Symbiosis
Symbiosis Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 36 large cards
- 1 score sheet
Anatomy of a Card
Each card shows:
- The Animal in the foreground.
- The Season in the background.
- The Points at the bottom.
Goal of the Game
In Symbiosis, each person collects eight cards in front of them in order to build their Pond.
The goal of the game is to have the Pond with the highest number of points.
Setup
- Deal eight cards face down to each person to form the Ponds.
- Place four cards face up in the center of the table to form the River.
- Each person simultaneously reveals one card from their Pond, placing it face up.
- Determine the order of play: the last person to have seen a frog starts, then play proceeds in turn order clockwise.
Game Turn
- Take a card from the River.
- Choose a card from your Pond.
- Exchange the card from your Pond with the card taken from the River.
- Leave the card from the River face up in your Pond.
- Put the card from your Pond face up in the River.
Caution, if the card chosen from your Pond was already face up, reveal another one of your cards as well.
At the end of your turn, you will therefore always have a new card face up in your Pond.
The Points
Each of your cards earns variable points or fixed points.
If these points are variable according to an Animal or a Season, your card scores according to its placement in your Pond:
- In your left column, it scores in relation to the entire left Pond.
- In your two central columns, it scores in relation to your entire Pond.
- In your right column, it scores in relation to the entire right Pond.
If these points are fixed, the card earns you the points indicated regardless of its placement.
End of the Game
The game ends once all players have eight cards face up in their respective Ponds.
Count the points scored by each of your cards, noting them on the scoresheet.
Add up the points of all your cards. The person with the highest score wins the game.
In case of a tie, the victory is shared. You then live in perfect symbiosis, congratulations!
Duel Mode (1 vs 1)
In Duel Mode, you will play with a River of eight cards.
During setup, add four face-down cards to the River in addition to the four face-up cards.
On your turn, you can choose any of the eight cards in the River. If you choose a face-down card, remember to place the replacement face-up.
At the end of the game, if any cards remain face down in the River, turn them face up.
When counting points, your two cards on the River side score points in relation to the eight cards in the River.
Team Mode (2 vs 2)
In Team Mode, you will play cooperatively with the person sitting opposite you.
Setup and gameplay proceed in the same way as in normal mode.
The difference lies in the scoring: your cards on the sides score points in relation to the eight cards of the person opposite you, the one with whom you are teaming up.
At the end of the game, add up the points of both Ponds in your team. The team with the highest score wins the game.