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Aquaria

Aquaria Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

  • List of Components
  • Game Setup
    • Player Setup
  • Detailed Component Descriptions
    • 1. Aquarium Cards
    • 2. Lionfish Cards
    • 3. Filter
    • 4. Oxygen Track
    • 5. Turning Microflora Dials
  • Gameplay
    • Action Phase
      • Actions
      • Free Actions
    • Microflora Phase
    • Player Order Phase
    • Income Phase
    • Feeding Phase
    • Preparation for the Next Round
    • Refresh of the Common Supply
  • Game End / Final Scoring
    • Basic Scoring
    • Advanced Scoring
  • Solo Game
    • Game Setup
    • Action Phase
      • Solo Mode Tiles
    • Final Scoring
  • Lionfish Overview
  • Icon Overview
  • Credits

List of Components

  • 1 Main board (variable, assembled from 5 sectors)
  • 1 Encyclopedia board (double-sided)
  • 4 aquariums (player boards)
  • 5 Action Bonus tiles for the main board (double-sided)
  • 4 Action dice
  • 4×5 player markers
  • 3×15 Food cans
  • 32 Microflora dials
  • 27 Filter Bonus tokens
  • 4×5 Wool Filter tiles
  • 32 Arrow stickers
  • 5 Rivets
  • 4×2 Victory Point tokens
  • 30 Encyclopedia tokens
  • 24 Pearl tokens
  • 4 Active Color tiles
  • 4×25 Aquarium cards
  • 8 Starting tiles
  • 4×2 Scoring Aids (Player Aids on the backs)
  • 8 Solo tiles
  • 10 Lionfish cards

Before the first game, put the arrow stickers on the Microflora dials and assemble the action wheels.

Game Setup

  1. Assemble the main board by randomly putting together the 5 different sectors.
  2. Randomly place Action bonus tiles into the empty holes of the main board. Place them showing the correct face for your player count (4 spaces for 1–2 players, 5 spaces for 3–4 players). The arrow of each action circle is now set so it points to the starting bonus (the space with a gray border).
  3. On one side of the main board there are 4 slots for the Active Color tiles, which indicate which color is active in each of the 4 rounds (so they help to count the rounds too). Randomly place one Active Color tile face up in each slot.
  4. Place the Encyclopedia board next to the main board, showing the correct face for your player count. Then, randomly place a red-circled Encyclopedia tokens face up on each of the larger red-circled spaces. Do the same for the black-circled spaces using the borderless tokens. Return the rest of these tokens to the box.
  5. Separate the Lionfish cards from the main Aquarium card deck. Shuffle the main Aquarium card deck and lay out 6 of the cards face up in the middle of the table for all players to see. They represent a common offer of cards to buy. Place rest of the deck face down beside this offer. Display 2 Lionfish cards per player, face up beside the Aquarium card offer. For example, in a 3-player game, display 6 Lionfish cards.
  6. Place the other components — the Food cans (in 3 colors), the Filter Bonus tokens, and the Pearl tokens — beside the main board in a common supply. We suggest piling the Filter Bonus tokens by type so players can see what is available when they take one.

NOTE: Food cans and Pearl tokens are unlimited. If there are none available in the common supply, replace them with any other suitable component.

Player Setup

  1. Each player gets their own Aquarium as a player board. They then place a dial token in each of the 8 Microflora slots and they also take 1 die, 5 player markers, and 5 Wool Filter tiles in their chosen player color, and 1 scoring aid.
  2. Each player also gets 2 Starting tiles and draws 5 Aquarium cards. Each player chooses 1 of the 2 Starting tiles and discards the other to the box. Then, each player selects 3 of their 5 Aquarium cards to keep, and tucks the other 2 face down under the Aquarium card deck.
  3. Each player then takes the starting resources depicted on their Starting tiles. If one of those is a card, choose it from the common offer.

EXAMPLE: John has chosen Starting tile 3. He immediately gains 1 blue Food can, 1 Pearl token, and places 1 Wool Filter tile on his filter. Because he has the lowest number compared to the other players, he will start the game.

  1. Each player turns all their Microflora dials to the color on the opposite side from the first round's active color.

EXAMPLE: Active colour.

