Zefiria
Zefiria Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 5 Wind Spirit cards
- 5 Wind Spirit pawns
- 25 Island cards
- 4 Zefiria Map cards
- 7 Storm cards
- 6 Grid cards
- 13 Zefiria Gems (6 red, 7 purple)
- 1 Time Track card (front/back)
Aim of the Game
Players are Wind Spirits and their goal is to work together to restore the order in Zefiria. To do that, they have to place the Island cards that compose Zefiria in ascending order, from 1 to 25, before time's up.
At the end of the game, players will evaluate their results comparing their score with the End Game table.
Setup
Shuffle the Island cards and place them randomly, face-up and same orientation, in a 5x5 grid clearly visible to all players. This grid represents the City of Zefiria.
Note: it's NEVER possible change or modify in any way the Zefiria grid, that must ALWAYS be a 5x5 square.
Each player picks randomly or chooses a Wind Spirit card, along with the corresponding Pawn and a Zefiria Map card.
Players mutually choose the First Player.
Starting by the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player chooses 1 of the 4 Island cards at the Zefiria corners and places its own Wind Spirit pawn on it.
Note: in a 2-players game, the Wind Spirits pawns must be placed at opposite corners.
The First Player takes the Time Track card with the 2-4 players side face-up and places the amount of purple Gems on it, depending on the number of players:
| Gems | 2 Players | 3 Players | 4 Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gems | 6 | 5 | 4 |
How to Play
Purple Gems are the rounds that players have to restore Zefiria. At the start of each round (including the first one), the First Player will remove a purple Gem from the Time Track card and put it back in the box.
Starting by the First Player and proceeding clockwise, each player performs its round using the available Action Points to Fly or Breeze with its Wind Spirit, in any order. It's also possible to repeat the same action multiple times.
The amount of available Action Points depends on the number of players:
- 5 Action Points in a 2-players game
- 4 Action Points in a 3 and 4 players game
Fly
Wind Spirits protect Zefiria, gracefully flying across its floating Islands.
Fly action allows Wind Spirits to move on Zefiria Islands.
Players ARE NOT ALLOWED to pass through or to end the Fly action on an Island card occupied by another Wind Spirit.
Breeze
With their Breeze, as sweet as firm, Wind Spirits move Zefiria Islands.
Breeze action allows Wind Spirits to move Zefiria Islands to rearrange them.
Players can NEVER:
- move a card occupied by a Wind Spirit (except for Skyron, see the Wind Spirits section);
- overfly an Island card occupied by a Wind Spirit.
Wind Spirits
Borea
Borea can Fly:
- to an unoccupied Island card, orthogonally adjacent to the one she's occupying, using 1 Action point;
- to an unoccupied Island card of the same color of the one she's occupying, using 1 Action point.
Borea is on the Island card 23, so she may Fly on any unoccupied pink Island card: so the player decides to Fly from Island card 23 to Island card 24, using 1 Action point.
With her Breeze, Borea can swap any unoccupied Island card that depicts the same Icon of the Island occupied by Borea with another unoccupied Island card. For each overflown Island card, included the swapped Island, the player uses 1 Action Point.
Borea decides to swap Island cards 18 and 10: this one depicts the icon as the Island card 24 where Borea is on. Borea uses 2 Action Points for this Breeze.
Jugo
Jugo can Fly:
- to an unoccupied Island card, orthogonally adjacent to the one he's occupying, using 1 Action Point;
- to an unoccupied Island card depicting the same Icon of the one he's occupying, using 1 Action point.
Jugo can Fly on Island cards with the same icon, so he decides to Fly from Island card 11 to Island card 25, using 1 Action point.
With his Breeze, Jugo can swap any unoccupied Island card of the same Color occupied by Jugo with another unoccupied Island card. For each overflown Island card, included the swapped Island, the player uses 1 Action Point.
Jugo decides to swap Island cards 14 and 23 which is a Pink Island card like the Island card 25 that Jugo is occupying. Jugo uses 2 Action points for this Breeze.
