deep cards, event cards have a cost equal to their migrate number. The rules section has further details about how events work.
• You can choose any Surface trait, whether or not you have any copies of that trait in your hand. If you already have copies of that Surface trait in your hand, treat them as if you gave them to yourself. You can, and must, play them as part of the effect of Go Fish.
• The cards played with Go Fish are played as part of the same action as Go Fish. You can play them as traits to evolve species or use them to migrate, just as you would normally. You must play all the cards you get, as well as any cards with the chosen name that you already had.
• Go Fish only lets you get and play Surface traits. You won’t get the Deep version of the Surface trait you named, even if another player has it. You can’t play the Deep version of the Surface trait you named, even if you already had it in your hand.
• Players have to give you all the copies of the named trait they have in their hands, and you have to play any copies of the named trait that you already had in your hand. Secretly keeping a copy of the named trait in your hand is cheating. Dealing with cheating is currently beyond the scope of this document; consult your playgroup and local laws for guidance.

Goethite Exoskeleton

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Resolution 45

May have 1 extra trait. Can't be attacked by a species with less than [Attack 9].

• If the attacker has Bubble Net, Goethite Exoskeleton checks the attacker’s [Forage] instead of its [Attack] when determining if it can attack.
• Goethite Exoskeleton doesn’t reduce the amount of population taken by an attacker. If an attacker has [Attack 9], it still takes 9 population.

Grazer

Migrate 1 — Resolution 46

Before your feeding phase, takes 2 population from the Reef.

• If there is only 1 population in the Reef, Grazer just takes 1. If there is no population in the Reef, Grazer’s effect does nothing.

Great Migration

Migrate 1 — Event — Resolution 101 — Bundle #2

Migrate up to 10 population from the Ocean or the Reef. You may rearrange the order of your species boards.

• Event cards are another kind of Deep card. They have one-time effects, and are then removed from the game. Like other Deep cards, event cards have a cost equal to their migrate number. The rules section has further details about how events work.
• You have to migrate at least 1 population. You can’t choose to migrate 0 population.
• The population that is migrated must all come from the same place and go to the same place. You can’t take some population from the Reef and some from the Ocean, or from two Ocean zones.
• The species boards that you rearrange keep their traits and population when they’re moved.

Hard Shell

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Defense 6 — Resolution 47

• There are currently no clarifications for Hard Shell.

Hibernating

Migrate 3 — Defensive (upside down text only) — Resolution 102 — Bundle #2

[Right side up]: May feed 2 additional times. After aging, you may rotate this card. [Upside down]: Aging -1. Can't feed or be attacked. After aging, you may rotate this card.

• Hibernating has two text boxes in one, representing two different states that the trait can be in. The card is played with the card name right-side up and the migrate number in the bottom left corner, like any other trait. When the text says “rotate”, that means to rotate the card 180 degrees so that the other text box is right-side up. Whichever text is right-side up at any given moment is the text box that has an effect. The other text box is simply disregarded entirely.
• Hibernating only counts as a defensive trait if the “upside-down” text box is in effect.
• The “Aging -1” effect can’t reduce a species’ aging rate below 0.
• If a species with Hibernating ages nothing, because of an effect like Slow Metabolism or Telomere Repair, it still counts as having gone through aging. You can rotate Hibernating after it would have aged.
• You may rotate Hibernating after each time the species would age. If it would age multiple times in one aging phase from the effect of Degenerative Virus, you may choose to rotate it after each time.
• “Can't feed” is shorthand for “can't attack or forage”. This includes attacks made outside of a usual feeding turn from effects like Burrower.
• If a species creates a copy of Hibernating with an effect like Hybridization, the copy is created “right-side up” as if it were just played, regardless of the state of the trait that’s being copied. A copy of Hibernating can be rotated independently of the original trait it’s copying. (A physical marker may be useful as a memory aid.)

Hybridization

Migrate 5 — Left arrow — Resolution 103 — Kickstarter Promo

Has a copy of each trait of the species to its left.

• Errata: Some printings of Hybridization have a resolution number of 3 instead of 103.
• Hybridization has an effect that creates copies of traits. These copies don’t have to be represented by a physical card. The species just has the effects of those traits as if the physical card were next to its species board.
• Copies of traits have all the characteristics printed on the original trait card. They’re treated just like ordinary traits, with a few exceptions. They don’t count towards a species’ trait limit. They can’t be copied. They can’t be swapped or discarded from the species they’re on. They disappear if the trait that made them is lost. The rules section has further details about how copies of traits work.
• Hybridization copies both Deep and Surface traits. It can copy traits from an opponent’s species.
• The copy ability of Hybridization isn’t optional. You don’t get to pick which traits to copy. It copies all the traits on the adjacent species (except for other copies), even if having copies of those traits would be inconvenient.
• The copies created by Hybridization exist as soon as the original trait is played onto the adjacent species, and stop existing as soon as the original trait is removed.
• When Hybridization creates a copy of a trait, that trait isn’t considered to have been played on that species. It just begins to exist. Effects that trigger when a trait is played won’t trigger from the creation of the copy, although they may trigger from the playing of the original trait.

Hydra

Migrate 4 — Can't forage — Attack 4 — Resolution 48

When attacking, may also take 1 population from any number of species without a defensive trait.

• When attacking, Hydra can’t target a species if it can’t take at least 1 population from that target, even if it could take other population during the attack.
• Species that don’t have defensive traits of their own but have [Defense] from some other source, such as an adjacent species with Poisonous Inking or an active Protective Shells scenario, still count as having a defensive trait for the purposes of Hydra. Hydra can’t take 1 population from those species when attacking unless it has some way to ignore the [Defense].
• A defensive trait is still a defensive trait even if it’s currently not doing anything defensive. For example, a Hydra can’t take 1 population from a species with Transparent even if the Reef is empty, unless it has some way to ignore Transparent entirely.
• If a defensive trait has no other effects besides providing [Defense], like Hard Shell, then Crushing Jaw causes that trait to be ignored entirely. For example, a species with Hydra and Crushing Jaw would be able to take 1 population from a species whose only defensive trait was Hard Shell.
• Hydra can’t take more population from other species than it has room for on its species board.
• The additional population that Hydra takes while attacking are counted as losses “due to an attack” for traits that care about that.
• When Hydra takes population from other species during an attack, those other species aren’t counted as having been attacked. Only the actual target has been attacked.

Impostor Cleaner

Migrate 1 — Resolution 49

After Shark Cleaners gain, takes 1 population from each of them.

Migrate 1 — Resolution 50

After Whale Cleaners gain, takes 1 population from each of them.

• Errata: Some printings of the Shark Cleaner version are missing the word “from”.
• There are two versions of Impostor Cleaner in the base game. One takes from Shark Cleaners and the other takes from Whale Cleaners. They both work the same way, except for which type of “Cleaner” trait they apply to.
• Earlier versions of this reference guide said that Impostor Cleaner took population “during” the gain, rather than being triggered by the gain. The effect of Impostor Cleaner has now been changed to work like other triggers.
• Species can’t take from themselves. Impostor Cleaner doesn’t trigger from Shark/Whale Cleaners on the same species.
• Impostor Cleaner is triggered by any trait named Shark Cleaner or Whale Cleaner, as appropriate. This includes the Deep versions of Shark Cleaner or Whale Cleaner.
• Impostor Cleaner refers specifically to traits named Shark Cleaner or Whale Cleaner, not simply any species with Shark Cleaner or Whale Cleaner. If a species with Shark/Whale Cleaner has another trait that triggers, but the Shark/Whale Cleaner trait itself doesn’t gain, Impostor Cleaner doesn’t trigger.
• If a Shark/Whale Cleaner trait gains for some other reason besides its printed text, Impostor Cleaner still triggers. For example, if the Population Explosion scenario event is triggered, each Shark/Whale Cleaner triggers, and the relevant Impostor Cleaner is triggered in turn.
• If a Shark/Whale Cleaner would trigger but can’t gain (most likely because it has no more room on its species board), then it doesn’t gain and Impostor Cleaner isn’t triggered.
• If a Shark Cleaner is triggered by an attack, and the Shark Cleaner version of Impostor Cleaner takes 1 population from that Shark Cleaner, that counts as the Shark Cleaner losing population “due to an attack” for traits that care about that.

Inking

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Defense 4 — Resolution 51

Species lose 3 population to the Reef after attacking this species.

• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Inking causes attackers to lose 3 population to the Reef after attacking the species with Inking. The losses caused by Inking are considered to be “due to an attack” for traits that care about that.
• The Deep version of Inking does not count as a Surface trait.

Intelligence

Migrate 2 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 104 — Kickstarter Promo

Before each feeding phase, choose a Surface trait on an adjacent species. Until the end of the turn, this species has a copy of the chosen trait.

• Errata: Some printings of Intelligence have a resolution number of 4 instead of 104.
• Intelligence has an effect that creates copies of traits. These copies don’t have to be represented by a physical card. The species just has the effects of those traits as if the physical card were next to its species board.
• Copies of traits have all the characteristics printed on the original trait card. They’re treated just like ordinary traits, with a few exceptions. They don’t count towards a species’ trait limit. They can’t be copied. They can’t be swapped or discarded from the species they’re on. They disappear if the trait that made them is lost. The rules section has further details about how copies of traits work.
• The copy ability of Intelligence isn’t optional. You have to copy an adjacent species’ Surface trait if one is available, even if all your options are inconvenient. If neither adjacent species has a Surface trait, then Intelligence doesn’t make any copies at all.
• Each Surface trait has a Deep version. Intelligence can only copy the Surface versions of those traits; it can’t copy Deep traits.
• When Intelligence creates a copy of a trait, that trait isn’t considered to have been played on that species. It just begins to exist. Effects that trigger when a trait is played won’t trigger from the creation of the copy.
• The copies created by Intelligence exist as soon as the trigger resolves, and stop existing as soon as the current turn ends. If the original trait is somehow removed from the adjacent species while Intelligence is still copying it, the copy persists until the end of the current turn.
• When the Intelligence trigger resolves on your turn, it’s still before your feeding phase. If your Intelligence copies a Parasitic on your turn, its trigger goes off as soon as the copy of Parasitic begins to exist. You can arrange that trigger along with your other unresolved “before your feeding phase” triggers. The copy of Parasitic still triggers even if the original Parasitic trait has already triggered before this feeding phase.

Invasive Predator

Migrate 3 — Resolution 105 — Kickstarter Promo

Species attacked by this species go extinct if they have 0 population at the end of this feeding phase. This trait doesn’t trigger the turn it is played.

