Demeter Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Content
• Theme and Goal of the Game
• Setup
• Round of Play
  • Card Anatomy
  • Phase 1 - Reveal a Card from Each Deck
  • Phase 2 - Select a Card and Perform its Action
  • Phase 3 - Gain the Bonus of the Selected Card
• End of a Round
• Actions
• Discovering Species
• Building an Observation Post
• Recruiting Scientists
• Studying Discovered Species
• Progressing on the Research Track
• Erecting a Building
• Column Bonus
• End of the Game and Scoring Mission Points
  • 1. Objectives
  • 2. Scientists
  • 3. Entirely Discovered Species
  • 4. Diversity of Species
  • 5. Observation Value in Each Environment
  • 6. Studied Dinosaurs
• Objectives
• Bonus: Settlers Ships for Ganymede
• Credits

Content

• 75 Action cards (15 of each color)
• 100 Scoring Pads
• 6 recto-verso Species tiles
• 6 recto-verso Objective tiles
• 1 Objective board
• 1 rulebook in 2 languages (English, French)
• Bonus: 6 Settlers Ship cards for Ganymede

Theme and Goal of the Game

You are a scientist and you just boarded on a ship departing from Ganymede en route to Demeter 1, a planet in orbit around Demeter. Demeter, a red dwarf, has two twin planets: Demeter 1 and Demeter 2. Each of them has an ESI (Earth Similarity Index) of 0,98. The first reconnaissance flight revealed the presence of dinosaurs and Chahrazad will lead the expedition. Explore and discover the secrets of the first moon of Demeter!

The goal of the game is to score more MP (Mission Points) than your opponents. These points represent your ability to discover and to study the dinosaurs in their environment.

Setup

1. Each player takes a score pad and a pen (or a pencil).
2. Sort the Action cards per color to form 5 decks of 15 cards each. Place these 5 decks at the center of the play area. Remove from the game 3 cards from each deck and return them to the box: they will not be used for this game.
3. Take the Objective board and place it at the center of the play area, next to the 5 decks. Select randomly 4 Objective tiles among 6 (the side does not matter) and place them at the top of the Objective board, from A to D. Return the 2 remaining Objective tiles to the box: they will not be used for this game.
4. Place the 6 Species tiles on their gold side next to the play area, in any order.
5. Each player colors a part of a Dinosaur of their choice with their pen (or their pencil). You are now ready to play. Do not color the symbol inside a Dinosaur!

Round of Play

A game of Demeter lasts 12 rounds. Each round is divided into 3 phases:

1. Reveal a card from each deck
2. Select a card and perform its action
3. Gain the bonus of the selected card

Card Anatomy

Each Action card shows two parts:

• Action: the icon at the top of the card (for example a paw symbol with a "x2" multiplier and a "+"). This is the action performed when the card is selected.
• Bonus: the icon at the bottom of the card (a square with a hatched pattern). This represents the bonus square that gets colored on the score pad.

Phase 1 - Reveal a Card from Each Deck

A player draws a card from each deck and place the 5 cards face up in their corresponding discard pile. These are the 5 available cards for this round.

Phase 2 - Select a Card and Perform its Action

Simultaneously, each player selects one of the 5 available cards (without taking it) and resolves these steps in this order:

1. Circle the leftmost square in your action area that corresponds to the color of the selected card.

Example: Mathilde selects the red card this round: she circles the leftmost red square of her score pad.

2. Performs the action indicated at the top of the card.

Example: Then, she performs the Action of the red card: she colors 2 parts of Dinosaur with a red claw symbol.

Important:

• Multiple players may select the same available card during the same round.
• Once a player has selected 4 cards of the same color, that player cannot select a card of this color anymore.
• If there are several action symbols on the card, perform these actions in any order. If there are several symbols separated with a "/", choose only one of them.
• Perform entirely your action before triggering any bonuses that could be gained via this action.

Phase 3 - Gain the Bonus of the Selected Card

Each player colors simultaneously the square they just circled during the previous phase and gain the bonus indicated inside the square (see below for all bonuses rules).

• Blue card: recruit 1/2/3/4 Scientists.
• Red card: build 1/2/3/4 Observation Posts.
• Yellow card: study 1/2/3/4 times by highlighting the dashed-arrow symbol.
• Purple card: progress 1/2/3/4 steps on the Research track.
• Grey card: gain any bonus among the four above, but only once, regardless the number of times you selected a grey card. If you erected a Building and you did not trigger its ability this round, you may trigger it this way if you choose its corresponding bonus (see Erecting a Building below).

Example: Mathilde selected a grey card this round. After performing the action indicated on the card, she colors the grey square and gains the bonus indicated in it. She decides to progress 1 space on the Research track. As she built the Research Lab earlier in the game and she has not used its ability yet, she may progress an additional space on the Research track.

End of a Round

If at least one player discovered an entire species (see Discovering Species below), flip the Species tile on its silver side. From now on, if another player discovers that species entirely, this player scores 2MP less.

