Ecosystem Building Game (V1.3)

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Admiral Ackbar

(In progress)

Game designed by Fenrislorsrai, with feedback from ColinD , Naturalismus, Wootfish, Forbidding, TheCharles, glunsforddavis, Havoc Jack, Cubist.. Editorial oversight and figures by db
Initial notes in the Phylomon Forum (link) | V1.1 | V1.2 | playtest reports 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.

TO DO LIST:
– Create starter decks (pdfs that collect 30 cards for ease of printing)
– Continue to suggest play effects of Event cards.
– Continue testing V1.3 rules and leave feedback.
– Suggest needed organisms for better gameplay (currently grassland, forest, and urban cards have good diversity – the others not so much)

– – –

GENERAL IDEA

Ecosystems rock! They really do, and to be honest, we sometimes think the word “ecosystem” is kind of bland and just doesn’t do justice to the concept. That’s why we hope in this game, the inherent awesomeness of this ecological term will soon become pretty clear. Here, two players will have the opportunity to play with cards (from a potential card set of over 1.9 million!), and build an ecosystem that is complete with many different species interconnected by terrain, climate and habitat. However, players also get to compete against each other by tallying up and seeing who has the most points at the end of the game. These points basically reveal who did the better job at creating the strongest, richest, and most diverse elements of the ecosystem. Why do you want strong, rich and diverse? Because the environment can be nasty sometimes – and biodiversity, especially lots of it, is really really good at safe-guarding against such things.

– – –

FIRST, A WORD ABOUT COMPATIBILITY…

Let’s start by saying that the word “compatibility” comes up an awful lot in this game. But what it’s referring to is pretty straightforward. On all of the cards, there are details that tell you what kind of conditions it needs – for example, this might be the kind of terrain or climate involved, the food it likes, or maybe the card you’re holding is very very picky and needs something very very specific. In any event, we hope you’ll pick things up pretty quick. It’s amazing how a statement like “herbivores eat plants” translates to a mouthful when describing it in card keywords and numbers, but mark our words, we’ve tried our best to make everything largely intuitive.

– – –

THERE ARE A FEW CATEGORIES OF CARDS…

SPECIES CARDS:
A player’s species cards are always played adjacent to at least one compatible card under that same player’s control.

These are the cards that represent the various organisms on our planet Earth. In essence, all values and attributes on the card aim to describe the creature as in real life (i.e. the cards are more or less like fact holders). Attributes on the cards include #SCALE (how big is it), #FOODCHAIN, DIET (these two provide information on what the species needs for sustenance), as well as habitat information (various combinations of TERRAIN and CLIMATE).

These cards will also have other pieces of info, such as words that describe their evolutionary position, as well as text that may explain some special ability or interesting trivia. Note that each species is also worth a certain number of points, which have been calculated based on the ease to include them in the ecosystem. i.e. creatures with wide habitat options, lower food chain expectations, and/or have properties that make them easier to play will score lower.

EVENT CARDS:
Event cards can be played on any species card.

These cards define some sort of environmental situation, and are played on top of species cards. This will often result in a change of some sort that may have a domino effect on neighbouring cards. The number on the top of these cards signify duration (number of turns the event is played). A strategic element of this game will largely depend on building ecosystems that can adapt to such events or are minimally affected.

STARTER CARDS:
Starter cards are played only at the beginning of the game.

Starter cards are typically HOME cards. The game starts with each player having a HOME card played on the table separated only by a single space. You can play any SPECIES next to a starter card regardless of TERRAIN and CLIMATE requirements.

HABITAT CARDS:
Habitat cards can be played anywhere as long as it is placed adjacent to a single card with at least one TERRAIN and one CLIMATE match.

These cards define a habitat (with TERRAIN and CLIMATE information). You can play these cards just like species cards and connect to existing “compatible” networks. Habitat cards are worth very little points, but compensate by being immune to EVENTS (i.e. they are permanent). Played strategically, they can help anchor certain TERRAIN and CLIMATE conditions, as well as allow players to begin species networks in areas not under their control. Note that you can also start a game with a habitat card (instead of a starter card) – this way of starting is more restrictive given the terrain and climate limitations, but you get to score a few extra points.

– – –

O.K. WHAT TO DO AT THE BEGINNING…

Two players will sit facing each other, each with a deck of 30 cards. Decks can be thematic (i.e. only locale specific cards), or hand chosen by the player from the Phylo website. Each player will also place a STARTER (or preselected HABITAT) card on the table, such that the two such cards are adjacent but facing opposite directions to each other. Each player will then randomly draw 5 cards from their deck. To decide who goes first, each player reveals a species card from their hand. Whoever reveals the species with the highest #SCALE goes first (flip a coin if tied).

