Earth: Abundance
Earth: Abundance Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
The objective in Abundance remains the same: players compete to earn as many Victory Points (VP) as possible. To do so, you will “plant” cards to create your own tableau: a 16-card grid arranged 4 cards wide by 4 cards tall.
The game ends at the end of a round after a player plants their 16th card, which completes their tableau.
Players will score points for the value of Flora and Event cards, for Growth and Sprouts placed on their Flora, for cards in their Compost, and for Ecosystem, Fauna, and Terrain bonus points.
The first player to fill their 4x4 tableau with 16 cards triggers the game end and earns a bonus of 11VP.
Abundance works at all player counts and adds the option to play with a 6th player; however, if you do, you must use the expansion rules and components or you may run out of cards and/or components.
Components
- 1x 11VP token
- 6x Abundance boards
- 32x Seed tokens
- 1x Rulebook
- 1x Score pad
- 1x 6th player board
- 1x Teams board
- 2x Island cards
- 2x Climate cards
- 3x Fauna cards
- 3x Ecosystem cards
- 5x 6th player Leaf tokens
- 6x Germinate player aids
- 16x Canopies (Growth)
- 20x Trunks (Growth)
- 46x Soil tokens
- 50x Sprouts
- 70x Earth cards (Flora, Terrain & Event)
Setup
Shuffle all expansion cards into their respective decks. Abundance cards are marked with an “A” below the card title to assist with easy organization/removal if needed.
Add the Sprouts, Trunks and Canopy pieces to the central supply.
Follow the setup as described in the base game for your chosen game mode. If playing with 6 players, use the 6th player board.
Place the 11VP token on the Fauna board over the 7VP icon. This token increases the total VP awarded to the first player to complete their tableau from 7 to 11. NOTE: It is a replacement, not an additional reward.
Each player should place one Abundance board either below their player board horizontally, or beside their player board vertically. This expands the player aid and includes conversion options for the new resource: Seeds.
Note: 5 of the 6 Abundance boards allow for either horizontal or vertical placement; the back of the 6th Abundance board is used for solo play.
Give each player 2 (or 1) Seed tokens depending on your chosen difficulty.
| Difficulty | Seeds given to each player |
|---|---|
| Beginner/Standard | 2 |
| Advanced | 1 |
Turn Structure
This expansion introduces new player interactions (see p.4), between turn events (see p.4-5), Sprout storage (see p.6-7), and Germination (see p.5-6). These new concepts modify the turn structure of the game as follows:
- Resolve major/minor benefits
- Activate abilities
- Move Sprouts NEW!
- Play “between turn” Events NEW!
- Pass the active player token
Extended Turn Structure
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A turn begins when the active player selects an action and takes the major benefit (A), while all other players take the minor benefit simultaneously (B).
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All players activate the cards on their player board and within their tableau that match the chosen action following the standard rules.
You are never forced to activate a card—you may skip the activations of as many cards as desired. However, once you decide to activate a card, you must perform all parts of the activation including any player interactions as they are presented (see p.4 for examples).
As in the base game, when activating an ability all costs must be paid in full, however players receiving benefits may collect them as desired (partially or in full).
In the expansion, if a player should gain Sprouts and does not have Flora with available Sprout spaces, the Sprouts may be stored on their Abundance board. If a player gains Sprouts as a result of a card ability activated by an opposing player, the Sprouts are immediately placed on their Abundance board, regardless of whether or not the player has available Sprout spaces in their tableau (see p.6-7).
- Once all players have finished activating their abilities, each player may move Sprouts from their Abundance board to empty Sprout spaces in their tableau.
Sprouts stored on the Abundance board cannot be used for resource conversions, abilities, or Events (see p.6-7).
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Once all players have finished moving Sprouts, ending the current turn, “Between turns events” may be played (see p.4-5). If more than one player wishes to play a “Between turns event,” they are resolved clockwise, starting with the player in possession of the active player token.
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Once all played “Between turns events” have been resolved, the turn ends and the active player token is passed clockwise.
The end-game trigger remains the same; however, the tableau completion bonus has been increased to 11VP as indicated by the token placed during setup.
Example: After all players finished moving Sprouts from their Abundance boards to tableau, Player A uses the Continental Shift “Between turns event.”
Player A must use the ability of the card they played by returning 4 Sprouts from their tableau to the supply, then they draw 2 cards into hand and compost up to 6 cards from the draw pile. Player B wishes to use the ability as well, and returns 4 Sprouts to the supply from their tableau to do so. Player C does not wish to use the ability, and waits for the Event to be resolved.
The Following May Occur at Any Time
Events
Events may be played at any time, unless the Event specifies “Play between turns.”
Resource Conversions
- Sprouts from a player’s tableau may be converted to Soil or Seeds (see p.5) at any time except while gaining them during the Watering action, or in the middle of a card’s ability being resolved.
