Forest Guardians Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Terrain Tile Types
• Game Setup
  • The Ranger Board
  • Special Setup for 2 Players
• Basic Rules
  • Goal of the Game
  • Starting a Game
  • Game Turn
• 1. Forest Exploration
  • I. Draw a Terrain Tile
  • II. Place the Terrain Tile
  • III. Special Event
• 2. Player Action
  • I. Forestation
    • a. Planting Condition
    • b. Sharing Terrain
    • c. Upgrade Skill
  • II. Put out Fire
  • III. Help the Animal
    • a. Rescue
    • b. Release
  • IV. Swap Cards
• 3. Resource Replenishment
• Game End
  • 1. Game End Condition
  • 2. Victory
• Advanced Rules
  • Advanced Game
  • Ranger Abilities
  • Send Your Ranger
• Appendix
  • Special Events
    • 1. Animal Encounter
    • 2. Forest Fire
    • 3. Illegal Logger
  • Tree Removal
  • Retrieve Released Animals
  • Living Conditions

Components

• Animal Cards x 10
• Resource Cards x 30
• Terrain Tiles x 36, plus the Starting Tile
• Wooden Upgrade Cubes x 20
• Trees x 40 (Taiwan Spruce, Calocedrus Formosana, Camphor Tree)
• Animals & Rangers x 15 (Animal Tokens, Ranger Tokens, Illegal Logger)
• Fire Tokens x 12
• Ranger Boards x 4

Tip: Keep them assembled to prevent the tokens from getting loose.

Terrain Tile Types

• Regular Terrain Tiles: High Altitude (I), Medium Altitude (II), Low Altitude (III).
• Special Terrain Tiles:
  • Mountains: Jade Mountain, Alishan, Huoyan Mountain, Dajian Mountain
  • Lakes: Chiaming Lake, Songluo Lake, Ordinary Lakes

Game Setup

• a. Animal Tokens: Place all Animal Tokens on the table.
• b. Resource Cards: Shuffle all Resource Cards and place them facedown on the table.
• c. Animal Cards: Separate the Animal Cards into 2 piles according to the symbol on the back. Shuffle each pile separately and stack them facedown together. The cards with the marked symbol go to the top.
• d. Starting Tile: Place the Starting Tile faceup in the middle of the table. Place the Illegal Logger on his base.
• e. Terrain Tiles: Place the Terrain Tiles facedown according to their altitude from high to low (I ▸ II ▸ III).

The Ranger Board

• a. Turn Steps
• b. Tree Types and Planting Conditions
• c. Trees: Lay the trees of your color down on top of each number.
• d. Wooden Upgrade Cubes: Place all 4 cubes on the corresponding spots.
• e. Skill Upgrade
• f. Animal Shelter
• g. Use the A side for the basic game, and the B side for the advanced game.
• h. Player Actions: There are 4 actions on the A side.

Each Animal Card shows the Animal Name, its Points and its Living Condition. Each animal has a different habitat and living condition!

Special Setup for 2 Players

Remove 4 Regular High Altitude Terrain Tiles, all Low Altitude (III) Terrain Tiles, and 2 Common Pheasant sets in a 2 player game.

Basic Rules

Goal of the Game

In Forest Guardians, players are rangers overseeing the beautiful natural scenery of Taiwan. By taking actions such as planting trees, putting out fire or helping animals, players can protect the environment and provide habitats for animals. Whoever has the highest points at the end of the game will be titled the Great Forest Guardian!

Starting a Game

1. Setup the game according to Game Setup.
2. Each player draws 3 Resource Cards, chooses a Ranger Board, and sets it up as described.
3. The youngest player is the start player and begins the game.

Game Turn

Starting with the start player and going clockwise, each player takes a single turn, which consists of the following 3 steps:

1. Forest Exploration
2. Player Action
3. Resource Replenishment

1. Forest Exploration

During the Forest Exploration step, the active player draws a Terrain Tile and adds it to the existing tiles. If the tile shows a special icon, the corresponding Special Event occurs.

I. Draw a Terrain Tile

Draw a Terrain Tile from the highest altitude pile available (I ▸ II ▸ III). You cannot draw from the next altitude pile before the previous pile is empty.

II. Place the Terrain Tile

Flip over the Terrain Tile and add it to the existing tiles. When placing tiles, you must always add it such that at least 2 of its borders are touching existing tiles (including the Starting Tile or other revealed Terrain Tiles).

• Example A: Must connect with at least 2 borders.
• Example B: Connecting with only 1 border is not allowed.

III. Special Event

If the revealed tile has a special icon, the corresponding Special Event occurs! The icons include: Animal Encounter, Forest Fire, Illegal Logger. See the Appendix for the effects of Special Events.

2. Player Action

At the beginning of a game, players may only take 1 action per turn. In the basic game, there are 4 actions to choose from: Forestation, Put out Fire, Help the Animal, Swap Cards.

