Wild: Serengeti – Animal Specialist Mini-Expansion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 01. Introduction
  • Components
  • Animal Specialist
  • Game Setup
• 02. Animal Specialist
  • Rules
  • Placement
• Abilities
  • Animal Partners That Provide Extra Points
  • Animal Partners That Alleviate Terrain Conditions
  • Animal Partners That Can Be Recognized as Other Animals

01. Introduction

Components

• 1 Ostrich
• 1 Hippo
• 1 Baboon
• 1 Warthog
• 1 Secretary Bird
• 1 Cheetah
• 1 Python
• 1 Buffalo
• 6 Scene Cards
• 11 Specialist Cards

Scene Cards and Specialist Cards in the Animal Specialist Expansion are marked with this AS symbol on the cards.

Animal Specialist

Among the Expansion Specialist Cards, there are distinct Specialists categorized as Animal Specialists. Each Animal Specialist has their own specific Animal Partner. Animal Specialists are allowed to move and use their Animal Partner's ability. This expansion includes 8 Animal Specialist Cards and each will include an icon on the bottom left corner to indicate their Animal Partners.

Game Setup

• Set up the game according to the Wild: Serengeti base Game Setup (see p.03 of the base game rulebook).
• Shuffle the "Expansion Scene Cards" into the base game Scene Card deck.
• Mix in the "Expansion Specialist Cards" with the base game Specialist Cards to create one Specialist deck and shuffle well. During Step 10 of Game Setup, each player draws 3 Specialist Cards and chooses 1 of them.
• If a player chooses an Animal Specialist, after completing the Game Setup, the player needs to place their Animal Partner on any space on the Map before the game begins.
• Animals not used in the current game can be placed back in the box.

02. Animal Specialist

Rules

• A player who chooses an Animal Specialist can move their Animal Partner 1 to 3 spaces once per turn as a Free Action.
• All players are allowed to switch places or move other players' Animal Partners through Basic Actions and/or Food Tokens, but will not benefit from the Animal Partners' abilities.
• All Animal Partners are unaffected by the Migration Cards.
• If conditions permit, the abilities of the Animal Partners can be used multiple times per turn.
• Only players with Animal Specialists are able to benefit from their Animal Partner's abilities.

Placement

• The Warthog, Ostrich, Cheetah, Python, Buffalo, and Secretary Bird CAN occupy the same space another animal resides in. The Baboon and Hippo on the other hand, like the base game animals, CANNOT occupy the same space as another animal. Rules will be specified in each corresponding Specialist Card.
• Placing Animal Partners on an occupied space is not limited to the player with the Animal Specialist Card. All players are able to place animals in a space occupied by any of the 6 Partner Animals mentioned above.
• If your Animal Partner is one that could be placed in a space occupied by other animals, clearly inform all players before the game.

Abilities

The Animal Specialists' abilities can be divided into 3 categories.

Animal Partners That Provide Extra Points

When completing a Scene Card, players can obtain additional points by placing the Partner Animal in a specific location.

e.g. With the Ostrich Specialist, players gain an additional 3 points when completing a Straight Line Scene with an Ostrich in the same space as one of the animals in the Scene Card. To complete card #61, the Jackal, Giraffe, and Zebra must be in a straight line, in the order presented. If the Ostrich is in the same space as one of the animals in the Scene, you receive 3 points.

Animal Partners That Alleviate Terrain Conditions

Acts like a moving VFX token, helping players complete Scene Cards more easily.

e.g. The Cheetah can occupy the same space another animal already resides in. The space the Cheetah is placed on can be recognized as "Woodlands" or "Grasslands" terrain when a Scene Card is completed. In order to complete card #107, the animals need to be placed in a straight line, in order, with some animals on specific terrain requirements. Here, the Zebra's terrain requirement has not been satisfied. But, if the Cheetah is placed in the same space as the Zebra, the "Water" terrain can now be recognized as "Grassland" terrain, thus satisfying all requirements to complete the Scene Card.

Animal Partners That Can Be Recognized as Other Animals

Some Partner Animals can be acknowledged as any animal to complete a Scene Card.

e.g. The Baboon can be recognized as any animal when completing Scene Cards. The Baboon's ability can be used multiple times per turn and can be recognized as a different animal each time a different Scene Card is completed. However, they cannot be recognized as two different animals to complete one Scene Card.

The Baboon must comply with the terrain conditions of the animal it is about to replace because while Baboons can be recognized as any animal, they cannot ignore terrain conditions. Let's take, for example, Scene Cards #99 and #69.

In this setting, the Baboon, who is adjacent to the Elephant, can be recognized as a Vulture to complete card #99. The Baboon can be used once more in the same turn to also complete card #69. With the Crocodile and Giraffe in place, we can see that the Baboon already satisfies the terrain conditions for the Giraffe in the middle of card #69. So this time, we recognize the Baboon as a Giraffe to complete the Straight Line Scene for card #69 in the same turn. In this way, a player can use the Baboon's ability multiple times throughout a turn to complete different Scene Cards.

At the end of the game, the player will need to deduct 4 points for each icon collected in their Video Gallery. For example cards #99 and #69 have 4 icons total which would mean 4 points x 4 icons = 16 points deducted at the end of the game.