Waddle Waddle

Waddle Waddle Rulebook

Table of Contents

Before You Start

Waddle Waddle has three Game Speeds so you can choose the length of game that fits into your play schedule. Setup is the same for each Game Speed.

Quick (30-45 minutes): A Quick Game takes place over just one Season. A Quick Game is a great choice for your first time playing Waddle Waddle.
Standard (60-90 minutes): A Standard Game takes place over two Seasons. After the first Season, follow the instructions to reset the game for the second Season.
Epic (90-120 minutes): For the ultimate challenge, an Epic Game takes place over three Seasons.

No matter how many Seasons you play, after the final Season ends, the player(s) with the most Conservation Points is crowned Top Conservator! Most games will take 30 to 40 minutes per Season.

Game Components

72 Penguin Cards
6 Penguin Hero Cards
8 Threat Cards and 8 Threat Tokens
9 Season Events
5 Fish Supply Tokens
5 Conservation Points Tokens
Score Tokens (100 and 200)
30 Fish Tokens
150 Nests
6 Frozen Cards
6 Player Aid Cards
1 First Player Standee
1 Game Board

Setting Up the Game

Before you start setting up, choose a Game Speed: Quick, Standard or Epic.

Choose a First Player

The First Player is the player who most recently saw a live penguin in person. If there's a tie or no-one in the group has ever seen a live penguin, then players vote on which person most closely resembles a penguin. (Or use an app or roll dice. It's just a game.)

Give the First Player the First Player Standee.

Build the Season Event Deck

Each Season Event Card corresponds to Season 1, 2 or 3. Randomly choose one Season Event Card to correspond with each Season in the Game Speed you chose and form a face down pile next to the Game Board, in Season order.

Choose Penguin Heroes

Starting with the First Player, and continuing clockwise, each player chooses one Penguin Hero Card. Each Penguin Hero provides a special ability when you play Waddles with penguins of their specialty. (For details of each Penguin Hero see Penguin Heroes below.)

Choose Nests

Each player takes all of the Nests of the color corresponding to their hero and places one Nest on the Score Track.

Each Nest color has a different symbol printed on it. There is no gameplay use for these symbols. Nests are marked this way so that color-blind individuals are able to distinguish between the different Nest colors.

Game Setup Diagram

The following summarizes the setup layout shown on the Game Setup page of the rulebook:

Ice Floe: Prepare the Penguin Deck (see below) and place it face down. Fill the Ice Floe by turning over 2 Penguin Cards for each player.
Score Track: Each player puts one Nest on the zero space.
Season Events: Make a deck with one random Season Event per Breeding Season.
Conservation Points Tokens: Place one random token in the designated spot at each Rookery.
Threat Tokens: Place the Threat Tokens next to the Game Board.
Fish Tokens: Make the Fish Supply Pile by placing the Fish Tokens in the center of the Game Board.
Extra Score Tokens: Place the Extra Score Tokens next to the Game Board.
Fish Supply Tokens: Place one random token in each Rookery.
Frozen Cards: Place the Frozen Cards somewhere convenient, like below Antarctica.
Each Player: Give each player one Player Aid Card and all of the Nests of one color.
First Player: Choose a First Player and give them the First Player Standee. Starting with the First Player, and continuing clockwise, each player chooses a Penguin Hero Card.

The Penguin Deck

At the beginning of each Season, you will need to prepare the Penguin Deck.

First, gather all 72 Penguin Cards and shuffle them. Then deal 4 stacks of 9 Penguin Cards, face down. Place a random Threat Card face down on top of each pile. Set aside the unused Threat Cards for the next Season.

It's optional but, we recommend not using the Snowy Sheathbill and Oil Spill Threat Cards in the first Season of your game.

Shuffle each pile, then STACK the piles to form the bottom half of the Penguin Deck.

Stack the remaining Penguin Cards on top the Penguin Deck, so the Threat Cards end up in the bottom part of the Penguin Deck.

Starting a Season

At the start of each Season:

Prepare the Penguin Deck. Place it above the Game Board. This is the start of the Ice Floe.
Deal two Penguin Cards to each Player.
Turn over two Penguin Cards in the Ice Floe for each Player.
In Season One, shuffle the Conservation Points Tokens, place one token in the marked area in each Rookery, then flip over the Tokens. For later Seasons, see Drafting Tokens below.
Shuffle the Fish Supply Tokens, place one token in each Rookery, then flip over the Tokens. Place the indicated number of Fish in each Rookery. For later Seasons, see Drafting Tokens below.
Reveal the Season Event Card and follow its instructions.
Starting with the First Player, begin playing your first Season! Each Season of the game consists of several Rounds. Each Round consists of each Player taking one Turn.