• Errata: Some printings of Invasive Predator have a resolution number of 5 instead of 105.
• Species attacked by Invasive Predator don’t go extinct until the end of that feeding phase, and only if they have 0 population. If a species can increase its population before the feeding phase ends, it won’t go extinct.
• A species that was attacked by Invasive Predator and that has 0 population at the end of the feeding phase still goes extinct, even if the attack from Invasive Predator isn’t what caused it to have 0 population.
• If a species with Invasive Predator attacks during another player’s feeding phase (for example, with Burrower), its effect still triggers.
• If the attacker somehow loses Invasive Predator before the feeding phase ends, its effect still applies, and attacked species with 0 population still go extinct.
• If there are multiple effects that would take place at the end of a feeding phase (for example, if both Electric Discharge and Invasive Predator had been used), those effects resolve in the usual order: turn order of the trait owners, then each player arranges their own effects.
• Swapping a trait or creating a copy of a trait doesn’t count as playing it. If you swap Invasive Predator onto a species using Rapid Mutation, or copy it with an effect like Mimicry, then the effect of Invasive Predator will apply on that turn.

Kleptoparasitic

Migrate 2 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 52

Aging +2. After an adjacent species attacks, takes 1 population from that species.

• When Kleptoparasitic takes population from an attacker, the attacker is considered to have lost population “due to an attack” for traits that care about that. This is because Kleptoparasitic’s effect is specifically triggered by attacking.
• The effect of Kleptoparasitic isn’t considered leeching, since it doesn’t use the specific word “leech”. It’s just taking from another species.
• Kleptoparasitic is not a leeching trait and doesn’t count as a trait named Parasitic.

Leviathan

Migrate 3 — Defensive — Can't forage — Attack 5 — Resolution 53

Aging +1. Can't be attacked.

• There are currently no clarifications for Leviathan.

Living Ecosystem

Migrate 1 — Forage 2 — Resolution 54

Before your feeding phase, migrate population equal to this species’ [Forage] from any Ocean zone to the Reef.

• The effect of Living Ecosystem counts as population being migrated to the Reef for the effect of Zooplankton. It doesn’t count as a migrate action for the purposes of the Detritus scenario.
• If the species with Living Ecosystem also has Colossus, it still has to migrate the full amount of its forage value. Colossus’ effect doesn’t apply because the species isn’t taking the population.
• Migrating from the Ocean with Living Ecosystem follows the usual rules for migrating from the Ocean. If you migrate from an Ocean zone that has less population than Living Ecosystem’s [Forage], then you take the remainder from the first Ocean zone that has population.

Luminous Bacteria

Migrate 1 — Resolution 55

May have 1 extra trait. May forage from any Ocean zone.

• Luminous Bacteria doesn’t prevent the species from foraging from the Reef.
• The reserve bag is not an Ocean zone. Luminous Bacteria doesn’t allow species to forage from there. After the reserve tokens are placed into the Ocean, a species with Luminous Bacteria can forage from them.
• When a species forages from the Ocean, if the chosen Ocean zone has less population than the species would forage, it takes the remainder of its forage from the first Ocean zone that has population. (This is a change from previous rulings.) For example, if a species with [Forage 5] forages from an Ocean zone that only has 3 population, it takes the 3 population from that zone, and then takes 2 more population from the first Ocean zone that still has population. If the foraging species takes the last population from the Ocean, the reserve tokens are immediately placed into the final Ocean zone. If necessary, the foraging species completes its forage from the reserve tokens.
• If a species that can forage from the Ocean forages from the Reef, and the Reef has less population than that species' [Forage], that species won't take the remainder from the Ocean. You only take the remainder from the next Ocean zone if your forage started in the Ocean.
• This trait is mostly redundant with the Long Haul Migration scenario. If that scenario is active, there’s no special cumulative bonus to having Luminous Bacteria also.

Massive Fins

Migrate 3 — Forage 8 — Can't attack — Resolution 56

After this species forages, every Parasitic leeches 1 from it. May forage from any Ocean zone.

• Errata: Some printings have “When this species forages” instead of the correct “After”.
• Massive Fins doesn’t prevent the species from foraging from the Reef.
• The reserve bag is not an Ocean zone. Massive Fins doesn’t allow species to forage from there. After the reserve tokens are placed into the Ocean, a species with Massive Fins can forage from them.
• When a species forages from the Ocean, if the chosen Ocean zone has less population than the species would forage, it takes the remainder of its forage from the first Ocean zone that has population. (This is a change from previous rulings.) For example, if a species with [Forage 5] forages from an Ocean zone that only has 3 population, it takes the 3 population from that zone, and then takes 2 more population from the first Ocean zone that still has population. If the foraging species takes the last population from the Ocean, the reserve tokens are immediately placed into the final Ocean zone. If necessary, the foraging species completes its forage from the reserve tokens.
• If a species that can forage from the Ocean forages from the Reef, and the Reef has less population than that species' [Forage], that species won't take the remainder from the Ocean. You only take the remainder from the next Ocean zone if your forage started in the Ocean.
• If a species has multiple Parasitic traits, that species leeches 1 population from Massive Fins multiple times, once for each one of those traits.
• If there are multiple Parasitic traits, they leech in turn order, and each player can arrange the order their own Parasitic traits leech. This can be relevant if there are more Parasitic species in play than there is population on Massive Fins.
• The Deep version of Parasitic also leeches from Massive Fins when it triggers.
• A species can’t leech from itself. If Massive Fins also has Parasitic, that Parasitic doesn’t leech anything.
• After Massive Fins forages, Parasitic traits leech from it before overpopulation is checked. In effect, as long as there is at least one Parasitic that can leech from it, a species with Massive Fins (usually) won’t overpopulate from its own foraging. Megamouth Migrate 1 — Forage 5 — Attack 5 — Resolution 57
• There are currently no clarifications for Megamouth.

Migratory Exodus

Migrate 10 — Event — Resolution 106 — Kickstarter Promo

Pay the cost into another player’s score pile and take one of their species, with population.

• Errata: Some printings of Migratory Exodus have a resolution number of 6 instead of 106.
• Event cards are another kind of Deep card. They have one-time effects, and are then removed from the game. Like other Deep cards, event cards have a cost equal to their migrate number. The rules section has further details about how events work.
• The cost of Migratory Exodus doesn’t go to a Reef or Ocean zone. It goes straight from your score pile to the score pile of the player you’re taking a species from.
• When you take the species, you may put it anywhere in your species line. It keeps its population and traits.
• There is currently no way to prevent a player from taking one of your species with Migratory Exodus, except perhaps by trying to appeal to their better nature.
• If you use Migratory Exodus to take a species with Cthulhu Leech, you don’t gain control of the Cthulhu Leech’s effect. The player who originally played the Cthulhu Leech continues to score from it.

Migratory Filter Feeder

Migrate 5 — Forage 6 — Can't attack — Resolution 58

May store 9 extra population on the species board. May forage from any Ocean zone.

• Migratory Filter Feeder doesn’t prevent the species from foraging from the Reef.
• The reserve bag is not an Ocean zone. Migratory Filter Feeder won’t allow species to forage from there. After the reserve tokens are placed into the Ocean, a species with Migratory Filter Feeder can forage from them.
• When a species forages from the Ocean, if the chosen Ocean zone has less population than the species would forage, it takes the remainder of its forage from the first Ocean zone that has population. (This is a change from previous rulings.) For example, if a species with [Forage 5] forages from an Ocean zone that only has 3 population, it takes the 3 population from that zone, and then takes 2 more population from the first Ocean zone that still has population. If the foraging species takes the last population from the Ocean, the reserve tokens are immediately placed into the final Ocean zone. If necessary, the foraging species completes its forage from the reserve tokens.
• If a species that can forage from the Ocean forages from the Reef, and the Reef has less population than that species' [Forage], that species won't take the remainder from the Ocean. You only take the remainder from the next Ocean zone if your forage started in the Ocean.

Mimicry

Migrate 2 — Resolution 107 — Kickstarter Promo

At the start of each turn, choose a trait in the Gene Pool. Until the end of the turn, this species has a copy of the chosen trait.

• Errata: Some printings of Mimicry have a resolution number of 7 instead of 107.
• Mimicry has an effect that creates copies of traits. These copies don’t have to be represented by a physical card. The species just has the effects of those traits as if the physical card were next to its species board.
• Copies of traits have all the characteristics printed on the original trait card. They’re treated just like ordinary traits, with a few exceptions. They don’t count towards a species’ trait limit. They can’t be copied. They can’t be swapped or discarded from the species they’re on. They disappear if the trait that made them is lost. The rules section has further details about how copies of traits work.
• The copy ability of Mimicry isn’t optional. You have to copy a trait from the Gene Pool, even if all your options are inconvenient.
• Mimicry can only copy Deep traits. It can’t copy Deep events. If all face-up cards in the Gene Pool are Deep events, Mimicry has nothing to copy and no copy is created.
• Mimicry can only copy the top two face-up cards in the Gene Pool. You can’t look through the two piles to find a trait you want to copy.
• The copies created by Mimicry exist as soon as the trigger resolves, and stop existing as soon as the current turn ends. If the original trait is somehow removed from the Gene Pool while Mimicry is still copying it, the copy persists until the end of the current turn.
• When Mimicry creates a copy of a trait, that trait isn’t considered to have been played on that species. It just begins to exist. Effects that trigger when a trait is played won’t trigger from the creation of the copy.
• Mimicry doesn’t trigger until the start of each turn. The turn you play Mimicry, it won’t create a copy of anything.
• If the trait copied by Mimicry is still in the Gene Pool when the current turn ends, you can choose to copy it again when the next turn begins. However, the trait still disappears in between turns. If the trait being copied allowed the species to have extra population or traits, like Dense Population, any extra population or traits above the species’ usual limit have to be discarded when the copy of that trait disappears at the end of the turn.

Mucus Cocoon

Migrate 1 — Resolution 59

Can't be leeched. Before your feeding phase, species with a leeching trait lose 1 population to the Reef.

• If the species with Mucus Cocoon also has a leeching trait, it also loses 1 population to the Reef before your feeding phase.
• Species with multiple leeching traits still only lose 1 population to the Reef.
• A leeching trait is one that allows its species to leech and specifically uses the word “leech”. Despite its name, Cthulhu Leech is not a leeching trait.

Mutualism

Migrate 1 — Gain 1 — Resolution 60

Gains 1 for each Symbiotic that triggers.

• Mutualism triggers as soon as the Symbiotic traits are triggered, not when they resolve. For game purposes, Mutualism is triggered simultaneously with the Symbiotics.
• Mutualism is triggered by each Symbiotic trait that triggers. This includes Symbiotic traits on the same species as well as Symbiotic traits on other species, including opponents’ species.
• Mutualism is triggered by any trait named Symbiotic. This includes the Surface version of Symbiotic as well as the Deep version.
• The trigger of Mutualism refers specifically to traits named Symbiotic, not simply any species with Symbiotic. If a species with Symbiotic has another trait that triggers, but Symbiotic itself doesn’t, Mutualism doesn’t trigger.
• Mutualism triggers a separate time for each Symbiotic trait that triggers, and each of those counts as a separate gain. Effects that modify a species’ gains affect each one individually. For example, if the Abundance scenario is active, a species with Mutualism gains 2 for each Symbiotic that triggers.
• It is possible for Mutualism’s triggers to resolve before the Symbiotics that triggered it in the first place (for example, if the Mutualism is owned by a player who comes earlier in the turn order than the Symbiotics).
• If a Symbiotic triggers for some other reason besides its printed text, Mutualism still triggers. For example, if the Population Explosion scenario event is triggered, Mutualism triggers, each Symbiotic triggers, and those triggers in turn trigger Mutualism again.
• If a Symbiotic would trigger but can’t gain (most likely because it has no more room on its species board), then it doesn’t gain and its trigger doesn’t go off. Mutualism won’t trigger.

