WildLife Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Game Setup
• Populating the Board
• Creature Charts
  • Migrate
  • Expand
  • Attack
• Game Play
• Wildlife Cards
  • Terrain Cards
  • Wheel Cards
  • Arrowhead Cards
  • Lightning Cards
  • Text Cards
• Auctions
• Free Migration
• Trading Food Chips
• Using Ability Cards
• Drawing Wildlife Cards
• Scoring
  • 1. Minor Scoring - All spaces of a region are filled
  • 2. Major Scoring
    • Scoring the Regions
    • Scoring the Herds
    • Scoring the Adaptations
    • Scoring the Abilities
    • Scoring Food chips
• Game End
• Additional Rules for 2 Players
• Variants
• Sample Turn - Player Orange (Man)
• Example of a Major Scoring

Game Contents

• 1 Gameboard displaying a Success track along the edge, a Minor Scoring track (numbered 3 through 5), a Major Scoring track, and a Map displaying 6 Terrain types. Each terrain type appears twice on the map in one large region and one small region, for a total of 12 Regions.
• 6 Terrain types: Forest, Desert, Savannah, Plains, Mountains, Water
• 6 Success markers
• 6 Creature charts
• 180 Creature tiles (30 of each type): Eagle, Snake, Man, Mammoth, Bear, Crocodile
• 72 Adaptation tiles (3x Migrate, 4x Expand, 5x Attack in each terrain type)
• 15 Ability cards
  • Food: 5x
  • Intelligence: 4x
  • Mobility: 3x
  • Defense: 2x
  • Aggression: 1x
• 1 Scoring marker
• 11 Region markers
• 4 Reference sheets
• 48 Food chips (30 worth 1 point, 18 worth 5 points)
• 110 Wildlife cards (60 Terrain cards, 18 Arrowhead cards used to purchase Ability cards, 15 Wheel cards used to purchase Adaptation tiles, 10 Lightning cards used as jokers, 7 Text cards: 3 Food Surplus, 2 Plague and 2 Famine)

Game Setup

• The Gameboard is placed in the middle of the table.

• The 6 Creature charts are shuffled and distributed, one to each player. Players place the charts face-up in front of them, showing which creature and color they will be playing. Unused charts are placed back in the box.

• The Creatures: Each player takes his creature tiles and places them in a Supply in front of him.

  • With 2-3 players, each uses all 30 Creatures,
  • With 4 players use 25 each
  • With 5 players use 21 each
  • With 6 players use 18 each

  Unused creatures are placed back in the box.

• The Starting player is the player with the oldest creature. Play follows clockwise.

• The Success markers: Each player receives the success marker of his color. The Starting player places his marker on the "1" space of the Success track, going clockwise the next player places his marker on "2", the next player on "3", etc.

• The Food Chips: Each player receives 8 points worth; the rest are placed in a pile beside the gameboard.

• The Adaptation tiles are sorted by Terrain type and Adaptation type and placed beside the gameboard.

• The Ability cards are sorted by type and placed in stacks beside the gameboard.

• The 11 Region markers are placed on the 11 numbered spaces on the Minor scoring track.

• The Scoring marker is placed on the purple space at the start of the Major scoring track.

• The Wildlife cards are shuffled. Each player receives a hand of 10 cards, and the rest are placed in a deck face-down beside the gameboard. Players look at their own cards, but keep them secret from the other players.

• The Reference sheets should be placed for everyone to see.

After game setup the board should appear as follows, showing: one map space with its Terrain type; five spaces forming a complete region; the Scoring marker on the Major scoring track; the Minor scoring track with 11 spaces; the Region markers; the Success track with each player's Success marker (the marker on space "1" belongs to the starting player); and the Food chips.

Populating the Board

Players now place their starting creatures onto the board. The number of creatures each player will place depends upon the number of players in the game:

Number of Players	Number of Creatures
2	12
3	8
4	5
5	4
6	3

The Starting player begins and places one of his own creatures onto the board. The player to his left does the same, and this continues clockwise until each player has placed his appropriate number of starting creatures. A player may place his creatures on any unoccupied space in a region where he may "Migrate", "Expand", or "Attack", as shown on his Creature chart.

Notes on Populating the Board:

• No creature may be placed in a terrain marked "No Action" on the corresponding Creature chart.
• Only 1 creature may be placed on each space
• In the small regions (4-5 spaces) there can be no more than two creatures total among all players during this phase.
• In the large regions (8-9 spaces) there can be no more than four creatures total during this phase.

A sample starting board population of a 4-player game: Snake (yellow, Starting player), Mammoth (green), Man (orange), and Eagle (brown).

