Ocean Pods
Ocean Pods Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
What is the game about?
You are a Marine Biologist, researching the Oceans mammals for conservation projects. Each game you will be dealt a research objective to achieve. Draft resources needed and travel the ocean to find animals to complete your research.
Beware though as plastic pollution enters the Ocean too. If the plastic build up is too much it will be destroy the marine life and all players will lose. So do you work together to remove plastic or continue with your own research? In this semi-coop game only one can win but you can all lose!
Aim of the Game
What are victory conditions?
The first player to reach 12 points from Ocean Pod cards triggers the final round. All play will continue as normal until the end of the round in which the first player reached 12 points from ocean cards.
At the end of that round the player with the most points wins. This includes adding any victory points from research objectives and plastic bonuses.
In the result of a tie - the player with the most plastic tokens wins.
If still a tie – both players share victory.
Set Up
How do I set up the game?
A – Shuffle the Research Objectives and deal one to each player face down. Set the others in the box. These are not required.
B – Shuffle the 4 Ocean Cards and deal out face up in a column so all players can see them. Place the boat token at the top of the column in the first space.
C – Place all the resources in piles available for all players to reach.
D – Shuffle the Ocean Pod deck and deal out 6 cards face up to form the “Open Pod”. Set the deck face down beside it.
E – Choose a first player and give them the dice and reference card which can also act as a first player marker if needed. We recommend the player who last went in the ocean goes first. Play continues then in a clockwise manner.
Example of set up for a 4-player game (pictured in the manual).
Player Turn
What is a turn?
A turn is defined as the players go. The action(s) they perform before it moves to the next player.
What can I do on my turn?
Player 1 will roll all the dice in the pool. Dice in the pool will be 1 white dice per player plus 1 dice. For example for a 4 player game there will be 5 white dice.
Player 1 will also roll the blue “bonus” dice. This dice is applicable only to player 1. Player 1 will follow the below sequence of actions for their turn.
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Claim a bonus – Resolve the outcome of the blue bonus dice by removing it from the dice pool and placing it in front of the player.
The blue bonus dice faces are:
- Get double resources from the next dice.
- Reroll any/all resource dice.
- Collect all plastic from the ocean or move the boat 1 space any way.
- Wild – Choose any resource dice & get that resource (dice remains in pool).
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Claim One Resource – remove a resource dice and exchange for a resource token.
- FISH – This represents the fish diet of the Ocean Pod animals from Minnows to Sharks & Rays.
- KRILL – This mainly represents the diet of Baleen whales who feed through filters Krill, Plankton and Algae.
- CRAB – This crab icon represents the various Crustacean diets of many ocean animals.
- SEAL – This icon represents the “meat” diet such as Pinnipeds (Seals and Sea Lions) along with other Whales & Dolphin species.
- OCTOPUS – This icon represents the Cephalopods such as Squid, Octopus and Cuttlefish which Whales and Dolphins eat.
Place the Ocean Pod card in front of you – the points count towards your total. 12 points from Ocean Pod cards trigger the final round.
Players may only conduct research and claim one Ocean Pod card per turn.
Take the top card in the deck and replace any researched animals so there are always 6 cards in the open pod.
This ends Player 1 turn. Player 2 would then complete steps 2 & 3, then player 3 etc. When all players have completed their turn, it is the end of the round.
Round End Events
What is a round?
A round is defined as a completion of all players turns.
What happens on a round end?
At the end of each round 3 things may happen:
- Move the boat down one space. (If you reach the final space on the last ocean card then go back to the start space at the top).
- If the boat ever moves onto a new ocean card place a plastic token in the Ocean Pod. If this is the 3rd plastic token the game ends.
- Pass all dice clockwise to the next player who will be player 1.
Plastic
Each round the boat moves one space in the ocean. When it moves from one ocean card to another then a plastic token is placed in the Ocean Pod (including when the boat is moved by blue dice action). When a plastic token is in the Ocean Pod players can choose to clean the ocean and collect the plastic token instead of choosing a resource dice.
As a reward plastic tokens score points during the game end scoring phase.
- 0-1 token = 0 points
- 2 tokens = 2 points
- 3-4 tokens = 3 points
- 5 or more tokens = 5 points
There is no limit to the plastic tokens players can collect.
Players must therefore work together to stop the build-up of plastic in the ocean whilst at the same time competing for the best score.
Game End Scoring
How does the game end?
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When any player reaches 12 points via Ocean Pod victory points (not bonuses & plastic points) they announce they have 12 points. At the end of the current round play stops and enter the scoring phase.
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When 3 plastic tokens are present in the Ocean Pod the game stops. The plastic impact was too great for the ocean. All players lose.
How do we score?
Ocean Pod pts + Research Objectives pts + Plastic Pts = Total Score
Example from the manual: 12 pts + 2 pts + 3 pts = 17 pts.
In the result of a tie then the player with the most plastic collected wins. If still a tie – both players share victory.