  1. Player order is based on the number on your Starting tile: numerical order, lowest first, highest last. Each player puts their marker on the Player Order track (arranged in player order). Now turn your Starting tile over and use it as a Player Aid during the game.
  2. Each player then places one of their player markers on each of the following locations: the start of the Pet Shop track, the start of the Encyclopedia track, one on level 4 of the Oxygen track, and one on zero on the Victory Point track.

Detailed Component Descriptions

1. Aquarium Cards

Each Aquarium card has several icons. In the lower-left corner, there is an icon of a Card type (Clownfish, School of Fish, Aquatic Plant, Anemone). These icons are important for final scoring. In the upper-left corner, there is a food requirement, which has to be paid during the Feeding phase, and the VPs you gain for successfully feeding this fish. In the upper-right corner is the cost to place the card in your Aquarium. Pay this oxygen point (OP) cost by moving your player marker down the indicated number of steps on the Oxygen track. If an Anemone icon appears next to the cost, you get a discount of 1 OP for each Anemone card adjacent to where you place it.

EXAMPLE: Susan wants to place this Aquatic plant in her aquarium. She does not have to pay any OPs. As a bonus she immediatelly gains 1 green Food can and 1 move along the Encyclopedia track, and from now on she will gain 1 OP during each Income phase.

It does not cost anything to place Aquatic plants in your aquarium. Aquatic plants are required to keep the water clean.

Bonuses depicted above a hand mean that you will gain the bonus only during each income phase.

EXAMPLE: John wants to place this Clownfish in his aquarium. It costs 7 OPs but can be placed at a discount. John chooses a place that is adjacent to 2 Anemones to gain a discount of 2 OPs. He then pays only 5 OPs by moving his marker down 5 steps on the Oxygen track.

In the lower-right corner of the card, there is a bonus for placing this card in your aquarium. Some of the bonuses are divided by a slash. In that case, choose which 1 of the 2 depicted bonuses you get. All these bonuses take effect immediately.

2. Lionfish Cards

Lionfish cards are special cards that are only scored at the end of the game. Each player can only get a maximum of 2 Lionfish cards during the game. These cards can be obtained in 3 ways: by moving along the Encyclopedia track, from the Pet Shop track, and by adding the fourth Bonus token to the upper part of the filter. If you do one of these things, choose one of the Lionfish cards from the common display and place it somewhere in your aquarium. There is no cost to place a Lionfish card in an aquarium. Once you have selected one and placed it in your aquarium, gain the bonus depicted on that card. It will also provide an endgame scoring bonus.

3. Filter

The filter is an indispensable part of any aquarium.

You will gradually fill the upper part of the filter with Filter Bonus tokens from the bottom to the top. The Starting Bonus Token space is the same on all player boards and provides 1 pearl and 1 card from the common offer. You can't cover this space with another Bonus token.

You can't move Bonus tokens once you've placed them.

You can't have 2 of the same type of Bonus token in your filter; however, you can have Bonus tokens of the same color, as long as their bonuses are different. If you are supposed to gain a duplicate Bonus token, either choose another, or take no Bonus token.

You will gradually fill the lower part of the filter with Wool Filter tiles. These do not have to be placed in a particular order. Each player has a set of 5 Wool Filter tiles in their own colour.

Each time you have all 5 Wool Filter tiles in the lower part of the filter, you trigger your filter: At the end of your turn, gain all of the bonuses from the upper part. Gain the bonuses from bottom to top, then remove all 5 Wool Filter tiles, and score according to your position on the Oxygen track, which could be positive or negative VPs!

If you trigger your filter in the Microflora phase, first gain the Microflora phase bonuses, then the filter bonuses.

If you gain a Wool Filter tile when all 5 are already in your filter, flip 1 over to remind you to add it to your filter after scoring the bonuses and removing them. In other words, you will still get the Wool Filter tile, but after scoring.

EXAMPLE: John has filled the lower part of his filter so the bonuses will trigger at the end of his turn. First, he collects the bonuses depicted in the upper part of the filter, from bottom to top. He gets a pearl and an Aquarium card (he chooses one from the common offer and replaces it immediately), then a green Food can, then he moves 1 step on the Encyclopedia track, and finally he takes another Aquarium card. Then, he scores VPs according to his position on the Oxygen track. He has 5 oxygen points so he gains 2 VPs. Once he has activated all his bonuses, he removes the 5 Wool Filter tiles from the lower section of the filter.