Neurotoxin

Migrate 1 — Resolution 61

Species lose 2 population to the Reef after they attack or are attacked by this species.

• The phrasing “after they attack or are attacked by this species” is shorthand for “after they attack this species or are attacked by this species.” If another species attacks a species besides the one with Neurotoxin, it won’t lose population.
• Even though it affects attacks, Neurotoxin doesn’t have a black text box, and it isn’t a defensive trait. It can’t be ignored by effects that ignore defensive traits.
• Neurotoxin doesn’t affect how much population a species takes in an attack. A species can still attack a species with Neurotoxin, even if all the population it takes would be lost to the Reef.
• The losses caused by Neurotoxin are considered to be “due to an attack” for traits that care about that.
• The Neurotoxin trigger is owned by the player who owns the species with Neurotoxin, regardless of whether their species is attacking or being attacked. It resolves in their place in the turn order.

Nomadic

Migrate 1 — Double left + right arrows — Resolution 62 — Bundle #1 Adjacency arrows on this species are extended by 1 species. You choose the target for leeching effects.

• Nomadic’s effect only applies to adjacency arrows on that species and their related effects. It won’t apply to scenarios that care about adjacency. For example, if a species with Nomadic overpopulates while Contagious Proximity is active, only the two directly-adjacent species lose 3 to the Reef.
• Nomadic’s effect isn’t reciprocal. Species that are 2 spaces away trigger traits with adjacency arrows on Nomadic, but the species with Nomadic doesn’t trigger traits with adjacency arrows on species 2 spaces away.
• A species can’t be adjacent to itself, even if its adjacency arrows wrap around the whole ecosystem.
• A species can’t be adjacent to another species more than once. If the ecosystem has 4 or fewer species, it’s possible for another species to be adjacent to the species with Nomadic from both the left and the right. If an adjacency trait on Nomadic would be triggered by another species that’s adjacent to it in both directions, that trigger only goes off once.
• Nomadic doesn’t make a species closer to an attacker or forager for the purposes of Shark Cleaners and Whale Cleaners. For example, say there are 4 species in a row like this:
  • A: Nomadic + Whale Cleaner
  • B: Whale Cleaner
  • C: Filter Feeder
  • D: Whale Cleaner When species C forages, the Whale Cleaners on species B and D trigger, but not the one on species A.
• If a trait on a Nomadic species only has an adjacency arrow in one direction, it doesn’t get an adjacency arrow in the other direction.
• A species with Nomadic and Hybridization has a copy of each trait on both species to its left — the one right next to it and the one 2 spaces away. You don’t have to pick one species to copy from.
• If you’re playing with a personal Deep deck that has multiple copies of Nomadic, its effects are cumulative. A species with two Nomadics is adjacent to all species within 3 spaces, and so on.

Osteodermal Kaiju

Migrate 5 — Defensive — Can't forage — Attack 8 — Defense 8 — Resolution 63 — Bundle #1

Aging +4. Never overpopulates.

• There are currently no clarifications for Osteodermal Kaiju.

Overgrazing

Migrate 3 — Event — Resolution 108 — Kickstarter Promo

Instead of your normal feeding turn, each of your species without [Can't forage] may forage this turn. After your feeding phase, move all population in the Reef to an Ocean zone.

• Errata: Some printings of Overgrazing have a resolution number of 8 instead of 108.
• Event cards are another kind of Deep card. They have one-time effects, and are then removed from the game. Like other Deep cards, event cards have a cost equal to their migrate number. The rules section has further details about how events work.
• Once you’ve replaced your normal feeding turn with an effect like Overgrazing, you can’t use another event like Feeding Frenzy to replace it again. You can only play one “instead of your normal feeding turn” event per turn.
• In between each feeding, triggers resolve, overpopulation is checked, and scenarios are activated or deactivated.
• After your feeding phase, you choose which Ocean zone to move all the population in the Reef into. If there is no population in the Reef after your feeding phase, nothing happens. You don’t have to leave any population in the Reef while your species are foraging.
• Species don’t have to forage from the Reef during Overgrazing if they can forage from other places. Only the Reef loses its population to the Ocean after the feeding phase ends, even if some species foraged from other places. The Reef still loses population even if none of the species that fed foraged from it.
• Species with Tentacled or other traits that allow them to feed additional times may forage additional times during Overgrazing. They can’t use the additional feedings to attack. Species that forage multiple times during Overgrazing have to take their additional feedings consecutively.
• A species that overpopulates from its own feeding turn can't feed again during that turn, but a species that overpopulates during another species' feeding turn (from gains, for example) can still feed later in that turn. If one of your species overpopulates because one of your other species foraged during an Overgrazing, that species can still forage later in the turn.

Pack Hunting

Migrate 1 — Attack x2 — Resolution 64

May have 1 extra trait. Doubles each [Attack] on this species’ traits.

• This effect only doubles the [Attack] of this species’ traits. If another effect is giving this species [Attack], like the Large Predators scenario, that [Attack] won’t be doubled.
• A species automatically gets [Attack 1] if its [Attack] would be less than 1. If a species has Pack Hunting but no other traits with [Attack], its [Attack] is still increased to 1. Pack Hunting doesn’t double it to [Attack 2].
• The [Attack -1] effect of the Snowball Earth scenario applies after the [Attack] is doubled by Pack Hunting. A trait with [Attack 3] is doubled to [Attack 6], and then Snowball Earth reduces it to [Attack 5].

Paralyzing Venom

Migrate 1 — Resolution 109 — Kickstarter Promo

Species attacked by this species can't attack or forage until after their next feeding phase. This trait doesn’t trigger the turn it is played.

• Errata: Some printings of Paralyzing Venom have a resolution number of 9 instead of 109.
• The effect of Paralyzing Venom prevents the attacked species from doing any kind of foraging or attacking, even attacks made outside its usual feeding phase from effects like Bioluminescent Lure.
• The phrase “their next feeding phase” refers to the next feeding phase of the attacked species’ owner, on that player’s next turn. In other words, the species affected by Paralyzing Venom can’t attack or forage on or before its owner’s next turn.
• If a species affected by Paralyzing Venom changes owners while it’s still unable to feed (for example, due to Migratory Exodus), that species’ “next feeding phase” is changed to the next feeding phase of its new owner. It can’t attack or forage on or before its new owner’s next turn.
• Effects that allow additional species to feed in one turn, like Voracious Feeder or Overgrazing, don’t create additional feeding phases. All the species feed as part of one single feeding phase. Each player’s turn has one feeding phase.
• A “can't attack” effect isn’t the same as having a [Can't attack] icon. If a species with Bubble Net is affected by the “can't attack” effect from Paralyzing Venom, it can’t ignore that effect.
• Swapping a trait or creating a copy of a trait doesn’t count as playing it. If you swap Paralyzing Venom onto a species using Rapid Mutation, or copy it with an effect like Mimicry, then the effect of Paralyzing Venom will apply on that turn.

Parasite Cleaner

Migrate 1 — Resolution 65

Before your feeding phase, takes 1 population from every species with a leeching trait.

• A species can’t take from itself. If Parasite Cleaner also has a leeching trait, it won’t take any population from itself.
• If a species has multiple leeching traits, Parasite Cleaner only takes 1 population from it.
• A leeching trait is one that allows its species to leech and specifically uses the word “leech” in its rules text. Despite its name, Cthulhu Leech is not a leeching trait. Parasitic Migrate 1 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 66 Before your feeding phase, leeches 2 from an adjacent species.
• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Parasitic can leech from either adjacent species, not just one. Choose one of those species when the Parasitic trigger resolves.
• You can’t choose to leech from a species with 0 population or that otherwise can't be leeched. If one of the species adjacent to Deep Parasitic can't be leeched, you must leech from the other species, even if you’d prefer not to. If both species adjacent to Deep Parasitic can’t be leeched, then nothing happens.
• The Deep version of Parasitic does not count as a Surface trait, but it does count as a trait named Parasitic. For example, it will take 1 population from a species with Massive Fins after that species forages.

Pathogen Cultivation

Migrate 2 — Can't forage — Attack 5 — Resolution 67

Can't be leeched. Ignores “can't be attacked” effects on species with a leeching trait.

• Ignoring “can't be attacked” effects won’t ignore other effects of defensive traits, such as [Defense] or effects triggered by the attack.
• A leeching trait is one that allows its species to leech and specifically uses the word “leech”. Despite its name, Cthulhu Leech is not a leeching trait.

Poisonous Inking

Migrate 2 — Defensive — Defense 4 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 68

This species and its adjacent species have [Defense 4].

• Errata: The text of this card was updated after the first print run to help clarify it. Both versions of the card work the same.
• Poisonous Inking provides [Defense] to three species: the species it’s on, and the two adjacent species. It can provide [Defense] to an opponent’s species.
• The adjacent species are considered to have a defensive trait for the purposes of attacking. An attacking species that can ignore a defensive trait can ignore the effect of a Poisonous Inking providing [Defense] to its target, even if the species with Poisonous Inking isn’t the actual target.
• A species with Hydra can’t take 1 population from the species adjacent to Poisonous Inking, even if those species don’t have defensive traits of their own, unless it can ignore Poisonous Inking somehow.
• The adjacent species aren’t considered to have a defensive trait for other effects. If Poisonous Inking is played while Protective Growth is active, only the species that actually evolved Poisonous Inking gains 2. The adjacent species don’t gain.

Poisonous Spines

Migrate 1 — Resolution 69

After being attacked, the attacker and each other species that gained from the attack lose 3 population to the Reef.