Starting a Turn

At the start of each player's Turn, first refill the Ice Floe. The Ice Floe gets refilled if it has fewer face up Penguin Cards than there are players in the game. Refill the Ice Floe by drawing and revealing one Penguin Card at a time until there is one face up Penguin Card for each player.

If you reveal a Threat, STOP immediately and proceed to the Playing a Threat step.

Playing a Threat

When you draw or reveal a Threat Card, the active player finds the matching Threat Token and places it in a Rookery that has an empty Threat Space. The Threat Token will stay there until the end of the Season. Some Threat Cards have placement restrictions indicated in a red box.

If the Threat Card has an immediate effect, trigger that effect now. Some threats, like the Fishing Boat, have an ongoing effect.

After placing the Threat and triggering any effects, your turn is over.

Threat Strategy

Threats make it more difficult to play Waddles in the Rookeries you place them in. Consider placing a Threat in a Rookery where you have the most Nests to protect your lead there. Or maybe play it in another Rookery to slow down a competitor.

Playing a Turn

On your Turn, if you did not reveal a Threat, choose from one of these Actions.

If you draw or reveal a Threat, skip your turn and proceed to Playing a Threat.

Draft Penguins

Take one Face Up or Face Down Card.

You cannot DRAFT if you already have 9 Cards.

Exchange a Penguin

Swap a Penguin Card. Take a FROZEN Card.

You cannot EXCHANGE if you're FROZEN already!

Fishing Trip

Put a Penguin Card back on the Ice Floe. Take a Fish.

You cannot take a FISHING TRIP if you have 2 Fish already.

Refill Your Hand

If you have no Cards, take two Cards. One Card must be Face Up.

Play Waddles

Choose a Rookery that is Compatible with your Waddle. (See Compatible Rookeries below.)
Return a Fish from that Rookery, or from your hand, back to the Fish Supply Pile.
Claim Conservation Points! Move your token on the Score Tracker.
Place Nest(s) if allowed. (See Placing Nests below.)
WaddleWaddle if you can (see Can You Even WaddleWaddle? below), otherwise return the rest of the cards in your hand to the Ice Floe.
Discard your Frozen Card if you have one.

Waddles

What's a Waddle?

A Waddle is 3 to 6 Penguin Cards in one of these arrangements:

Numerical Order: 3 to 6 Penguin Cards in Numerical Order.
Same Species: 3 to 6 Penguin Cards all the same Species.
Same Number: 3 to 6 Penguin Cards all the same Number.

Compatible Rookeries

A Waddle is Compatible with a Rookery if at least one Species Symbol on any Penguin Card matches a Species Symbol at the Rookery. Only one Penguin Card needs to match a Rookery for a Waddle to be Compatible.

Waddle Scoring

Waddles score Conservation Points based on the number of Penguin Cards in the Waddle. More Cards = more Conservation Points.

Waddle Size	Normal Waddle	Bonus Waddle
3	5 Conservation Points	8 Conservation Points
4	8 Conservation Points	12 Conservation Points
5	11 Conservation Points	16 Conservation Points
6	15 Conservation Points	21 Conservation Points

Bonus Waddles

Score +1 bonus Conservation Point per Penguin Card for All Same Species in Numerical Order. (The Waddle shown in the example is worth 8 Conservation Points, not 5.)

Can You Even WaddleWaddle?

After you play a Waddle, if ALL of the remaining cards in your hand form a second Waddle with NO EXTRA CARDS, you can WaddleWaddle!

To WaddleWaddle play the second Waddle following the usual rules. You do not have to play the second Waddle at the same Rookery as the first Waddle.

Remember: you can only WaddleWaddle if there are NO LEFTOVER CARDS after playing the second Waddle.

Sadly, this means you cannot Waddle-Waddle-Waddle!

Placing Nests

Place one Nest for each Mating Pair (two of the same Species) in your Waddle, which also matches the Species icons listed on the Rookery. In this example, place TWO Nests if you play your Waddle at Macquarie Island, but place only ONE Nest if you play it at the Antarctic Peninsula or at the Argentine Sea.

Each Waddle plays at a single Rookery, so if it places more than one Nest, place ALL of the Nests for that Waddle in that same Rookery.

Each Waddle requires only one Fish no matter how many Nests you place (even if you don't place any Nests).

(Threats and Heroes may modify placement rules.)

Score Tracker

Use the Score Tracker to keep track of your score as you play each Waddle. In this example, purple has 45 Conservation Points. They score a Waddle worth 8 Conservation Points, so they move the score token from 45 to 53.

If your score passes 100 grab an Extra Score Token. If it passes 200 flip the token over!

