Undergrove
Undergrove Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
You play from the point of view of a mature Douglas-fir tree trying to get its offspring established. You will place your Seedling and Root tokens out into a shared Forest area made of Mushroom tiles (using the Reproduce and Partner actions).
Your Roots give you access to trade with Mushrooms for resources (the Activate action).
At the end of the game, your Roots will score if you have Absorbed enough Carbon (through the Absorb action):
- Seedlings with 1 Carbon score 1 of their Roots.
- Seedlings with 2 Carbon score 2 of their Roots.
- Seedlings with 3 Carbon become a Tree and score all of their Roots (maximum 4 Roots).
When you score a Root, it is worth the points (Douglas-fir seed cones) printed on the Mushroom tile that it's on. A Mushroom can be worth 2 or 3 points.
As you Absorb Carbon, you move up the Carbon Track, gaining rewards. Play continues until one player advances beyond the last stone on the Carbon Track, claiming a green reward. This triggers game end. When the end of the game has been triggered, continue the current round until the last player has acted, then, starting with the first player, each player takes one final action in turn order.
All points are counted at the end of the game. The player with the most points wins.
The four resources
The game uses four cube resources plus Carbon:
- Carbon (C) — black discs. The heart of trade; needed on Seedlings for their Roots to score.
- Nitrogen (N) — blue cubes. Important for leaves.
- Phosphorus (P) — orange cubes. Important for flowers and seeds.
- Potassium (K) — purple cubes. Important for transporting sugars.
A slash/rainbow "any cube" symbol means you may choose Nitrogen, Phosphorus, or Potassium.
Components
- 50 wooden black Carbon discs
- 24 wooden blue Nitrogen cubes
- 24 wooden orange Phosphorus cubes
- 24 wooden purple Potassium cubes
- 48 Mushroom tiles
- 1 Starting Mushroom tile (the Earthlover)
- 24 Seedling tokens (6 per player)
- 16 Tree tokens (4 per player)
- 72 Root tokens (18 per player)
- 16 Activation tokens (4 per player)
- 4 Player boards
- 16 Goal Track discs (4 per player)
- 8 Goal cards
- 16 Bonus tiles
- 1 Carbon Track board
- 4 Carbon Track discs (1 per player)
- 1 Carbon Track 2 point token
- 1 First Player marker
- 4 Quick Sprout guides
- 1 Scorepad
- Solo materials: 1 Solo AI mat, 30 Solo AI cards
Setup
- First Player: Randomly select a first player and give them the First Player marker.
- Resource supply: Create a shared supply of Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium.
- Mushroom supply: Shuffle the Mushroom tiles and place them face down in piles where all players can reach them. Starting hand Mushrooms: Each player draws 3 Mushrooms from the supply, keeping them hidden from other players.
- Forest: Place the Starting Mushroom tile (Earthlover) in the center of the table, leaving room for players to build the Forest as they add more Mushroom tiles.
- Carbon: Place 1 Carbon from the supply on each of the 4 outer Mushrooms adjacent to Earthlover.
- Player boards: Each player takes a Player board and, in a matching color, takes 6 Seedling tokens, 18 Root tokens, and 4 Tree tokens.
- Activation tokens: Each player puts 4 Activation tokens color side up (ready) on the top of their board.
- Starting resources: Each player takes from the supply and places on their board: 4 Carbon, 2 Nitrogen, 2 Phosphorus, and 2 Potassium.
- Carbon Track: Place the Carbon Track board off to the side of the play area.
- Bonus tiles: Shuffle the Bonus tiles and deal a number face down to each indicated square on the Carbon Track according to player count: 2 & 3 players — 3 tiles per square; 4 players — 4 tiles per square. Return unused tiles to the box unseen. Put the Carbon Track 2 point token on its space.
- Carbon Track discs: Place each player's Carbon Track disc on the Start Here space.
- Goal cards: If this is your first game, or if you are using the Quick Sprout guides, use the 3 Goal cards marked "Starting Goal." Otherwise, shuffle the Goal cards and deal 3 next to the Carbon Track (choose which side to show at random).