• The effect of Poisonous Spines applies only once to a given species in a single attack. If the attacker also gained during the attack, it only loses 3 population to the Reef. If a species gains more than once from the attack, it only loses 3 population to the Reef.
• If the species with Poisonous Spines gained from being attacked (for example, with the Regeneration trait), it also loses 3 population to the Reef.
• Even though it’s triggered by attacks, Poisonous Spines doesn’t have a black text box, and it isn’t a defensive trait. It can’t be ignored by effects that ignore defensive traits.
• The trigger from Poisonous Spines resolves slightly differently from other triggers. It won’t resolve until all gains triggered by the attack have resolved, even if those other triggers are for players later in the turn order.
• Poisonous Spines’ effect will apply to species whose gains were triggered by other gains triggered by the attack. For example, if an attack triggers a Shark Cleaner to gain, and that triggers a species with Acute Smell to gain, then both the species with Shark Cleaner and the species with Acute Smell will lose 3 population.
• Poisonous Spines’ effect only applies if the effect uses the word “gain”. A Sedentary Colony triggered by another species gaining from the attack doesn’t lose 3 population, because the effect of Sedentary Colony says it “takes” population.
• If Poisonous Spines causes multiple species to lose population to the Reef, and the order in which they lose population would matter, those species lose population in turn order, and each player can arrange the order their own species lose population to the Reef.
• If a species’ trait would trigger from the attack, but can’t gain (most likely because it has no more room on its species board), then it doesn’t gain from the attack. Poisonous Spines doesn’t cause that species to lose population to the Reef.
• The effect of Poisonous Spines counts as losing population “due to an attack” for traits that care about that.
• Poisonous Spines is triggered by the attack, not by any gains that happen because of it. If a species with Regeneration gains from an attack on a species with Poisonous Spines, it loses 3 population to the Reef due to Poisonous Spines. Then, Regeneration gains 1 again because it lost population due to an attack. This doesn’t create an infinite loop, since Poisonous Spines is triggered by the attack, not by Regeneration triggering again.

Proliferation

Migrate 1 — Event — Resolution 110 — Bundle #2

Take up to 10 population from your score pile and add them to any number of species in play.

• Event cards are another kind of Deep card. They have one-time effects, and are then removed from the game. Like other Deep cards, event cards have a cost equal to their migrate number. The rules section has further details about how events work.
• The migrate number cost of Proliferate is not part of the population that you distribute among species. It still goes to your choice of either the Reef or the Ocean zone, just like paying the cost for any other Deep card.
• You have to distribute at least 1 population from your score pile. You can’t choose to distribute 0 population, even if there were some possible reason you might want to. In other words, you need at least 2 population in your score pile to play this event.
• You may distribute the population from your score pile to any number of species. You can put it all on one species, or give 1 population to up to 10 species, or some other arrangement.
• You may put population on your opponents’ species.
• You may use Proliferate to cause a species to overpopulate. Overpopulation won’t be checked until you’re done placing population on each species.
• If you choose to put population on another player’s species with Sparkles, they can choose to put that population on one of the species adjacent to Sparkles instead. (You can technically also do this if you put population on your own Sparkles, but then why didn’t you put it on the other species to begin with?)

Rapid Mutation

Migrate 1 — Resolution 70

After being attacked, may swap a Deep trait on this species (including this trait) for a trait in the Gene Pool.

• You don’t have to pay for the Deep trait that gets swapped onto the species.
• The trait that’s swapped onto the species won’t be triggered by the attack that triggered Rapid Mutation, since it wasn’t on the species when the attack happened.
• Rapid Mutation can only make a swap with the top two face-up cards in the Gene Pool. You can’t look through the two piles to find a trait you want to swap.
• Even though it’s triggered by attacks, Rapid Mutation doesn’t have a black text box, and it isn’t a defensive trait. It can’t be ignored by effects that ignore defensive traits.
• The trait that’s swapped onto the species from the Gene Pool doesn’t count as having been played on that species.
• If the Gene Pool has traits that can’t be removed from a species, like Cthulhu Leech or Vestigial Limb, they can’t be swapped from the Gene Pool onto the species with Rapid Mutation, even if there’s some reason you might want to.
• If the trait that was swapped back to the Gene Pool still had triggers waiting to resolve, they won’t resolve after that trait is swapped.
• If the Gene Pool contains only Deep events, and no Deep traits, you can’t swap anything to or from the species with Rapid Mutation.
• If the trait that was swapped back to the Gene Pool allowed the species to have extra traits or population, any excess traits are discarded and any excess population is lost to the Reef immediately, before anything else resolves. This loss of excess population isn’t considered overpopulation. If the fishbones space is still filled after excess population is lost, the species will also overpopulate after everything else has resolved.

Regeneration

Migrate 1 — Gain 1 — Resolution 71

May have 1 extra trait. Gains 1 after losing population due to an attack.

• Effects that count as losing population due to an attack include:
  • Being attacked.
  • Having population taken by Hydra during an attack.
  • Losing population due to an effect that triggers specifically from attacking or being attacked. An attacker can lose population due to its own attack.
  • Losing population due to an effect that triggers from another effect that’s triggered due to the attack. In other words, any chain of triggers that started specifically from attacking or being attacked.
• Losses caused by overpopulation, scenarios, or insufficient species board space don’t count as losing population due to an attack, even if an attack caused that species to have too much population or that scenario to be activated.
• If a species with Regeneration loses population due to its own attack, it gains 1 after that.
• Regeneration triggers once for each effect that causes that species to lose population due to an attack.
• If the species with Regeneration also has Poisonous Spines, when it’s attacked, it loses population to the attack, gains 1 for Regeneration from the attack, loses 3 population to the Reef after gaining, and then gains 1 for Regeneration again.
• The effect of Poisonous Spines counts as losing population due to an attack. If a species with Regeneration gains from an attack on a species with Poisonous Spines, it loses 3 population to the Reef due to Poisonous Spines. Then, Regeneration gains 1. This doesn’t create an infinite loop, since Poisonous Spines is triggered by the attack, not by Regeneration triggering again.
• Triggers resolve in turn order. If Regeneration triggers while there are other triggers waiting to resolve, it may resolve before those earlier triggers if its controller comes earlier in the turn order.

Rows of Teeth

Migrate 1 — Attack 3 — Resolution 72

When attacking, Bottom Feeders and Shark Cleaners that gain take an additional population.

• The effect of Rows of Teeth also applies to the Deep versions of Bottom Feeder and Shark Cleaner.
• The 1 extra population is taken at the same time as the gain from the same source as the gain.
• Rows of Teeth doesn’t modify the actual gain value itself. Effects that modify the gain value directly, like Communication, won’t double the 2 extra population. For example, a species with Surface Bottom Feeder and Communication takes 5 population when an adjacent species is attacked by a species with Rows of Teeth. Bottom Feeder’s gain 2 is doubled to gain 4 by Communication, and then it takes 1 more population with Rows of Teeth.

Scavenger

Migrate 1 — Gain 1 — Resolution 73

Gains 1 after a species loses 2 or more population due to an attack.

• Effects that count as losing population due to an attack include:
  • Being attacked.
  • Having population taken by Hydra during an attack.
  • Losing population due to an effect that triggers specifically from attacking or being attacked. An attacker can lose population due to its own attack.
  • Losing population due to an effect that triggers from another effect that’s triggered due to the attack. In other words, any chain of triggers that started specifically from attacking or being attacked.
• Losses caused by overpopulation, scenarios, or insufficient species board space don’t count as losing population due to an attack, even if an attack caused that species to have too much population or that scenario to be activated.
• Scavenger triggers if a species loses 2 or more population at once from a single effect due to an attack. If a species loses 1 population from one effect and then 1 population from a second effect, Scavenger doesn’t trigger, even if the second effect has the same trigger as the first or was triggered by the first.
• If the species with Scavenger loses 2 or more population due to an attack, it triggers its own Scavenger and gains 2.
• Triggers resolve in turn order. If Scavenger triggers while there are other triggers waiting to resolve, it may resolve before those earlier triggers if its controller comes earlier in the turn order. Schooling Migrate 2 — Defensive — Resolution 74 Aging +3. Can't be attacked if this species has 5 or more population.
• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Schooling increases its species’ aging rate by +3 instead of just +1.
• The Deep version of Schooling does not count as a Surface trait, but it does count as a trait named Schooling. For example, a species with Tail Whip takes 1 population from a species with Deep Schooling before its feeding phase.

Sea Rex

Migrate 2 — Can't forage — Attack 4 — Resolution 75

Aging +2

• There are currently no clarifications for Sea Rex.

Sea Wyrm

Migrate 4 — Can't forage — Attack 11 — Resolution 76 — Bundle #1

Scores population from attacks that do not fit on the species board before overpopulating.

• The fishbones space on the species board is still counted when determining how much population can fit on Sea Wyrm’s species board.
• Sea Wyrm creates an exception to the rule that a species can't take more population than open spaces on its species board. The excess goes to your score pile instead. This only applies to population taken in attacks. When a Sea Wyrm gains, leeches, or takes population some other way, any excess won’t be scored or taken.
• If a Sea Wyrm also has Hydra, the population taken from other species is counted as being taken in the attack. Any excess can be scored.
• A species can't attack if it doesn’t have at least 1 empty space on its species board. If a Sea Wyrm has a full species board, it can’t attack at all, even if the population would end up someplace besides its species board.
• If a species with Sea Wyrm can’t overpopulate, its effect still applies.

Sedentary Colony

Migrate 2 — Defensive — Can't forage — Can't attack — Left + right arrows — Resolution 77

Can't be attacked. Takes 1 population from any Ocean zone when an adjacent species gains.

• Sedentary Colony only triggers when an adjacent species gains. If the effect doesn’t use the word “gain”, Sedentary Colony doesn’t trigger.
• The adjacent species has to actually take population while gaining in order for Sedentary Colony to trigger. If a trait on an adjacent species would trigger but can’t gain (most likely because it has no more room on its species board), then it doesn’t gain and Sedentary Colony won’t take any population.
• If a species with Sedentary Colony is attacked by a species that can ignore Sedentary Colony, the species with Sedentary Colony still takes 1 population if an adjacent species gains from that attack.
• Sedentary Colony is triggered by each individual gain on an adjacent species. If an adjacent species has multiple gains that are triggered at the same time, Sedentary Colony takes 1 population for each of those gains. Shark Cleaner Migrate 1 — Gain 3 — Resolution 78 After a species with [Attack 3] or more attacks, gains 3 if this is the closest Shark Cleaner on either side.
• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Shark Cleaner gains an additional population when it triggers.
• The Deep version of Shark Cleaner does not count as a Surface trait, but it does count as a trait named Shark Cleaner. When it triggers, it triggers traits like Acute Smell. When Surface Shark Cleaners check to see if they’re the closest Shark Cleaner on either side of an attacker, they take the Deep Shark Cleaner into account.

Slow Metabolism

Migrate 1 — Resolution 79

May have 2 extra traits. May age 0.

• If you choose to have a species with Slow Metabolism age 0, it still counts as going through aging. Effects that care about aging, like Cthulhu Leech or Fast Life Cycle, still trigger.
• The effect of Slow Metabolism is all-or-nothing. You can’t choose to partially age or to ignore some aging effects but not others. Slow Metabolism can’t alter the aging from Gigantic Brain, so a species with Slow Metabolism and Gigantic Brain will always age population equal to the number of traits it has.
• A species with Slow Metabolism can also have Fast Metabolism. Such a species could essentially choose whether or not to age during any aging phase.