- 3 Sprouts : 2 Soil
- 4 Sprouts : 1 Seed
- Seeds stored on a player’s board may be converted or Germinated (see p.5-6) at any time.
- Germinate 1 Seed (see p.5-6)
- 1 Seed : 2 Soil
- 1 Seed : 2 Growth
- 1 Seed : 3 Sprouts
- 1 Seed : 3 Compost from the draw pile
- 1 Seed : 4 Compost from their hand
- Leaf tokens may be converted to Seeds (see p.5) at any time.
- 1 Leaf token : 1 Seed
New Icons and Effects
Not only does Abundance offer more ways for players to plan ahead and convert resources, it also adds a new layer of player interaction. New Events and abilities can affect the card’s owner and their opponents. Some cards simultaneously grant resources for you and your opponents, while others capitalize on the cards in your neighbour’s tableau.
Interpreting New Abilities and Events
When activating abilities on your player board and within your tableau that match the chosen action, you may encounter the following new icons:
- Any player(s) may gain the benefit. Example: an ability marked “may plant an additional card during this green action” means any number of players may make use of this ability.
- Choose an opponent. Example: the player who activated this ability chooses one opponent to gain the indicated benefit. (The printed example reads: −2 Sprouts, +4 Growth, choose one opponent to gain +1 Sprouts.)
- Only other players may gain the benefit. Example: the player who activated this ability gains the benefit on the left (+4 Soil), and each other player may gain the benefit on the right (+2 Sprouts).
- Select one of your neighbours’ play areas (the player to your right or left). Example: the player who activated this ability gains the benefit indicated for every matching feature in one of their neighbours’ play areas (printed example: +1 Growth for every matching feature).
There is also a new type of Event which affects all players but has a timing restraint: “Play between turns.” Each player who wishes to pay the cost in full will receive the benefit in full; the person who played the event must use the ability. The Event card is placed in the Event space of the player whose hand it came from.
Example: A player announces they are Germinating one of their Seeds in search of a card with a Growth ability, returning their Seed to the supply. They turn over the draw pile so the card that was once at the bottom is now faceup. The topmost card (1) does not have an ability with the Growth icon, so it is discarded and the search continues.
The next card (2) is an Event; because the player did not announce they were searching for an Event, the card is also discarded. This continues until the player reaches the Ponderosa Pine (3), as the card has an ability with the matching Growth feature. The player puts this card into their hand, and returns the draw pile next to the Fauna board facedown.
Example 3: A player activates the blue ability from their February Daphne in a row with 3 bushes. All Sprout spaces on the bushes in this row are full, and no Sprouts are gained or stored.
Example 4: A player activates the blue ability from their Borage. As the most blue abilities either neighbour has is 5, the player gains 2 Sprouts. They do not have any empty Sprout spaces in their tableau, so the 2 Sprouts are stored on their Abundance board.
Example 5: A player plants the Netted Rhodotus in their tableau; they immediately activate the card’s black ability and draw 4 cards into their hand. Each other player may immediately gain up to 2 Sprouts, and must store them on their Abundance boards.
Sprouts Can Be Saved!
The new Abundance board allows players to store Sprouts if they do not have enough Sprout spaces on Flora in their tableau (1). If a card directs players to gain Sprouts based on certain conditions (such as having cards with an indicated feature, or in specific locations) and the player’s tableau does not satisfy those conditions at the time the Sprouts are to be gained, these Sprouts are lost and cannot be stored (2). If a player’s tableau satisfies these conditions, but the corresponding Sprout spaces are full, the excess Sprouts are lost and cannot be stored (3). If a player should gain Sprouts from an ability without placement restrictions, but all Sprout spaces are full, the excess Sprouts may be stored (4). Sprouts collected from your opponents’ Events or abilities are immediately placed on your Abundance board (5).
Example 1: A player activates the multicoloured ability from the Nemesia flower, gaining up to 3 Sprouts. They do not have any empty Sprout spaces in their tableau, so they store the Sprouts on their Abundance board.
Example 2: A player activates the blue ability from their Arugula, placing 1 Sprout on the Arugula and each of the 2 diagonally adjacent herb cards. As there are no herb cards in the other two diagonally adjacent spaces of their tableau, no additional Sprouts are gained or stored.
Storing and Converting Sprouts
- Sprouts on the Abundance board can only be moved to Flora after all players have finished activating their card abilities.
- Sprouts can be stored for any length of time, but any remaining on the Abundance board at the end of the game are worth 0VP.
- Sprouts cannot be used for resource conversions, abilities, or Events until they have been moved onto empty Sprout spaces on Flora.
