The Game of Birds Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Seven Wonders of Birds
• Game Materials
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Round Preparation
  • Turn
  • End of the Round
  • Bonus Points
• Overview of the Die Symbols
• End of the Game
  • End-of-Game Example

The Seven Wonders of Birds

The seven wonders are: Nest, Egg (Ei), Beak (Schnabel), Song (Gesang), Feather (Feder), Flight (Flug) and Migration (Vogelzug).

Game Materials

• 1 game board
• 140 bird cards
• 28 threat cards (Bedrohung)
• 4 white bird-conservation dice
• 2 black danger dice
• 9 conservation medals (7 points)
• 6 scenario cards
• 1 bird figure
• 24 bonus tiles "2 points"
• 30 point tiles "7 points"
• 30 point tiles "8 points"
• 30 point tiles "10 points"

Setup

1. Place the game board in the middle of the table, within easy reach of everyone.
2. Sort the point tiles and place them, together with the bonus tiles and conservation medals, as a supply next to the game board.
3. Shuffle the 6 scenario cards and place them as a draw pile next to the game board. Turn over the top card. The revealed scenario card shows which cards are placed face down and which face up on the game board in the first round.
4. Shuffle the bird and threat cards together – these are now your game cards. Deal 6 game cards to each person. Take these 6 starting cards into your hand and keep them secret from the others. Place the remaining game cards as one or more draw piles next to the game board.
5. The person who can best imitate a bird takes the bird figure as the start marker, begins the first round with the round preparation and then takes the first turn.

Gameplay

Over several rounds you play cards from your hand in order to take new bird cards from the game board, with which you build your personal display. The number of rounds depends on the number of players: in a game for two or four players you play 8 rounds. In a game for three players you play 9 rounds.

Round Preparation

• Draw 9 cards from the draw pile of game cards and place them on the game board as shown on the scenario card. Black spaces indicate where you place cards face down; all other cards you place face up on the game board.
• Roll the 6 dice and then place them on the spaces of the same colour on the game board. The 2 black danger dice show restrictions that affect all of you this round. Pay attention to them when it is your turn and you play bird cards.

Turn

A turn consists of the following three steps:

1. Choose a white bird-conservation die. Choose one of the white bird-conservation dice from the game board that best fits your strategy. The effect of the die can be decisive for how you carry out your turn. Carry out the die effect during your turn. If you cannot or do not want to, the effect is forfeited.
2. Play a card to take three cards from the board. Choose one of your hand cards and play it face up next to the game board. The symbol in the upper left corner of your played hand card indicates whether you may take the three cards of the column below it (Egg, Beak, Migration), of the row next to it (Nest, Flight, Feather) or of the adjacent diagonal (Song) (see the examples on the right of the rulebook page).
   • Take the 3 corresponding cards from the game board into your hand. If face-down cards are among them, you must reveal them: if it is a bird card, you may take it into your hand. If it is a threat card, however, you must immediately place it in the matching wonder column of your display.
   • Important: If there are already 3 cards in this wonder column, you must discard a bird card from this wonder column and replace it with the threat card. The only way to have threat cards in your hand is to have received them as starting cards. You can play these threat cards like bird cards in order to take cards from the game board.
   • Now place your originally played card face up on the discard pile of game cards. Refill the 3 empty spaces of the game board with 3 cards from the draw pile. Pay attention to which cards are placed face down or face up (see the scenario card).
3. Place up to 2 bird cards in your display. You may now place 0 up to 2 bird cards from your hand into your personal display. It does not matter whether you have just taken the cards from the game board or already had them in your hand before. When laying them out, pay attention to the wonder of the card and to the restrictions of the danger dice.
   • Your personal display consists of 7 wonder columns (one column per wonder) with a maximum of 3 cards each. That means you can have at most three bird and/or threat cards of the same wonder in your display (see the end-of-game example).

Then the next person clockwise takes their turn and carries out the three steps above (choose a white conservation die; play a hand card to take 3 cards from the game board; then play up to 2 bird cards into the display).

End of the Round

When everyone has had one turn, the round ends. All cards on the game board are now placed on the discard pile. The scenario card is also placed on a separate scenario discard pile and a new scenario card is revealed. After the sixth round you must shuffle the discarded scenario cards before revealing a new scenario card. The bird figure also moves on one person clockwise. This person begins the next round with the round preparation and their turn.

Bonus Points

If you place a second or even third bird of the same species in your display, you are a particularly successful bird conservationist of that species. As a reward you receive point tiles from the supply, with which you cover the point value of these bird cards and thereby upgrade them:

• If the birds are on the amber list, they are moved to the green list and each bird receives a green point tile "7 points". If you now play a third bird of this species, this bird is also moved to the green list and immediately receives a green point tile "7 points".
• If the birds are on the red list, they are moved to the amber list and each bird receives an amber point tile "8 points". If you now play a third bird of this species, all three birds are moved to the green list. Return the two point tiles "8 points" to the supply and instead place a green point tile "10 points" on each of the 3 bird cards.

Conservation medals: When you complete a row with 7 bird cards (1 bird card in each of the seven wonder columns), you receive a conservation medal. It is worth 7 points. You can receive up to 3 conservation medals (one for each of the three possible rows). However, if a row contains one or more threat cards, you do not receive a conservation medal for it.

Overview of the Die Symbols

Black danger dice (restrictions affecting everyone this round):

• Symbol of one of the seven wonders (Song, Nest, Egg, Flight, Beak, Migration, Feather): You may not place a bird card with this symbol in your display.
• Crossed-out red card: You may not place birds that are on the red list in your display.
• Card with a downward arrow: At the beginning of your turn, discard one of your hand cards. Exception: if it is your only hand card, you keep it.
• Bird's head (eagle): No negative effects.

White bird-conservation dice:

• +2: Take a bonus tile "2 points".
• Eye: Before you play a hand card and take three cards from the game board: Look at one face-down card on the game board.
• • and a card: You may place up to three bird cards in your display.
• Two cards with arrows: Before you play a hand card and take three cards from the game board: Swap two cards on the game board with each other.
• Skull with arrow: At any time during your turn: Remove a threat card from your display.
• Crossed-out black die: Ignore the effect of one danger die.

End of the Game

The game ends after round 8 (in a game for two or four players) or after round 9 (in a game for three players). Then you each add up your points:

• the points on the bird cards, or of the point tiles "7/8/10 points" on them
• the points of the bonus tiles "2 points"
• 7 points for each conservation medal
• –3 points for each threat card

Whoever then has the most points wins the game!

Special case: If you manage to fill your display completely with 21 bird cards, that is, without threat cards, the game ends immediately and you win!

End-of-Game Example

You receive a total of 85 points: 97 points for bird cards and point tiles; you have no bonus tile "2 points"; you have no conservation medal, because every row contains at least one threat card; –12 points for the threat cards.