If the 5 decks are not empty, play another round. If the 5 decks are empty, this is the end of the game and players score their Mission Points.

Actions

Players perform actions different ways:

• During the Phase 2 of each round: when you select a card.
• During the Phase 3 of each round: when you resolve the bonus of the card you selected.
• During Phases 2 and 3: when you gain a bonus indicated in a square box.

Discovering Species

Discovering dinosaurs on Demeter 1 is the most important part of your mission: this is the first step to understand the animal life and its environment.

Color a dinosaur part that corresponds to the symbol(s) (the wild symbol, the green paw symbol, or the red claw symbol) indicated on the card or in a square box bonus. The wild symbol lets you color any dinosaur part. If there are several symbols separated by a "/" on the card or in the square box, choose only one symbol.

• When you color a dinosaur, do not color the symbol in it. These symbols may be useful to score Objectives at the end of the game.
• Once you colored entirely a dinosaur, it is discovered! You will have the opportunity to study it later in the game.
• When you discover an entire species (by coloring all dinosaurs of that species), score MP equal to the corresponding Species tile. Write these MP in the corresponding section of your score pad. If this is the first time this species is discovered, its Species tiles will be flipped on its silver side at the end of the round, so other players will score 2 MP less if they discover that species. If several players discover the same species during the same round, they all score the same amount of MP.

Example: Mathilde colors 2 red-claw-symbol parts of Triceratops and is the first to discover all the dinosaurs of this species: she scores 6MP. At the end of the round, she will flip the Triceratops tile so if her opponents discover all their Triceratops, they will score 4MP instead.

Building an Observation Post

Building Observation Posts helps you to recruit more Scientists and to add value to your discoveries.

Color a step of the leftmost Observation Post in an environment: an environment is the area of your scoring pad where dinosaurs of the same species are living. Once you colored all the steps of an Observation Post, it is built. Your Observation value is equal to the value indicated at the top of this Observation Post.

Important:

• If you build several Observation Posts in the same action, you may divide them into several environments, as long as you built the leftmost one.
• An environment Observation value is always equal to its rightmost completed Observation Post.
• Building Observation Posts allows you to recruit more Scientists (see Recruiting Scientists action below) and to score MP at the end of the game depending on the number of dinosaurs you discovered in their environment.

Example: Mathilde builds her first Observation Post in the Triceratops environment. She colors the space, which gives her an Observation value of 1 for this environment. This allows her to recruit 2 more Scientists later in the game if she wishes to.

Recruiting Scientists

Recruit Scientists to study the environment of each species. You will need Observation Posts to recruit more of them, but the bonuses are worth the expense!

Recruit (by coloring them) the indicated number of Scientists starting by the leftmost one in an environment. You may recruit less Scientists than indicated if you did not build enough Observation Posts in your environments.

Important:

• If you recruit several Scientists during the same action, you may divide them into several environments, as long as you color the leftmost one.
• After recruiting all your Scientists in the same action, if you colored all the Scientists beneath a square box bonus, color this bonus and resolve its effect immediately, if able.
• If you recruit all Scientists from an environment, they will score MP at the end of the game.

Example 1: Mathilde recruits 2 Scientists: as she did not build any Observation Post in the Raptors environment, she cannot recruit them here.

Example 2: Instead, Mathilde decides to continue to recruit Scientists in the Triceratops environment. As she already built an Observation Post earlier in the game, she may recruit 2 Scientists there. Doing so triggers a bonus for her: coloring any Dinosaur part.

Studying Discovered Species

Understanding the animal life on Demeter 1 is another important part of your mission. The more you discover dinosaurs, the more studying them will earn you points.

Highlight the corresponding amount of dashed-arrow symbols. You may only highlight symbols from discovered dinosaurs. Dashed-arrow symbols in excess are lost.

When you highlight all the symbols around a bonus, gain that bonus:

• Immediately: if this bonus is inside a square box.
• At the end of the game: if this is an Objective or a Studied Dinosaurs scoring.

Example: Mathilde studies the Triceratops she discovered earlier in the game and highlights a dashed-arrow symbol. When she will highlight the second symbol, she will be able to erect the Building of her choice.

Progressing on the Research Track

Science research offers you common bonuses at the beginning (Scientists, Observation Posts), but the more you invest the more the bonuses are powerful (black claw symbol, wild symbol), and the opportunity to score up to 3 Objectives). Be patient!

Color the first available space of the Research track. Then, color a space adjacent to one you already colored earlier in the game. If you color one or more spaces with a bonus in it, gain them after coloring all your spaces.

Example: Mathilde progresses 2 spaces on the Research track: first, she colors the first space at the bottom of the track. Then, she colors a second space which must be adjacent to one she already colored: this space allows her to build an Observation Post.

Erecting a Building

Build advanced structures with organic materials to improve your understanding of Demeter 1.

Circle the corresponding Building by highlighting the dotted lines next to the Building you just erected. Each Building gives an ongoing ability that can be used once per round only.