Sparkles

Migrate 2 — Can't attack — Left + right arrows — Resolution 111 — Kickstarter Promo

When taking population, distribute it between this species and adjacent species. Sharing is caring!

• Errata: Some printings of Sparkles have a resolution number of 10 instead of 111.
• When Sparkles takes population, you may distribute it any way you like between Sparkles and the adjacent species. For example, you may choose to put all of the taken population onto one or both adjacent species and none on Sparkles. (How generous!) You may also choose to put all of the taken population on Sparkles and none on the adjacent species. (How selfish!)
• Sparkles’ effect only applies when Sparkles is doing the taking. If one of the species adjacent to Sparkles takes population, it won’t be shared.
• If one of the adjacent species belongs to another player, you can still put population on it.
• Sparkles is still considered to be taking the population even if it ends up in a different place. Sparkles can still forage or attack as long as at least 1 population would be taken, even if Sparkles itself doesn’t end up with any of that population. (Normally, Sparkles can’t attack, but Bubble Net exists.) If Sparkles also has Bubble Net and Cavitation Bullet, it can’t take more than 2 population from an attack, even if it keeps none of that population for itself.
• A species can't forage or attack if it doesn’t have at least 1 empty space on its species board. If Sparkles has a full species board, it can’t forage or attack at all, even if all of the population would end up someplace besides its species board.
• Sparkles doesn’t lose the population that’s shared with the adjacent species. It was never Sparkles’ population to begin with. It just goes straight from wherever it came from to the adjacent species boards.
• Sparkles’ effect still applies even if the action didn’t use the specific verb “take”. Any effect that would put population onto Sparkles’ species board counts as Sparkles taking population. This includes foraging, attacking, gaining, leeching, the Proliferation event, or even a second Sparkles sharing with the first.
• If Sparkles shares taken population with adjacent species, those species aren’t considered to have foraged, attacked, gained, leeched, and so on, even if that’s how Sparkles initially took the population. If Sparkles attacks with Bubble Net and shares the population with an adjacent species that has Cavitation Bullet, the species with Cavitation Bullet can take more than 2 population.
• If Sparkles takes population from one of the adjacent species (for example, by leeching or with Bubble Net), it may put it back onto that species as it takes it. Traits that care if population is lost still trigger, even though the taken population ends up back where it starts.

Speed

Migrate 2 — Defensive — Forage 3 — Attack 3 — Defense 3 — Resolution 80

May have 1 extra trait.

• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Speed has an additional point of [Forage], [Attack], and [Defense].
• The Deep version of Speed does not count as a Surface trait, but it does count as a trait named Speed. For example, a species with Deep Speed may attack a species with Flight.

Swarming

Migrate 1 — Attack ? — Resolution 81

Never overpopulates. [Attack +1] for each population.

• A species automatically gets [Attack 1] if its [Attack] would be less than 1. If a species has Swarming, no other traits with [Attack], and 0 population, its [Attack] is still increased to 1.

Symbiotic

Migrate 1 — Gain 1 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 82

Gains 1 when an adjacent species forages or attacks.

• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Symbiotic is triggered by both adjacent species, not just one.
• The Deep version of Symbiotic does not count as a Surface trait, but it does count as a trait named Symbiotic. When it triggers, it will trigger traits like Mutualism.

Tail Whip

Migrate 1 — Resolution 83

Before your feeding phase, takes 1 population from each species with Schooling.

• Tail Whip counts the Deep version of Schooling as well as the Surface versions.
• If a species has multiple Schooling traits, Tail Whip only takes 1 population from it.
• Species can’t take from themselves. If Tail Whip also has Schooling, it doesn’t take population from itself.
• The effect of Tail Whip isn’t considered leeching, since it doesn’t use the specific word “leech”. It’s just taking from another species.

Telomere Repair

Migrate 1 — Gain 2 — Resolution 84

Gains 2 before aging. Does not score during aging.

• A species with Telomere Repair doesn’t score any population when it ages. It doesn’t lose population at all when aging, either to its owner’s score pile or anywhere else. It still counts as having gone through aging for effects that care about that, such as its first ability.
• A species with Telomere Repair doesn’t lose any population during aging, so extinction isn’t checked for it. It won’t go extinct if it has less population than it otherwise would have aged. A species with Telomere Repair can still go extinct from other effects, such as overpopulating while Epizootic is active.
• If Cthulhu Leech is on a species with Telomere Repair, Cthulhu Leech still triggers before the species with Telomere Repair would age. The Cthulhu Leech effect and the Telomere Repair gain 2 effect trigger at the same time, and they resolve in the usual order (turn order, then each player orders their own). The Cthulhu Leech trigger is controlled by the player who played it, not the player who owns the species it’s on.
• The effect of Telomere Repair doesn’t reduce how much population a species needs to age. It simply makes that amount irrelevant. If a species with Telomere Repair also has Gigantic Brain, it won’t score any population during aging.
• A species with Telomere Repair can still score in other ways besides aging. Notably, Telomere Repair doesn’t prevent the effect of Fast Life Cycle from scoring population, since Fast Life Cycle’s effect isn’t aging.

Tentacle Leech

Migrate 1 — Resolution 85

Before your feeding phase, leeches 2 from a species with a Deep trait.

• A species can’t leech from itself. If Tentacle Leech is the only species in play with a Deep trait, nothing happens and nothing is leeched.
• If a species has multiple Deep traits, Tentacle Leech still only leeches 2 from it.

Tentacled

Migrate 2 — Resolution 86

May feed 2 additional times.

• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Tentacled allows a species to feed 2 additional times, not just 1.
• The Deep version of Tentacled does not count as a Surface trait.
• A species with the Deep version of Tentacled doesn’t have to use all of its additional feedings. It may feed just 1 additional time if you want.

The Kraken

Migrate 5 — Can't forage — Attack 13 — Resolution 87

Ignores “can't be attacked” effects on species with at least [Forage 5] or [Attack 5]. May attack 2 additional times.

• The Kraken, on its own, doesn’t allow the species to store extra population on its species board and it doesn’t prevent overpopulation. You need other traits to get the full use of that [Attack 13].
• A species with The Kraken doesn’t have to use all of its additional attacks. It may attack just 1 additional time if you want.
• Ignoring “can't be attacked” effects won’t ignore other effects of defensive traits, such as [Defense] or effects triggered by the attack.
• Multiple “ignore” effects that affect the same event are checked simultaneously, before anything is ignored. If The Kraken has other traits that allow it to ignore defensive traits that provide [Attack] or [Forage], those traits’ [Attack] and [Forage] are still taken into account when checking The Kraken’s effect.
• [Can't attack] and [Can't forage] icons don’t change a species’ [Attack] or [Forage]. A species that can’t attack or forage still has at least [Attack 1] and [Forage 1]. It’s possible for a species that can’t attack or forage to still have an increased [Attack] or [Forage] from traits like Speed or Megamouth. These are still taken into account when checking The Kraken’s effect.

Tiny

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Resolution 88

Can't be attacked by a species with [Attack 2] or greater. Discard this trait if its [Forage] or [Attack] is greater than 2.

• Tiny will be discarded immediately when its [Attack] or [Forage] becomes greater than 2, for any reason. It will be discarded before any effects trigger or resolve.
• Tiny isn’t discarded if its species has a [Attack] or [Forage] of exactly 2, only greater than 2.
• Deep traits don’t go to the discard pile. They’re removed from the game instead. When Tiny is discarded, it’s removed from the game.
• Copies of traits, like those created by Mimicry or Hybridization, can never be discarded. If a species with a copy of Tiny ends up with [Attack] or [Forage] greater than 2, that copy of Tiny simply isn’t discarded.

Transparent

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Resolution 89

Can't be attacked or leeched if there is population in the Reef. Ignores “can't be attacked” effects on Deep traits.

• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Transparent ignores “can't be attacked” effects on Deep traits.
• Ignoring “can't be attacked” effects won’t ignore other effects of defensive traits, such as [Defense] or effects triggered by the attack.

Tusks

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Forage 2 — Attack 2 — Defense 5 — Resolution 90

• There are currently no clarifications for Tusks.

Vestigial Limb

Migrate 1 — Resolution 91

Play on another player’s species. It counts as a trait and can't be removed. Play another trait after playing this one.

• Vestigial Limb does nothing to the species it’s played on except use up a trait slot.
• Vestigial Limb still counts towards the trait limit of the species it’s played on. It can’t be played on a species that’s at its maximum number of traits.
• Vestigial Limb can’t be discarded, swapped, or otherwise removed from the species it’s on. It is still discarded if that species goes extinct, and is still shuffled with other traits from the effects of Radiation Blast.
• After playing Vestigial Limb, play another trait. This isn’t optional. This doesn’t cost another action, though you still have to pay for Deep traits. You can’t play an event or discard a card to migrate. If you somehow have no trait you can play, you simply do nothing else. The additional trait is played onto one of your own species, not the species you played Vestigial Limb onto.
• If the Thermal Currents scenario is active, you can play the additional trait from the Gene Pool.
• If you play the additional trait onto a species with Abyss Dweller, you don’t have to pay for it if it’s a Deep trait.
• The “play another trait” effect only happens if you actually play Vestigial Limb onto a species. If Vestigial Limb ends up on a species some way other than being played (such as if it’s copied, or if it ends up there after a Radiation Blast), then nobody plays another trait.
• A copy of Vestigial Limb can still disappear in the usual ways that a copy can disappear:
  • If the trait that created the copy is removed.
  • If it was created by Mimicry and the turn ends.
  • If it was created by Hybridization and the adjacent species with Vestigial Limb stops being adjacent (such as by going extinct or being moved somewhere else with an effect like Great Migration).

Voracious Feeder

Migrate 1 — Resolution 92

May feed in addition to your normal feeding turn if you have played another trait on it this turn.

• The extra feeding turn for Voracious Feeder lets you feed two species during your feeding phase. The extra feeding turn is optional. It takes place after your normal feeding turn is finished. It still takes place even if Voracious Feeder also fed during your normal feeding turn. If Voracious Feeder can feed additional times because of a trait like Tentacled, it can take additional extra feeding turns.
• A species that overpopulates from its own feeding turn can't feed again during that turn, but a species that overpopulates during another species' feeding turn (from gains, for example) can still feed later in that turn. If the species with Voracious Feeder overpopulated earlier in the turn from another species’ feeding, it can still use Voracious Feeder to make another feeding.
• Playing Voracious Feeder itself doesn’t satisfy its own condition. You have to play another trait on the species with Voracious Feeder.
• If you played another trait on this species this turn, but before it had Voracious Feeder, it still satisfies Voracious Feeder’s condition. It can take an extra feeding turn.
• If you played another trait on this species this turn, but it was somehow removed before Voracious Feeder would take its extra feeding turn, it still satisfies Voracious Feeder’s condition. It can take an extra feeding turn.
• The Voracious Feeder trait only gives one extra feeding turn, even if you played more than one other trait on that species this turn.
• If there are somehow multiple copies of Voracious Feeder on a single species, then each one can give one extra feeding turn. A single other trait played on it this turn will satisfy the conditions for all the copies at once. Playing a second copy of Voracious Feeder will satisfy the condition for the first copy of Voracious Feeder.
• If your normal feeding turn is replaced with an effect like Feeding Frenzy, Voracious Feeder can still feed afterwards as long as another trait was played on it this turn. The extra feeding doesn’t have to be the type specified by the effect that replaced your feeding turn. Voracious Feeder can take its extra feeding turn even if it also fed during the replaced feeding turn.
• Swapping or copying a trait doesn’t count as playing it. If a species with Voracious Feeder has a trait swapped onto it or gets a copy of a trait, that won’t allow it to take an extra feeding turn.