BASIC PLAY

Whenever cards are played, they are played facing the active player to distinguish possession. During each turn, a player does the following in this order:

1. Draw two cards from the deck.

2. Take three actions from the following choices (it’s o.k. to do two or three actions that are the same):

Discard 1 card into discard pile to draw 3 cards.
Play a habitat card (next to any compatible card).
Play a species card (next to a compatible card under your control).
Play an Event card.
MOVE a species card to new compatible spot (new position need not be next to a card under your control).
Pass and do nothing.

3. After your actions, remove cards under your control that are no longer have compatible connections. These go into your discard pile. Your opponent will probably help you out here! (NOTE that this step is done after your three actions so that you have an opportunity to react to ecosystem changes introduced by the other player)

4. Alternate turns. When a player has taken their last card from their deck, the game ends at the conclusion of the other player’s turn.

5. Tally up all the points that are in your possession and still face up (even those under cards) and still on the table. Winner is the player with the most number of points.

– – –

HOW TO BUILD ECOSYSTEMS (DID WE MENTION HOW AWESOME THEY ARE?) PLUS, WE ATTEMPT TO DEFINE “COMPATIBILITY.”

This is the essence of the game and is primarily done by creating networks of SPECIES and HABITAT cards. Here, cards are placed against each other such that at least one compatible link is present. Compatibility is based on several things, which all must be met by at least one single card. These are:

That there is space on the table to place the card. There are some exceptions to this rule, where cards can be played on top or below existing cards – these often involve SPECIES with special keywords, such as being INVASIVE as an example (see 4). Note that SPECIES cards can only be played next to other cards under the same player’s control. HABITAT cards can be played next to either player’s cards.
That at least one TERRAIN and one CLIMATE match. Note that many species can exist in more that one TERRAIN and/or CLIMATE. These cards, therefore, tend to be easier to build networks around.
That at least one acceptable food chain link is available. This is hopefully fairly intuitive, as the game uses basic food chain principles. However, from a card perspective, this would involve the following rules.
- Species with a #FOODCHAIN value of “1” can be played adjacent to any other card as long as there is TERRAIN and CLIMATE compatibility. This simply means that things like plants and microbes do not rely on other SPECIES for food. i.e. they get sustenance from the sun or the chemistry around them.
- Generally, for #FOODCHAIN of 2 or higher, the card is placed next to one with a #FOODCHAIN value that is equivalent or one below. However, exceptions to this include omnivores, which (regardless of #FOODCHAIN rank) can always have the option being played next to a plantae species (who have a #FOODCHAIN value of 1).
- Whenever the play implies a carnivorous linkage, the played card must have a higher #SCALE value unless text on the card provides an exemption. This simply means that, generally speaking, animals will tend to feed off of smaller animals. This, of course, does not apply to herbivorous interactions (i.e. an animal can still feed from a plant even though the plant may be bigger).
Some species have special keywords that allow them to be placed directly on top or below other SPECIES card. Here, compatibility is always described on the card itself, as well as needing to meet the usual ecosystem building rules. Note that there can never be more than 2 SPECIES cards in the same card space (no card towers of 3 or higher), unless special text on the card exempts this. Below are some of the more commonly seen keywords:
- INVASIVE: Any compatible card is flipped over, when an INVASIVE species is played on top. This means that the INVASIVE card now provides TERRAIN and CLIMATE information for that space. This also means that the player now has the option to build from the INVASIVE card (as it is under his/her control). Note that the card below may be released should the INVASIVE card be removed due to linkage or EVENT CARD issues.
- PARASITIC: These cards are placed below the compatible “host” SPECIES card. Here, they do not play a role in determining ecosystem details (i.e. TERRAIN, CLIMATE, etc) for that card space, but they can be used for scoring at the end of the game. Note that although many PARASITIC species cards require a host, there are also many that can be played like a normal SPECIES card.

– – –

CHANGING THE ECOSYSTEM (A.K.A. ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS!)

Much like the natural world, ecosystems are susceptible to all sorts of change. Sometimes, this might be small (it’s windy), whereas other times, it may be quite profound (climate change). In this game, there are a number of ways to modify the networks that you and your opponent have created. These offer ways for you to stress, adapt, or strengthen existing card links, be it your own or your opponents. Remember that because the ecosystem is built on compatible linkage, sometimes a single card change or loss can result in a domino effect with far reaching consequences!

Ways to change the ecosystem include:

1. A species card is affected by placement of another species card on top or below. Examples include the aforementioned INVASIVE and PARASITIC keywords.

