Paleovet Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Ways to Play
  • Standard Mode
  • Casual Mode
  • Light Mode
  • Solo Mode
• Components
• Icons
  • Treatment Icons
  • Diets
  • Orders
  • Other Icons
• Setup
  • Starting Dice and Token
  • Hospital
  • Solo Setup
• Concepts
  • Field
  • ALERT!
  • Hospital
  • Sleep
  • Dino Card Anatomy
• Turns
  • Solo Mode
  • 1. Upkeep
  • 2. Roll
  • 3. Mandatory Admission
  • 4. Spend Dice
  • 5. Check for Waking Dinos
  • 6. Release Cured Dinos
• Spending Dice
  • Treat a Dino
  • Tranquilize a Dino
  • Research a New Treatment
  • Research an Upgrade
• Ending the Game
• Scoring
  • Scoring Example
  • Solo Scoring
• Clarifications
• Turn Overview

Ways to Play

To help make the game as accessible as possible, PaleoVet offers a few different ways to play.

Standard Mode

Standard Mode is the most strategic version of PaleoVet. This version uses all of the components and rules provided, except the Solo cards and the Solo Mode rules.

Casual Mode

For a more casual game, leave the deck of Upgrade cards in the box and skip step 2 of the setup instructions. Ignore any rules that refer to the Upgrade cards.

Light Mode

If you are playing with younger players or want a lighter game, you can simply leave out the Upgrade cards and ignore the effect text on the Dino cards. This removes the reading requirements and much of the game's complexity, but keeps the mechanics of rolling dice and matching icons. All the other rules remain the same!

Solo Mode

If you are playing PaleoVet solo, you'll need to include the deck of 30 Solo Mode cards. These provide a way to randomly remove Dino cards from the game, representing dinosaurs captured by rivals or escaping into the wild. In all other respects, the game plays identically to the Standard Mode.

Components

• 50 Dino Cards
• 20 Upgrade Cards
• 30 Solo Mode Cards
• 4 Rules Reference Cards
• 36 Sleep Tokens
• 18 DNA Tokens
• 16 White Basic Treatment Dice
• 4 Teal Specialty Dice
• 4 Purple Specialty Dice
• 4 Yellow Specialty Dice

Icons

Treatment Icons

• Antibiotic
• Antiviral
• Surgery
• Tranquilizer Dart
• DNA (wild)

Diets

Each Dino has an icon that indicates if it is a Carnivore (meat-eater) or a Herbivore (plant-eater). Certain Dino effects and Upgrade effects reference Diets.

Orders

Each Dino has an icon that indicates which order it belongs to (listed below). Certain Dino effects and Upgrade effects reference these orders.

• Ornithischian [awr•nuh•this•kee•uhn]
• Sauropod [sawr•uh•pod]
• Theropod [theer•uh•pod]

Other Icons

Sleep and ALERT! icons also appear throughout the game. These are explained under Concepts.

Setup

1. Shuffle the deck of Dino cards. Split the deck into 5 stacks of 10 cards each. Place these stacks of cards in face-down piles in the center of the table to form the Field. Turn the top card of each stack face-up.
2. Shuffle the Upgrade cards. Divide them into 5 stacks of 4 cards each. Place these cards in face-down piles beneath each stack of Dino cards, then turn the top card of each stack face-up.
3. Place all the extra DNA Tokens, the 12 Specialty dice, and the 36 Sleep Tokens nearby to form the supply piles.
4. Each player should take 4 white Basic Treatment dice, 1 DNA Token, and a Rules Reference card. Return any unused white Basic Treatment dice to the box; they will not be used in this game.

The oldest player takes the first turn.

Starting Dice and Token

Each player begins with 4 white dice and a DNA Token.

Hospital

This is the area in front of each player, where they will keep tranquilized Dinos (explained under Spending Dice).

Solo Setup

If playing the Solo Mode, shuffle the 30 Solo Mode cards and place them in a stack next to the Field.

Concepts

Field

We refer to the face-up Dino cards in the center of the table as the Field. These are wild Dinos roaming free on the island. You'll move Dinos from the Field to your Hospital during your turn by tranquilizing them.

ALERT!

ALERT! effects occur when a Dino with an ALERT! banner is turned face-up in the Field. Some Dino effects and Upgrade cards modify what happens when ALERT! effects occur.

Hospital

Your Hospital is an open area directly in front of you where you will place the Dinos you are currently treating. Each player has their own Hospital, and each Hospital can only hold up to 4 Dinos. Some Upgrade cards and effects can expand the Hospital limit beyond 4. If your Hospital is full, you cannot gain additional Dinos until a Dino is removed from your Hospital (usually by being Treated or Waking).

Sleep

When Dinos are tranquilized, they are moved into your Hospital and will sleep for a certain number of turns based on their remaining Sleep tokens. Each Dino card indicates how many sleep tokens it starts with at the top of the card. During the Upkeep step of your turn, remove 1 Sleep token from each Dino in your Hospital. At the end of any turn in which a Dino in your Hospital has no Sleep tokens, that Dino wakes.

