OCEAN: Great Barrier Reef
OCEAN: Great Barrier Reef Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
Ocean contains a total of 144 cards.
88 Fauna Cards, with the Fauna back:
- 13 each of six species: Fromia indica (starfish), Chelmon rostratus (copperband butterflyfish), Amphiprion ocellaris (clownfish), Chelonia mydas (green turtle), Carcharhinus melanopterus (blacktip reef shark), and Paracanthurus hepatus (blue tang).
- 10 Octopus cards (Thaumoctopus mimicus).
51 Coral Reef Cards, with the Coral Reef back:
- 6 cards with a "0"-point value.
- 15 cards each with a "1", "2" and "3"-point value.
5 Starting Cards: one with a clownfish icon on the front and four without any fish icons.
Setting Up the Game
Shuffle the Fauna Cards thoroughly and place the deck in the middle of the table face-down. Draw the top five cards from the deck and place them in a row on the table face-up. Each player then draws three cards from the top of the deck and puts them in their hand.
Now shuffle the Coral Reef Cards thoroughly and place the deck on the table face-down. Draw the top eight cards from the deck and place them in two rows on the table face-up. Each player then draws three cards from the top of the deck. These Coral Reef Cards are personal and are kept secret from opponents.
A player secretly shuffles a number of Starting Cards equal to the number of players; the Starting Card with the clownfish must be among these cards. Each player then picks one of these Starting Cards, flips it and places it in front of them. The Starting Card constitutes the centre of each player's coral reef.
The player who has the Starting Card with the clownfish takes the first turn.
Summary for Setting Up the Game
- 1 Starting Card for each player
- 3 Coral Reef Cards are given in secret to each player
- 3 Fauna Cards are given in secret to each player
- 5 Fauna Cards are placed on the table face-up
- 8 Coral Reef Cards are placed on the table face-up
The Turn
OCEAN is played in turns. The turn order is clockwise, and the player with the clownfish Starting Card takes the first turn. During their turn a player may take one of the following three actions:
- Action 1: Draw Fauna Cards
- Action 2: Play Coral Reef Card
- Action 3: Draw Coral Reef Cards
Action 1: Draw Fauna Cards
- Draw two single-colour Fauna Cards from among the five face-up cards, or
- Draw two random cards from the top of the Fauna Deck, or
- Draw one random card from the top of the Fauna Deck, then draw one single-colour Fauna Card from among the five face-up cards, or
- Draw one multicoloured card (octopus) from among the five face-up Fauna Cards.
So in order to guarantee yourself an octopus card, you can only draw one from among the five face-up Fauna Cards, though by gambling you can get lucky and draw two octopus cards from the Fauna Deck. This is permitted.
If a player draws any of the face-up cards, these are replaced before the next player takes their turn, so that there are always five face-up cards when a player's turn begins. Should you run out of cards, the discard pile is shuffled thoroughly and flipped to make a new Fauna Deck.
There is no limit to the number of Fauna Cards a player may hold in their hand.
Action 2: Play Coral Reef Card
With this action the player may play one Coral Reef Card, either by playing one of their personal Coral Reef Cards to their coral reef or by claiming one of the eight face-up Coral Reef Cards. This is done by redeeming a number of Fauna Cards agreeing in number and colour with what is depicted on the Coral Reef Card. The player then puts all the Fauna Cards they redeemed into the discard pile next to the Fauna deck.
It is now time to play the Coral Reef Card to the player's coral reef. This is done by placing the Coral Reef Card next to one of the other cards in the player's coral reef in such a manner that they constitute a row on either side of the Starting Card. If you have not yet played a Coral Reef Card, the card is placed next to the player's Starting Card, which constitutes the centre of each player's coral reef. Over the course of the game you may not place more than five Coral Reef Cards on either side of the Starting Card.
When the Coral Reef Card is placed in the coral reef it is compared to the adjacent Coral Reef Card. Once the Coral Reef Card has been placed in the coral reef it must remain there for the rest of the game. In the event that the bonus icon matches the colour of the adjacent card, the player has built a harmonious reef. This means the player claims an additional victory point and that they receive a discount of one with respect to redeeming Fauna Cards of this colour for the remainder of the game. A player may place a Coral Reef Card next to another Coral Reef Card even if the bonus icons don't match. The bonus icons of the Starting Card match with all other bonus icons with respect to providing discounts on Coral Reef Cards. The discount applies to the colour adjoining the Starting Card. However, they do not count as a single-colour bonus icon with respect to victory points or winning the game (see Winning the Game, option '3'). Note that a Coral Reef Card may be turned upside-down when placed in the coral reef, though it may not be turned at a later point in the game.
Example (Action 2)
- Left pair: the bonus icons don't match, so they do not reward points or a discount.
- Middle and right pairs: the bonus icons match and hence trigger discounts ("green" and "white" respectively). Additionally, green is single-colour and therefore also rewards a victory point.
Point values: In this example there is a total point value of 6 victory points: the value of the cards (0 + 2 + 3) + 1 bonus victory point from the matching single-colour bonus icon.
Action 3: Draw Coral Reef Cards
A player may have at most three Coral Reef Cards in their hand at a time. When a player takes this action they may put up to three cards in their hand. The player may draw from both the deck and/or from the face-up Coral Reef Cards. Remember to add new Coral Reef Cards in the event that a player draws any of the face-up Coral Reef Cards.