2. You “move” a card. Most species are mobile. This mobility can change compatibility links, as well as provide a way to escape harmful effects. This can be represented by keywords such as:

MOVE (the number of spots a species card can move – straight line, up, down, sideways movement only);

FLIGHT (the number of spots a species can fly – same as MOVE but can also include diagonal movement); and

SPREAD (similar to the MOVE keyword, in that it allows organisms such as plants to MOVE. The principle differences are that (1) often this ability requires something additional (like the presence of a POLLINATOR or a WIND Event card), and (2) instead of moving the species, you place cards upside down and adjacent to the spreading species card denote the spread. Here, it might be good idea to place a token on these upside down cards so that you can keep track of what is yours (note that seeds make good tokens)!

3. You play an EVENT card. These cards are played on compatible species cards, whereby the described effect comes into play. This often involves things like changes in the TERRAIN, CLIMATE, loss of the species card, etc.

In all cases, the other player will always have an opportunity to react to the change, before examining whether species cards need to be discarded because of loss of compatible linkage.

– – –

EXAMPLE OF PLAY (WITH DIAGRAMS)

At the beginning, there will be two adjacent “start” cards (one for each player) placed on the table (for example, something like the below).

Let’s say you get to go first. You already have 5 cards in your hand, but you also pick up 2 new cards for a total of 7. You also have three actions that you can use before it is your opponent’s turn. Because the HOME card represents all TERRAINS and all CLIMATES, it’s fairly easy to build from. However, you would still need to begin by placing a #FOODCHAIN 1 card to begin linkage. Alternatively, a HABITAT card could also be placed in this initial action.

We’ll start by placing a VALLEY OAK card next to your HOME. Note that there are three possible spots you can use. All three are compatible, and also vacant for use.

Let’s say we place the VALLEY OAK card to the immediate left of the HOME.

Now, we have two more actions to use up, and here, we decide to add an INDIAN PLUM card next to the VALLEY OAK (ACTION 2 in below figure). This works because INDIAN PLUM is a #FOODCHAIN 1 card, meaning that it doesn’t need food chain compatibility. However, it still needs to be next to cards with appropriate TERRAIN compatibility. In this case, this works o.k. because INDIAN PLUM can survive on both FOREST and GRASSLAND.

For our third action, the above figure shows a number of options for playing a HORSE card. Essentially, only option 1 works, because all of the compatibility requirements are met. The other two options (#2 and #3) have some incompatibility, and therefore cannot be played.

Basically, option #1 produces the following network: HORSE to INDIAN PLUM to VALLEY OAK to HOME. Note however that the HORSE is fine even if the VALLEY OAK is removed, since the INDIAN PLUM can act as the primary food source anchor.

After your three actions, it’s time the other player makes sure you don’t have any incompatible connections. Any found will result in discarding the card(s). Note that this only applies to your cards.

Now it’s the other player’s turn. Since this is his/her first turn, he/she should have 7 cards in total (5 in the initial deck plus 2 more picked up)

Throughout the game, your opponent will place cards on the table so that they are facing him/her (i.e. in the opposite direction – this is how you can tell each others cards apart).

Note that a player cannot place species cards down, unless they are next to a card under his/her control. Therefore, since we are at the start of the game, this will mean that your opponent will need to play a card adjacent to his/her own HOME card. Alternatively, HABITAT cards can be played next to the other player’s cards as long as there is TERRAIN and CLIMATE compatibility. These two options are shown in the figure below as action #1 and action #2.

Now let’s pretend that your opponent wishes to use an EVENT card for his/her third action. We’ll do this to show how they work, as well as how you can use keywords like MOVE to adapt. Let’s use the WILDFIRE event card, which as described in the text on the card, can be played on any Plantae species with GRASSLAND or FOREST terrain.

As you can see, when the WILDFIRE card is played on the INDIAN PLUM, the HORSE is now missing a necessary compatible link (i.e. something to eat). Therefore, it is now in danger of being discarded.

Fortunately, the rules allow a player to react to these changes. And in this respect, the below figure highlights two possible things a player can do to avoid discarding the HORSE.

One option is to MOVE the HORSE to a new space where the needed links exist. Note that the new position for the HORSE is actually adjacent to a card under the control of the other player, which according to the rules is allowable. As well, note that we used the maximum 2 moves that the HORSE is capable of.

The second option is to simply provide the necessary links to the HORSE by playing a new species card in the appropriate place. In this case, we have placed an INDIAN PLUM card in a new spot to provide food for the HORSE.

In this way, the game played back and forth. The key is to create links that have redundancies built in (i.e. if something is discarded, there are other connections that can compensate), or built networks that allow for adaptation by movements or other keywords.