Warm-Blooded

Migrate 2 — Resolution 93

May have 1 extra trait. May age an additional 1-3 population.

• The aging ability of Warm-Blooded is optional. The species with Warm-Blooded still has to age at least its usual amount of population.

Whale Cleaner

Migrate 1 — Gain 4 — Resolution 94

After a species with at least [Forage 5] or more forages, gains 4 if this is the closest Whale Cleaner on either side.

• Each Surface trait has a Deep version that’s more powerful. The Deep version of Whale Cleaner gains an additional population when it triggers. However, it also requires that the forager has [Forage 5] instead of just [Forage 3] in order to trigger.
• The Deep version of Whale Cleaner does not count as a Surface trait, but it does count as a trait named Whale Cleaner. When Surface Whale Cleaners check to see if they’re the closest Whale Cleaner on either side of a forager, they take the Deep Whale Cleaner into account, even if that Deep Whale Cleaner wasn’t triggered by the forage.

Zooplankton

Migrate 1 — Defensive — Can't forage — Can't attack — Gain 3 — Left + right arrows — Resolution 95

Can't be attacked. Gains 3 after population is migrated to the Reef. Adjacent species may forage from this species board.

• Zooplankton gains 3 after population is migrated to the Reef by any player. This includes discarding a card for its migrate number during your play cards phase. This also includes effects that specifically use the word “migrate”, such as Great Migration and Living Ecosystem.
• Foraging from Zooplankton doesn’t count as an attack even though population is being taken from a species board. It’s just like any other foraging action, except the population is being taken from a different place. If Zooplankton has traits like Whale Cleaner or Symbiotic that trigger from forages, it can gain from being foraged on.
• If a species manages to ignore Zooplankton’s “can't be attacked” effect and attack it, that doesn’t count as foraging from it.

Scenario Card Reference

Most scenarios have simple effects, but they might interact with Deep cards and other scenarios in unexpected ways. This section provides a card-by-card description of each Scenario card, including its full card text, icons, rules explanations, and some of its potential interactions. Descriptions of cards which aren’t in the base game also mention which promo set they can be found in.

Abundance

Traits with gains get [Gain +1].

• This effect doesn’t apply to traits that have a blue [Gain] icon but no gains, such as Communication or Endurance. The [Gain] value on Communication isn’t changed to x3, and the [Gain] value on Endurance isn’t changed to +3.
• The [Gain] increase from Abundance modifies gain values specifically, so it’s doubled by Communication.

Aggressive Environment

Aggressive 3 — Kickstarter Promo

Species with 0 population may be attacked. They immediately go extinct before any traits trigger.

• This is an exception to the rule that a species can't attack unless it would take at least 1 population. The attacking species won’t take any population from the target as part of its attack. It receives only the satisfaction of knowing that it has permanently removed a competitor from the ecosystem.
• “They” in the card text refers to the species being attacked, not the attacker. The species with 0 population goes extinct after being attacked.
• A species can't attack if it doesn’t have at least 1 empty space on its species board, even if Aggressive Environment means it wouldn’t take any population anyway.
• An attacker’s [Attack] must be greater than its target’s [Defense] in order to attack it, even if Aggressive Environment means it wouldn’t take any population anyway.
• If Aggressive Environment is active, a species with Extremophile and 0 population can still be attacked, but it doesn’t go extinct.
• The attacked species goes extinct before any of its own traits trigger. For example, if the attacked species had Poisonous Spines, the attacker and other species that gained don’t lose any population.
• The attacked species goes extinct before traits on other species trigger, but the attack still triggers those traits. Traits like Surface Bottom Feeder or Burrower that care about adjacent species being attacked still trigger.

Asteroid Impact

Event — Aggressive — Complex

Species without a Deep trait lose 3 population to the Reef.

• The population loss caused by Asteroid Impact does not count as losing population “due to an attack”, even if Asteroid Impact’s Ocean zone was emptied because of an attack.

Biodiverse Reef

Species get [Forage 2].

• A species that has no traits with [Forage] while Biodiverse Reef is active has [Forage 2], not [Forage 3]. It doesn’t get a “free” increase to 1 before the [Forage 2] from Biodiverse Reef is applied.

Contagious Outbreak

Aggressive — Complex

After a species overpopulates, adjacent species lose 3 population to the Reef.

• The effect of Contagious Outbreak is not overpopulation. A species that never overpopulates will still lose 3 population to the Reef if it’s adjacent to a species that overpopulates.
• Even though Contagious Outbreak has a triggered effect, it’s not an event scenario. Its effect occurs each time a species overpopulates, and resolves before scenarios are activated or deactivated.
• Scenario cards are activated after all triggered effects have resolved and after overpopulation is checked. When Contagious Outbreak’s Ocean zone is emptied, there will still be one final check for overpopulation before its effect becomes active. During that overpopulation check, Contagious Outbreak’s effect won’t happen, and species adjacent to an overpopulating species won’t lose population.
• Scenario cards are also deactivated after all triggered effects and after overpopulation is checked. When Contagious Outbreak’s Ocean zone has population put back into it, there will still be one final check for overpopulation before its effect is deactivated. During that overpopulation check, Contagious Outbreak’s effect will still happen.
• If population is put into Contagious Outbreak’s Ocean zone as a result of a species overpopulating, Contagious Outbreak’s effect will still happen before the scenario is deactivated. Species adjacent to the species that overpopulated will lose population.

Contagious Proximity

Complex

Species store 3 less population on their species boards.

• Effects that allow a species to store additional population, such as the Prosperity scenario or Blubber trait, stack with the effect of Contagious Proximity. For example, a species that has Blubber while Contagious Proximity is active can store 9 - 3 = 6 additional population.
• If Contagious Proximity is active, the fishbones space can still hold population. In other words, species will (usually) overpopulate at 7 population instead of at 10 population.

Coral Bleaching

Kickstarter Promo

After your aging phase, place 2 population from the Reef onto any Ocean zone.

• “Your aging phase” refers to the aging phase of the player whose turn it is. The trigger will only trigger once per aging phase, even if an effect like Über Inhospitable Environment causes other players’ species to also age during that phase.
• The player whose turn it is decides which Ocean zone the population from the Reef is moved to. If the Solar Radiation scenario is also active, the current player also chooses whether to move population from the Reef before or after the effect of Solar Radiation.
• The effect of Coral Bleaching doesn’t count as migration.
• The 2 population moved from the Reef have to go to the same Ocean zone.
• If the Reef has only 1 population, just move the 1 population. If the Reef has 0 population, nothing happens.

Degenerative Virus

During aging, choose a species to age an additional time.

• You can choose any species that aged during this aging phase. If another player’s species aged during your aging phase (for example, from the effects of Fast Metabolism or Über Inhospitable Environment), you can choose to make that species age again.
• Effects that trigger after a species ages, like Fast Life Cycle or an active Schadenfreude scenario, resolve before you choose a second species to age and before that species ages.
• Effects that trigger before or after a species ages, like Cthulhu Leech, Telomere Repair, or Fast Life Cycle, will trigger again if their species is chosen to age again.
• The effect of Degenerative Virus won’t cause you to have a second aging phase. If the Coral Bleaching scenario is active, its effect will only happen once.
• When multiple species have to age, they’re treated as if they all aged simultaneously. If multiple species would age a second time during one aging phase, treat those second agings as if they occurred simultaneously with each other. Effects triggered during the first round of aging (such as the effect of Schadenfreude) will resolve before any second round of aging begins. If any species would age a third time in one aging phase, the same principle applies.

Detritus

Players place 2 population from their score pile into the Reef after a migrate action is taken.

• All players place 2 population from their score pile into the Reef, not just the active player who took the migrate action.
• If Detritus becomes active after a migrate action empties out its Ocean zone, it will not be triggered by that migrate action.
• Taking a migrate action refers to discarding a card during your play card phase to move population. The effects of Great Migration and Living Ecosystem won’t trigger the effect of Detritus.
• Even though Detritus has a triggered effect, it’s not an event scenario. Its effect occurs each time a migrate action is taken, and resolves after triggers on traits resolve, before overpopulation is checked, and before scenarios are activated or deactivated.

Epizootic

Complex 2

Species go extinct when they overpopulate. Place all population in the Reef.

• Scenario cards are activated after all triggered effects and overpopulation have resolved. When Epizootic’s Ocean zone is emptied, species won’t go extinct if they overpopulate just before its effect becomes active.
• “All population” refers to all of the population of that species that overpopulated and went extinct. It doesn’t refer to all of the population on all species in play.
• When a species overpopulates while Epizootic is active, its owner can’t choose to put its lost population into an Ocean zone.
• Overpopulation is checked after all players’ trait effects are done resolving. Extinction won’t happen until then.
• The population loss caused by Epizootic is considered to be overpopulation. If a species with Draconic overpopulates while Epizootic is active, it scores all of its population instead of losing it to the Reef, and then goes extinct.

Evolutionary Arms Race

Kickstarter Promo

Species can't attack a target whose [Attack] or [Forage] is greater than their own [Attack].

• If a species has an effect that allows it to ignore “can't be attacked” effects, that doesn’t allow it to attack species with [Attack] or [Forage] greater than its own [Attack]. “Can't attack” effects on the attacker are different from “can't be attacked” effects on the target.
• [Can't attack] and [Can't forage] icons don’t change a species’ [Attack] or [Forage]. A species that can’t attack or forage still has at least [Attack 1] and [Forage 1]. It’s possible for a species that can’t attack or forage to still have an increased [Attack] or [Forage] from traits like Speed or Megamouth. These are taken into account when checking the effect of Evolutionary Arms Race.
• If the attacker has Bubble Net, it compares its own [Forage] to the target’s [Attack] or [Forage] to see if it can attack. If the attacker is attacking a species with Bubble Net, it compares its own [Attack] to the target’s [Forage] and disregards the Bubble Net species’ [Attack] entirely.

Fertile

New species gain 2.