Certain effects will add or remove Sleep tokens from Dinos. The number of Sleep tokens on a Dino can go above the starting number listed on its card, but a Dino can't go below 0 Sleep tokens. If an effect requires you to remove a Sleep token from a Dino that has none, ignore the effect. However, you must choose a legal target for the effect if a legal target exists.

Dino Card Anatomy

• Sleep Tokens: Indicates the number of Sleep tokens placed on a Dino when it is tranquilized.
• Victory Points: These points are added to your total at the end of the game.
• Name: The Dino's name and pronunciation.
• Diet: Either Carnivore or Herbivore.
• Order: Ornithischian, Theropod, or Sauropod.
• Alert!: Some Dinos have effects that trigger when they enter the Field. These are indicated with an ALERT! banner.
• Effect Text: Each Dino has an effect listed. These may be triggered or activated as explained in the effect text.
• Required Treatments: Use matching treatment icons to Treat and Cure each Dino.

Turns

On each of your turns, follow these 6 steps (7 for Solo Mode). Each step must be completed in order. Once you have completed every step, the player to the left begins their turn.

Solo Mode

If you are playing in Solo Mode, draw a Solo Mode card at the start of each turn. Each Solo Mode card depicts stacks 1 through 5. These correspond to the Dino and Upgrade stacks in the Field. If a Solo card has a Captured or Escaped icon on a stack, remove a card from each indicated stack, placing Escaped Dinos into an Escaped pile and Captured Dinos into a separate Captured pile. If an Upgrade stack has an icon on it, discard an Upgrade card from the indicated stack. Proceed to the Upkeep phase.

Solo Mode Card Example: This Solo Mode card indicates that you should put the Dino on the 2nd stack in the "Escaped" pile and the Dinos on the 3rd and 5th stacks in the "Captured" pile.

1. Upkeep

During your upkeep:

• Remove 1 Sleep token from each Dino in your Hospital.
• If the top card of any Dino or Upgrade stack is face-down, turn that card face-up.
• If any of these newly face-up Dinos show an ALERT!, that effect happens now and affects all players.

(Sleep and ALERT! concepts are explained above.)

Watch for Alerts! Keep an eye out for Dino cards with an ALERT! on them. These cards have an effect that triggers when they are turned face-up in the Field. ALERT! effects affect all players!

2. Roll

Roll all of your dice.

3. Mandatory Admission

If you have fewer than 4 Dinos in your Hospital at the start of your turn, you must choose 1 Dino from a stack and move it into your Hospital. This is mandatory and does not require you to spend a Tranquilizer Dart. The Dino card shows the number of Sleep tokens it should start with. Place the indicated number of Sleep tokens on the Dino. Remember, your Hospital can hold 4 Dinos at one time, unless an Upgrade expands this.

4. Spend Dice

The bulk of each turn will be spending dice and Tokens. All the ways that you can spend dice and tokens are explained under Spending Dice. You cannot spend dice or DNA Tokens on the turn that you acquired them.

Set spent dice aside to indicate that they have been spent. Spent dice will return to you on your next turn. Spent DNA Tokens are returned to the supply pile.

5. Check for Waking Dinos

Check for any Dinos that have no Sleep tokens and have not been Treated. These Dinos wake up and leave your Hospital. Place them back in the box; they will not be used again this game. For each Carnivore that wakes up, you must also discard one other Dino from your Hospital (if there are any). The discarded Dino can be a Carnivore or a Herbivore.

Protect the Dinos! Carnivores like to take a snack when they flee the Hospital! Certain Upgrades and Dino effects can prevent this from happening.

Steps 5 & 6: Note that waking Carnivores might eat a Treated Dino before it is released!

6. Release Cured Dinos

All Dinos that have been Treated are now Cured (unless they were discarded due to a Carnivore waking). Dice on Cured Dinos are returned to you. DNA Tokens on Cured Dinos are returned to the supply. Place the card in a face-down Cured pile near your Hospital. These Dinos count towards your points at the end of the game.

Spending Dice

During step four of your turn, you'll spend dice and tokens based on the symbols showing on their face to gain particular effects, listed here.

Treat a Dino

You may Treat a Dino by spending dice matching exactly the required Treatment icons showing on the Dino card (antibiotic, antiviral, or surgery). Any treatment can be replaced with a DNA (wild) icon.

Place the matching dice/tokens on the Dino card to indicate that it has been Treated. You must match all the required treatments listed on the card. Partial treatments are not allowed.

All at Once: To Treat a Dino, you must match all the listed treatments.

Don't remove Treated dinos from your Hospital yet. Treated Dinos will be resolved in step 6.

Tranquilize a Dino

If you have fewer than 4 Dinos in your Hospital, you may spend a Tranquilizer Dart to tranquilize a Dino from the Field. Set the spent die aside and move the selected Dino from the Field to your Hospital. The Dino card shows the number of Sleep tokens it should start with. Place the indicated number of Sleep tokens on the Dino.