OTHER KEYWORD EXAMPLES

INVASIVE: If a species is considered invasive, the player can play this species card on top of another as instructions dictate. The card underneath is flipped over and is no longer worth points unless the INVASIVE is removed.

PARASITE: If a species is considered parasitic, the player can play this species card underneath another as instructions dictate. Both cards are worth points.

POLLINATOR: A pollinator species if placed adjacent to a plantae species (that requires a POLLINATOR), can allow the plant to spread. Spreading can be shown by using cards from the person’s hand placed upside down. Note that these extra cards do not provide additional points, but may create better ecosystems by improving how species and habitats are linked to each other. Using a pollinator to place an upside down card will use up an action.

WIND: A special EVENT card needed to allow spreading of certain plantae cards. You can play this card on top of such cards.

SPREAD: Same as MOVEment except with respect to stationary organisms such as plants. Often the ability to SPREAD requires additional cards (like WIND or POLLINATOR).

END OF GAME

When a player has taken their last card from their deck, the game ends at the conclusion of the other player’s turn. Tally up all the food chain points in species card that are in your possession and still on the table. Winner is the player with the most number of points.

BETA TESTING RULES V1.2

Posted on May 27, 2010 by fenrislorsrai

(From the Phylomon Forum)

– – –

Sorry, no pictures, but it’s not really relevant for this report anyway since we discovered the current draw rules (V1.2) DO NOT WORK.

You run out of cards on turn 2. BOO.

Game 1:
We drew our first hand and immediately encountered problem #1. First play must be a habitat. J drew no habitat cards. Consult rules… doesn’t tell us what to do.

We briefly debate Magic vs Babylon 5 mechanics and opt for B5. She randomly discards a starting card and instead searches deck to add one habitat to her hand. (more later)

Go over the available actions and quickly determine one of them just isn’t going to work. Discard 1 card to draw 1 isn’t going to work so well in a game where you only draw 1 card per turn, but can play 3. We agree to go with discard 1, draw 2.

We get to about turn 4 and we both have empty hands and are now drawing one card, discarding for 2 as an action, and then playing those 2. Urgh.

By mutual agreement we up the draw to draw 2 per turn and you can discard 1 to draw 3. This does sometimes still result in you only having 1 card in hand at the end of turn, but is WAY less frustrating. There’s now so actual chance of planning for the next turn.

A trend quickly emerges with the Invasive species. I had an Grassland/Forest deck and J. had an Urban deck. This meant we both had a lot of Invasive bird species that could invade each other… or themselves. Ditto plants.
Thus at one point we ended up with a stack of Invasive birds 7 deep… 4 of which were Pigeons. My pigeon! No, mine! No, mine!

Since it was first playthrough I’d only included one Event card, Habitat Loss, which made a HUGE scoring difference for J. Wiping that out my grassland and turning it to Urban she could use resulted in a final score of 25 to 50. She got twice as many points as I did. (about samed game #2) If I had same thing in deck, it probably would have been more even.

Game #2: now for the messing with each other!

By mutual agreement we swipe a page from Babylon 5 and will be preselecting 3 cards for an opening hand. We agreed value should not exceed 9, including Habitat value. (which varied from 3-4 on the ones we had)

We also agree to play entire game as draw 2 at start of game, and it will be discard 1 to draw 3. This worked well for the entire game.

Draw 2 at start of turn gives us the same initial 5 card “opening hand” but there’s less muttering at the cards this way. Overall the 2/3 allows for options of building a larger hand for more strategy or if you do nothing but play, you have to discard 1 for the extra draw every 3 hands or so.

This time around I opt to build less packed chains and leave gaps in my layout. Last game I’d often gotten hit with the Habitat Loss and couldn’t move species away from it (despite them having move) because the grid was too packed. There was nowhere for them to GO.

This time I left space, intending to use it for species to move into.

This ALSO did not work. The move value are generally just too small to actually allow you to DO anything with it. In 2 games of around 15 turns each NEITHER PLAYER MOVED A SINGLE CARD.

However, leaving space for movement did let me save some species that would have been wiped by Habitat Loss by backfilling a new species into the hole that could use the new Urban habitat. So it allowed me to make a new chain to save them from the giant cascade.

Again we ended up with the giant pile of invasive birds and plants. There was a stack of multiple Policeman’s Helmets at one point as we traded control back and forth.

Again, at end of game, score was near identical. Me 27, J. 50 That Event made a HUGE difference.

CONCLUSIONS:
Draw mechanics as written (draw 1, discard 1 for 1) currently do NOT work and you end up choking and dying after a few turns. This is incredibly frustrating. Draw 2 and discard 1 for 3 seemed to work about perfectly so it neither choked nor flooded your hand.