Tip: Players may upgrade their skills during the game, which may allow them to take more than 1 action.

I. Forestation

Choose a tree from your Ranger Board and plant it on any Regular Terrain Tile with its Planting Condition satisfied. Pay its corresponding Resource Cost of the tree. You will gain the game points uncovered by the planted tree at the end of the game.

Note: You may not plant trees on Special Terrain Tiles.

1. Choose a tree and take the leftmost one.
2. Pay the Resource Cost.
3. Place the tree on the corresponding Terrain Tile.

a. Planting Condition

Each tree row on the Ranger Board shows the Tree Type, its Allowed Terrain (the Terrain Tiles that may be planted: I, II, III) and its Resource Cost. On the A side the three rows show:

• Top row: Terrain I; cost 1 random Resource Card.
• Middle row: Terrain I or II; cost 2 random Resource Cards of the same type.
• Bottom row: Terrain II or III; cost 3 random Resource Cards of the same type.

Tip: Two of the tree types may be planted on 2 different types of Terrain Tiles!

b. Sharing Terrain

Players may plant their trees where other players have already planted. In addition to the normal cost, they must pay 1 extra Resource Card of the same type. Note that you may not plant on a tile that has already been planted by yourself.

The Red Player has already planted a tree. If the Yellow Player wants to plant a tree here, they must pay 2 + 1 Resource Cards of the same type.

Tip: You only need to pay 1 extra Resource Card for any number of trees already planted there.

c. Upgrade Skill

Some trees have Wooden Upgrade Cubes next to them. If you plant such a tree, you can use the cube to upgrade one of your skills on your Ranger Board. The upgraded skill is available immediately.

Tip: Once unlocked, the upgraded skill will always be available, even if trees are returned back to your Ranger Board.

• Increase Resource: At the beginning of the game, players may only hold a maximum of 3 Resource Cards in hand. Your hand limit is increased by 1 each time you upgrade this skill. Note: You may draw a Resource Card immediately when you upgrade this skill.
• Increase Action: At the beginning of the game, players only take 1 action per turn. You may take one extra action every turn each time you upgrade this skill. Note: You may immediately take one more action when you upgrade this skill.

II. Put out Fire

When a Fire Token appears, players may pay 1 Water Resource Card to remove 1 Fire Token. Place the token next to your Ranger Board. Each Fire Token worth 1 point at the end of the game.

Note: You may not plant a tree on a Terrain Tile with a Fire Token.

III. Help the Animal

You can help the animals with 2 separate actions: rescue and release. Players must first rescue animals, and then release them when their Living Conditions are satisfied. Upon finishing the actions, gain the corresponding Animal Card, which will give you points at the end of the game.

Rescue: Place the Black Bear in your Animal Shelter. Release: Place the Black Bear in a suitable habitat. Then take the card.

Tip: Even though rescue and release take 1 action each, after you upgrade your skills, it is possible to do both in a single turn!

a. Rescue

Rescue any Animal Token and place it in your Animal Shelter. Each shelter only has room for 1 animal. Once taken in, the Animal Token cannot be abandoned or swapped out.

Note: Special Event Cards may temporarily cause the shelter to contain more than 1 animals. See the Appendix for more details.

b. Release

Place an Animal Token from your Animal Shelter on Terrain Tiles that satisfy its Living Condition. See Living Conditions for more details. Once released, animals will occupy the Terrain Tiles, so other animals cannot share these tiles.

When an Animal Token is released, players will gain the corresponding Animal Card. If there are 2 animals of the same type on the board, take the Animal Card whose point value shares the same color as the base of the Animal Token.

Note: If a Special Event affects a tile that an Animal Token is on, take that animal back into your shelter and return the corresponding Animal Card. You will temporarily lose the points until you release them later.

IV. Swap Cards

Take one action to discard any number of Resource Cards from your hand and immediately draw that many cards from the deck.

3. Resource Replenishment

After players are done with their actions, they will replenish their hands up to the maximum limit, which is 3 at the beginning of the game. After skills are upgraded, a player may have up to 5 Resource Cards.

Game End

1. Game End Condition

The game ends under one of the following conditions:

• When a player plants all of their trees, each other player takes 1 more turn, and the game ends.
• OR If a player draws the last Terrain Tile, the game will end after the player's turn.

2. Victory

Add up all of your points from forestation, putting out fires, and helping animals. Whoever has the highest points will be the Great Forest Guardian!

Example: 2 + 6 + 3 = 11 points from the planted trees; 3 + 6 = 9 points from releasing animals; 3 points from putting out fires. Total of 23 points.

Advanced Rules

Advanced Game

Kick your game up a notch by playing the advanced game! Each player will have their own abilities, and a new action they can take: Send Your Ranger.