- Goal Track discs: Place each player's Goal Track disc on the zero of each Goal card.
Quick Sprout guides (first game): Hand a Quick Sprout guide to each player, giving number 1 to the First player and the rest out clockwise in numerical order. If using them, skip drawing a random starting hand and instead give each player the three Mushroom tiles marked with their player number (1–4) in the top-left corner as their starting hand. In place of choosing colors, give each player the color that matches their guide.
Turn Summary
On your turn:
- Perform one Action. Choose one action from these five: Activate, Absorb, Reproduce, Partner, or Photosynthesize. You cannot take more than one action per turn unless a Mushroom ability grants you another.
- Carbon Track. If you Absorbed 1 or more Carbon this turn, move up the Carbon Track 1 space.
- Goal Progress. If you made any progress on a Goal card, mark it with your Goal Track discs.
- Hand Size. Draw back up to 3 Mushroom tiles in hand.
Parts of an action
Each action shows, on your player board:
- Cost — required resources or an Activation token flip that you must pay.
- Optional Action (brown-shaded boxes) — you may perform this, in the order shown on your Player board.
- Action — the action that must be performed.
Action: Activate
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are essential to plants.
Throughout the game you give Carbon to Mushrooms in exchange for nutrients and other benefits. Some Mushrooms give benefits without charging Carbon; others require other resources paid to the supply. Mushrooms have a cost and an ability.
Cost: To Activate a Mushroom, you must have a Root on that tile. In addition, pay the cost printed on the Mushroom tile:
- A used-token symbol: Flip the ready Activation token on your board that matches the Mushroom type to its used side.
- Carbon "onto the tile": Pay 1 Carbon onto the Mushroom tile for each shown. (You are trading Carbon with the Mushroom for the resources or ability it gives you.) A Mushroom tile can hold an unlimited amount of Carbon on it.
- Any-cube symbol: Pay 1 Nitrogen, Phosphorus, or Potassium of your choice to the supply for each shown.
Ability: Gain the benefit of the Mushroom tile's ability (see Mushroom Iconography).
Activation tokens
There are 4 Mushroom types, grouped by physical characteristics:
- Ring / cortina — Mushrooms with a ring or cortina on their stem.
- Pores / teeth — Mushrooms with pores or teeth.
- Gills — Mushrooms with gills (and no ring).
- Other shapes — Mushrooms with other shapes such as cups and corals.
You have 1 Activation token for each type. You can use these tokens to Activate Mushroom tiles and also to move and/or Absorb Carbon.
All Activation tokens have a ready side (color) and a used side (gray). When you use a token, flip it to its used side; you may not use it again until it is flipped back to ready. You ready all tokens when you Photosynthesize, and many Mushroom abilities also ready specific tokens.
Ongoing abilities
Some Mushrooms have an ability that says "ONGOING." You do not Activate these; instead they boost another action you might perform. You must have at least 1 Root on them to gain the benefit; additional Roots do not increase it.
Earthlover (the Starting Mushroom)
Earthlover requires no resources to Activate, but Activating it still uses your action for the turn. Each player starts with a Root on Earthlover, so everyone may Activate it. Its ability: gain 1 cube of your choice (Phosphorus, Nitrogen, or Potassium) from the supply to your board, and you may trade up to 2 resource cubes from your board for cubes of your choice from the supply (they do not need to match). Ongoing: at the end of each player's turn, if there is no Carbon on any Mushroom tile, place 1 Carbon on each of the 4 Mushrooms adjacent to Earthlover (North, East, South, and West).
Action: Absorb
Fungi keep most of the carbon that trees give them, but appear to redistribute some — possibly to keep their trading network strong.
Seedlings need Carbon for their Roots to score points. The Absorb action lets one of your Seedlings Absorb Carbon through one of its Roots.
Cost:
- Flip any ready Activation token to its used side, and
- Pay any 1 cube of your choice to the supply.