Ending a Season

Playing the 4th Threat Card triggers the end of the season. When the 4th Threat is played, each player in the current Round who has not acted yet gets another Turn. Then play one final Round. This is your last chance to play a Waddle and score Conservation Points this Season.

Example: Dee has the First Player Standee and finds the last Threat on her Turn. The other players get one more Turn, then the final Round begins. In a multi-Season game, if you can't play a Waddle, your final Action may be a Fishing Trip to acquire a Fish for the next Season.

End of Season Scoring

Now that the Season is over, score the End Of Season Bonus for each Rookery.

The player with the most Nests gets the larger bonus. Second most Nests gets the smaller bonus.

In case of a tie for 1st Place, the players tied for 1st place each get the 2nd place bonus. 2nd place is not awarded.

In case of a single player claiming 1st place and multiple players tied for 2nd place, the players tied for 2nd place will each get half of the 2nd place bonus.

Resetting the Game for the Next Season

In a multi-Season game, you'll need to reset the game between Seasons:

Fish and Nests remain on the board between Seasons.
Keep any Fish you have in your hand.
Players discard all Penguin Cards.
Rebuild the Penguin Deck and Ice Floe.
Return the Threat Tokens, Fish Supply Tokens and Conservation Points Tokens to the side of the board.
Give the First Player Standee to the player in last place. (In case of a tie for last, choose the player closest to the left of the current First Player).
Draft the Conservation Points Tokens and Fish Supply Tokens (see below).
Place additional Fish in each Rookery.
Reveal the next Season Event Card.
Begin play with the First Player.

Drafting Tokens

5 or more players: In Lowest to Highest score order, each player chooses a Conservation Points Token and places it in a Rookery that doesn't have one.

4 players: The last place player places two Conservation Points Tokens. Then proceed one at a time.

3 players: The last place player places three Conservation Points Tokens. Then proceed one at a time.

Draft Fish Supply Tokens the same way, but in Highest to Lowest score order.

Winning the Game

After the final Season ends, the player with the most Conservation Points wins the coveted Top Conservator prize.

In case of a tie, the player with the most Nests wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most Nests in a single Rookery wins.

If there's still a tie, celebrate this amazing achievement! No matter the score, you all win because you all did something to help penguins!

Season Events

Each Season Event Card corresponds to Season 1, 2 or 3. Reveal the Season Event Card at the start of its Season and follow its instructions. The printed text of the Season Event Cards is on the cards themselves and is not reproduced in this rulebook.

Frozen Cards

When you take an Exchange Action, take a FROZEN Card. You cannot EXCHANGE if you're FROZEN already. Discard your Frozen Card after you play a Waddle (step 6 of Play Waddles).

Note: the printed text on the Frozen Card is too small to read reliably in the source PDF, so it is not transcribed here; the Exchange Action and Play Waddles steps above state the rules that apply to it.

Simplified Rules

Regardless of which Game Speed you choose, you also have a choice of the standard ruleset or the simplified ruleset.

The simplified ruleset is for less-experienced gamers, younger children, or just those who like a more casual gaming experience free from rules and restrictions.

For a simpler game, choose any of the following changes:

Don't use the Threat Cards. The Breeding Season ends as soon as the Penguin Deck has no more face down cards.
Don't discard your extra cards after playing a Waddle.
Don't use Fish. It doesn't cost a Fish to play a Waddle.
Don't use Frozen Cards. There is no limit to how many times you can exchange cards with the Ice Floe.
Don't use Season Event Cards.
Don't use the Penguin Hero Cards.
Have fun!

Two Player Variant

For an engaging two player game of Waddle Waddle, set up and play the game as usual, with the following modifications:

The Ice Floe has four cards. Refill the Ice Floe at the start of a Player's turn when it has less than four Penguin Cards.
When scoring end-of-Season Conservation Points, only award Conservation Points to the Player with the most Nests. In case of a tie, neither Player scores any Conservation Points. (Source note: in the printed text the bonus placeholders are rendered as the Conservation Points icon; the wording here follows that icon.)
If a Player runs out of Nests of one color, the Player can choose a second color of Nests to supplement their supply.
The recommended game length is two Seasons. But hey, you paid for this game, we're not going to stop you if you want to play three Seasons.

Kevin (Optional Card)

Kevin is a very special Gentoo penguin who lives at Detaille Island. Kevin is Leucistic, which means his body doesn't produce all of the normal pigmentation that a Gentoo usually has. In particular, Kevin's feathers lack the black pigment which is why he looks tan or beige. Kevin is an optional card you can add to Waddle Waddle for even more gameplay variety.