4. Oxygen Track

The Oxygen track is to the left of the Encyclopedia track. Everyone starts the game at level 4. The Oxygen track represents the cleanliness and clarity of the water in each player's aquarium, tracked as oxygen points. Spend your oxygen points (OP) to place cards in your aquarium. If you don't have enough OP to pay for the card you wish to place, you can't place that card. You can move neither above 11 nor below 0.

As mentioned above, when you trigger your filter, you will gain/lose the VPs depicted beside your current space on the Oxygen track (the red spaces at the bottom will make you lose VP).

5. Turning Microflora Dials

During the game, you will establish microflora in your aquarium. You will represent this with the dials along the bottom and right side of your aquarium. The two following bonuses allow you to rotate a dial (up to) the indicated number of clockwise quarter turns:

  • This icon tells you to turn dials in the column and/or row where you placed the card, up to a total of X times.
  • This icon tells you to turn any dials, up to a total of X times.

The position of the arrow on the dial only comes into play when evaluating the Microflora phase.

EXAMPLE: Susan pays 3 OPs to place this red Aquarium card in her aquarium. She can immediately perform up to 3 dial turns in the card's column and/or row. She can divide turns between 2 dials if she wishes, or she could turn only 1 dial up to 3 times. Then Susan can choose one of the other 2 bonuses that are separated by a slash: She can either gain a Wool Filter tile and 1 turn of any dial, or she can take a red Filter Bonus tile. She chooses the first option: She takes a Wool Filter tile and then she turns a dial. Now two of her dials are pointing to the active color, for which she will gain bonuses in the Microflora phase.

Gameplay

The game is played over 4 rounds. Each round comprises 7 phases (see the player aid on the back of your Starting tile):

  1. Action phase
  2. Microflora phase
  3. Player Order phase
  4. Income phase
  5. Feeding phase
  6. Preparation for the next round
  7. Refresh of the common supply

Action Phase

This phase is played on the 6 Action circles of the main board, which present 5 different types of action.

Everyone takes turns in player order. On your first turn, place your die on any Action circle, 1 face up (you never roll it), to indicate that this was your first action this round. It's OK if other players' dice are there, too. For all future turns, you must move your die to a different circle.

On your second turn, move your die to a new circle, 2 face up, to indicate that this was your second action this round. Once everyone has taken 4 actions, this phase is complete.

The middle Action circle is adjacent to the other six; the outer ones are adjacent to three others: the outer ones beside it and the middle one. If you move your die to an adjacent circle, you gain the bonus at which the destination circle's arrow points. Otherwise, you get no bonus.

Either way, rotate the circle so its arrow points at the next bonus clockwise (if it's already pointing at the last space, don't rotate it).

Each outer action circle offers several versions of the same action: a free one, and stronger versions for which you must pay the depicted number of pearls. We'll explain these when we explain each action.

EXAMPLE: For his second action, John wants to oxygenate his water. He moved from an adjacent Action circle, so he gains the new Action circle's current bonus: a pearl or a wool filter. He chooses to gain the Pearl token, then moves the arrow 1 space clockwise. He pays 1 pearl for a slightly stronger version of this action and moves his Oxygen Track marker 4 steps up, to level 9. For her second action, Susan chooses to gain Aquarium cards and Food cans. However, she did not move from an adjacent Action circle, so she doesn't get the new action's bonus. She still moves its arrow 1 space clockwise. She pays 1 Pearl token to take a stronger action: 3 Aquarium cards and 2 Food cans.

Unlike the outer Action circles, the middle one offers a menu of the most basic form of every action, rather than stronger versions of a single action. When you move your die to this circle, you must place it in 1 of its 3 sections. No matter which you choose, you will also receive the Wool Filter tile depicted around the outside of the circle.

Actions

In the game, there are 5 types of action:

1. Placing Aquarium cards in your aquarium

Place an Aquarium card from your hand in your aquarium. If the card has a cost, you must spend that many oxygen points (OP), minus any discount you get for adjacent anemones. If you don't have enough OPs to pay for an Aquarium card, you cannot take this action.

When you place the card, gain the bonuses depicted on it. You may place the card in any space in your aquarium; it does not have to be adjacent to any other card.

You may pay 1 pearl to place 2 Aquarium cards. For 4 pearls you may place 3 Aquarium cards and gain 3 VPs.