Optional Action — Move Carbon: There may not always be Carbon on the Mushrooms where you have Roots, so you may pay extra to move a Carbon before Absorbing it.
- You can only move the 1 Carbon that you plan to Absorb (or the 2 Carbon when using a Mushroom ability that lets you Absorb 2).
- Carbon only moves orthogonally from Mushroom to Mushroom (up, down, left, or right — never diagonally). Determine how many Mushrooms it must cross.
- For each Mushroom you move the Carbon to, you must either pay any 1 cube of your choice to the supply or flip any ready Activation token to its used side.
- You may pay any combination of cubes and token flips, 1 per Mushroom moved to.
- You do not need a Root on the Mushroom where the Carbon starts — only on the Mushroom you ultimately Absorb it from.
- There are Mushroom powers that let you Absorb 2 Carbon when you Activate them. In that case you must pay separately for each Carbon you move; they do not automatically travel together.
Action — Absorb: One of your Seedlings Absorbs 1 Carbon from a Mushroom where it has a Root. Take the Carbon off the Mushroom and place it on the Seedling. (The only way to Absorb more than 1 Carbon on your turn is to use a Mushroom power that allows it — you cannot pay extra to Absorb more than 1 with this Absorb action.)
Carbon Track: Move your Carbon Track disc up 1 stone on the Carbon Track and gain the benefit shown there.
Making a Tree
If, after Absorbing, your Seedling now has 3 Carbon on it, return the 3 Carbon to the supply and replace them with a Tree, placed on top of your Seedling token.
Trees give a scoring boost at the end of the game: a Seedling with 2 Carbon scores 2 of its Roots, but a Tree can score every Root it has. You may make a Seedling into a Tree even if it has only 1 Root, but it is usually more efficient to grow Roots around your Trees by the end of the game.
You are limited to making 4 Trees in the game. In the very rare case that you have made 4 Trees and the game has not ended, your remaining Seedlings may Absorb 3 or even 4 Carbon; they score 1 Root per Carbon. You do not get back the Seedling that you place the Tree on. You can have no more than 6 Seedlings and/or Trees in play.
Carbon Track
On each turn that you Absorbed Carbon (through the Absorb action or a Mushroom that gives you Absorb actions), move your Carbon Track disc 1 stone up on the Carbon Track and immediately take the benefit shown on that stone. You move only 1 stone on the Carbon Track, even if you Absorbed 2 or more Carbon in your turn.
Stones 2, 4, and 6 have face-down Bonus tiles on them:
- When you reach a Bonus tile stone, look at the tiles there, keep 1, and put the others back face down. If you are the first to take a Bonus tile from a space, shuffle the remaining tiles before returning them.
- Keep your token face down. You may reveal and then discard it at any time to gain the benefit it shows. If the token gives points (seed cones), reveal it during scoring at the end of the game.
- Bonus tile benefits are: a resource, 2 points, 1 point, or a one-time ability to ready all your Activation tokens.
Stone 8 gives 1 Carbon.
When a player moves past stone 8:
- They place their token on 1 of the 5 green spaces and take the reward shown there. Other players who reach the end must choose a different space. A green "2 points" token may be added to a player's board as a scoring reminder.
- The game end is triggered.
Action: Reproduce
Mature Douglas-firs produce cones that release dozens of seeds on the wind. By the end of their first year, successful seedlings usually have a mycorrhizal relationship with at least one fungus.
You start the game with only 1 Seedling in the Forest. This action adds more Seedlings.
Cost: Pay 1 Carbon, 2 Phosphorus to the supply.
Optional Action — Place a Mushroom: You may pay any 1 cube of your choice to the supply to place 1 Mushroom tile from your hand into the Forest.
Action — Place 1 Seedling with 1 Root:
- Place one of your Seedlings from your board on any unclaimed corner in the Forest. Your seeds are wind-borne: new Seedlings do not need to be near your other pieces. Once placed, Seedlings never move. No other player can use the same corner.