Hospital Size Limit: You can have no more than 4 Dinos in your Hospital at a time, unless an effect allows more.

Research a New Treatment

You may spend matching combinations of dice or DNA Tokens to purchase new DNA Tokens and dice. When purchasing dice, select any of the available Specialty dice. The selected die is added to your dice pool. The die purchased doesn't need to match the symbols on the dice spent to purchase it.

• You cannot roll or spend new Treatments in the same turn you purchased them.
• You can gain a maximum of 3 Specialty dice.

Specialty dice are the purple, teal and yellow dice. Each type of Specialty dice "specializes" in one treatment (purple = antibiotic, teal = antiviral, yellow = surgery), having three of that treatment's icons and only one of the others. Only the white dice have wild (DNA) icons.

Wild! DNA symbols on tokens and dice are always wild. They can be used to treat Dinos, tranquilize Dinos, or Research New Treatments and Upgrades.

Source note: the printed diagram for this section shows three dice (two matching icons plus a DNA) being spent for a Specialty die; the example Upgrade card "Field Lab" reads "You may spend 2 matching icons instead of 3 to buy a Specialty Die." The text does not state the number 3 explicitly.

Research an Upgrade

You can research Upgrades by spending 2 matching icons from dice or DNA Tokens. Set the spent dice and tokens aside and place the researched Upgrade card in front of you. Upgrade cards have persistent effects that you keep through the rest of the game. You may immediately use any effect given by the new Upgrade card. There is no limit to the number of Upgrade cards you can have.

Ending the Game

When any one of the Dino card stacks in the Field runs out of cards, the final round is triggered. Continue to the end of the current round to ensure everyone receives an equal number of turns. Once the last player has completed their final turn, discard all Non-Cured Dinos from all Hospitals. These Dinos do not count as having woken up and do not count toward final scores.

Un-Cured Dinos: Dinos that are not Cured at the end of the game do not count against you.

Scoring

Add up the points listed on each Dino card you Cured and add any bonus points awarded by Upgrade cards. The player with the highest score wins! If there is a tie, the player who has Cured the most Dinos wins the tie. If there is still a tie, the player who can make the best velociraptor sound wins the tie.

Bonus Points: Some Upgrade cards provide bonus points at the end of the game.

Scoring Example

Dave, Will, and Harley have completed a three-player game of PaleoVet. Everyone adds up the values on all their Cured Dino cards. Dave's total comes to 24. Will's total is 44, and Harley's is also 44. However, Harley has also purchased the Therapod Breeding Program Upgrade. Harley has Cured 6 Theropod Dinos. This earns her 3 more points! Harley is the winner!

Solo Scoring

When playing the Solo Mode, separately add up all the Dinos in the Captured and Escaped piles. If your score exceeds the Escaped score, you've achieved a Minor Victory. If your score exceeds the Captured score, you've achieved a Major Victory.

Clarifications

What if I have no sleep on my Dino and I have to remove more? Sleep can't go negative. If an effect would have you remove more sleep than a Dino has available, ignore the excess. The Dino won't wake until the end of your turn.

Can I use specialty dice on the turn I receive them? No. You can only use dice that you have rolled at the start of your turn. When you purchase a specialty die, you can start using it on the following turn.

Can I use DNA symbols to tranquilize Dinos, research Treatments, or research Upgrades? Yes! DNA symbols are always wild. They can count for anything and can be used like any other symbol, including Treatments.

Do effects that reduce costs stack? Yes, but there is always a minimum cost of 1 treatment.

Are Dinosaurs related to birds? Yes, birds are direct descendants of certain species of Theropod dinosaurs.

If my Hospital is full, and I treat a Dino, can I tranquilize a new Dino on the same turn? No, Dinos are not Cured until Step 6, meaning you would not yet have room in your Hospital for another Dino.

Turn Overview

On each of your turns, follow these steps:

• Solo Mode: Draw a Solo Mode card. Remove the Dinos and Upgrades indicated on the card. Place Dinos in Escaped and Captured stacks.

1. Upkeep: Remove 1 Sleep token from each Dino in your Hospital. Turn up face-down Dinos and Upgrades. Check for ALERTS!
2. Roll: Roll all of your dice.
3. Mandatory Admission: If you have fewer than 4 Dinos in your Hospital, choose 1 Dino from the Field and add it to your Hospital.
4. Spend Dice & Tokens: You may spend dice and tokens to: Tranquilize a Dino; Treat a Dino; Research a new Treatment (Specialty dice or DNA Tokens); Research an Upgrade.
5. Check Waking Dinos: Any Dino that is not Cured and has no Sleep tokens during this step awakens. Discard that Dino card. If it is a Carnivore, you must discard another Dino.
6. Release Cured Dinos: Move any Cured Dinos into your Cured pile. You'll score these points at the end of the game.