• Radar: when you study discovered species, highlight an additional dashed-arrow symbol.
• Observatory: when you build an Observation Post, build an additional one.
• Academy: when you recruit a Scientist, recruit an additional one.
• Research Lab: when you progress on the Research track, progress an additional space.
• Rover: when you discover dinosaurs, you may replace a wild symbol, green paw symbol or red claw symbol with a black claw symbol.

Column Bonus

This is an immediate bonus gained when a player circles the last square of a column. Gain that bonus before performing the action of the card!

• When a player completes their 1st column, they immediately gain a black claw symbol.
• When a player completes their 2nd column, they immediately gain two black claw symbols.

Example: Mathilde selected the purple card this round. She completes the first column and to gain the first column bonus: a black claw symbol. She then resolves her turn normally.

End of the Game and Scoring Mission Points

At the end of the 12th turn, players score Mission Points this way:

1. Objectives

If you colored the space of the Research track that lead to an Objective (A, B or C), score the MP of this Objective (0, 5 or 10) in the Objective space at the top of your score pad, just above that space.

• If you studied entirely the 2 Diplodocuses, score the Objective of your choice.
• If you studied entirely the 4 Gallimimus score Objective D.

Important: you cannot score the same Objective twice!

2. Scientists

If you recruited all the Scientists of an environment, score the MP indicated at the end of the track. For the T-Rex environment, score the highest value (3, 6, 9 or 12) reached by your Scientists only.

3. Entirely Discovered Species

Add the MP value of all the Species you discovered entirely.

4. Diversity of Species

Score 1/3/6/10/15/21MP if you discovered at least 1 Dinosaur of 1/2/3/4/5/6 different Species.

5. Observation Value in Each Environment

For each environment, multiply the number of Dinosaurs you discovered by the value of your highest Observation Post. Add up the result of all your environments and report this value in the corresponding space of your score pad.

6. Studied Dinosaurs

• If you studied entirely the 2 Triceratops, score 2MP for each red card you selected during the game (maximum of 8MP). Do the same for the Raptors (purple cards) and the T-Rex (blue cards).
• If you studied the Pterodactyl, score 3MP for each completed column of 5 cards you selected during the game (0, 3 or 6MP if you completed 0, 1 or 2 columns).
• Score the MP of the other Dinosaurs you studied during the game (2 or 3MP most of the time).

Add up these values and report the total in the corresponding space of your score pad.

Add up all categories: the player with the most Mission Points wins the game! In case of a tie, tied players share the victory.

Objectives

Each Objective is worth 0MP, 5MP or 10MP. The 6 recto-verso Objective tiles carry these 12 Objectives; 4 of them (one side of 4 different tiles, chosen randomly) are used in a given game:

• MP value of the Species you discovered entirely: if the value is between 6 and 10, score 5MP. If the value is 11 or more, score 10MP.
• Number of Scientists you recruited: 7-13 scores 5MP, 14+ scores 10MP.
• Number of different Species you studied at least once: 3-4 scores 5MP, 5+ scores 10MP.
• Number of Buildings you erected: 2-3 scores 5MP, 4+ scores 10MP.
• Total Observation Value: add the highest Observation value of each of your environments: 5-8 scores 5MP, 9+ scores 10MP.
• Number of times you studied a Dinosaur: 6-11 scores 5MP, 12+ scores 10MP.
• Number of spaces you progressed on the Research track: 7-13 scores 5MP, 14+ scores 10MP.
• Number of red claw symbols you colored (the center part of a Diplodocus counts as a red claw symbol for this Objective): 5-8 scores 5MP, 9+ scores 10MP.
• Number of Species you discovered, entirely or not: 4-5 scores 5MP, 6+ scores 10MP.
• Number of wild symbols you colored: 4-5 scores 5MP, 6+ scores 10MP.
• Number of green paw symbols you colored (the center part of a Diplodocus counts as a green paw symbol for this Objective): 5-8 scores 5MP, 9+ scores 10MP.
• Number of Dinosaurs you discovered: 6-10 scores 5MP, 11+ scores 10MP.

Bonus: Settlers Ships for Ganymede

Demeter includes 6 bonus Settlers Ship cards usable in a game of Ganymede:

• 6VP (This Ship requires an additional Settler of any color to take off).
• 2VP for each Shuttle that requires to discard a Settler tile as an additional cost.
• 2VP for each Settlers Ship with a take-off bonus (including this one) and draw a Settlers Ship card.

Credits

• Game Designer: Matthieu Verdier
• Illustrator and Graphic Design: Oliver Mootoo & David Sitbon
• Development: Sorry We Are French
• Rule writing: Matthieu Verdier
• Translation: Alexandre Figuière & Matthieu Verdier
• Producer: Emmanuel Beltrando

Thanks: The SWAF Team for its trust, the playtests and improvements. Oliver Mootoo, for the awesome cover. My friends and the gamers from Le Décalé, the board game café in my hometown. My parents, who passed away too early to discover my first published game. Mathilde, this game is for you.