Etesia
Etesia can Fly:
- to an unoccupied Island card, orthogonally adjacent to the one she's occupying, using 1 Action point;
- to an unoccupied Island card, along the diagonals to the one she's occupying, using 1 Action point.
Each direction change requires 1 more Action point.
Etesia is on Island card 5, so she can diagonally Fly on highlighted Island cards. Etesia decides to Fly on Island card 6, using 1 Action point.
With her Breeze, Etesia can swap any free Island card orthogonally adjacent to the one she's occupying with another orthogonally adjacent unoccupied Island card. For each overflown Island card, included the swapped Island, the player uses 1 Action point.
Etesia swaps Island card 16 with Island card 12, using 2 Action points. Etesia also swaps Island card 23 with Island card 17, using 1 Action Point.
Skyron
Skyron can Fly:
- to an unoccupied Island card, orthogonally adjacent to the one he's occupying, using 1 Action point;
- using his Breeze.
With his Breeze, Skyron can swap the Island card he's occupying with another unoccupied Island card. For each overflown Island card, included the swapped Island, the player uses 1 Action point.
After every use of his Breeze, Skyron may decide the Island card to occupy, between the swapped Islands.
Skyron is on Island card 10 and, using his Breeze, swaps it with Island card 3, using 3 Action points. Then Skyron may choose which Island card to occupy and decides to stay on Island card 10.
Austro
At the beginning of his turn, Austro must be moved outside Zefiria grid, placing his pawn on the side of the Island card he was occupying. No Action points are used to do this.
Austro can Fly all around the external perimeter of the Zefiria grid, ending his movement beside any unoccupied Island Card, using 1 Action point. For each movement around the perimeter Austro will use 1 more Action point.
At the end of his turn, Austro will place his pawn back on the Island card which he is adjacent to. No Action points are used to do this.
At the beginning of his turn, Austro is on Island card 11 and must move on the external perimeter. Then he decides to reach Island card 2, using 1 Action point, and places his pawn beside the Island card.
With his Breeze, Austro can swap and overfly Island cards in the same line or column of the Island card beside his pawn. For each overflown card, included the swapped Island, the player uses 1 Action point.
Austro is beside Island card 2. With his Breeze he can swap the highlighted Island cards, so he decides to swap Island card 12 with Island card 25, using 3 Action points. At the end of his turn, Austro places his pawn on Island card 2.
End of the Game
The last round starts when the last purple Gem is removed from the Time Track card.
Then the players evaluate Island cards order and get Victory Points (VP) as follow:
- Gain 1 VP for each Island card in the right spot;
- In Storm Mode, Gain 1 VP for red Magical Gem still owned by the Wind Spirits;
- Lose 1 VP for each Island card in the wrong spot, on the right line;
- Lose 2 VP for each Island card both in the wrong spot and in the wrong line.
Players add up all the Victory Points (VP) obtained, then compare their result with the following End Game table to evaluate their game.
| Score | Result |
|---|---|
| 10 VP or less | With your breezes you'll barely inflate a balloon! |
| 11 up to 16 VP | You seem more Breeze Spirits than Wind Spirits! |
| 17 up to 21 VP | Good job, but you can do better than that! |
| 22 up to 24 VP | Great! Zefiria is celebrating your job! |
| 25 VP or more in Storm Mode | In Ancient Books a lot has been narrated about really powerful Wind Spirits. Now their existence has been proved! Legendary! |
Storm Mode
The boldest Wind Spirits will face the dreadful Storm surrounding Zefiria! Please add these new rules in a Standard setup.
Players take the Time Track card, 2-4 Players side face-up, and place the amount of purple Gems on it depending on the number of players:
| Gems | 2 Players | 3 Players | 4 Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gems | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Then, take the Storm cards, shuffle them to form a face-down deck on one side of Zefiria.
Take the Grid cards: rotate, randomly, each single card, then shuffle them in a face-down deck, and place the deck near the Storm deck.
At the beginning of each new round, excluding the First Round, the First Player will reveal a Storm Card then a Grid card.