- Add a Root touching the Seedling you just placed. The Root must go on one of the Mushrooms that the Seedling is touching.
Action: Partner
Older trees can have dozens of different fungal species attached to their roots, and each fungus can be attached to many different trees. They form a vast underground network.
Each Seedling comes with just one Root. The Partner action lets you add Roots to Seedlings and Trees, giving you access to new Mushroom abilities and potential points.
Cost: Pay 1 Carbon, 2 Potassium to the supply.
Optional Action — Place a Mushroom: You may pay any 1 cube of your choice to the supply to place 1 Mushroom tile from your hand into the Forest.
Action — Place 2 Roots:
- Place 2 Roots onto Mushrooms. Each Root you place must be attached to one of your Seedlings or Trees.
- The 2 Roots may be attached to the same Seedling/Tree, but do not have to be.
- You cannot place a Root on another player's Seedling/Tree.
- You cannot place a Root on a corner without a Mushroom.
- You can place no more than 18 Roots in the Forest. Most games end long before this.
Placing a Mushroom
The Reproduce and Partner actions are the only ways to add new Mushroom tiles to the Forest. When you take the Place-a-Mushroom optional action:
- The Mushroom tile must be placed orthogonally adjacent to at least 1 other Mushroom in the Forest (never diagonally).
- Do not pay the cost shown on the Mushroom — that is the cost to Activate it on later turns.
- Remember to draw your hand back to 3 Mushrooms at the end of your turn.
- When placing your Seedling and/or Root as part of your Reproduce or Partner action, you may place them on the Mushroom you placed this turn, but you are not required to.
- You may place only 1 Mushroom per turn using Reproduce or Partner. (Some Mushrooms have ongoing abilities that let you place an extra Mushroom.)
Action: Photosynthesize
Animals and fungi all depend on a food chain that starts with plants photosynthesizing carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. Photosynthesizing is the only way to gain Carbon in Undergrove.
You will use a lot of Carbon by Activating Mushrooms and making Seedlings and Roots. Photosynthesize replenishes your Carbon, readies all of your used Activation tokens, and discards any unwanted Mushroom tiles from your hand.
Cost: No cost.
Action — Gain 2 Carbon: Take 2 Carbon from the supply and add them to your board.
Optional Action — +1 additional Carbon per Nitrogen paid: You may pay any number of Nitrogen from your board to the supply to gain that many additional Carbon.
Action — Ready tokens: Flip all of your used Activation tokens to their ready side.
Optional Action — Discard Mushroom tiles: You may discard any number of Mushroom tiles from your hand. At the end of your turn, draw Mushroom tiles from the supply until you have 3 in hand.
Goal Cards
Goal cards offer another important source of points. All players may score points for all 3 Goal cards.
Goal Tracks: All goal cards have a goal track. Each player starts with a Goal Track disc on each goal. Some goals must be tracked during the game because they count how many times you do something that isn't otherwise recorded (such as making 6 Carbon in one turn). Others count how many of something you have at game end; a game-end goal can be checked at any time and marked on its Goal Track. Some goals may go above 10; in that case each player has an extra Goal Track disc that they place on the 10 and continue counting 11 and beyond with the other disc.
Score Tables: Score tables show how many points you score based on your progress on the Goal Track. There are 3 types:
- Counter Tables: Award points based on where your Goal Track disc is (e.g. disc on 1 earns 3; on 2 earns 5; on 3 or more earns 9).
- Competitive Tables: Award points based on how you finished compared to other players on the Goal Track (e.g. 4th place 1, 3rd 3, 2nd 5, Most 9). In a tie, add the points for the tied places together and divide by the number of players, rounding down.
- Multiplier Tables: Score points based on a multiplier applied to a variable such as your position on the card's Goal Track (e.g. 2x your number on the goal track).
Goal Cards: Glossary
- Silver-haired Bat - A: Track how many times you've made 6 or more Carbon in a turn. (You generally pay 4 or more Nitrogen when Photosynthesizing to make that many Carbon; also count Carbon earned that turn from bonus tiles or ongoing Mushroom abilities.)