How To Play Kevin

To play with Kevin, shuffle Kevin into the top half of the Penguin Deck. Kevin cannot be part of a Waddle, but on your turn, if you have Kevin in your hand you may exchange Kevin with a card from the Ice Floe. When you do so, do not take a Frozen Card as usual. Then after exchanging Kevin, immediately take a second Action for free. Or, you may go on a Fishing Trip with Kevin. If you do so, take a second Action for free. You may NOT Draft Kevin back to your hand on the same turn that you return him to the Ice Floe.

Kevin counts as a normal card otherwise, thus you cannot WaddleWaddle while holding Kevin. If you play a Waddle while holding Kevin, you must discard Kevin to the Ice Floe.

Threats

The Waddle Waddle base game comes with eight Threat Cards, each with a unique ability and a matching Threat Token for placing on the Game Board.

Brown Skua: Do Not Place at Argentine Sea. Nests cannot be placed here.
Elephant Seal: It takes two Fish to place a Waddle here.
Orca: It takes 3 cards of the same Species to place each Nest here.
Shark: Do Not Place at Antarctic Peninsula. Move all Fish to one or more other Rookeries. If you don't move Fish, take another Action.
Fishing Boat: Place at a Rookery with Fish, if possible. If you can't, take another Action. You must use a Fish from your hand to play a Waddle here.
Oil Spill: Move three Nests from here to the Rookeries of your choice.
Snowy Sheathbill: Remove one Nest from the player who has the most here. (You choose in case of a tie.)
Pollution: Maximum Waddle size here is 4 Cards.

Penguin Cards

Waddle Waddle contains six decks of Penguin Cards. Each deck contains 12 Penguin Cards numbered 1 - 6, two of each number. There are a total of 72 different Penguin Cards, each with a unique fact about penguins.

Penguin Species Clarification

Waddle Waddle has Penguin Cards for six of the world's species of Penguins. One of those species we have labeled simply as Rockhopper to simplify card layout. Did you know there are three subspecies of Rockhoppers? Northern, Southern and Eastern Rockhoppers! The Rockhoppers you see in Waddle Waddle are Southern Rockhoppers.

The six Penguin Species are Magellanic (Juvenile), Southern Rockhopper, Chinstrap, King, Macaroni and Gentoo.

Penguin Heroes

Each Penguin Hero provides a special ability when you play Waddles with penguins of their specialty.

Dr. Dee Boersma (King): When playing Dr. Dee Boersma, each King Nest a Waddle places counts as one extra Penguin Card for Waddle size scoring purposes. Waddles bigger than 6 cards don't score extra Conservation Points. For example, if your Waddle has four King Penguin Cards, it would place two Nests, and score as if it had six Penguin Cards, scoring 15 Conservation Points instead of 8.
Dr. Pablo "Papi" Boroboroglu (Magellanic): When playing Dr. Boroboroglu, if the highest Penguin Card (or tied for highest) in your Waddle is a Magellanic penguin, you may play that Waddle in any Rookery, ignoring the usual Nest placement restrictions for the Magellanic penguins. For example you could place Magellanic Nests in the Crozet Islands, Antarctic Peninsula, Macquarie Island or South Georgia Island.
Dyan deNapoli (Rockhopper): When playing Dyan deNapoli, for each Rockhopper Nest your Waddle places, you MAY move a Nest from there to another Rookery. Nests can be moved to any Rookery, even if the Brown Skua is present at the destination Rookery. Your own existing Rockhopper Nests are not immune from this ability. When you place Rockhopper Nests at a Rookery, you may move your own existing Rockhopper Nests there elsewhere.
Dr. Lloyd Spencer Davis (Macaroni): When playing Dr. Davis, place one extra Nest on any turn when you place a Macaroni Nest. Place the extra Nest in the same Rookery where you placed the Macaroni Nest. You may place at most ONE extra Nest on a turn. For example, if you WaddleWaddle and each Waddle places a Macaroni Nest, only one of the Waddles will place an extra Nest.
Dr. Katrin "Katta" Ludynia (Chinstrap): When playing Katta, you MAY convert two Chinstrap Penguin Cards in each Waddle you play to a different species. For example, if your Waddle consists of the 1 Chinstrap, 2 Macaroni, and 3 King Penguin Cards, you may convert the Chinstrap to either Macaroni or King, allowing you to place a Nest where either species nests.
Dr. Heather Lynch (Gentoo): When playing Dr. Lynch, if you placed a Gentoo Nest, you must perform the Refill action at the end of your turn, instead of waiting until your next turn. Note: If a season event causes you to retain cards after playing a Waddle, you cannot use Dr. Lynch's ability. Your hand must be EMPTY in order to take the Refill action.