Once the board has been populated, the game can begin.

Creature Charts

The chart shows the creature, its age, and the six regions (Desert, Plains, Savannah, Forest, Mountains, Water). A player may only take an action in a region if he has the appropriate level of adaptation.

Example: The player "Man"

• has the Migrate adaptation in the Forest and Mountains
• has the Expand adaptation in the Plains
• has the Attack adaptation in the Savannah

He has no adaptations in Water and Desert, and cannot currently take actions there.

Migrate is the weakest of the adaptations, Expand is stronger, and Attack is strongest.

Migrate

The player may move one of his creatures 1 space - horizontally or vertically. The creature has the option of travelling over creatures of his own herd to move more than one space. A creature may only migrate into a region where it has the "Migrate", "Expand", or "Attack" adaptation.

Expand

The player places a creature from his supply directly onto a space in a region where the creature has the "Expand" or "Attack" adaptation.

Attack

An attack can only occur in a region where the creature has the "Attack" adaptation and all the region's spaces are already occupied. The attacking creature takes the place of a creature on the board, and the displaced creature is put back into the box.

Game Play

Play continues in clockwise order, beginning with the Starting player. During the course of his turn, a player must play 3 Cards from his hand and performs the following actions in the order of his choice:

1. Actions gained from Wildlife cards
2. One free Migration
3. Actions gained from Ability cards
4. Food trading

-followed by-

5. Replenish Wildlife cards (draw back up to 10 at end of turn)

Played Wildlife cards remain in front of the player until the end of his turn when they are discarded.

Wildlife Cards

Each card represents an action. Since a player can play 3 cards, he has 3 actions at his disposal. At least one of these actions must be auctioned to another player. Multiple actions may be auctioned if desired.

The five kinds of Wildlife cards are: Terrain, Wheel, Arrow, Lightning, and Text.

Terrain Cards

If a Terrain card is played (Desert, Plains, Savannah, Forest, Mountains, Water), the player may perform an action in a corresponding region of that Terrain type. The chosen action must be one permitted by the adaptation level shown on the Creature chart.

• If a player has no adaptation level, and does not put the action up for auction, he discards the card with no effect.
• If a player is able to "Migrate", he may move one of his creatures on the board into a space of the corresponding terrain (following the movement rules).
• If a player is able to "Expand", he may place one creature from his supply onto an unoccupied space in either of the corresponding terrain regions.
• If a player is able to "Attack", he may place one creature from his supply onto an unoccupied space in a matching region (the "Expand" action), or, if all spaces in a region are filled, he may remove an opponent's creature and replace it with one of his own from his supply.

Note: Removed creatures are put back into the box!

Note: In order to Attack and remove other player's tiles from an area, the area needs to be completely filled with tiles.

Wheel Cards

If a Wheel card is played, the player may upgrade his adaptation level in a terrain of his choice, using the appropriate Adaptation tile.

• If a player has no adaptation level (= "No Action") in the chosen terrain, he places a "Migrate" Adaptation tile on that space of the Creature chart marked "No Action". Effective immediately, the player may now migrate into the selected terrain. He may still not, however, place creatures in the terrain directly from his supply (= Expand).
• If a player is able to "Migrate" into the chosen terrain, he places an "Expand" Adaptation tile on that space of the Creature chart marked "Migrate" (or on top of an existing "Migrate" tile). Effective immediately, the player may now expand into an unoccupied space in the selected terrain.
• If a player is able to "Expand" in the chosen terrain, he places an "Attack" Adaptation tile on that space of the Creature chart marked "Expand" (or on top of an existing "Expand" tile). Effective immediately, the player may now attack an occupied space in the selected region, providing there are no remaining unoccupied spaces in the region.
• If a player is able to "Attack" in a particular terrain, then for this terrain he has no further upgrades available.

A player may make as many upgrades as he wishes during a turn, using one Wheel action for each.

Arrowhead Cards

If an Arrowhead card is played, the player may choose an Ability card and place it in front of him. The Ability card is taken from the main supply. If no cards of the chosen ability remain, the player takes the selected card from an opponent. If multiple opponents control the chosen type of card, the player must choose to take from the opponent who currently has the greater number of success points. If there is a tie, then the player may choose any of the tied players. The position of the active player's own Success marker plays no role in this determination.

Note: The action of the Ability card is available for use immediately.

Note: A player may not possess more than two of any single ability type.

Lightning Cards

If a Lightning card is played, it is used as a Joker. The player may decide to use this card as an Arrowhead, a Wheel, or a Terrain card of any type.