Invasive species probably shouldn’t be able to displace THEMSELVES. That or our Pigeons are mutating awfully fast and becoming Giant Mutant Death Pigeons.
J. favored not letting Invasives displace other Invasives. I have personally seen kudzu choke to death Japanese Knotweed (which is actually fairly tasty, I’ve eaten it), so you can have invasives displace invasives in the real world, but for simplicity’s sake, it may be easier to say they can’t displace other Invasives.

Move was really useless. The current movement rules don’t give you enough movement to actually make it worthwhile. Move values should probably be doubled on everything to make it A) possible and B) useful. I did have some creatures with move 2 and unless their habitat got destroyed on turn 1 or 2, they were soon blocked in and couldn’t move anywhere useful. That in two games neither of us moved anything despite playing things that COULD move, sort of speaks to this being underpowered.

Spread was also a little confusing since it reuired a polinator to do… but because of the placement rules, the polinator often ended up blocking in the plant so spread was useless. J. though allowing a polinator and plant to be moved as a block might work.

Each game took us around half hour, but game will probably run faster in it’s finished version. Decks were only 36 cards vs the suggested 40 because they printed out easier that way.

Unless there’s a lot of discarding going on this game ends up taking up a LOT of table space.

Since this is intended partially for use by school kids, I’d suggest trimming the deck size to 30. This will speed play time (so they might play 2 games in a class period) AND will make it fit on a standard school desk.

Ecosystem Building Game (V1.2)

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Admiral Ackbar

Game designed by Fenrislorsrai, ColinD , Naturalismus, Wootfish, Forbidding, TheCharles, glunsforddavis, Havoc Jack, Cubist.. Editorial oversight and figures by db
Initial notes in the Phylomon Forum (link) | V1.1 of this rule set can be found here.

TO DO LIST:
– Work out a good number of cards in starting deck (per player) (done)
– Suggest an initial set of cards (including number of species, number of habitats, number of environmental challenges, appropriate terrain/climate stats). This one is especially important, because here we can canvas the web for appropriate images. (done)
– Continue to suggest play effects of Event cards (in particular, ones that promote diversity as oppose to monocultures).
– Beta test these general rules and leave feedback. (done)
– Any other ideas for what a “starter” card might represent?

– – –

GENERAL IDEA

Two players work to build an ecosystem around their home that is complete with various habitats and many different species. However, the player with the most points indicating a robust and diverse community at the end of the game is the winner. Can you ensure your victory by strategically (1) setting up your habitats, (2) building variation into your food webs, and (3) calculating migration possibilities: all in an attempt to minimize biodiversity loss should an environmental challenge come your way.

TYPES OF CARDS

There are three main types of cards:

SPECIES CARDS: These are cards that represent the various organisms on our planet Earth. In essence, all statistics on the card aim to describe the creature as in real life (i.e. the cards are also like fact holders). Species cards have a number of attributes on them that are noteworthy, including #SCALE, #FOODCHAIN, DIET (a colour), as well as habitat information (various combination of TERRAINs and CLIMATEs). Many species will also have other written information on the card. Most common includes information on MOVEment, but there may be other keywords such as POLLINATOR, INVASIVE, PARASITE, MUTUALISTIC (others may be developed as the game evolves).

HABITAT CARDS: These cards define a habitat (with TERRAIN and CLIMATE information). They are arguably the most important cards as species cards can only build from an appropriate habitat card. Note that species cards can only be played when there is an appropriate habitat card on the table. As well, the number on the top of the card, defines the maximum range (i.e. a value of 3 means that you can only place species cards within a maximum range of 3 moves – beyond that you would need to play another habitat card to build further).

EVENT CARDS: These cards define some sort of environmental situation, and is usually played on to of another card. This will often result in a change of some sort that will tend to have a domino effect on the other cards built around the effected card. The number on the top of these cards will signify duration – if there is no number, then the effect is permanent. A strategic element of this game will largely depend on building ecosystems that can adapt to such events.

SET-UP

Two players will sit facing each other, each with a deck of 40 cards. Decks can be thematic (i.e. only locale specific cards), or hand chosen by the player from the Phylo website. NOTE: the number of cards in the starting deck may need to change.

Each player will also place a “starter” card on the table, such that the two starter cards are adjacent to each other. Now, each player will draw 5 cards from their deck. The player with the least number of habitat cards goes first (in the event of a tie, use good old rock, paper, scissors).

BASIC PLAY

Whenever cards are placed down, they are played facing the active player to distinguish possession. During each turn, a player does the following in this order:

1. Draw a card from the deck.

2. Take three actions from the following choices (it’s o.k. to do two or three actions that are the same):

Discard 1 card into discard pile to draw 1 card.
Play a habitat card (next to any card with at least one matching CLIMATE value).
Play a species card (next to a card under your control with appropriate linkage).
Play an Event card.
MOVE a species card (new position need not be next to a card under your control).
Pass and do nothing.