EXAMPLE: When she puts the blue Clownfish card into her Aquarium, Susan has to pay 2 oxygen points (3 minus 1 for the Anemone card adjacent to it), so she has to move her marker down the Oxygen track 2 steps to level 2. (If her filter was triggered at this point she would lose 2 VPs.) As a bonus she immediately gets up to 3 turns of Microflora dials in the same column and/or row where she placed this card. She decides to use only 1 dial turn to set the dial to the active color. Then, she gains an Aquarium card. In each Income phase from now on, Susan will also gain a blue Food can from this as an income bonus.

2. Studying the Encyclopedia

Advance your marker 1 step along the Encyclopedia track. You may pay 1 pearl to advance 2 steps, instead; or 2 pearls to advance 3 steps, instead.

The Encyclopedia track branches, and once you choose a branch to follow, you cannot go back.

It's OK if there are other players' markers on the space where you stop.

Each time you enter a large space, take the Encyclopedia token if it hasn't yet been taken. You can use it at any time. If you haven't used it by the end of the game, you will gain the VPs indicated on its back.

You do not gain the bonuses depicted on and beside the spaces by advancing; you only get these from the Pet Shop track, Filter Bonus tokens, and cards with this symbol.

ENCYCLOPEDIA TOKEN EXPLANATIONS: Gain 1 pearl; Gain 1 OP and 1 Food can; Gain 1 turn of a dial and 1 Food can; Gain 1 turn of a dial and 1 OP; Gain 1 Wool Filter tile and 1 turn of a dial; Gain 1 Wool Filter tile and 1 OP; Gain 1 Wool Filter tile and 1 Food can; Gain 1 Aquarium card and 1 Food can; Gain 1 Aquarium card and 1 OP; Gain 2 turns of dials; Gain 1 OP; Gain 1 Aquarium card and 1 turn of a dial; Gain 2 Wool Filter tiles; Gain 1 pearl and 1 OP; Gain 2 Aquarium cards and 1 turn of a dial; Gain 2 Food cans and 1 turn of a dial; Gain 3 OPs; Gain 1 Pearl and 1 Food can; Gain 1 Wool Filter tile and 1 Pearl; Gain 1 Wool Filter tile and 1 Aquarium card; Gain 3 turns of dials; Gain 2 turns of dials and 1 Pearl; Gain 1 Aquarium card and 2 OPs; Gain 1 Aquarium card and 2 turns of dials.

EXAMPLE: For his third action, John chooses to advance along the Encyclopedia track. He decides to pay 2 Pearl tokens to move 3 steps. He decides to go up the middle left branch and so with the first step he lands on a small circle (he does not receive any bonus). On the second step he lands on a large circle with an Encyclopedia token and he takes it. This token will allow him to gain 1 Pearl token. With the last step he moves to the right and gains another Encyclopedia token, which will allow him to turn 1 Microflora dial and gain any 2 Food cans. He can choose when or if he uses these tokens but they can only be used once per game. If he does not use them, the 2 tokens will be worth the VPs indicated on their backs at the end of the game.

Eventually, you may reach the last space of the Encyclopedia track. If that happens, move your token to the appropriate position on the arrival chart in the upper-left corner. You will gain VPs at the end of the game based on the order in which you finished the track. Each step you "move" after you finish earns you 2 VPs immediately.

When you trigger this icon (either by Filter Bonus tokens, by playing an Aquarium card, or by advancing a level on the Pet Shop track), you may take the Encyclopedia bonus where your Encyclopedia token is currently located. The bonus is to the left of the large spaces, and inside the circle of the smaller spaces. If you've already finished the track, take the final space's bonus.

3. Improving the water's Oxygen level

Move your Oxygen marker up the Oxygen track 2 steps. The Oxygen marker cannot move beyond the top space and any additional points are lost.

You may pay 1 pearl to move the marker up 4 steps, instead. For 3 pearls, move the marker up 7 spaces, and gain 1 VP.

4. Gaining Aquarium cards and Food cans

Take a Food can of any color, and 2 cards from the common offer of 6 Aquarium cards or from the top of the Aquarium card deck. Each time you take a card from the display of Aquarium cards, immediately replace it from the deck.