Text Cards

If a Text card is played, the player executes the action described on the card.

Auctions

On his turn a player must auction at least 1 card to his opponents as one of his actions. If the player wishes to auction multiple cards, each gets its own separate auction and each costs 1 action each.

The chosen card is displayed to all players, and the bidding begins with the player to the left, continuing clockwise. Players bid with their Food chips, with a minimum bid of 3. Each player may bid more food chips than the previous player or pass. If a player passes, he may not reenter the bid. Bidding continues around the table until all but one player have passed.

The winner of the bid pays the appropriate number of Food chips to the auctioneer. He then either immediately executes the card's action, or discards the card with no effect.

If no bids are given, the action is lost and the card is discarded.

Free Migration

Aside from any actions taken from playing Wildlife cards, a player receives one additional Migrate action during his turn. The normal migration movement rules apply, and the player must have the "Migrate", "Expand", or "Attack" adaptation in the terrain of the space entered.

This optional action may be taken before, during or after the actions received from the Wildlife cards.

Trading Food Chips

• A player may receive 3 Food chips from the main supply in exchange for moving back one space on the Success track. The bid winner can move back a maximum of two spaces and only has this option when he wins a bid for a card and does not have enough Food chips to pay the auctioneer. The bid winner may move beyond the "1" space if necessary.
• A player may pay 3 Food chips back to the main supply to move forward one space on the Success track. A player may do this as many times as he wishes, but only during his own turn.

Using Ability Cards

On his turn, a player may choose to use one or more of his acquired Ability cards - except for "Defense" which may only be used on an opponent's turn. If a player wins an Arrowhead card in an auction and the player immediately chooses an Ability card, he must wait until his own turn before he may use it. (Exception - "Defense" is available for use immediately.)

Drawing Wildlife Cards

All played Wildlife cards are placed on the discard pile. At the end of his turn, a player refreshes his hand back to 10 cards from the draw pile. If the draw pile is exhausted, the discard pile is shuffled to form a new draw pile.

Scoring

1. Minor Scoring - All spaces of a region are filled

Immediately when the last space of a region is filled, the player who took the action receives 3-5 Success points, moving his Success marker forward. The amount moved is shown on the space under the Region marker furthest to the left on the Minor Scoring track. The region marker is then placed in the region that was just scored, and remains even if creatures move away from the region. A region may only have one Minor Scoring per game.

2. Major Scoring

At the end of a player's turn when a Region marker is taken from spaces 4, 8, or 11 of the Minor Scoring track (due to a player completing a region), a Major Scoring occurs. Players score Success points for having the most creatures in each region, for the largest herd, the most Adaptations, the most Abilities, and the most Food chips. These scorings are tracked on the Major Scoring track. Players should use the purple Scoring marker as an aid to mark which scoring has been completed. Going from left to right on the Major Scoring track, first the 2 Savannah regions should be scored, followed by the Mountains, the Plains, the Deserts, the Water, and the Forests. Next the Largest Herds should be scored, followed by the Adaptation tiles, the Ability cards, and the Food chips.

Note: In each terrain type, the large and the small regions are scored separately.

Scoring the Regions

• Large Monopoly: 5 Success points - a player occupies every space in a region
• Small Monopoly: 4 Success points - a player is alone in a region but does not occupy every space
• First place: 3 Success points - A player has the most creatures in a region but no Monopoly
• Second place: 2 Success points - A player has the second most creatures in a region
• Third place: 1 Success point - A player has the third most creatures in a region

If players are tied in a region, they receive the points for the next lowest rank.

Example: If there are several players tied for 1st place, they all receive points for second place. If players are tied for second place, they all receive points for third place. If players are tied for third place, they receive nothing.

Scoring the Herds

Creatures connected in a contiguous group horizontally and vertically make up a Herd. A herd can span multiple regions. In the diagram example, Orange has a herd of 4 creatures, Light Green has a herd of 3, and Brown has 2 herds of 1 creature each. Scoring is as follows:

• The largest herd: 10 Success points
• The second largest herd: 7 Success points
• The third largest herd: 5 Success points
• The fourth largest herd: 3 Success points
• The fifth largest herd: 1 Success point

If players are tied, they receive the points for the next lowest rank, using the same method as the Region scoring.

One player can score points from multiple herds. If a player has multiple herds of the same size, and no other players possess herds of that size, then the player receives full points for all of his tied herds. (Refer to the end of the rulebook for an example of Major Scoring.)

Scoring the Adaptations

The player possessing the most Adaptation tiles - including those covered up by other Adaptation tiles, receives 4 Success points. The player with the second most receives 2 Success points. Players tied for first receive 2 points each; players tied for second receive none.