Note that the first card played must be a habitat card, but any habitat card can be built around a “starter” card.

3. Remove cards under your control that are no longer properly connected to a habitat. These go into your discard pile. Your opponent will probably help you out here! (NOTE that this step is done after the three actions so that you have an opportunity to react to ecosystem changes introduced by the other player)

4. Alternate turns. When a player has taken their last card from their deck, the game ends at the conclusion of the other player’s turn.

5. Tally up all the food chain points in species card that are in your possession and still on the table. Winner is the player with the most number of points.

EXAMPLE OF PLAY (WITH DIAGRAMS)

At the beginning, there will be two adjacent “start” cards (one for each player) placed on the table (for example, something like the below).

Let’s say you get to go first. You have 5 cards in your hand, but your first card played must be a habitat card (this will also counts as one action). Place the habitat card facing you and such that it maintains contact with your “starter” card. Note that the “starter” card is a little like a wild card in that any habitat card (regardless of TERRAIN and CLIMATE values) can be built on a “starter” card.

You can also see from the above figure, that cards can be placed so that they are aligned “exactly” with each other, or they can be placed so that they only “half” touching. Either is o.k., but at times, there may be advantages to one or the other (i.e. sharing cards, etc).

Then you may use your two other actions – examples include the following:

You can play another habitat card. Here, at least one of the CLIMATE values must match. Habitat cards can go adjacent to other habitat cards or species cards.

You can play a species card. Generally, Species cards need to be placed next to card with a #FOODCHAIN value equal to or one below. However, like a real food web, there are some notable exceptions and additional rules.

Species with a FOOD CHAIN RANK value of “1” can be played adjacent to any other card (including habitat cards) as long as TERRAIN and CLIMATE match.
Omnivores can also be placed next to any of the plant cards (FOOD RANK 1, Yellow colour) regardless of their #FOODCHAIN value.
Carnivorous diet linkage must also work in terms of SCALE. In other words, carnivores (or omnivores linked to prey) can only build upon species of smaller or equal SCALE value. This is to ensure that something like a small rodent (which may have a higher #FOODCHAIN value) cannot eat something like a rhino (who happens to have a low #FOODCHAIN rank). Exceptions to this rule can occur when a card explicitly says the smaller creature is capable of pack hunting, or scavenging, etc to override the #SCALE effect).

You can see in the figure below, an example of where the European Honey Bee can be placed, and where it cannot (The position marked X cannot be used because even though there are TERRAIN and CLIMATE matches, the Bee’s #FOODCHAIN value of 2 needs to be placed next to something with a #FOODCHAIN value of 1)

Note that a player cannot place species cards down, unless they are next to a card under his/her control. Therefore, since we are at the start of the game, this will mean that your opponent will need to first play a habitat card. Here the player can build off of his/her own “starter” card, in a manner similar to what you have already done. However, he/she also has the option to now place a habitat card down elsewhere. Let’s explore this move. For example, see below where the figure illustrates various placements of your opponent’s Forest habitat card should they decide not to build off of their “starter” card. Note, however, that this habitat card must still have a matching CLIMATE value of one of its adjacent card.

From here, your opponent can now build upon that habitat card with his/her remaining actions.

As an example, look at the below figure of where your opponent might want to place a species card. In this case, there are two options shown (A and B): the point of which is to demonstrate that position B is better for your opponent, since placing the card in position A inadvertently protects your Bee card.

Ultimately, the point of the game is to place as many species cards down such that each species card can be linked back to a habitat card through CLIMATE, TERRAIN, #FOODCHAIN, and DIET values.

The below figure shows the valid connections, as defined by these attributes (as well as the range of the habitat), currently in play in the game:

Therefore, at this point in time, the score is 2 species (you) to 1 species (your opponent)!

MOVEMENT

Movement of Species cards allows protection by moving onto the other player’s habitats, or by escaping the possible effects of an Environmental challenge.

MOVE values are usually shown as text in the middle of the card. The value signifies the distance that card can move each action. For example, the European Honey Bee card has a MOVE value of 2. Therefore it is able to move any two “spots” as long as the final resting place is unoccupied. Examples of how “2 moves” can look is shown in the figure below:

Note that also in this figure, we have a chance to see a bad move (the “X”, since now that card is not properly connected to any habitat and therefore must be removed), versus a good move (the “*”, whereby now the Bee card is now linked to the opponent’s habitat card making it less susceptible to Environmental challenges your opponent might play – although instead it may now be vulnerable to challenges you might play).