- Silver-haired Bat - B: Each time you Photosynthesize and pay Nitrogen to gain additional Carbon, move your disc up the Goal Track 1 space for each Nitrogen you paid.
- Whiskey Jack - A: Encourages you to spread your Seedlings & Trees out on different vertical lines (West to East; N, S, E, W are printed on the starting Mushrooms). You want your pieces on many different vertical lines rather than stacked above/below each other.
- Whiskey Jack - B: Count how many unique Mushrooms your Seedlings/Trees are touching. Each Mushroom counts only once. You do not need a Root on a Mushroom for it to count.
- Red Vole - A: Simply count how many Trees you've grown.
- Red Vole - B: Count how many Seedlings & Trees you have with 2 or more Roots.
- Douglas-fir Spittlebug - A: Tracks how many times you place 2 Roots on the same type of Mushroom in a single turn. The 2 Roots may be on the same Mushroom or 2 different Mushrooms of the same type.
- Douglas-fir Spittlebug - B: Count how many Roots you've placed.
- Flying Squirrel - A and B: Track how many Roots you have on a Mushroom with an EVEN or ODD point value. A Mushroom with multiple Roots may be counted more than once (the count is by Root). Some Mushrooms have variable points; only their end-of-game value counts.
- Red Crossbill - A and B: Track how many Roots you have on Mushrooms with a color, animal, or person in their name (marked with a paint-mix symbol for a color, and a paw print for a person/animal). Count is by Root.
- Banana Slug - A and B: Award points for each Seedling or Tree touching a specific number of Mushroom types (the 4 types are shown under Activation tokens). You do not need a Root on the Mushroom for it to count.
- Douglas Squirrel - A and B: Award points for each Seedling or Tree touching Mushrooms with specific abilities (Mushrooms that Ready an Activation token include at least one ready-token symbol). You do not need a Root on the Mushroom for it to count.
Game End
Game end trigger: Turns continue until one player triggers the end of the game by reaching the end of the Carbon Track. At that point:
- Finish the round: continue playing until all players have had the same number of turns.
- Then each player gets one more turn.
Scoring and winning: All points are counted at the end of the game. The player with the most points wins. In a tie, the player with the most Trees wins; if still tied, the player with the most Carbon on their Seedlings wins.
Score points as follows:
Goal cards: Score as described on each card.
Seedlings & Trees:
- Seedlings with 1 Carbon score 1 Root.
- Seedlings with 2 Carbon score 2 Roots.
- Trees score all of their Roots.
- In the rare case that all 4 Trees are used, Seedlings with 3 or 4 Carbon score 1 Root per Carbon.
- The score of a Root is the point (seed cone) value shown on the bottom of the Mushroom tile it is on.
- When a Seedling has more Roots than Carbon on it, the player chooses which Roots to score.
Bonus tiles & resources: Add the score from any points collected on Bonus tiles. You also gain 1 point for every 2 unused resources (Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, or Potassium) left on your board at the end of the game. If you claimed the green 2 point token from the end of the Carbon Track, count those points here.
Mushroom Iconography
Remember that you must have a Root on a Mushroom to Activate it.
Costs (left side of the ability box):
- Flip your matching token to used.
- Place 1 Carbon on the Mushroom.
- Pay 1 Nitrogen, Phosphorus, or Potassium to the supply.
Resources (gain the resources shown):
- Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium as shown.
- "Any cube" symbol: gain 1 Nitrogen, Phosphorus, or Potassium.
- "All other players" symbol: all OTHER players gain the resource shown.
Ready: Flip your token(s) to the ready side (specific type or any).
Take Another Action: Take any of the 5 actions from your player board, paying all costs.
Absorb (Mushroom ability): Follow the rules for the Absorb action.
- Carbon must be Absorbed through a Root.
- You may pay extra (cubes or token flips) to move Carbon to that Root.
- Move up 1 space on the Carbon Track.