Scoring the Abilities

The player possessing the most Ability cards receives 4 Success points. The player with the second most receives 2 Success points. Players tied for first receive 2 points each; players tied for second receive none.

Scoring Food chips

The player possessing the most Food chips receives 4 Success points. The player with the second most receives 2 Success points. Players tied for first receive 2 points each; players tied for second receive none.

Game End

The game ends in one of two ways:

• The 11th (final) Region marker is taken from the Minor Scoring track and placed in a completed region.
• A player places his final creature from his supply onto a space on the board.

In either case, the player's turn completes as normal, followed by one final Major scoring. The game is then over. The player furthest along the Success track is the winner. Unused Food chips have no value at the end of the game.

Additional Rules for 2 Players

• Remove one each of "Food", "Intelligence", "Mobility", and "Defense" Ability cards from the game.
• Players are no longer restricted to 2 of each Ability card.
• Auctions proceed as normal, however the winner only needs to pay the minimum bid of 3 Food chips!
• The game ends only when one player places his final creature on the board. A final Major Scoring takes place at the end of the turn.

Variants

• Ability Cards: Players may possess as many of each type of Ability card as they wish! Also, during preparation, each player is dealt 9 random Wildlife cards and is dealt 1 Arrowhead card, so that each player has the chance to take at least one Ability card on their first turn.

• Auction: When a Terrain card is auctioned, the bid winner may choose to take an "Expand" action in regions where they would normally only be able to Migrate. (Those desiring livelier auctions may wish to use this variant).

• Creature Charts / Starting Player: During preparation, each player receives 12 Food chips as his starting supply. Players then take part in multiple bids for the right to choose the creature they will play. The winner of the first bid gets first choice and pays the bank with the appropriate number of Food chips. The winner of the second bid gets second choice, etc. Players then take their seats clockwise in order of descending creature age, with the oldest acting as the Starting player.

• Rotating Starting Player: After each round (when all players have taken a turn), the Starting player may change. The Starting player each round will be the player with the least Success points on the Success track. If there is a tie, the Starting player will rotate clockwise to the next player tied for last. Now the purple Scoring marker serves a double purpose - both to aid in Major Scoring, and to be placed in front of the current Starting player as a reminder.

  After the Starting player takes his turn each round, play continues clockwise as usual.

Sample Turn - Player Orange (Man)

Player Orange holds the "Intelligence" Ability, and is able to play 4 Wildlife cards.

Orange performed the following actions:

1. Forest Adaptation - upgrade from Migrate to Expand
2. Expand 2 creatures in the Forest
3. Migrate: The creature migrates into the forest
4. Orange has filled the last space in the small Forest. He places a Region marker in the Forest and advances his Success marker 3-5 spaces accordingly
5. Action: Auction a 'Wheel' card

Example of a Major Scoring

Points per player, by Region / Herd:

Region / Herd	Orange	Green	Blue	Brown
Large Water	-	-	4	-
Small Water	-	-	-	-
Large Plains	2	3	-	-
Small Plains	3	1	-	1
Large Savannah	3	2	-	-
Small Savannah	3	1	-	1
Large Forest	2	2	2	-
Small Forest	1	3	1	-
Large Mountains	-	2	-	3
Small Mountains	-	-	-	4
Large Desert	-	-	4	-
Small Desert	-	-	2	3
Largest Herd	-	7	7	-
2nd Largest Herd	-	-	-	-
3rd Largest Herd	-	-	-	5
4th Largest Herd	3 + 3	-	-	-
5th Largest Herd	-	-	-	-
Total	20	21	20	17

Points per Monopoly / place, for reference:

	Monopoly	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place	5th Place
Regions	5/4	3	2	1	-	-
Herds	-	10	7	5	3	1

Explanation:

• Large Water: Blue is alone and receives a Small Monopoly (=4 Success points).
• Small Plains: Green and Brown are tied for 2nd place - they move one place back and receive points for 3rd.
• Large Savannah: Brown and Blue are tied for 3rd place - they move one place back and receive nothing for 4th.
• Large Forest: Orange, Green, and Blue are tied for 1st place - they move one place back and receive points for 2nd.
• Largest Herd: Green and Blue are tied for the Largest Herd with 11 creatures each - they move one place back and receive points for 2nd. Brown has the 3rd largest with 9. Orange has two separate herds tied for 4th - he receives 3 points for each herd. No other herds score this round. If another player's herd had tied Orange for 4th, all three herds would have moved once place back and received 1 point each.