You may pay 1 pearl to take 3 Aquarium cards and 2 Food cans, instead; for 2 pearls, 3 Aquarium cards, 3 Food cans, and 2 VPs.

5. Advancing on the Pet Shop track

Discard 2 Aquarium cards of a single color from your hand to move up 1 level on the Pet Shop track. Gain the bonus depicted in the upper half of that level.

If you discard a 3rd Aquarium card of the same color, gain 1 of the 2 bonuses in the lower half of that level. You cannot gain both.

EXAMPLE: As her third action, Susan chooses to move up the Pet Shop track. She discards two red Aquarium cards from her hand and moves up to the 4th level of the Pet Shop track. She gains the bonus from the upper part – 1 turn of any dial, 1 VP, and an Encyclopedia bonus. Her marker on the Encyclopedia track is at the starting position, so Susan is granted 1 more turn of any dial.

Free Actions

You can perform free actions as many times as you like, any time during your turn or feeding. These actions are depicted in the lower-right corner of your player board.

  • Exchange 1 Pearl token for an Aquarium card. Refill the display from the deck.
  • Exchange 1 Pearl token for any Food can.
  • Exchange 2 Food cans (any colors) for 1 Food can (any color).
  • Spend 1 OP to refresh the Aquarium card display.

Microflora Phase

During the Microflora phase, players gain all the bonuses from all of their Microflora dials that point to the active colour for that round as indicated by the Active colour tile of the current round. The bonuses can be obtained in any order.

Whenever it is important for the game state, players gain bonuses in player order (e.g. when taking an Aquarium card from the offer or moving on the Encyclopedia track). Otherwise, players can complete this phase simultaneously.

In the final round, for each correct dial, you can decide whether you gain the depicted bonus or 2 VPs.

EXAMPLE: John managed to point these two Microflora dials to the active color of the round. As a result, he gains 1 blue Food can and 1 Wool Filter tile.

Player Order Phase

The first player is the player who matched the fewest dials to the active color in the Microflora phase, the player who matched the second fewest is second, and so on. If there is a tie, those players switch their order from the previous round.

Income Phase

Gain all the bonuses on the cards in your aquarium that have a picture of a hand on them. This symbol is located in the lower-right section of some Aquarium cards.

Feeding Phase

For each card in your aquarium with a feeding requirement in its upper-left corner, discard the indicated Food cans and gain the indicated VPs. For each critter you aren't able to feed, you must feed it as much as you can and then lose 4 VPs. However, you can't go below 0 VPs.

Yes, you can perform free actions even in this phase.

Preparation for the Next Round

In Round 4, skip this phase and go to the end of the game and final scoring.

Flip the Active Color tile for the current round face down. The next tile in the row will indicate the active color for the upcoming round.

If any Action circles are still pointing at the red space of their bonus track (only possible after Round 2), add a Pearl token to those Action circles. The first person to visit it collects the accumulated pearls.

Turn whichever Action circle has progressed the least on its bonus track back to point at its red space. If tied, turn all tied ones back to red.

Then turn each of the other Action circles to point at the gray space of its bonus track.

Leave all dice on their Action circles and turn the dice to the empty side; they'll turn to 1 again in the next round.

Refresh of the Common Supply

Remove the 6 Aquarium cards from the common supply and replace them by drawing 6 new cards from the Aquarium card deck.

Game End / Final Scoring

After finishing the 4th round, the game ends and the final scoring follows. Utilize a Scoring card to guide you. Use the side with a brown edge for the Basic scoring variant. For the Advanced scoring variant, use the side with the gold edge.

Basic Scoring

You score VPs, in addition to the ones you scored during the game, as follows:

  1. 1 VP for every Pearl token and 1 VP for every Wool Filter tile you have on your Aquarium board.
  2. VPs (positive, zero, or negative) from your final position on the Oxygen track.
  3. VPs from finishing the Encyclopedia track.
  4. 1 VP for every 3 Food cans still in your supply.
  5. 3 VPs for each column and each row of your aquarium filled with Aquarium cards.
  6. The VPs indicated on the back of each unused token from the Encyclopedia track you still have.
  7. For each Lionfish card in your aquarium, choose which scoring to use.
  8. VPs from Anemones. They provide 2 VPs for each Clownfish card which is orthogonally adjacent to them (so up to a maximum of 8 VPs each). Lionfish are not clownfish.
  9. VPs from School of Fish cards. The number of VPs is determined by the total of these cards that are in an orthogonally contiguous group. Each card only counts once. Count each group separately.