• The new species gains 2 right after it’s evolved.
• Traits can't be triggered by themselves being played, or affect anything triggered by themselves being played. If a trait that modifies a species’ gains, such as Endurance or Communication, is used to create a species while Fertile is active, those traits aren’t active in time to modify the gain 2 effect of Fertile. Those species still only gain 2.
• The gain from Fertile isn’t from a trait. If the Abundance scenario is also active, the new species still only gains 2.

Food Surge

Event — Complex 2

Species double their population. Take from any Ocean zone.

• Overpopulation isn’t checked and scenarios don’t become active until all species have had their population doubled.
• Even though the species are taking from the Ocean, the effect of Food Surge is not a gain. Effects that modify gains or trigger based on gains won’t apply.
• If the order in which species take from the Ocean would matter, species take in player turn order, then each player chooses the order their species take.

Genetic Diversity

The maximum number of traits per species is increased by one.

• Like with activations, Scenario cards are deactivated after all triggered effects have resolved. If Genetic Diversity’s Ocean zone has population put back into it, traits will trigger and resolve before players have to discard excess traits.
• If more than one trait has to be removed when Genetic Diversity becomes inactive, any consequences of losing those traits (such as losing extra population or extra traits) aren’t checked until they’re all removed. If one player’s choices might influence the other players’ choices of which traits to remove, players remove traits in turn order.

Horizontal Gene Transfer

Aggressive 2 — Complex 2 — Kickstarter Promo

Before your feeding phase, you may swap one of your traits with a trait on an adjacent species.

• You don’t have to own the species that your species swaps with. You can make a swap with an opponent’s species if you like. You can swap Surface or Deep traits.
• When determining the order for resolving effects, triggers from scenarios resolve after all the triggers from all players’ traits have resolved. All traits that trigger before your feeding turn resolve before you make the swap with Horizontal Gene Transfer.
• If your species that participates in the swap has the Nomadic trait, that species can still only swap with the two species directly next to it. Nomadic’s effect only applies to traits, not scenario effects.
• Copies of traits created by traits like Intelligence can’t be swapped. Only traits on actual cards can be swapped.
• It’s possible to use Horizontal Gene Transfer to swap a trait on an opponent’s species with a trait on one of your own species. If you do this, and the trait from the opponent’s species has a “before your feeding turn” trigger, it triggers after it’s been swapped onto your species. It’s still before your feeding turn, and that trait’s “before your feeding turn” trigger hasn’t gone off yet. (This is an exception to the usual rule that trait triggers resolve before scenario triggers.)

Hostile Conditions

Aggressive 2 — Complex 2 — Kickstarter Promo

Aging occurs for the active player and the player to their right.

• During your aging phase, all of the species of the player on your right also age. This does not count as that player’s aging phase.

Hostile Environment

Complex 4 — Kickstarter Promo

Aging +3

• There are currently no clarifications for Hostile Environment.

Inhospitable Environment

Complex — Aging +1

Complex 2 — Aging +2

• The base game has three copies of Inhospitable Environment. Two copies have “Aging +1” and the third copy has “Aging +2”. It’s allowed for both scenario cards in a game to be Inhospitable Environment, although your playgroup may also choose to re-deal the scenario cards instead.

Large Predators

Aggressive

Species get [Attack 2].

• A species that has no traits with [Attack] while Large Predators is active has [Attack 2], not [Attack 3]. It doesn’t get a “free” increase to 1 before the [Attack 2] from Large Predators is applied.

Lazy Creator

Event (maybe) — Complex 3 — Kickstarter Promo

Before the game, decide as a group what this card says.

• TODO: come back to this one later (Editor: We apologize for the lazy reference guide writer. Basically, your group just makes up an effect for this scenario. Any kind of effect you want. It’s up to you. If your group comes up with any good effects, you can share them on the BoardGameGeek forums.)

Long Haul Migration

Species may forage from any Ocean zone.

• Long Haul Migration doesn’t prevent species from foraging from the Reef.
• The reserve bag is not an Ocean zone. Long Haul Migration doesn’t allow species to forage from there. After the reserve tokens are placed into the Ocean, a species can forage from them while Long Haul Migration is active.
• When a species forages from the Ocean, if the chosen Ocean zone has less population than the species would forage, it takes the remainder of its forage from the first Ocean zone that has population. (This is a change from previous rulings.) For example, if a species with [Forage 5] forages from an Ocean zone that only has 3 population, it takes the 3 population from that zone, and then takes 2 more population from the first Ocean zone that still has population. If the foraging species takes the last population from the Ocean, the reserve tokens are immediately placed into the final Ocean zone. If necessary, the foraging species completes its forage from the reserve tokens.
• If a species that can forage from the Ocean forages from the Reef, and the Reef has less population than that species' [Forage], that species won't take the remainder from the Ocean. You only take the remainder from the next Ocean zone if your forage started in the Ocean.

Mass Migration

Event — Aggressive — Kickstarter Promo

Slide the leftmost species of each player to the opponent on their left.

• The species you shift to the opponent on your left becomes their rightmost species. They can’t move it to another spot in their species line. Likewise, the species you receive from the opponent on your right becomes your rightmost species. You can’t move it to another spot in your species line.
• If a player has no species, the opponent to their left receives nothing. The player who has no species receives one from the opponent on their right.
• If Mass Migration causes you to take a species with Cthulhu Leech, you don't gain control of the Cthulhu Leech’s effect. The player who originally played the Cthulhu Leech continues to score from it.

Paradigm Shift

Event — Aggressive — Complex

Species with the most population lose all population to the Reef.

• The effect of Paradigm Shift checks for the most population across all species, not just one player’s species.
• If multiple species are tied for the most population, they all lose all their population to the Reef.

Parallel Universe

Complex 4 — Kickstarter Promo

On your turn, numbers on traits can be treated as 1 higher or 1 lower.

• The effect of Parallel Universe only applies to numbers on traits. It can’t be used on the numbers of other scenarios, Deep events, the Cambrian Explosion reminder card, or the game rules. It can be used on the numbers on other players’ traits during your own turn, not just your own traits. It can be used on traits in your hand to make Deep traits cheaper.
• Any number on a trait can be treated as 1 higher or 1 lower. This includes numbers in icons, numbers in trait text, migrate numbers, and resolution numbers. If a number has a noun associated with it, like “may have 1 extra trait”, you can pretend that the noun also changes to singular or plural as necessary.
• If you choose to treat a number one way, you can still treat it a different way at a later point in your turn. Since gains technically resolve at different times, you can even choose different values for gains which were triggered simultaneously.
• The player whose turn it is decides how numbers are treated. If they decide to change a number on one of your traits during their turn, there’s nothing you can do about it. Of course, you are more than welcome to do the same thing to them on your turn, which may provide a useful disincentive.
• The [Forage], [Attack], [Defense] values and aging rates on individual traits can be negative. If a species’ total [Attack] or [Forage] would be less than 1, it’s increased to 1. If a species’ total [Defense] or aging rate would be negative, it’s increased to 0.
• There aren’t really many other rules for this card. This scenario is supposed to be pretty informal. Just do what makes sense. Have fun with it.

Pathogenic Immunity

Species never overpopulate.

• Scenario cards are activated after all triggered effects have resolved and overpopulation has been checked. When Pathogenic Immunity’s Ocean zone is emptied, there will still be one final check for overpopulation before its effect becomes active.
• Like with activations, Scenario cards are deactivated after all triggered effects have resolved. If Pathogenic Immunity’s Ocean zone is refilled, traits will trigger and resolve before Pathogenic Immunity becomes deactivated. After Pathogenic Immunity becomes deactivated, there will be another check for overpopulation.

Population Explosion

Event

Every [Gain] triggers.

• Each trait that has [Gain] and a gain trigger gains as if its trigger condition had been met. For example, each Bottom Feeder gains 2 even if no species has been attacked.
• This effect doesn’t apply to traits that have a [Gain] icon but no gain triggers, such as Communication or Endurance. Those effects still modify the other gains on that species.
• Some traits, like Acute Smell, trigger when other traits are triggered. These traits like Acute Smell also count the triggers caused by Population Explosion. For example, Acute Smell triggers once by the effect of Population Explosion, and then triggers again by Population Explosion triggering all the Shark Cleaners.
• After all the triggers from Population Explosion have resolved, there is another check for overpopulation. Then, if the gains have emptied out another scenario card’s Ocean zone, that scenario will become active.

Prescient Mutations

Complex 2 — Kickstarter Promo

During the next player’s turn, you may exchange 1 Surface card in your hand for 1 card in the discard pile.

• Only Surface cards go to the discard pile, so you can exchange 1 Surface card for another Surface card. Deep cards are removed from the game after they’re discarded. Even if you put the removed Deep cards in a pile, that doesn’t count as the discard pile.
• You can make the exchange at any point during the next player’s turn. You can wait until they’ve discarded Surface cards during their draw phase to see if they’ve discarded anything you like.

Prosperity

Species may store 9 extra population on their species boards.

• Like with activations, scenario cards are deactivated after all species’ triggered effects have resolved. If Prosperity’s Ocean zone is refilled, traits trigger and resolve before players have to deal with species’ excess population. Overpopulation is checked before Prosperity is deactivated, and then again after it’s deactivated.

Protective Growth

Species gain 2 after they evolve a defensive trait.

• Traits can't be triggered by themselves being played, or affect anything triggered by themselves being played. The defensive trait that was just evolved isn’t active by the time the Protective Growth trigger resolves. For example, Communication is a defensive trait that also doubles all gains. When a species evolves Communication, it still only gains 2 from the Protective Growth trigger.
• When the Protective Shells scenario becomes active, it doesn’t trigger Protective Growth.
• When a species evolves Poisonous Inking, only the species that actually evolved Poisonous Inking gains 2, even though its adjacent species benefit from it also.
• Protective Growth doesn’t trigger if a defensive trait is swapped onto a species or if a species gets a copy of a defensive trait.

Protective Shells

Species get [Defense 2].

• The [Defense 2] provided by Protective Shells counts as a defensive trait when determining which species an attacker with Hydra can take from. If a species with Hydra can also ignore defensive traits, then it can ignore the [Defense 2] from Protective Shells when determining which species it can take from. Radiation Blast Event — Kickstarter Promo Players shuffle the traits on their species and play them randomly on their species one at a time.
• The easiest way to handle the effect of Radiation Blast is this: First, shuffle all the traits on all of your species together into a single pile, including traits like Vestigial Limb or Cthulhu Leech that otherwise can’t be removed. Copies of traits will disappear, and won’t be shuffled or redistributed. Species boards, with their population, stay in the same place and aren’t rearranged.
• Then, deal out your traits from that pile onto your species one by one. You’re not supposed to see what traits you’re playing, so deal them all out face-down. You don’t have to give a species the same number of traits it had before the Radiation Blast. You can deal more than 3 traits onto a species, and hope that one of the traits it ends up with allows it to have additional traits. You can give a species 0 traits.
• Traits remain face-down until all players have dealt out their traits. Then they’re all turned face up. If a species ends up with more traits than it’s allowed to have, immediately discard down to the allowed number of traits. If Tiny ends up on a species with more than [Attack 2] or [Forage 2], discard Tiny immediately. If a species now has more population on its board than its traits allow, it overpopulates immediately.
• The rearranged traits don’t count as having been played or evolved. Effects that care about traits being played or evolved, like Bioluminescence or Protective Growth, won’t trigger after Radiation Blast settles down.