As well (and although it’s not necessary, we’d like to encourage playing this version of the game), players can also add strategic value to their species cards if they have actually seen the organism in the wild (say, as documented by a photo on their digital camera). This allows the player to MOVE the organism without using up one of the three actions.

EVENT CARDS

Players may choose to use an Event card as one of their actions. Here, they will place the card on top of any card of their choosing (it can be their card or an opponent’s card) as detailed in the card instructions. Their effect will also be outlined on the card. For example, the below figure illustrates the effects of your opponent playing a Flood Event card. Here, the card will temporarily alter the habitat’s TERRAIN to freshwater for the number of turns (2 turns) as shown on the card.

Essentially, this will disrupt TERRAIN linkage from habitat to species. Specifically, as shown in the figure, this may mean that two species cards will need to be removed. These removed cards will go into a discard pile.

Note that most Event cards are played on habitat cards, but that some may be specific to certain species cards as defined in the description written on the card.

OTHER KEYWORD EXAMPLES

INVASIVE: If a species is considered invasive, the player can play this species card on top of another as instructions dictate. The card underneath is no longer worth a point.

PARASITE: If a species is considered parasitic, the player can play this species card underneath another as instructions dictate. Both cards are worth points.

POLLINATOR: A pollinator if placed adjacent to a plant, can allow the plant to spread. Spreading can be shown by using cards from the person’s hand placed upside down. Note that these extra cards do not provide additional points, but may create better ecosystems by improving how species and habitats are linked to each other. Using a pollinator to place an upside down card will use up an action.

SPREAD: Same as MOVEment except with respect to stationary organisms such as plants. Often the ability to SPREAD requires additional cards (like WIND or POLLINATOR).

(other keywords can be found in the glossary)

END OF GAME

When a player has taken their last card from their deck, the game ends at the conclusion of the other player’s turn. Tally up all the food chain points in species card that are in your possession and still on the table. Winner is the player with the most number of points.

Ecosystem Building Game (V1.1)

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Admiral Ackbar

Game designed by Fenrislorsrai and ColinD (with help, particularly with food chain mechanics by Naturalismus). Editorial oversight and figures by db
Initial notes in the Phylomon Forum (link) | Food chain ideas can also be viewed here. | ColinD sent a very elaborate email | Previous post of this rule set can be found here.

TO DO LIST:
– Work out a good number of cards in starting deck (per player)
– Suggest an initial set of cards (including number of species, number of habitats, number of environmental challenges, appropriate terrain/climate stats). This one is especially important, because here we can canvas the web for appropriate images.
– Suggest play effects of Environmental Challenge cards.
– Beta test these general rules and leave feedback.
– Two particular concerns with current rules. (1) 1st player has huge advantage since his/her first habitat card play need not link properly, (2) When to end the game is confusing.

– – –

GENERAL IDEA

Two players work to build an ecosystem that is complete with various habitats and many different species. However, the player with the most number of species at the end of the game is the winner. Can you ensure your victory by strategically (1) setting up your habitats, (2) building variation into your food webs, and (3) calculating migration possibilities: all in an attempt to minimize biodiversity loss should an environmental challenge come your way.

TYPES OF CARDS

There are three main types of cards:

SPECIES CARDS: These are cards that represent the various organisms on our planet Earth. In essence, all statistics on the card aim to describe the creature as in real life (i.e. the cards are also like fact holders). Species cards have a number of attributes on them that are noteworthy, including #SCALE, #FOODCHAIN, DIET (a colour), as well as habitat information (various combination of TERRAINs and CLIMATEs). Many species will also have other written information on the card. Most common includes information on MOVEment, but there may be other keywords such as POLLINATOR, INVASIVE, PARASITIC (others may be developed as the game evolves).

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE CARDS: These cards define some sort of environmental situation, which will often change the habitat’s TERRAIN or CLIMATE. Consequently, this will tend to have a domino effect on the other cards built around the habitat. Note that some environmental challenge cards may instead be used on Species Cards. The number on the top of these cards will signify duration – if there is no number, then the effect is permanent. A strategic element of this game will largely depend on building ecosystems that can adapt to such environmental challenges.

SET-UP

The 2 players will sit facing each other. They will each have a deck of 40 cards. Decks can be thematic (i.e. only locale specific cards), or hand chosen by the player from the Phylo website. NOTE: the number of cards in the starting deck may need to change.

Draw 5 cards from your deck. Player with the least number of habitat cards goes first (in the event of a tie, use good old rock, paper, scissors).