If a player takes this action and already has two unplayed personal Coral Reef Cards in their hand, they can therefore only draw one new personal Coral Reef Card. Should the player have only one Coral Reef Card in their hand, they may draw two Coral Reef Cards from either the eight face-up Coral Reef Cards or from the top of the Coral Reef Deck. If you hold no Coral Reef Cards in your hand, you may draw three.
Example (Action 3): Ann is playing OCEAN with her friends and holds no Coral Reef Cards in her hand (she previously redeemed those and played them to her coral reef). She wishes to draw two of the face-up Coral Reef Cards and additionally draw one from the top of the Coral Reef deck, as she's afraid that her opponents might redeem Fauna Cards and claim the Coral Reef Cards before she can. She therefore chooses to spend her turn putting these three cards into her hand and then replaces the two face-up cards she took with two new ones from the top of the Coral Reef Deck.
Winning the Game
There are three ways to win OCEAN – Great Barrier Reef. The game continues until a player, by the end of their turn, meets one of the following conditions:
- A player has six differently coloured matching single-colour bonus icons in their coral reef.
- A player has a total of 10 Coral Reef Cards in the coral reef (five on either side of the Starting Card).
- The player has a total of 20 or more victory points in their coral reef. The victory point value is printed on the Coral Reef Card (remember that matching single-colour bonus icons grant 1 point each).
The round is played through so that by the end of the game all players have taken the same number of turns.
In the event that two or more players meet win conditions, the victor is the player who meets the higher win condition on the Starting Card. Win condition '1' (six different matching single-colour bonus icons in the coral reef) trumps win condition '2' (10 Coral Reef Cards) and '3' (20 victory points). Win condition '2' trumps win condition '3'. In the event that two players meet the same win condition, the victor is whoever of these players has the most points. If parity remains, the players enjoy a shared victory.
Fauna Cards
There are seven different Fauna Cards. Colours, animals and icons on these cards match the colours and icons on the Coral Reef Cards. The players collect these cards in their hand over the course of the game until they have enough to play a Coral Reef Card (see below).
Octopus cards are multicoloured jokers which can count as any Fauna Card. They can be combined with other types of Fauna Cards. When playing a Coral Reef Card you can use the octopus cards as a Fauna Card of any colour.
The seven Fauna Cards are: Red (Fromia indica, starfish), White (Chelmon rostratus, copperband butterflyfish), Yellow (Amphiprion ocellaris, clownfish), Green (Chelonia mydas, turtle), Black (Carcharhinus melanopterus, shark), Blue (Paracanthurus hepatus, blue tang) and Joker (Thaumoctopus mimicus, octopus).
Coral Reef Cards
Coral Reef Cards feature a number of animal icons, which correspond to the Fauna Cards' animal icons. In order for a player to play a Coral Reef Card, they must be able to redeem Fauna Cards from their hand corresponding to the total number of icons printed on the Coral Reef Card they wish to play.
Example: In order to play this Coral Reef Card, Ann must put one blue and three white Fauna Cards from her hand into the discard pile.
Bonus Icons
Coral Reef Cards contain two bonus icons. These icons are not counted when redeeming Fauna Cards. If a player can match bonus icons on two adjacent Coral Reef Cards in their coral reef, this triggers a discount on the purchase of new Coral Reef Cards. Each matching full-colour icon corresponds to a card of that suit.
Example: In order to play the Coral Reef Card on the left, Ann must put one red and three black Fauna Cards from her hand into the discard pile. However, she has matched two black bonus icons in her coral reef and it is therefore sufficient for her to pay two black Fauna Cards and one red.
Question Mark Icons
If a Coral Reef Card features icons with question marks, it means that a player may redeem any kind of Fauna Card they desire, as long as they are all of the same colour. Octopi always act as jokers.
Example: In order to play this Coral Reef Card, Ann must put four green, four black and two colour-matching Fauna Cards of her choosing (Ann chooses yellow) from her hand into the discard pile. Note that Asta chooses to use two octopus cards to count as a black and a yellow card, respectively.
Octopus Icons
If a Coral Reef Card features one or more octopus icons, it means that the player must redeem the number of octopus cards printed on the Coral Reef Card.
Example: In order to play this Coral Reef Card, Ann must put an octopus card plus two red and two white Fauna Cards from her hand into the discard pile. Note that Ann chooses additionally to have an octopus card count as a red card.
Game Variants
Game Variant 1: A Simpler Game
Should you wish a simpler game, for example when playing with children, we suggest this variant:
- Play to 10 or 12 points (agreed upon beforehand). In this variant you ignore the other win conditions on the Starting Cards. The players are not given three personal Coral Reef Cards at setup. You do not play with 'Action 3' in this variant.
- In this variant all '3' point Coral Reef Cards are removed from the deck before the game begins.
- Matching single-colour bonus icons provide a discount but do not grant extra victory points.
Game Variant 2: A More Strategic Game
Should you wish a more strategic game with a higher degree of opportunity for planning, we suggest this variant:
- Instead of eight face-up Coral Reef Cards, draw seven random Coral Reef Cards per player (put the rest of the Coral Reef Cards to one side; they will not be used in this game). The seven Coral Reef Cards per player are placed face-up and visible to all players in the middle of the table. These Coral Reef Cards are the only ones you play with in the game. Thus they are not replaced by new Coral Reef Cards as they are redeemed.
- Each player is given three personal Coral Reef Cards at setup, but can't obtain new ones over the course of the game. You do not play with 'Action 3' in this variant.