Subastral Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components
Game Setup
Biome Card Anatomy
Goal of the Game
Game Sequence
End of the Game
Final Scoring
- Mixed Sets
- Matching Sets
Disturbance Variant
Card Reference
Scoring Reference
Credits

Components

103 Biome Cards
6 Cloud Cards
1 Sun Card
1 Game End Card
1 Start Player Card
1 Scorepad

Game Setup

Construct the biome deck, based on player count. Remove all cards marked for a player count higher than the current number of players. Return the removed cards to the game box.
- 5 Players: use all 103 biome cards.
- 4 Players: remove biome cards marked as 5.
- 3 Players: remove biome cards marked as 5 / 4.
- 2 Players: remove biome cards marked as 5 / 4 / 3.
Shuffle the biome deck. Deal a starting hand of three biome cards to each player. Players may look at their own hands but should not show their opponents.
Insert the game end card into the biome deck as follows: Count off cards from the bottom of the deck, based on player count. Put these cards beneath the game end card. Put the rest of the deck back on top of the game end card.
- 5 Players: 15 cards beneath the game end card.
- 4 Players: 12 cards beneath the game end card.
- 3 Players: 9 cards beneath the game end card.
- 2 Players: 6 cards beneath the game end card.
Place the six cloud cards in a single row in the center of the table, arranged in numerical order. Place the biome deck at one end of the row, next to cloud #1. Place the sun card at the other end of the row, next to cloud #6.
Reveal six cards from the biome deck and place one face up on each cloud. Then reveal two more cards from the biome deck (which cannot be the same number) and place each card face up on the cloud that matches its number.
Randomly determine who will take the first turn of the game. Give the start player card to that player.

Biome Card Anatomy

Each biome card shows a biome icon, its number, a biome frequency indicator (1 dot = low, 2 dots = medium, 3 dots = high), the biome name, a player count indicator, and a factoid.

Goal of the Game

The goal of the game is to collect cards in sets: both mixed sets (i.e., cards from all different biomes) and matching sets (i.e., cards from the same biome). The placement of the cards in your journal affects how the sets will score at the end of the game.

However, you cannot play cards from your hand directly to your journal. Instead, you play cards to one of the clouds in the center row, then take all of the cards from another cloud in the center row and add them to your hand or journal.

You must play a card from hand every turn, which means that you have to strike a careful balance between growing your journal and keeping your hand stocked with cards so that you don't run out of options!

Game Sequence

The game is played in turns. The first player takes the first turn, then the next player in clockwise order, and so on. This sequence of player turns continues until the end of the game is triggered.

On each turn, the current player performs three steps. These steps are all mandatory and must be performed in order.

1. Play a Card

Choose a biome card from your hand. Play that card face up into the center row. You must play it onto the cloud that matches its number. If that cloud has other cards already, add the new card to the others, but make sure that they all remain visible.

Example: Kyra has three biome cards in her hand at the start of her turn: Grassland 2, Taiga 2, and Rainforest 5. If she chooses to play either of the 2s, it will go on cloud #2. If she chooses to play the 5, it will go on cloud #5.

Special Rule! If you do not have any cards in your hand when your turn begins, you must draw the top card of the biome deck and add it to your hand. Your turn then ends immediately. Try to avoid doing this!

2. Take Cards

Choose any other cloud in the center row. Take all of the cards from the chosen cloud. You cannot choose the cloud that you just played onto this turn! Where you put the cards you take depends on their position in the row.

If the cards you take are from a cloud toward the biome deck from the cloud you played onto this turn, add them to your hand. Draw the top card of the biome deck and add it to your hand, too.
If the cards you take are from a cloud toward the sun card from the cloud you played onto this turn, add them to your journal.

When you add cards to your journal, place them face up in front of you, organized into separate piles by biome. There are eight biomes, so your journal can have up to eight piles. You must arrange the piles, from left to right, in the order that you collect your first card of each biome.

All of the cards of the same biome go in a single pile. The contents of the piles must be arrayed so that everyone can see how many cards you have in each pile.

If you collect cards of multiple new biomes on the same turn, you may choose the order in which those new biome piles are created in your journal.

Special Rule! When you play onto cloud #1 or #6, if you take the cards from the cloud at the opposite end of the row (cloud #6 or #1), you may add them to your hand -OR- to your journal. You cannot split them between hand and journal. If you add them to your hand, draw the top card of the biome deck and add it to your hand, too.

Example: Kyra has 4 biome piles in her journal so far: Tundra (pile 1), Forest (pile 2), Chaparral (pile 3), and Desert (pile 4). She plays a card to cloud #3, then takes the cards from cloud #4, which means they go in her journal. The cards she takes are Forest, Taiga, and Grassland. She adds the Forest card to her existing Forest pile. Then she decides to add Grassland as pile 5 and Taiga as pile 6.

3. Refill the Row

Reveal the top card of the biome deck. Place it face up on the empty cloud in the center row. After that, check to see if there are at least two clouds with two or more cards on them. If yes, your turn ends. If not, reveal an extra card from the deck and place it face up on the cloud that matches its number, then repeat (if necessary) until two clouds have two or more cards on them.