1. Flip the Ranger Board to the B side during setup.
2. Place your Ranger Token next to your board.
3. The remaining setup is the same as the basic game.

Ranger Abilities

Each Ranger will have a special ability right from the beginning. Mastering your ability will be the key to victory!

1. Animal Expert (Julia): You can now hold up to 2 Animal Tokens in your Animal Shelters. At the end of a game, gain 1 extra point for each Animal Card you own plus each Animal Token in your Animal Shelter.
2. Firefighter (Jack): Your trees will not be burnt down anymore. The Terrain Tile will still have a Fire Token, and all other players' trees are still burnt down. At the end of the game, gain 1 extra point for each Fire Token you have. Note: Even though your trees aren't burnt down, if a Fire Token appears on tiles where your animal lives, you still have to take that animal back to your Animal Shelter.
3. Mountain Protector (Fluffy): You may plant Calocedrus Formosana on Mountain Terrain Tiles from any altitude. At the end of the game, gain 2 extra points for each Calocedrus Formosana planted on the mountains. Note: You may not use the Calocedrus Formosana planted on mountains to satisfy Living Condition when releasing animals.
4. Master Gardener (Bean): You may share terrains with other players without paying the extra Resource Card cost. Master Gardener does not have any bonus scoring.

Send Your Ranger

In the advanced game, there is a new action for players to take: Send Your Ranger. Place your Ranger Token on any revealed Terrain Tile. That tile is now protected from any Special Events.

A Ranger Token will stay on the tile until its owner moves it elsewhere.

1. Prevent Forest Fire: The tile that the Ranger Token is on will not be affected by fires. No Fire Tokens will be placed there.
2. Prevent the Illegal Logger: The Illegal Logger will skip any Terrain Tiles with a Ranger Token.

Ranger Tokens can protect all trees on a single Terrain Tile, including trees from other players.

Appendix

Special Events

1. Animal Encounter

If the revealed Terrain Tile has an animal icon, you have encountered a wild animal! Draw an Animal Card and place it face up on the table. Place the matching Animal Token on the card.

Note: Remember to take the Animal Token whose color matches the color of the point value on the revealed Animal Card.

2. Forest Fire

If a flare icon is revealed, a forest fire occurs! After placing the Terrain Tile, place a Fire Token on the revealed tile, and each adjacent tile. Return all trees on these tiles to their owners.

Note: Except for the base of the Illegal Logger, each Terrain Tile is at risk of fire happening, including the mountains and the lakes.

3. Illegal Logger

If the Illegal Logger icon is revealed, the Illegal Logger begins to cut down trees!

There are special rules for placing the Illegal Logger tiles:

1. Starting with the base tile on the Starting Tile, choose a direction indicated by the arrow, and place the tile at the end of that direction.
2. This tile can share as least as a single border with other tiles.

After the tile is placed, move the Illegal Logger in a straight line from the base toward the placed tile. All trees in the path are removed and returned back to their owners. Afterwards, the Illegal Logger returns back to his base, lurking to strike again.

Tree Removal

When trees are removed due to fire or logging, they are returned back to their owners, who must place them on their Ranger Board spaces starting from right to left. The points will be lost until the trees are planted again.

Tip: You will not lose any skill due to tree removal.

Retrieve Released Animals

When one of the following situations occur, players must place the previously released animals back to their shelters, and return the corresponding Animal Cards:

1. A Fire Token is placed on one of the Terrain Tiles needed to satisfy the Living Conditions, including any special terrains like mountains or lakes.
2. The trees that satisfy the Living Conditions are removed due to Forest Fire or Illegal Logging.

Note: When retrieving animals, points are lost until the animals are released again. Animal Shelters may contain more than their capacity due to this effect.

Living Conditions

When players rescue animals, release them to gain corresponding points by following the rules:

1. The required trees on the Terrain Tiles must be planted by the player releasing the animal.
2. When an animal is released, they occupy the Terrain Tiles they stand on, and no other animal may share their habitat.
3. When fire or tree removal occurs, return the Animal Token back to their original shelter.

• Common Pheasant: A tree on a Low Altitude Terrain Tile. Place the Common Pheasant on this single tile.
• Formosan Black Bear: A tree on a Medium or High Altitude Terrain Tile next to a Mountain. Place the Formosan Black Bear in between these 2 tiles.
• Sambar Deer: A tree on a Medium or High Altitude Terrain Tile next to a Lake. Place the Sambar Deer in between these 2 tiles.
• Leopard Cat: 3 trees on 3 Medium or Low Altitude Terrain Tiles. Each of these 3 tiles must be adjacent to each other. Place the Leopard Cat in the middle of these 3 tiles. Note: The 3 Terrain Tiles cannot be aligned in a straight line!
• Pangolin: 2 trees on 2 adjacent Medium Altitude Terrain Tiles. Place the Pangolin in between these 2 tiles.