- If you Absorb 2 Carbon: they may go to different Seedlings, and you still move up just 1 space on the Carbon Track (not 2).
- Absorb "C from HERE": The Carbon must start on this Mushroom (it may be Carbon you paid to Activate the Mushroom). You may pay to move it to a different Mushroom and Absorb it there.
- Absorb "ANY C": Each Carbon may start on any Mushroom. If Absorbing 2 Carbon, they may start on 2 different Mushrooms. Moving costs still apply.
Ongoing: These powers boost one of your 5 actions for the rest of the game, starting the turn after you place a Root on them. Having a second Root does not double the power.
- +1 Root: On the noted action (Reproduce or Partner), place 1 additional Root. On Reproduce, the Root must attach to the Seedling you just placed.
- +1 Carbon (Photosynthesize): The Photosynthesize action now gives you 3 Carbon instead of 2.
- 2nd Mushroom: On the noted action (Reproduce or Partner), if you pay for the option to place 1 Mushroom tile, you may place a 2nd Mushroom tile for free.
Copy: Select any Mushroom of the matching type and carry out its action as if it were printed on the copycat Mushroom. This includes: pay the Carbon cost of the copied Mushroom on the copycat; pay any resource cost to the supply; do not flip another Activation token; and, if copying an "Absorb from HERE" action, Absorb from the copycat.
Variable Scoring: At game end, score points only for spaces with a cube on them; spaces must be filled from left to right.
- Yellow Veiled Amanita: Once full, the extra resource remains in the supply. Scores 2 points, plus 1 point for each adjacent Mushroom of the indicated type. Diagonals do not count.
Solo Rules
In Undergrove Solo, you play against 2 other trees trying to establish their Seedlings in the Forest. They share a single AI deck that controls their actions.
Solo Setup
- Main setup: Set up a 3-player game between you (Green) and the AI (Brown and Tan), with these exceptions:
- Steps 6–9: The AI plays as Brown and Tan, which use only Seedlings. They do not use Roots, Trees, Activation Tokens, or a Player board, and do not get starting resources or Mushroom tiles.
- Step 12: Set up as normal. The AI players do use their Brown and Tan Carbon Track discs.
- Steps 13–14: Randomly choose 3 Goal cards. The AI does not compete on goals; if you draw any goals that compare players (score table with 1st/2nd/etc.), replace them with other goals.
- Starting Position: You claim a position as normal. The AI does not claim starting positions; leave the unclaimed corners of Earthlover open.
- Additional solo setup:
- AI Mat: Use the provided mat to organize the AI materials.
- AI Decks: Shuffle the AI cards into 2 separate decks (A & B). Stack them in one facedown pile on the AI mat, deck B on the bottom and deck A on top.
- AI focus elements: Pick up 1 of each element (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium) and randomly select one for Brown's focus element. Repeat for Tan. (Both AI players might end up with the same focus element.)
Solo Gameplay
The AI is the first player, then alternates its turns with yours.
- On the AI's turn, draw the top card from its deck and execute each action on it in order from top to bottom.
- On your turn, play as normal.
- If you Activate a Mushroom that gives other players resources, give both Brown and Tan resources as if they were players, adding them to their resource areas on the AI mat.
- If an AI color would ever gain a cube of its choice, it always chooses its focus element.
- If you are first to take a Bonus tile from a Carbon Track space, shuffle the remaining tiles before returning them face down.
Either you or an AI color may trigger the game end by reaching the end of the Carbon Track. Follow the game end rules as if the AI were the first player. If you trigger the end, the AI takes one more turn, then you get one more turn. If the AI reaches the end of the track after game end was already triggered, it takes, in order: 1st — 1 Carbon and 2 of its focus element; 2nd — claiming the green 2 point token; 3rd — 3 Carbon. If the AI triggers the end, it always takes its first choice spot shown above.
AI Cards
Each AI card has several actions performed in order from top to bottom. Each action usually has two parts: what action the AI takes, and where it takes place in the Forest.
