Terra (2003)
Terra (2003) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Rules of Play
Inside the Box
- A 108 card deck, composed of 18 Crisis cards and 90 Solution cards
- A scoring track
- 12 wooden markers (two of each color)
- This rule book
Crisis cards come in three different colors: Green for environmental issues, Blue for socio-economical crises, and Red for diplomatic-military ones. Each crisis is associated with one of the following 6 regions of the world: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia & Middle-East, Oceania & South-East Asia, and ranked on a threat scale of 10 to 16 (the higher the value, the greater the threat).
The Solution cards are numbered 1 through 6 in each of the green, blue and red color codes associated to crisis. In each suit of color, there are: six 1s, six 2s, five 3s, five 4s, four 5s and four 6s.
Object of the Game
The object of the game is to collectively solve the crises that regularly shake the planet by maintaining peace and the conditions necessary for a stable social and ecological environment. The players must collaborate to overcome these crises while balancing their own personal interest: There might only be one winner in the end, but there could be all losers! Players score points by playing cards for the common good to put crises down, and by selfishly hoarding solution cards that, if all survive, give individual victory points during the final scoring.
Setting Up the Game
- Shuffle the Solution cards and deal each player an initial hand of:
- 4 cards per player for 3 or 4 players
- 3 cards per player for 5 players
- 2 cards per player for 6 players
- Now shuffle the Crisis cards into the remaining deck of Solution cards, and put it in the center of the table, where it will form the draw pile.
- Each player picks the two wooden markers of the color of his choice, and places one at the start of the scoring track, the other one in front of him, to signify his color to other players.
- The youngest player starts. The game then proceeds clockwise, one player at a time.
The Game Turn
Each game turn is made of up to 3 distinct phases.
Phase 1 - Drawing a card
The current player picks the topmost card from the Draw pile. If it is a Solution card, he adds it to his hand without revealing it to the other players, and proceeds onto phase 3 - playing a card. If it turns out to be a crisis card, he puts the card on the table face up in front of him and proceeds to phase 2 - Impending Crisis.
Phase 2 - Impending Crisis
A crisis card laid in front of a player is said to be impending. Players now have the opportunity to solve it before it turns into a full-blown crisis.
Starting with the player who drew the Crisis card, each player may play, face up, one and only one Solution card of the color matching the impending crisis, by laying it down next to the crisis card. Once all players have had their chance to play a card, the numerical value of all the Solution cards played on the crisis, if any, are totalled.
2.a Impending crisis solved
If the combined value of the Solution cards played on the crisis is equal to or greater than the threat value of the crisis, the crisis is solved in time. The crisis and all the Solution cards played on it are discarded.
The player who was the first to play a Solution card on the crisis scores 3 points and moves his scoring marker accordingly.
The player(s) who played the Solution card with the highest value(s) on this crisis also scores 3 points. If the first Solution card played turns out to be the highest, its player scores 6 (3+3) points.
If the impending crisis was solved, the player's game turn is now complete. Proceed to the next player in clockwise order.
2.b Impending crisis unfolds into a full-blown crisis
If the combined value of the Solution cards played is lower than the threat value of the crisis, or if no Solution card was played, the crisis develops into a full-blown crisis. The Crisis card is moved onto the center of the table, in front of all the players, while any Solution cards played on it are discarded. The crisis is now at a critical stage, and a check is performed to see whether the game now stops due to a collective loss of control. (See End of Game.)
If the number of full-blown crises in the center of the table remains manageable, the player who drew the crisis card now draws a second card from the Draw pile to replace this one. If it is another crisis card, Phase 2 repeats itself. Otherwise, the player moves on to Phase 3.
Phase 3 - Playing cards
The player may now play some Solution cards from his hand. He may also decide to play none. If he decides to play cards, he then may, in the following order:
3a. Work for the common good - help solve a full-blown crisis
The player may play a single Solution card from his hand onto each of the full-blown crises he wishes to help solve, but never more than one card per crisis. Multiple Solution cards may be played, as long as the limit of one card per full-blown crisis is respected.
The Solution card played is placed next to the Crisis card it is helping solve, and slightly offset from any Solution card already there, to facilitate the tallying up of Solution cards versus the crisis.
If, in doing so, the combined value of the Solution cards attached to the crisis now equals or exceeds the threat level of the full-blown crisis, that crisis has safely been solved. Its card, and all the Solution cards played on it, are all discarded and the player who played the last Solution card on the crisis scores 5 points.
3b. Hoard combinations of 3 Solution cards for personal scoring
If the player has played at least one Solution card during his turn, he may now opt to stockpile a combination of 3 Solution cards by placing them face down in front of him. The sum of these cards will be added to his personal points at the end of the game.
Hoarded cards represent the actions the player takes for his own selfish, personal interest. Note: The player can hoard a 3 card combination only if he has played at least one Solution card on at least one full-blown crisis (not impending ones) during the turn; and in no case can he play more than one 3 cards combination, even if he contributed to solving multiple full-blown crises during the turn.
3 card combinations must be made of one of the following four possible sets:
- Same value, same color (blue 5, blue 5, blue 5)
- Same value, one color each (green 5, blue 5, red 5)
- Same color straight (red 2, red 3, red 4)
- Three colors straight (red 2, blue 3, green 4)
Ending a Turn
At the end of his turn, a player may not keep more than 8 cards in his hand. If he has more, he must discard the number of Solution cards required to bring his total hand down to 8. Game then proceeds to the next player.
End of Game
End of game due to a collective loss of control
If the players do not succeed in keeping a sufficient level of peace and stability, the game ends in a rout, with no winners! Loss of control takes place if, at any point during the game, any one of the following conditions occur:
- Three full-blown crises in the same region of the world or;
- Four full-blown crises of the same type (color) around the world or;
- A total of Seven full-blown crises.
End of game due to success
The game ends successfully when the players play through all cards in the Draw pile. The game ends after the player who picks the last card from the Draw pile finishes his turn. If the last card turns out to be a Crisis card, it plays itself out as usual. All players have then succeeded in solving the world's crises, and individual scores are now tallied up. For each player, add the sum of all the Solution cards he successfully hoarded, to his current running score on the score track (e.g. if a player put a blue 1, red 2 and green 3 down in front of him during the game, he now scores an additional 1+2+3 = 6 points). The player with the highest total is the individual winner.
Variant
In 4 and 6 player games, players may work in two-players teams, sitting across the table from each other and scoring points jointly.
Description of the Solution Cards
(The manual lists these in order, each beside its card illustration; card colors and values are shown only graphically.)
- For a better quality of life, learning to sort refuse.
- Sparing natural resources, to preserve our planet from scarcity.
- Reforesting, to maintain an ecological equilibrium vital to our planet.
- Irrigating and permitting access to water. No life without water.
- Transforming and upgrading production systems to limit pollution.
- Encouraging the use of alternative sources of renewable energy.
- Granting access to water and food for all.
- Guaranteeing access to health care (vaccination programs, medication).
- Promoting traditional know-how.
- Fighting against exclusion, providing lodging for all.
- Fighting against racism and accepting each others' differences.
- Promoting education for all.
- Being a good citizen, accepting others, and the rules of life in society.
- Show solidarity towards those most in need.
- Removing land mines to help end the horrors of war.
- Defusing conflicts to better maintain peace.
- Supporting the ideals and actions of international organizations.
- Favoring the political will of people through democracy.