EXAMPLE: Basic scoring. John has 45 points after the last round. In addition he gains: 1) 5 VPs for his leftover pearls and Wool Filter tiles on his board, 2) 7 VPs for his position on the Oxygen track, 3) 12 VPs for being the first to finish the Encyclopedia track, 4) 1 VP for his leftover Food cans, and 5) 3 VPs for one column filled with cards. 6) He has no unused Encyclopedia tokens, so he gets no VPs for that category. 7) For his Lionfish card, he chooses the "3 VPs per blue card" option. He gets 15 VPs, which is the maximum possible. 8) For the Anemones he gains 4 VPs. 9) Finally he gains 4 VPs for his School of Fish cards. John's final score is 96 VP.

Advanced Scoring

The beginning of this version of Final Scoring is the same as above. However, Anemones with Clownfish cards and Schools of Fish gain higher VPs.

  1. Aquatic plants also score for cards of different colors beside them. For 2 different-colored cards orthogonally adjacent to an aquatic plant, gain 1 VP; for 3 different-colored cards, gain 3 VPs; and for 4 different-colored cards, gain 6 VPs. For this purpose, Lionfish cards are considered a wild color, so you can use each of them as any color.

EXAMPLE: Advanced scoring. In Advanced scoring John would get the same amount of VPs for Food cans, Pearls, Wool Filter tiles, Oxygen track, Encyclopedia track and tokens, the column of cards, and the Lionfish. For Anemones he would get 6 VPs, and for the School of Fish cards he would get 9 VPs. Finally, for the aquatic plants he would get 6 VPs. John's final score is 109 VPs.

Solo Game

Designed by Vladimír Suchý

You will play against an automa which simulates a real player. The actions the automa takes are determined by revealing one of the 8 tiles from the SOLO tiles pile.

Game Setup

Prepare the main board, the Encyclopedia board, the token supply, and the Lionfish card supply the same way as in a 2-player game. Lay out the common offer of Aquarium cards in 2 rows of 3 cards each. Choose a color and prepare your play area as usual. Place the deck of Solo Mode tiles beside the main board, near your play area. Next, select a color for the automa; place a marker of that color at the beginning of the Encyclopedia track, and grab the die of that color.

Draw 2 random Starting tiles for you; keep 1 and discard the other. Then draw 1 random Starting tile for the automa. Establish player order as usual (ascending numerical order). Finally, take your starting resources (the automa doesn't get any).

Action Phase

On the automa's turn, reveal the top Solo Mode tile and move the automa's die to the Action circle depicted on it. Turn that Action circle's arrow 1 space clockwise as usual. If there are additional actions depicted on the Solo Mode tile, the automa performs them.

Take your turn exactly like you would in a multiplayer game.

After the Action phase (4 actions each), complete all the other phases as usual. If you managed to gain 5 or more Microflora bonuses, then you will be the starting player for the next round, otherwise the automa will play first.

There are 8 Solo Mode tiles. After the second round, shuffle the discarded Solo Mode tiles and form a new draw deck.

At the start of the third round, shuffle the Lionfish cards in the offer and randomly discard one of them. Put the rest of them back in the offer. At the start of the fourth round, repeat this process and randomly discard another card from the offer and return the rest to the offer. This simulates the automa gradually acquiring 2 Lionfish cards.

Solo Mode Tiles

The Solo Mode tiles control the movement of the automa die. The icon in the middle of the tile depicts the Action circle on which the die must be placed. If the die is placed on an outside action circle, the arrow rotates 1 space clockwise like it normally would. The icons on the right (if any) indicate additional actions the automa will perform.