Location — arrows followed by a Mushroom-type icon indicate a location in the Forest: up = Top-most, down = Bottom-most, left = Left-most, right = Right-most Mushroom of that type.
- Location Ties: When 2 or more locations are tied, break ties in reading order (left to right / top to bottom).
- Location cannot be used: If the first Mushroom picked cannot be used, find the next available Mushroom of the same type; if there is no usable location, the AI skips the action.
- Unable to fulfill action: Whenever the AI cannot fulfill one or more actions on its card, it takes 1 resource (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, or Potassium) of your choice — only one resource on that turn, no matter how many actions it could not carry out.
AI Actions:
- Place a Mushroom tile: The AI places the top Mushroom tile from the deck if there is a space available of the type specified, along the indicated edge of the indicated Mushroom. If that edge is not open, continue in reading order to any other Mushroom of that type with the edge available; otherwise the AI does not place a Mushroom.
- Place a Seedling: The AI places a Seedling of the indicated color on a Mushroom of the type specified. Find the first indicated Mushroom with a corner space available; on that Mushroom, place the Seedling on the corner with the most adjacent Mushrooms (tie broken in reading order).
- Add Carbon: The AI puts Carbon on a Mushroom in the Forest from the supply (never from the AI mat). Use the location info to find the first Mushroom of the indicated type and add the indicated number of Carbon to it.
- Take Carbon: The indicated AI color takes Carbon from a Mushroom and adds it to its resource area on the AI mat, then moves up the Carbon Track 1 step. Find the first Mushroom of the indicated type that has Carbon on it; take the number of Carbon shown and add it to the AI mat (do not return it to the supply). If there is none, the AI does not gain any, but the indicated AI color still moves up the Carbon Track. As AI players move up the Carbon Track, they take rewards except free Roots. When the AI gains a Bonus tile, it takes the top tile in that stack; Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and points all count at end of game, and ready-token bonus tiles have no effect.
Solo Scoring
You score as normal. The AI scores by player color (one score for Brown, one for Tan):
- Focus element: Each AI player gains 1 point for each resource matching its focus element. Record in the goals section of the scorepad.
- Seedlings: By player color, count each of the AI's Seedlings. Score each AI Seedling as you would normally score a Tree with 4 Roots.
- Difficulty Mode: Pick a difficulty by crossing out up to two of the AI Seedling scores. Easy — each AI color keeps its 4 highest-scoring Seedlings. Medium — keeps its 5 highest. Hard — both AI colors score all Seedlings.
- Bonus tiles, Carbon Track, and resources: The AI colors score like a human player. Count Bonus tile points and leftover resources in each AI resource area (in addition to the focus element points). Add the 2 points from the Carbon Track if an AI player claimed that token.
You win if you have a higher score than both AI colors.
Added Difficulty: The AI decks intentionally include 3 "The AI takes no actions this turn" cards. You may remove 1 or more of them; the more you remove, the harder the game.
Whispering Woods: Goal Cards (Expansion)
An expansion set of additional Goal cards:
- Douglas-fir Moth - A: Each Root can count towards only 1 set. (Some Mushrooms have variable points; only their end-of-game value counts.)
- Douglas-fir Moth - B: Tracks how many Seedlings & Trees you have on the 12 corners one ring out from Earthlover (the center Mushroom).
- Sooty Grouse - A: Tracks how many times you move a Carbon two or more spaces as part of an Absorb action or a Mushroom activation. If you move a second Carbon 2 or more spaces in the same turn, move up the Goal track an additional space.
- Sooty Grouse - B: Tracks the number of times you ready all 4 Activation tokens in a turn by any method — the Photosynthesize action, activating Mushrooms, or using a Bonus tile. You must have 4 used Activation tokens and ready them all in a single turn to count.
Credits
Design: Elizabeth Hargrave, Mark Wootton. Illustrations: Beth Sobel. Graphic Design: Adelheid Zimmerman, Brigette Indelicato, Kirk W Buckendorf. Published by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG), 2024.