The Storm Card shows the effect. The Grid Card shows which Island card will be affected by the Storm card.
Also, players take the red Magical Gems and form a pool near the Storm deck.
Tornado
If players reveal a Tornado card:
a. Reveal the Grid card, then identify the Target Island card.
b. Rotate the Grid card, clockwise, as many times as indicated on the Tornado card to identify the second Target Island card.
c. Swap the Island cards targeted. If a Wind Spirit is occupying one of these Island cards, move its pawn along with the card.
Blizzard
If players reveal a Blizzard card:
a. Reveal the Grid card, then identify the Target Island card.
b. Starting from the Target Island card and following the direction depicted on the Blizzard card, count the number of steps indicated to identify the second Target Island card. If you reach the end of the Zefiria grid, continue counting on the opposite side of the Zefiria grid.
c. Swap the Island cards targeted. If a Wind Spirit is occupying one of these Island cards, move its pawn along with the card.
Magical Gems
If the first Target Island card on the Grid card is already on the right spot in Zefiria, this MUST be Anchored and will not be affected by the Storm cards effects. To better identify an Anchored Island card, players will place a Magical Gem taken from the pool on it.
An Anchored Island card:
- can NEVER be swapped or moved by any Wind Spirit or by any effect of a Storm card;
- can NEVER be overflown by any Wind Spirit or by any other Island card;
- NEVER allows a Wind Spirit to end its movement on it.
A Magical Gem can be placed on an Island card occupied by a Wind Spirit. If at the start of a player's turn its pawn is occupying an Island card with a Magical Gem, then the Wind Spirit must necessarily Fly from this Island card as its first action, using the corresponding Action points.
During its turn, using 1 Action point, a player can retrieve a Magical Gem from any Island card.
A player can spend a Magical Gem anytime, by returning it to the box, to add 1 Action point to the active player (including himself).
Each Magical Gem still owned by the Wind Spirits at the end of the game is worth 1 VP during the End Game scoring.
Solo Mode
Setup
Follow the Setup steps as for a 2-4 players game.
Rules for Fly, Breeze, Scoring and, possibly, Storm cards are the same.
If you decide to play with Storm Mode rules, then prepare also Storm cards and Grid cards (see the Storm Mode section).
Take randomly or choose 3 Wind Spirits to play with, along with the corresponding pawns. Place each Wind Spirit pawn on a different Zefiria corner.
Draw randomly 1 of the 3 Wind Spirits card and turn it face-down. During the First Round, this Wind Spirit is Sleeping.
Take the Time Track card and place it near the Zefiria grid with the 1 player side face-up.
Place on the Time Track card as many purple Gems as the chosen difficulty level:
| Gems | Easy | Medium | Hard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gems | 7 | 6 | 5 |
How to Play
During each round you will use only 2 Wind Spirits, the Active ones. You can choose the Wind Spirit playing first.
In Solo Mode your Wind Spirits have 5 Action points each, as for a 2-players game.
Note: you cannot use the second Wind Spirit until the First Active Wind Spirit hasn't used all its available Action points.
A Round ends when you used both Wind Spirits.
Before starting the next round:
- choose 1 Active Wind Spirit and flip its card face down. It will be Sleeping in the next round;
- wake up the previous round Sleeping Wind Spirit, flipping its card face-up.
Note: the Sleeping Wind Spirit pawn stays on the Island card where it is on and is considered an obstacle (as an Active Wind Spirit).
End of Game - Solo Mode
As usual, the last round starts when the last purple Gem is removed from Time Track card.
Then evaluate the Island cards order and calculate your score with the End Game table.
Credits
Game Designers: Simona Greco, Marco Rava
Illustrations: Elisa Di Virgilio
Graphic Design: Game Studio
Rulebook and Translation: Luigi De Feo
Project Development: Giuseppe Alfano, Lorenzo Gheri, Giacomo Vaiani
Editing and Edition: English rulebook revision: Guido "Fox" Marzucchi
Game Designers thank: Andrea, Claudio, Dario, Erica, Franca, Rita, Roberto