Seeds: New Resource and Conversions
All players start the game with 2 (or 1) Seed tokens. You can gain additional Seed tokens by activating abilities or at any time by converting your Leaf tokens or Sprouts: 1 Leaf for 1 Seed, or 4 Sprouts for 1 Seed.
Sprouts are returned to the central supply, while Leaves are removed from play. Players should be aware that Leaves cannot reenter play—therefore, by converting a Leaf token into a Seed, a player will have fewer Leaf tokens available to claim Fauna objectives and/or the tableau completion bonus.
Similar to converting Sprouts to Soil, at any time players can Germinate a Seed (see below) or convert it into 2 Soil, 2 Growth, 3 Sprouts, 3 Compost from the draw pile, or 4 Compost from their hand.
If Seed tokens should run out, use a temporary replacement.
Germinate: Search and Gain
Germination is a powerful new method of finding a card with a specific feature. At any time, simply return one Seed token to the supply and announce one card feature. (For a list of searchable features, see p.8 or the player aids.) Next, take the draw pile and turn it faceup so the bottom card is faceup on top of the deck. Make sure other players can see this card. Starting with the topmost card, check each card one at a time for the feature that you’ve chosen. You must take the first Non-Event card that matches that feature and place it in your hand. All other cards that were checked must be put into the discard pile.
If you are unable to find a card with a matching feature after searching the entire draw pile, you must then search the discard pile. If a card with the matching feature still cannot be found, the Germination is considered incomplete and you retrieve your Seed token from the supply—it is immediately available for use. If the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw pile.
Once a card feature has been announced, it cannot be changed. The only way to gain an Event through Germination is by searching for the “Event” card feature.
Solo Mode
The solo mode objective is the same as the base game. During setup, add 10 Sprouts to the Gaia board, take 2 Seeds, place the 11VP token on the Fauna board, and place the solo Abundance board faceup under your player board.
Changes to game play:
- When “another/other player” should receive Sprout(s), place them directly on Gaia’s board.
- “Between turns events” will affect you and Gaia. Costs must be paid in full when the card is played.
- If Gaia should draw cards, they are taken from the draw pile and added to Gaia’s scoring pile.
- For cards that give you benefits depending on your neighbour’s play area, reference your own play area.
- Each time you convert a Leaf to a Seed, place the Leaf on Gaia’s board. She will score 5VP per Leaf on her board at the end of the game. When you calculate scores, you can record Gaia’s VP from Leaves on one of her unused Ecosystem scoring spaces.
Changes to card effects:
- Icon “Affects you and Gaia”: the effect applies to you and to Gaia.
- Icon “Affects Gaia”: the effect applies to Gaia.
- Icon “Use your play area”: reference your own play area.
Team Mode (2 vs 2, 2 vs 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3)
The team mode follows the same setup and rules as the base game and adds the Abundance setup and components. Teammates still sit beside each other. In a 2vs2 game, use the Teams board from the base game. In 2vs2vs2 or 3vs3 mode, use the appropriate side of the expansion Teams board.
Any time a player earns resources (including Seeds), instead of placing them directly into their tableau, reserve, or hand, they may place them onto their side of the shared Team board. These resources must be taken by either teammate before the end of the current turn or they are discarded.
Play the rest of the game as normal—but note that when the “Choose an opponent” icon is activated, you cannot choose one of your teammates.
At the end of the game, teammates will simply combine their scores, and the team with the most VP wins!
Germinate: Searchable Card Features
The following card features can be announced when you Germinate (see p.8 and the player aids). Where a feature is shown only as an icon, the icon is shown in brackets as printed.
- 3- [Soil]
- 4+ [Soil]
- 3- [Seed] with “x”
- 4+ [Seed] with “x”
- “Even” or “odd” [Seed] with “x”
- 3- [Seed] in a box
- 6 [Seed] in a box
- Four [habitat-type icons] (listed as a group), or
- Four [habitat-type icons] (second group, listed as a group)
- 1- Habitats
- 2+ Habitats
- [Growth] value 4- with [Seed/leaf icon]
- [Growth] value of 5+ with [Seed/leaf icon]
- 2- [Growth] capacity
- 4+ [Growth] capacity
- [Event-type icon] or [Soil-type icon] (listed as either/or)
- Name 1 ability colour (includes the multicoloured ability)
- Card with “2 abilities”
- “Directional aids” ([four directional icons], etc.)
- Italic, underline, or bold name
- Card with icon in ability: [Growth], [Trunk], [Soil], [cycle], [colon], [card-draw]
If you play with new/promo cards and they contain card features that are not specified here, you can search for them as well.
Transcriber's note: several icons in this printed list are small glyphs that do not survive plain-text rendering; the bracketed descriptions identify each entry by position and label. The publisher's card index (linked from the rulebook as the Rules FAQ & Card Index) gives the exact glyphs.
If you play with new/promo cards and they contain card features that are not specified here, you can search for them as well.