Example: Kyra reveals the top card of the biome deck. It's a Tundra 5, but it goes on cloud #4, the empty cloud. Cloud #2 is now the only cloud with two or more cards, so she must keep refilling. She reveals a Desert 2, which also goes on cloud #2, then reveals a Forest 3, which goes on cloud #3. Her turn now ends.

End of the Game

The end of the game is triggered when the game end card is revealed in the biome deck. When this occurs, the game is not yet over. Keep playing until the last player in turn order has gone, then each player takes one more turn.

This means that the player seated to the right of the start player will always take the last turn of the game, so that all players get the same number of turns.

Once the game is over, proceed to final scoring.

Final Scoring

Each player scores the cards in their own journal in two different categories: mixed sets and matching sets. Use the included scorepad to track your scores.

Mixed Sets

Score all mixed sets in your journal. For each set, you score points based on the number of unique cards in an unbroken sequence in your journal. Count from left to right, starting with pile 1 and stopping when you come to a pile with no card for that set. Consult the chart to see how many points each set scores.

Cards in Set	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Total Points	1	3	6	10	15	21	28	36

Example: Stefan's first mixed set has cards in all eight piles (36 points). His second mixed set has cards in the first four piles (10 points). There are more cards in that set in later piles, but they do not count because there is a gap in the set. His third mixed set has only one card before there is a gap (1 point).

Matching Sets

Score the two biggest matching sets in your journal. Any ties for set size are broken in order from left to right. For each of your two biggest sets, you score a number of points per card equal to the position of that set in your journal, counting from left to right.

Position of Set	Pile 1	Pile 2	Pile 3	Pile 4	Pile 5	Pile 6	Pile 7	Pile 8
Points / Card	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

Example: Stefan's biggest matching set is Taiga with four cards. That set is in pile 7, so he scores 7 x 4 = 28 points. Chaparral (pile 1), Forest (pile 4), and Savanna (pile 6) are all tied for his second biggest set, at three cards each. Because ties are broken in order from left to right, Chaparral is scored. That set is in pile 1, so he scores 1 x 3 = 3 points.

After all scores have been tallied, the player with the most points wins! In the case of a tie, the tied player with the fewest cards in their journal wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players begrudgingly share the victory.

Disturbance Variant

Once the game is over, before final scoring occurs, all players simultaneously pass one card. Each player chooses one card from their hand (unless their hand is empty) and passes it to the player on their left. Each player must take the card passed to them by the player on their right and add it directly to their journal.

Card Reference

The biome deck contains cards from eight biomes, each with a count of copies scaled to player count:

Biome	5P	4P	3P	2P
Subtropical Desert	16x	14x	10x	8x
Savanna	16x	13x	10x	7x
Tropical Rainforest	15x	12x	10x	7x
Chaparral	14x	11x	9x	7x
Temperate Grassland	12x	10x	8x	6x
Temperate Forest	11x	9x	7x	5x
Taiga	10x	8x	6x	4x
Arctic Tundra	9x	7x	5x	4x

Scoring Reference

Mixed Sets: Score all possible mixed sets.

Cards in Set	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Total Points	1	3	6	10	15	21	28	36

Matching Sets: Score two largest matching sets.

Position of Set	Pile 1	Pile 2	Pile 3	Pile 4	Pile 5	Pile 6	Pile 7	Pile 8
Points / Card	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

Credits

Game Designers: Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle
Game Developer: T.C. Petty III
Illustrator: Beth Sobel
Graphic Designer: Cold Castle Studios
Production Artist: Cold Castle Studios
Editor: Dustin Schwartz

Renegade Game Studios: President & Publisher: Scott Gaeta. Controller: Robyn Gaeta. Director of Operations: Leisha Cummins. Director of Sales & Marketing: Sara Erickson. Creative Director: Anita Osburn. Senior Producer: Dan Bojanowski. Senior Producer of Roleplaying Games: Elisa Teague. Senior Game Designer: Matt Hyra. Senior Graphic Designer and Creative Lead: Jeanne Torres. Creative Production Lead: Gordon Tucker. Video Production Manager: Desiree Love. Event Manager: Chris Whitpan. Associate Game Designer: Dan Blanchett. Customer Service: Jenni Janikowski.

Special Thanks: The game designers would like to thank the Unpub 8 folks. Renegade Game Studios would like to thank Danielle Albert, Bud Arriola, Michelle Beus, William Beus, Joshua Calandrillo, Broderick Chandler, Susie Dancer, Kelly Dzwonek, Jason Fischbach, David Jacobson, Debra Jacobson, Sammy Jacobson, Carl Joyce, Jenny Joyce, Alex Krusz, Dan Lindstrom, Hui Liu, Caleb Losey, Seth Losey, Logan Malone, Ryan Malone, Bernadette Maulion, Jason McHargue, Greg Millar, Liam Millar, Walter Millar, David Morgan, Ryan Neumann, Angel Orta-Perez, Athena Perez, Autumn Perez, Dyannette Siaca, Jake Starcevich, Nicole Starcevich, Ryan Swanigan, Jonathan Tapia, and Xin Yi Yeap.

For additional information or support, please visit us online: www.renegadegames.com