Schadenfreude

Complex — Kickstarter Promo

When a species goes extinct, each other player’s species gain 1.

• When multiple species have to age, they’re treated as if they all aged simultaneously. Any triggers that go off during aging, such as Schadenfreude, are handled after all the species that are aging have aged. If the gains from Schadenfreude cause an ocean zone to be emptied, that zone’s scenario won’t activate until all the other species have also finished aging.
• “Each other player” is in reference to the owner of the species that went extinct. All of the species owned by every player except the player whose species went extinct will gain 1.
• If multiple species go extinct during the same round of aging, Schadenfreude can trigger multiple times. The triggers will resolve after the species have lost population to aging, so the gain 1 will happen too late to save any species from extinction.
• Overpopulation is checked and scenarios are activated after all the Schadenfreude triggers resolve, and before any additional rounds of aging (such as from Degenerative Virus) occur.
• When determining the order for resolving effects, triggers from scenarios resolve after all the triggers from all players’ traits have resolved. If any traits are triggered during aging, those effects will resolve first in the usual order (turn order, then player’s choice), then each player in turn order chooses the order their species gain 1. This may in turn trigger other traits, like Sedentary Colony.
• When Schadenfreude triggers during an aging phase, the aging phase isn’t done until all the effects from and triggered by Schadenfreude have finished resolving. Scenarios that trigger after the aging phase, such as Coral Bleaching or Solar Radiation, will trigger and resolve after everything from Schadenfreude has been resolved.
• While most extinctions take place during the aging phase, Schadenfreude triggers whenever a species goes extinct, even if it takes place outside the aging phase (for example, from the effect of an Invasive Predator).
• Even though Schadenfreude has a triggered effect, it’s not an event scenario. Its effect occurs each time a species goes extinct, and resolves before overpopulation is checked and before scenarios are activated or deactivated.

Shallow Gene Pool

Complex

The maximum number of traits per species is reduced by one.

• Scenario cards are activated after all triggered effects have resolved. If Shallow Gene Pool’s Ocean zone is emptied, traits will trigger and resolve before players have to discard excess traits.
• If more than one trait has to be removed when Shallow Gene Pool becomes active, any consequences of losing those traits (such as losing extra population or extra traits) aren’t checked until they’re all removed. If one player’s choices might influence the other players’ choices of which traits to remove, players remove traits in turn order.

Shallow Reef

Kickstarter Promo

Species lose 2 population to the Reef after foraging.

• A species can still forage from the Reef even if all of the population it takes would be lost back to the Reef afterwards.
• When determining the order for resolving effects, triggers from scenarios resolve after all the triggers from all players’ traits have resolved. A species with Ambush takes 2 population from a forager before the forager loses population due to Shallow Reef.
• Even though Shallow Reef has a triggered effect, it’s not an event scenario. Its effect occurs each time a species forages from the Reef, and resolves before overpopulation is checked and before scenarios are activated or deactivated.

Snowball Earth

Complex — Kickstarter Promo

The [Attack] and [Forage] of every trait is reduced by 1.

• This doesn’t affect the [Attack] or [Forage] from scenarios like Biodiverse Reef or Large Predators. It only affects [Attack] and [Forage] on traits.
• The [Attack -1] effect of Snowball Earth applies before the [Attack] is doubled by Pack Hunting.
• Individual trait cards can have [Attack] or [Forage] that are 0 or even negative. For example, if a species has Swarming and 0 population while Snowball Earth is active, Swarming has [Attack -1]. However, a species’ total [Attack] or [Forage] can never be below 1. If it would be below 1, it’s increased to 1 instead.
• Deep Diver gets [Forage +2] for each Deep trait it has. Snowball Earth applies to the total [Forage] on Deep Diver, not the cumulative [Forage +2]. If Snowball Earth is active, Deep Diver on a species with 2 other Deep traits (3 Deep traits total) has [Forage 5].

Solar Radiation

Complex 2

After each aging phase, species without a Deep trait lose 1 population to the Reef.

• After each aging phase, all species without a Deep trait lose 1 population to the Reef, not just the ones owned by the player whose turn it is. This doesn’t count as aging. If a species doesn’t have any population to lose to the Reef, it doesn’t go extinct.
• If the Coral Bleaching scenario is also active, the player whose turn it is can choose whether the effect of Coral Bleaching occurs before or after species without a Deep trait lose 1 population to the Reef.

Thermal Currents

Complex

On your turn, you may evolve traits directly from the Gene Pool.

• Evolving traits from the Gene Pool works just like evolving a Deep trait from your hand. It requires an action and a cost paid from your score pile. You may use the traits from the Gene Pool to create a new species or add them to your existing species. You may evolve directly from the Gene Pool for both of your actions in your play cards phase.
• You can’t play Deep events from the Gene Pool, only Deep traits. If all face-up cards in the Gene Pool are events, you can’t play from the Gene Pool.
• You can’t use the Deep traits in the Gene Pool to migrate. You can only play them on species.
• You may play Cthulhu Leech or Vestigial Limb onto other players’ species from the Gene Pool while Thermal Currents is active.

Über Inhospitable Environment

Aggressive 3 — Complex 3 — Kickstarter Promo

Aging happens to every species in play.

• This means that during each player’s aging phase, all species age, not just the ones belonging to the active player.
• A player’s aging phase is the one that occurs during their own turn. Effects that care about “your aging phase” won’t trigger if your species age during someone else’s turn.
• If one of your species ages during another player’s aging phase and doesn’t have enough population to age its full amount, it still goes extinct, even though it’s not your turn.

New Rules Reference

This section describes the rules for new game mechanics that don’t appear in the base game, such as Deep Event cards and traits that copy other traits.

Event Cards

The rules for event cards were included with the special insert for Kickstarter backers. However, if you don’t have the Kickstarter insert, the rules for event cards are included here.

• Event cards are another kind of Deep card. Events have a purple textbox and a lightning-bolt- shaped event icon like the one on some Scenario cards. Instead of being played as traits, they have one-time effects.
• Like Deep traits, playing an event requires paying a cost equal to its migrate number. Before playing the event, move population equal to the migrate number from your score pile to one location: the Reef or any Ocean board. After being played, event cards are removed from the game instead of put into the discard pile.
• Most event cards are played during your play cards phase as an action, just like Deep traits. A few events, like Bioluminescent Lure, are played at other times, which will be described in their rules text.

Copying Traits

A few promo Deep traits have an effect saying that a species “has a copy” of another trait: Hybridization, Intelligence, and Mimicry. Having a copy of a trait allows a species to benefit from having a trait, but without needing an actual card for that trait.

• When an effect says a species has a copy of another trait, it’s not necessary to find an actual copy of that specific card to add it to that species. Just pretend it has a printed copy of that trait next to its species board.
• A copy of a trait is just like the original card, and has everything printed on the original card: the trait’s name, rules text, attack/forage/gain icons, text box color, adjacency arrows, migrate number, resolution number, whether it’s a Deep or Surface trait, and anything else that might be relevant.
• Copies of traits don’t count towards a species’ trait limit. Copies of traits are still counted in other situations.
  • For example, a species with Gigantic Brain still counts copies of traits when determining how much population it ages.
• Copies of traits only copy what's printed on the original trait. If the original trait has been modified by other effects, those modifications won’t be copied. Modifications can still apply to the copy itself after it’s created.
  • For example, consider a species with Intelligence that copies a Bottom Feeder while Abundance is active. Because of Abundance, the original Bottom Feeder’s gain is increased to gain 3. However, the copy will only have the Bottom Feeder’s printed gain 2, which will then be increased to gain 3 because of Abundance. It won’t copy the original’s increased gain 3 and then have it increased again to gain 4.
• Copies of traits can never be discarded, swapped, or otherwise removed from the species they’re on. Copies of traits can also never be copied themselves. (That is, you can’t have a copy of a copy of a trait. The original trait can still be copied by another effect.) Only traits on actual printed cards can be removed, moved, or copied.
  • For example, if one of your species has Hybridization, and it copies an undesirable trait from the species to its left, you can’t choose to discard the copy of that trait while keeping the rest of the copies. The only way to get rid of the undesired copy is to either discard Hybridization itself or to remove the original trait from the species to the left.
• If a trait that can create copies of other traits is removed from a species, any copies of traits that it created also disappear at the same time. Those copies aren’t considered to have been discarded from that species. The copies just stop existing.

General Rules Reference

This section is for rules topics that don’t apply to specific cards but were too esoteric for the FAQ in the printed reference booklet.

Impossible to Feed

In some situations, it may be entirely impossible for any of your species to feed during your feeding phase. In this case, none of your species feed at all. “Before your feeding phase” effects still trigger, but nothing happens during your feeding phase. You go straight to your aging phase.

This only applies if it is actually impossible for any of your species to feed, not if it is merely inconvenient for any of your species to feed. If at least one of your species can feed, you must feed one species, even if it would be bad for you.

In most cases, you can prevent this situation by playing carefully during your play cards phase. Remember that you can discard as many traits from your species as you like during your play cards phase, so you can remove traits that could prevent your species from feeding. However, you are not technically required to make sure that at least one of your species is able to feed when your play cards phase ends (though it’s probably a good idea anyway).

Ocean-to-Ocean Migrating

When migrating from an Ocean zone, if the Ocean zone you’re migrating from has less population than the amount you would migrate, you take the remainder from the Ocean zone closest to the Reef that still has population. (This is explained on page 7 of the current printing of the rulebook.)

If you’re migrating from one Ocean zone to another, it’s possible that the Ocean zone closest to the Reef that still has population will end up being the same zone you’re migrating to. In that case, you’ll finish the migration by taking that much population from the destination zone, and then putting it back in that zone, along with the population migrated from the other Ocean zones. (This is a little unusual, but we didn’t want to complicate things by adding additional rules just to avoid this rare corner case.)

Too Many Deep Cards

You can’t play or discard Deep cards from your hand before the Cambrian Explosion. What happens if your hand ends up full of Deep cards before the Cambrian Explosion occurs? You have to choose to draw a Deep card instead of Surface cards, so the pragmatic answer is “Don’t do that! Why would you do that?!” However, for completeness’ sake, here is an official ruling: The official rule on what you do if all of the cards in your hand are Deep cards and the Cambrian Explosion hasn't happened is that you have to flop around on the floor like a fish without taking a turn until the Cambrian Explosion happens. And once the Cambrian Explosion happens, you have to sit quietly and evolve a functioning brain, skeletal system, nervous system, and eyes.