BASIC PLAY

Whenever cards are placed down, they are play facing the player to distinguish possession. During each turn, a player does the following in this order:

1. Draw a card from the deck.

1B. Any species card that has been played and you have physically seen in the wild (and documented with your own photo) you may use its MOVE capabilities if you want (once per card per turn). -This step can be used if players wish to incorporate real wildlife spotting into game.

2. Take three actions from the following choices (it’s o.k. to do two or three actions that are the same):

Discard 1 card into discard pile to draw 1 card.
Play a habitat card (next to any card with at least one matching CLIMATE value)*.
Play a species card (next to a card under your control with appropriate linkage).
Play an Environmental challenge card.
MOVE a species card (new position need not be next to a card under your control).
Pass and do nothing.

3. Remove cards under your control that are no longer properly connected to a habitat. These go into your discard pile. Your opponent will probably help you out here! (this is done after the three actions so that you have an opportunity to react to ecosystem changes introduced by the other player)

4. Alternate turns. When a player has taken their last card from their deck, the game ends at the conclusion of the other player’s turn.

5. Winner is the player with the most number of species under his/her control that are still left in play.

EXAMPLE OF PLAY (WITH DIAGRAMS)

Let’s say you get to go first. You have 5 cards in your hand, but your first card played must be a habitat card (this will also counts as one action). Place the habitat card facing you. Then you may use your two other actions – examples include the following:

You can play another habitat card. Here, at least one of the CLIMATE values must match. Habitat cards can go adjacent to other habitat cards or species cards.

Species with a FOOD CHAIN RANK value of “1” can be played adjacent to any other card (including habitat cards) as long as TERRAIN and CLIMATE match.
Omnivores can also be placed next to any of the plant cards (FOOD RANK 1, Yellow colour) regardless of their #FOODCHAIN value.
Carnivorous diet linkage must also work in terms of SCALE. In other words, carnivores (or omnivores linked to prey) can only build upon species of smaller or equal SCALE value. This is to ensure that something like a small rodent (which may have a higher #FOODCHAIN value) cannot eat something like a rhino (who happens to have a low #FOODCHAIN rank). Exceptions to this rule can occur when a card explicitly says the smaller creature is capable of pack hunting, or scavenging, etc to override the #SCALE effect).

Now let’s say you’re done, and it’s now the other player’s turn. Throughout the game, your opponent will place cards on the table so that they are facing him/her (i.e. in the opposite direction – this is how you can tell each other’s apart). Note that a player cannot place species cards down, unless they are next to a card under his/her control. Therefore, since we are at the start of the game, this will mean that your opponent will need to first play a habitat card. However, this habitat card must still have a matching CLIMATE value of its adjacent card. For example, see below where the figure illustrates various placements of your opponent’s Forest habitat card.

From here, your opponent can now build upon that habitat card with his/her remaining actions.

Ultimately, the point of the game is to place as many species cards down such that each species card can be linked back to a habitat card through CLIMATE, TERRAIN, #FOODCHAIN, and DIET values.

The below figure shows the valid connections, as defined by these attributes (as well as the range of the habitat), currently in play in the game:

Therefore, at this point in time, the score is 2 species (you) to 1 species (your opponent)!

MOVEMENT

Movement of Species cards allows protection by moving onto the other player’s habitats, or by escaping the possible effects of an Environmental challenge.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES

Players may choose to use an Environmental Challenge card as one of their actions. Here, they will place the card on top of any habitat of their choosing (it can be their card or an opponent’s card). These Environmental Challenge cards will have a description on them that details their effect. For example, the below figure illustrates the effects of your opponent playing a Flood card. Here, the card will temporarily alter the habitat’s TERRAIN to freshwater for the number of turns (2 turns) as shown on the card.

Essentially, this will disrupt TERRAIN linkage from habitat to species. Specifically, as shown in the figure, this means that two species cards will need to be removed. These removed cards will go into a discard pile.

Note that not all Environmental Challenge cards are played on habitat cards. Some may be specific to certain species cards as defined in the description written on the card.

OTHER KEYWORD EXAMPLES

INVASIVE: If a species is considered invasive, the player can play this species card on top of another as instructions dictate. The card underneath is no longer worth a point.

PARASITIC: If a species is considered parasitic, the player can play this species card underneath another as instructions dictate. Both cards are worth points.

END OF GAME

When a player has taken their last card from their deck, the game ends at the conclusion of the other player’s turn.Winner has the highest number of species under their control.

PHYLO: THE TRADING CARD GAME

The PHYLO(MON) PROJECT

Category Archives: Gameplay (in progress)

Ecosystem Building Game (V1.3)

BETA TESTING RULES V1.2

Ecosystem Building Game (V1.2)

Ecosystem Building Game (V1.1)

Map-Building Game?