The Solo Mode tile deck contains the following tiles:

  • Move the automa die to the depicted Action circle and rotate its arrow 1 space clockwise. No additional action is to be performed.
  • Move the automa die to the depicted Action circle and rotate its arrow 1 space clockwise. Then, advance the automa's marker 2 spaces on the Encyclopedia track; at branches, the automa chooses the direction indicated by the tile's arrow (left or right). Each time the marker enters a larger circle, discard the Encyclopedia token, if it's still there.
  • Move the automa die to the depicted Action circle and rotate its arrow 1 space clockwise. Then, discard the bottom row of the Aquarium card supply. Draw three new cards and form a row above the remaining row.
  • Move the automa die to the depicted Action circle and rotate its arrow 1 space clockwise. Then, advance the automa's marker 1 space on the Encyclopedia track; if starting at a branch, the automa chooses the direction indicated by the tile's arrow (left or right). If the marker moves onto a larger circle, discard the Encyclopedia token, if it's still there.
  • Move the automa die clockwise to the adjacent Action circle and rotate its arrow 1 space clockwise. If the die ends up on the Studying the Encyclopedia action or Gaining Aquarium cards action, perform the corresponding additional actions. If the die was on the central action circle when this tile was revealed, move it to the Action circle indicated by the icon in the upper-right corner (Studying the Encyclopedia, in this case).
  • Same as above, but move the die counterclockwise to the adjacent Action circle. If the die was on the central action circle when this tile was revealed, move it to the Action circle indicated by the icon in the upper-right corner (Gaining Aquarium cards, in this case).

EXAMPLE: John reveals this Solo Mode tile. The main action icon indicates he should move the automa die clockwise to the next adjacent Action circle. He does that, then he rotates the circle 1 space clockwise. Because the action is Studying the Encyclopedia, he performs the additional action and advances the automa's marker 2 steps on the Encyclopedia track. It takes the leftmost branch when the path forks, as indicated on the tile, discarding the token it encounters.

Final Scoring

Perform the final scoring as usual (you can choose whether to use basic or advanced scoring). The automa doesn't matter for scoring, except for order of finishing the Encyclopedia track.

Your Rating for Basic (Advanced) Scoring:

  • 150 (170) – Good for a first-timer
  • 160 (180) – OK, you will do better next time
  • 170 (190) – Nice score
  • 180 (200) – Great score
  • 190 (210) – Excellent score

Lionfish Overview

  • 6 VPs / 3 VPs for each Clownfish card in your aquarium, up to a maximum of 15 VPs.
  • 6 VPs / 3 VPs for each School of Fish card in your aquarium, up to a maximum of 15 VPs. They don't have to be adjacent to each other for this.
  • 6 VPs / 3 VPs for each Anemone card in your aquarium, up to a maximum of 15 VPs.
  • 6 VPs / 3 VPs for each red card in your aquarium, up to a maximum of 15 VPs. Lionfish cards do not count toward this scoring.

Icon Overview

  • Clownfish — a card type icon
  • Aquatic plant — a card type icon
  • Anemone — a card type icon
  • School of fish — a card type icon
  • Lionfish — a card type icon
  • Gain an Aquarium card
  • Aquarium card of a specific color
  • Discard 2 Aquarium cards of a single color
  • Place an Aquarium card in your aquarium
  • Place a Lionfish card in your aquarium
  • Full column/row of cards in your aquarium
  • Move your Oxygen marker up the Oxygen track
  • Move your Oxygen marker down the Oxygen track
  • Advance your marker along the Encyclopedia track
  • Gain the Encyclopedia bonus from your marker's space
  • Advance on the Pet Shop track and gain the upper bonus
  • Gain a Food can of the indicated color
  • Gain a Food can of any color
  • Spend a food can of the indicated color
  • Gain a pearl
  • Spend a pearl
  • Income
  • Gain a Filter Bonus token of the indicated color
  • Gain a Filter Bonus token of any color
  • Gain a Wool Filter tile
  • Turn a Microflora dial in the same column/row as the card you just placed
  • Turn any Microflora dial
  • Active color of the round
  • Gain a victory point
  • Lose a victory point
  • Number of players
  • A player die

Credits

Game design: Tomáš Holek Solo game: Vladimír Suchý Development: Vladimír Suchý Rulebook: Mike Poole English editing: Nathan Morse Production: Kateřina Suchá Title illustration: Milan Vavroň Graphic design, illustrations: Anežka Bělohoubková Photos: Pexels, Freepik, Pixabay

Thanks to all testers: Kája, Vojta, Katka, Klára, Anežka, Olaf with his wife, Laadinek, Josef Ševců, Michal Peichl, Milan Zborník, Petr Plášil, Barbora Šulcová, David Rozsíval, Matthew Dunstan, Patrik Hajda, and Štěpán Peterka.

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